Solo mountain bike lap racing for 24 hours straight. Sounds grim, right? There are so many things to think about in a race like this, on the day anything is possible but if you prepare yourself well enough.
What happened in 2017
Pedalling time: 15 hours
Laps: 27
Overall position: 3rd
Lap distance 10 kilometres
After seven hours none stop I pulled in for much needed 90 minute snooze, but slept for 2 hour sleep, got back on the bike just after 7 pm and continued up until 2 am, riding into 1st place overall which was a huge effort, again I pulled in to grab another 90 minute snooze and ended up sleeping for 4 hours. Between 6 am and 9:45 am I paced myself back onto the podium tying with second place rider and 6 laps behind the first place rider.
What I did differently in 2018
Sleep - I have always had issues with sleeping, I bulked up on the sleep 7 days before the race.
Arrived well rested and stuck the pacing strategy,
Limited all options, no comfort, no sleeping bag, tent or chair.
Nutrition - simple peanut butter sandwiches, I had a fuel bag strapped to the top tube this year, easier to feed from top tube than from jersey pocket.
Use Garmin 520 instead of 500 - 520 can be charged while in use.
Shoes - slightly bigger.
Goals
Aim to do between 35 minutes to 40 minutes per lap.
Aim to complete 4 laps every 3 hours.
Stop every 3rd hour to refuel.
Consume 700kj within every hour.
Drink a Redbull at 10 pm, 1 am, 4 am and 7 am.
Complete 30 to 35 laps in total.
Pacing
Ultra-endurance cycling is all about doing the ordinary extraordinary well, it is about pacing and spending just the right amount of energy.
10 am to 1 pm: zone 2 mostly and some efforts in zone 3 heart rate
1 pm to 4 pm: zone 2 mostly and some efforts in zone 3-4 heart rate
4 pm to 7 pm: zone 2 mostly and some efforts in zone 3-4 heart rate
7 pm to 10 pm: zone 2 heart rate only
10 pm to 1 am: zone 2 heart rate only
1 am to 4 am: zone 2 heart rate only
4 am to 7 am: zone 2 mostly and some efforts in zone 3 heart rate.
7 am to 10 am: zone 2-3 and some efforts in zone 4 heart rate.
2018 result - 2nd place, 31 laps
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That is it, thank you for reading, I hope you found it to be a useful resource. Questions, comments and high fives? Drop them here.