My first Mtb Solo Race

So saturday i did my first 8 hour solo...
I had a goal of 4 laps of 10 km each, but they changed the race course to 12 km! eek!

I managed to do 6 laps (yay!) and i am very pleased. My injured back is on the mend and did well during the race. the race course however was a little harsh on the body. 85% i would say was rooty single track. a little hard with the little hard tail. but still a lot of fun..

it was in kingston ontario. they did an awesome job organizing the race, and the race course. (J&JCycle). the transition area was a barn which was actually kind of fun to go through each time.

Mentally i was pretty good throughout the race, except my last lap when i just had enough of getting my body jolted so much on the hard tail. I came in 3rd (ok there were only 3 solo women). and i am very excited about my first solo. My big goal is to do 24 hour solo next year....so i am on my way!

Great job! You made the podium! :p

No, seriously, good for you. Takes some guts to do something like this. How did you train?

wooohoooo and the Fans go Wild!! good on you ma'ma. there's something about those long solo races that seems very appealing to me. I might have to get better at MTB'ng and then look around for one of those.

Training for longer races is a bit tricky. Basically you need to build hours on the bike. I had only decided in July that i would do this race, so i hadn't trained a long time for it. I did 3 hour plus mountain bike rides, hill repeats and on days i didnt have a lot of time, basically like a one hour time trial (as hard as i can go for the hour plus warm up and cool down). I am hoping to have this a bit better organized for the next year. it was a bit experimental.

i think longer rides are best done on the road, just to save the body a bit. It isn't very realistic for me to do super long rides on a regular basis, but i will be doing shorter races and enduros to make up for that (like other 8 hour races, or 100 km mtb enduro races). One a month starting in April until the big day in August (that is when i HOPE to do the 24 hour solo).

I have learned there is nothing like getting better at mtb than by doing enduro's...you don't get to pre-ride anything, so you have to get used to just riding into stuff. My problem is that i keep losing where the trail goes, so i ended up BUMPING into stuff sometimes :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CorsairMac

wooohoooo and the Fans go Wild!! good on you ma'ma. there's something about those long solo races that seems very appealing to me. I might have to get better at MTB'ng and then look around for one of those.

---

Congrats, han-grrl! Tell me more about your race strategy. Did you stop between laps? How long? I've done a few 24-hour races (5-man relay), so I would ride a 12 mile lap, and then rest for a few hours. But I rode as hard as I could for the full lap.

I've considered doing a solo endurance race. I'd definitely start with an 8-hour one. Solo 24-hour is damn hard core! Another advantage of an 8-hour race is that there is no night riding. In my last race, I had two night laps :(

Did you have a crew (or at least a cheering section?) What kind of race course was it? Single track? Pretty technical? Long climbs?

So your goal was 4 laps at 10K, and you did 6 laps at 12K?!!? Damn! :eek: You need to reevaluate your abilities!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Adventure Girl

So your goal was 4 laps at 10K, and you did 6 laps at 12K?!!? Damn! :eek: You need to reevaluate your abilities!

---

Yeah! That's exactly what I was thinking!

V.

Ok so number one, ride your own race when you go solo. I saw (and heard about) a few people that went out too hard from the start and paid for it later one. You definitely do not ride the same way as you would a shorter race or as a relay.

You don't bother pedalling up the hills. takes too much energy and will eventually hurt your back. there weren't that many climbs on this race course, but because i was on the hard tail, i took the opportunity to walk, to stretch out the back a little.

I had my hubby as my support. He was definitely handy to kick me back out in the race. because after lap 4, i really did just want to sit.

I ended up refueling after every lap, even just a little. i didn't eat well, so this became a little bit of a necessity. i stopped mostly under 5 minutes each time, after lap 4, i took a longer break because i REALLY needed it. and after lap 5, i needed some major refueling and i was feeling a bit gross (the Boost did not sit well).

what i did learn about eating:
Boost works for me early in the race not later
Chips better than pretzels for me
I definitely crave more salt that sugar during my race.
Have ginger ale next time, i really craved something bubbly (maybe someone can explain THAT one :) i figure it was to break down the very pasty saliva in my mouth hahaha).

I hadnt brought anything new that i hadn't had before, i just didn't know with the longer race what my body would be in the mood for. I found it rather challenging to eat, i really need things to be as liquidy as possibly.

the course was mostly single track. which made it hard on the body. it was also very rooty, which made it hard with the hardtail. but it was fun.

mentally, i felt good, until about the end of lap 5, when i just simply had enough of the body shaking. it was hard to get in a good flow with this race course, and you couldn't cost anything smoothly because of the roots. there were two smooth sections, the beginning of the race loop and the end of the race loop which were on gravel road.

i lowballed my goal because i am recovering from a back injury, and i simply didn't know how my back would handle riding for so long. apparently it was fine :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Adventure Girl

Congrats, han-grrl! Tell me more about your race strategy. Did you stop between laps? How long? I've done a few 24-hour races (5-man relay), so I would ride a 12 mile lap, and then rest for a few hours. But I rode as hard as I could for the full lap.

I've considered doing a solo endurance race. I'd definitely start with an 8-hour one. Solo 24-hour is damn hard core! Another advantage of an 8-hour race is that there is no night riding. In my last race, I had two night laps :(

Did you have a crew (or at least a cheering section?) What kind of race course was it? Single track? Pretty technical? Long climbs?

So your goal was 4 laps at 10K, and you did 6 laps at 12K?!!? Damn! :eek: You need to reevaluate your abilities!

---

WOW!!! congrats, awesome first race after an injury!

Endurance mt. biking is hardcore-good luck training for the 24 hour! :eek: I'm a total single track chicken...but you've inspired me to drag the old mt. bike out there again!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by han-grrl

Ok so number one, ride your own race when you go solo. I saw (and heard about) a few people that went out too hard from the start and paid for it later one. You definitely do not ride the same way as you would a shorter race or as a relay.

---

That's for sure! As a member of a relay team, you go all out for the whole lap. But for soloists, it's all a matter of endurance. There was one long fire road climb on the course I did. I was passing WAY more people than I normally would. But lots of those people were solo riders.

I just wanted to say thanks for being such an awesome group of cheer leaders! IN BIKE SHORTS of course! :D

I felt pretty good about my race, but you gals are making me blush a bit. Thanks, its nice to hear nice words :p

Wow, great accomplishment! I'm feeling inspired now. I did a mountain bike tour this summer and completely loved the endurance aspect of it and had been considering an 8-hr solo. I might have to go for it! Keep us posted on your future rides.

Han-grrl - congrats! What an awesome job!

So how did you train or overcome "getting into" the race by jumping into it? I have darn slow twitch muscles and I absolutley DIE the first half a lap. I was gonna try a 3 hour solo ride tomorrow but I tried to pre ride it 2 nights ago. The course is a 7.5 mile loop on brand new single track. Half the course is single track (and I use that word loosely). There are 8 DIFFICULT hills on this thing and both up and down hill is unbelievable steep. There is very little flat terrain and i was walking up and down hill in the first two miles. It's loose, soft and steep and I have a hardtail. I didn't finish the lap - a first time for me. It was discouraging because I'm in better shape for this than I was for my 12 hour team race. I thought a 3 hour solo would be a great start for me since I"m not a sprinter, but I feel this course is simply over my head. There's no room to pass on the singletrack because if you go off of it you'll fall down the hillAnyone have anythoughts on how to approach a race like this?

I am not the fastest racer, and i have been training for this race by doing 3 hour long mtb rides. I worked into 3 hours, by working my way to 2 full hours, then 2.5 then 3. I try to do my rides as continuously as possible, only stopping to pee or eat. I started my rides slow and alone, then i invited some pals who i know are faster (and fitter) than i am. and tried to stay on their pace when possible, dropping back when necessary.

WALK UP the hills during a race, it will give you a chance to stretch your back. Just try your best on the single track and have a game plan for what you won't be able to ride, (ie when to dismount when to remount). And ABSOLUTELY DO NOT feel bad about dismounting. As you fatigue some technical sections are best walked anyway, that is you are faster walking than trying to ride.

It sounds like this course and race was designed for sprinting. Short races often are. I don't want to sound like a bummer, but if you can't finish the lap, then you might want to consider another race.

enduro racing is not the same as team racing or regular racing. You really just go out and ride your own race. Unless you are trying for podium or something, you really just go out and ride.


well my two cents...good luck! :)

Hannah

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mtbdarby

Han-grrl - congrats! What an awesome job!

So how did you train or overcome "getting into" the race by jumping into it? I have darn slow twitch muscles and I absolutley DIE the first half a lap. I was gonna try a 3 hour solo ride tomorrow but I tried to pre ride it 2 nights ago. The course is a 7.5 mile loop on brand new single track. Half the course is single track (and I use that word loosely). There are 8 DIFFICULT hills on this thing and both up and down hill is unbelievable steep. There is very little flat terrain and i was walking up and down hill in the first two miles. It's loose, soft and steep and I have a hardtail. I didn't finish the lap - a first time for me. It was discouraging because I'm in better shape for this than I was for my 12 hour team race. I thought a 3 hour solo would be a great start for me since I"m not a sprinter, but I feel this course is simply over my head. There's no room to pass on the singletrack because if you go off of it you'll fall down the hillAnyone have anythoughts on how to approach a race like this?

---

Hannah,
Thanks for the advise. I actually did the 3 hour solo race on Saturday - I walked most of the hills but I had a pretty good time! I even flipped over the handle bars on one down hill and dropped a chain and crashed going up one hill. The course elevation was 100 ft per mile which is the toughest I've done yet. AND - I finished first! LOL, between us, I was the only female in the running, but hey, I got the trophy :D

Not one biker, even out of the experts, rode all the hills. That's how steep some of them were. I was pretty proud of myself. My other confession: I only rode one lap. Hey, I figured why risk injury when I had first place all wrapped up! I got enough bruises from the first lap, hehe.

I did learn that I agree on walking the hills. Minor hills I could handle but I bet I walked 3/4 of them. I even walked one downhill that was so steep I couldn't control my bike. The other think I learned was that I do need to warm up first. I rode 3 miles first to get my muscles awake so I could hit my grove faster. I think that really helped me.

The fun part was talking to the other riders. It was a small race - about 40 riders in all divisions. So I talked to some of the solo riders. One of the experts even said this course was over his head so I didn't feel so bad! I know it's the end of the season here, but it got me pumped to plan my goals for next year. I even have my first race picked out for next April :)

Good for you!

I am so glad you did it! I was going to suggest just going and doing what you can, but i was a little worried how you said you can fall down the hill! So i played the safe advice...congrats on your first race and your podium finish!


We will have to share training/racing stories for sure!

Yay!

Han