fatcyclist Posted November 24, 2008 Posted November 24, 2008 The royalties are on the way mate! Oh and it beats doing drugs to win Or to finish with the pack and use your bond money.....Easton Tempest II's - R15 000Continental Tubby's - R2000Powertap - R 9000Stroke at age 40 because you needed the drugs to win PPA's R300 prizemoney - Priceless
Brighter-Lights Posted November 24, 2008 Posted November 24, 2008 If it's your first 24hr there's much more to than to learn to suffer. Wiesenhof is a tough course, it's hard on your body. 2008 Wiesenhof was my first try at the 24hr thing. I had flue 2 weeks before the event, an injured knee, and still decided to go... totally inexperienced and uneducated. Started waaaay to fast and chose to ride a hardtail.... got so sick after 10 hours that I just called it a day and went home... Big lesson learned for someone who drove 800km to the race. There's lots of great info on the web... many top XC riders did extremely well in 24hr solo's in the past, even though they didn't follow a specific 24hr training program... but they did lots of high intensity work and had WC XC type power... It all depends on whether you plan to ride the race competitively, or if you want to finish the race. Besides getting used to suffering and being fit...the most crucial element will be to dial in your hydration and nutrition on the bike. You've got 8 weeks to experiment and choose what works, and what you like. Training for ultra events becomes more than just riding, you have to study the science behind your body's operation, and then keep track of what you took in food/drink wise, and how you felt/performed on that day. Doing this a few times you quickly learn and remember what works for you and soon it becomes natural. It's not neccessarry to do lots of 10 or 12 hour long rides, but getting your VO2max and thresold high is key... then a few long rides to test your eating plan. In preparation for Omni-Motion I did 2x 9 to 10 hour rides in a local plantation - only to fine tune nutrition. I marked a 17km loop with 471m vertical per loop - that's 2770m per 100km... much tougher than any 24hr course here... My advice: Thinking riding 24hr solo is a big deal? Logistics are an even bigger deal. Start making lists and check equipment long before the event...be prepared for the financial side of things... a 12 hour training ride can easily cost you R500 with some nuts, biltong, carb drink, petrol to the forest, etc. Start preparing some friends to be your support crew now already... supporting a solo rider for 24hr is a tough job for one person... take a few friends who you can trust and who know how to encourage you and support you when you're hating life. Do some upper-body workouts. After hours of riding those roots EVERYTHING will hurt. Focus on recovery after hard sessions on the bike... you don't always have to ride to become faster... pushups, stretching a lot on those off days... The most important.. PACE yourself...learn to pace yourself in training... ride with slower riders to keep the pace down... A 24hr start can be XC like and many of those fast starters will pull out after a few hours (like I did in Wiesenhoff 2008) Ride singletrack... Wiesenhoff caught me off guard because I mostly ride on gravel roads... Set high goals and slowly work towards them. Train your mind to visualize negative events and cope with them in your mind before they happen. Search the web, read the pro's blogs, get tips from them and try them in training... many work, some don't... What is your fitness like? How often do you race? You can do a lot in 8weeks, and your final form will depend much on where you currentlyis... Hard to tell you what to do exactly, because it works for me and might not work for you. In the past 2 months I've done a 300km 3 day race. I did a few marathons and XC's. My training didn't change much from the norm which is high intensity work and 2 hours rides every second day... then I started working towards a fast 24hr solo race and increased my rides to 3 and 4 hours with 5 and 7 hours some weekends... I still pushed myself at max at some points during these rides... Then one 9 hour ride of 140km and 3880m on a 17km loop with my car as support station and stopped every 2 hours for refill and food. Then 10 days later beat Shan Wilson and John Lee in Mondi 85km for 4th with Max Knox 6 mins ahead of me...(me riding full suspension) my average HR was 180bpm for 3:39:15 with 62% of time above 180... (just to give you an idea of what I was capable of before I started reaching towards longer workouts at lower intensity. (which at thresold is not easy at all) Since then... another 10 hour ride at Thresold and shorter harder rides in between, but less all out effort now...more recovery and spinning and the occasional sprint up a hill... Taparing now and can ride all day at AVG 140HR, but most noticably is my power increase at Thresold... where I would average (offroad) 27km/h all out effort, I do 24.5km/h now at 140 to 150 HR.... Thats just what I do... by reading the blogs most guys still does lots and lots of high intensity workouts with long rides thrown in now and then... Good luck! Listen to your body...Jo Gerber
Velouria Posted November 24, 2008 Posted November 24, 2008 Slightly OT: peanut butter and honey sandwiches carried me through the 24hrs of MoabI once tried it without the honey, and I couldn't swallow the damn sandwiches...
Guest colonel Posted November 24, 2008 Posted November 24, 2008 Slightly OT: peanut butter and honey sandwiches carried me through the 24hrs of MoabI once tried it without the honey' date=' and I couldn't swallow the damn sandwiches... [/quote'] Ya and on that note next time stay left......
nellie Posted November 24, 2008 Posted November 24, 2008 The royalties are on the way mate! Oh and it beats doing drugs to win Or to finish with the pack and use your bond money..... Easton Tempest II's - R15 000 Continental Tubby's - R2000Powertap - R 9000Stroke at age 40 because you needed the drugs to win PPA's R300 prizemoney - Priceless
APJ88 Posted November 24, 2008 Posted November 24, 2008 i came 3rd in 2007, i did it straight after 2months of base training, only tip i can give is eat and drink regulary, and you will get saddle sore after 4-6 hours, doesnt matter how much cream or how amazing your bibs are, it makes you hard though!, my gameplan was to get as much as possible labs in, and then rest, i didnt sleep at all, but didnt have to chase the next day, i just defended my position, you dont want to chase someone when you have nothing left!!! GOOD LUCK!
Yang Posted November 24, 2008 Posted November 24, 2008 Yoh!! Brighter-Lights, you hot shot. Reading your post made me realize that my suffering during my training is wimpish, and I can do a lot more if I want. Thanks for an amazing post.
Velouria Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 Slightly OT: peanut butter and honey sandwiches carried me through the 24hrs of MoabI once tried it without the honey' date=' and I couldn't swallow the damn sandwiches... [/quote'] ?Ya and on that note next time stay left...... Why - you learned to ride a MTB???
Guest colonel Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 No not atall thats why Im saying for safety sakes please keep left!!!
Velouria Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 No not atall thats why Im saying for safety sakes please keep left!!!But I prefer to pass on the right...
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