Endurance Race...

[madisongrrl]

I primarly consume my time with racing XC (and soon, I'll be dabbling in Cyclocross), but this weekend I did one of the WEMS series endurance races. And it was a blast. I entered a 6 hour Duo team with my very fast brother (he is a top comp rider...we have so many fine and fast mountain bikers that race in wisconsin that they created a "comp" category for them. It falls inbetween sport and expert for those of you who are familiar with NORBA race classes...it is basically a stepping stone to expert).

We took second out of ten teams. The only team that beat us had two very fast males of expert and comp status. The course was about 8.5 miles long, 50% doublerack & 50% singletrack. There were lots of tight twist turns....it was fast and super fun. And I'll have to do another one of these races next year. Maybe a 6 hour solo or a 12 hour solo if it is later in the season (when I'm a bit stronger)

My question to those of you endurance mountain bikers....What type of endurance racing do you do? How often do you change your clothes? Have you ever done a 24 hour solo? and if so how often did you stop and rest? no sleeping, right? If you've done a 12 hour solo, did you stop and eat regular foods?



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Dar - you will appreciate this....(here are the results http://www.wemseries.com/2006_Stump_Farm..htm we were actually awarded with second, because they accidently forgot to count one of our laps...so we had 8 total)
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[rocknrollgirl]

I did my first endurance races this year. One 12 hour on a team of 4 chicks that I put together and one with my hubby. They were awesome. We are going to do the 12 hour as a team of two next year.

We did the 12 hour in a 14 hour rainstrorm, so I I did not bother changes clothes until about 3/4 of the way through because we were COVERED in mud. I just put a layer of fleece over the top to ward of hypothermia.

As far as food,I can't be too much help because I had time to eat. If I do any solo next year, I am going to try to eat real food, not just GU.

Not much good advice to offer but a hardy YEE HAA!!! Good for you!

[han-grrl]

Hey Madison grrl

I did my first 24 solo this past summer (a few weeks ago actually)

my plan was not to sleep at all, and keep going, when my laps go to 2.5 hours then i would have a forced stop. the laps were 16.5 km long.

i brought foods that sit well in the belly, stopping every lap for water, eload and a snack, and every 3 laps for something a little more substantial.

my snacks were: chips, powdered donuts, pop tarts, granola bars
my substantial foods were: plain pasta with oil and salt, perogies and baked potatoes with salt and oil.

i also brought some boost and some gels in case nothing went in.

what ended up happening:

every lap ate chips and fig newtons
after lap 3 had some pasta
after lap 6 had perogies.
realized after lap 8 needed a bit more food: had perogies and chicken bacon, chips and fig newtons and donuts. (yep). i was tired and i ended up sleeping for a couple of hours too.

finished lap 9 and 10 with some extra snacks.

my goal was 10, did ten, happy with ten. i wanted to do one more but my butt! ouch

as for shorts...well, i did change every 3 laps, but i still ended up with bad diaper rash. my last 2 laps i did wearing extra shorts because my butt was hurting pretty bad (yep) . one culprit was my saddle, although comfy, held in a lot of moisture.

i did an 8 hour enduro solo last summer, which is how i came up with this game plan to begin with. along with some advice from some experienced solo racers. my stomach did not bug me at all (which i am plagued with at races usually), my bike worked perfectly, and i met my goal. i would change my shorts more often, use the gold bond and try a saddle with less to it (so it doesn't hold as much moisture).

as for intensity, for my goal, just ride the course. that is what made it so fun! i wasn't pusing hard and just enjoyed the course. it got a little tough towards the end when i was fatigued but i walked what i needed to.

well that is my experience...

congrats on a great finish at your enduro!

han