Sani2c Non Stop - any tips

[dirtrider]

Not even BigBen could get me going again !!!

[Tumbleweed]

 you're giving too much away! couldn't you blame it on the weather?

[TitusTi]

Long races like this are cool! The nice thing about the 24 hour cutoff (point to point type race) is you can start relatively hard because everyone slows down to about the same pace eventually, and the faster you go the faster it's over. Eat alot in the first 3 hours becasue you won't be able to eat much later. Try to not use your brakes and pedal as efficiently as possible.

[Imtb]

Hi Titus - have you done a few of these races - interested in the starting fast bit Imtb2007-10-29 04:18:34

[Tumbleweed]

Long races like this are cool! The nice thing about the 24 hour cutoff (point to point type race) is you can start relatively hard because everyone slows down to about the same pace eventually' date=' and the faster you go the faster it's over. Eat alot in the first 3 hours becasue you won't be able to eat much later. Try to not use your brakes and pedal as efficiently as possible.[/quote']

 

minty told me about the braking thing, which made a lot of sense, and it went really well when i took the ss (with new gear ratio) to groenkloof yesterday. didn't have to get out of the saddle to get back up to speed after cornering through the singletrack. by dropping off a coupla kays from my usual pace, i felt i'd put a lot less effort in.

 

climbing is still a bane though  

[Imtb]

I guess if you go fast for too long, the faster you are likely to bonk. Why can't you eat after 3 hours?

[TitusTi]

24 hour racing is an odd animal, I like to think I know what I'm talking about as I've done quite a few now but everytime I do 1 I learn a whole bucket load more about myself and about what works and what doesn't work. The eat as much as possible thing comes down to the fact that I personally can't eat quite as much as I could or should after the first 3 hours, this doesn't work if it's hot though.

As to going fast for a long period of time, there is only so long you can go fast for, after that you just can't do it, the cool thing is the drop off rate is very similar for most people (it works out to around about 25%).

HR - the course in Jo'burg is a bit of an exception though, there aren't many places where you can save alot of energy by maintaining your speed because you have to pedal alot anyway.

The one climb is stepped as well, so that's gonna hurt your legs.

Another tip, don't stop at night, the hardest part of your race will be getting up from your chair onto your saddle. It'll be against your very being, you have to fight this.

[dirtrider]

Cycle through the night !! Do you use anything special for your night cycling (not a light !!) . i.e drink Redbulls or chew your finger nails ?

[Imtb]

So when you start fast for a 15 hour mtb race - how long would you look at keeping that pace. What sort of heart rate are we talking. I think it sounds logical - most riders will start really slowly - probably slower than they should. Rather start quicker and then ride the pace they will be rding any way?Imtb2007-10-29 04:54:50

[Imtb]

Cycle through the night !! Do you use anything special for your night cycling (not a light !!) . i.e drink Redbulls or chew your finger nails ?

 

The Red Bull is for that last 40 minute...to stay awake and finish!

[TitusTi]

For the proper 24 hour races I keep the red bulls for the last 3-4 hours, then you drink them in a water bottle mixed with water.

[TitusTi]

So when you start fast for a 15 hour mtb race - how long would you look at keeping that pace. What sort of heart rate are we talking. I think it sounds logical - most riders will start really slowly - probably slower than they should. Rather start quicker and then ride the pace they will be rding any way?

 

For the first 6-7 hours I try to keep it under 85% after that it won't go up very much anyway, so heart rate data becomes totally irrelevant.

[mrmed]

There's a seminar on exactly this at the HPC at Pretoria University on 10th November 2007. If you PM me I can send you the details.

[Sean Badenhorst]

With my current workload, I get excited about riding for 2.4 hours, so won't offer you any advice. However, I strongly recommend you take TitusTi's advice. He's too modest to tell you that he's the reigning SA 24-hour MTB champion and finished something like 12th at the 2006 World 24-hour champs in the US with far less support/back-up that most of his rivals. So it's obvious he knows what he's talking about...