endurance racing

[rocknrollgirl]

Hi Dirty girls...ha ha ha...

Any endurance racers out there?
I am doing my first 12 hour next Saturday. I am on a team, so we will be trading off laps. I think I'm ready. The only thing I am worried about is tightening up between laps. I think it is going to be a lot of fun. Almost all of the guys that I normally ride with include my husband are racing, so we will have a gang.

[velogirl]

I just did my first 24-hour mtb race (Laguna Seca in CA). I'd say the two most important things to focus on are your transitions (try to estimate lap times and have the next rider arrive 10-15 minutes early) and nutrition (eat and drink real food immediately after your laps).

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[rocknrollgirl]

Funny that you mention "real food" between laps. My husband and I talked about that yesterday. I mean really , How much GU can a girl eat? We were discussing what to bring, P and J, and some drinks other than Cytomax.

And I will talk to the other women on my team about the transition...

Thanks!!!!
I am excited.

[Adventure Girl]

There are lots of things to consider when planning for an endurance race. How many miles is the course? How long will it take you do do a lap? How many people are on your team? How many laps do you think you'll ride?

I've done 24 hours of Adrenalin in Monterey several times. In the past I've done it on a 5-man team. The lap is 12 miles (about an hour). So on a 5-man team you ride for 1 hour and rest for 4. We each did 4 or 5 laps. With a four hour break, you have to be pretty efficient. Cool down, eat, clean up, rest, get ready and wam up. I showered between each lap. My team members did not . That's about all you have time for. It is good that you can actually eat real food. But you don't want to eat just before you go out.

This year, we raced the corporate division. We had NINE riders. It was so much more FUN, but it wasn't that big of an accomplishment. I had 8 hours between laps . There was a lot more hanging around time. I felt like I was just out camping with my friends, and every once in a while I would go ride my bike....

[RoadRaven]

Never contemplated doing any kind of enduro myself but a few guys in the local club have (albeit n the road - not off) - I'll ask around and see if I can get any ideas.

I do know one of the things the guys in LeTour eat on their rides are soft bread rolls filled with custard... does that appeal???

[DirtDiva]

EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW! (No, in other words.)

[velogirl]

Another alternative is to do double laps. The nice thing about this is it gives you a longer break. With a five-person team, you really don't have that much time between laps because you have to get back to the campsite, eat, clean up, and then get ready to go again.

Most races allow you to rotate teammates any way you want as long as each racer does at least one lap.

For food, I brought a bunch of different pre-made deli salads from Mollie Stones. I have a wheat allergy (among other things), so sandwichs aren't really an alternative. I had some yummy orzo & feta salad, turkey salad, spinach salad, etc. I also brough hummus and corn chips. And V-8 is great! I was able to get a good mix of carb, protein, and fat and didn't need to cook. I also ate a lot of fruit. I made sure to eat as soon as I finished my lap so I could recover and digest