24 hour racing

So, has anyone done one? Hints? Stories? Encouragement? I'm thinking about it.

A guy from our club, David, rode the Red Bull 24 hour mountain mayhem race 2 years in a row and his top tips ( apart from a brain transplant!:p )

- frequent changes of shorts
- a big variety of energy drinks / food . There's some energy foods he still can't look in the face to this day!

You might want to start off with food that's not too sweet and try as much 'normal' food as you can before resorting to pre-packaged energy food.

As for training - David did all sorts of things, including going out riding very late at night ( but keep safe :) ) and early in the morning so you get an idea of what it's like to ride a unusual time of the day.

The Red Bull is a national UK event, all off road, but fairly easy and David managed to come 7th overall with a distance of something like 240 miles!!!!! He very much enjoyed it but apart from the required fitness, he also has enormous mental toughness, something else which you'll need a good dose of.

Why not give it a try....!

was he racing solo? Most people I know that do it, do teams of 4 or so.

Irulan

Yes - he did it with another guy from our club but they both rode as solos ( Mainly because they're both total nutters!!:D ), but yes, a lot of other people rode it teams of 4.

In fact one of our local clubs was entering a girlie team and were desperate to find a 4th rider after someone dropped out due to illness. I don't know how they got on because I've been away all week so I'll have to catch up with them.

The before and after pics of David and Tony really told the story - they both looked like they'd aged by about 20 years! I think it was a pretty unique experience for the support team too, who'd been on hand all night with food, support and encouragement.

They normally run this event on mid summers day in June so here in the UK it's only actually properly dark for about 4 hours.

This year, David was banned from doing it by his wife ( who's a marathon runner). Last year he was busy training for the Red Bull and she was in training for the Belfast mararthon and I don't think they got to see much of each other....:)

Thanks for hints MightyMitre - the food advice especially. I've seen people eat some really weird stuff...

I went up to check out the course and I've decided to go for it.

http://www.24hoursofgreatglen.com

(If anyone is going, let me know... )

I have been thinking about it since Feb and I've been training "just in case" both road and mtn bikes.

I've been a support person for my partner for 4 races - 2 for his 2-man team and 2 for him as a solo. They kept telling me that my job was the toughest - no sleep and dealing with cranky discouraged wet hungry dillusional riders.

He (and his riding buddies) have encouraged me to do the race and he has offered his services as support (if I go solo) or team mate (as a pair). I chose pair, so we'll see... I was also encouraged by Debbie Sheets, a 50 year old rider from PA who I met at a 24 hours of adrenaline race. She came in 2nd in the national championships for 45+ riders. Her advice was "just keep moving".

I hope just to finish, and that will be tough, but I will be really happy if I can go beyond that. I'm not competitive by nature - this is more a test of my own ability and resolve (and will probably test our relationship as well)

BTW, I am 46, mother of 3, and this is my first race of ANY kind ever. I'm not getting any younger!!!

I will let you know how this old lady does.

My first race ever, we won the mixed pairs at the 24 hours of great glen!!

That is so cool congrats! So tell us all about it.


Veronica