First 12 hour.....what to do, what to do

E

extreme_dog

Likes Bikes
Firstly noob alert. I'm doing my first 12 hour in 3 weeks time and have no idea how to tackle it? I don't want to blow up but don't want to not have a decent crack. Food and drink wise I've got sussed (I think). How much should I rest and still have freshish legs. I do realize there's a fair bit of suck it and see but any hints tips or past threads would be greatly appreciated. Ps someone tell my wife I need a new bike for the event, doubt my alias will cut it!
 
harmonix1234

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
If it's three weeks away, try doing a 6 hour this weekend.
Don't go full pace, but push yourself a little at the end of each hour and then wind down into the start of your next hour. No stopping unless for mechanical reasons, or unless you cannot eat on the fly.
By the sixth hour you will have a pretty good sense of how much you have in the tank and how hard you went.
This will help you get a bit of a grip on your stamina.
If you finish with a fair bit of juice in the tank then you can afford to go roughly as hard as you did on the six hour as you will be able to have breaks and freshen up here and there.
If you felt like you were really flaky at the end of the six hour then you know that you will need some proper rest between long stints.

I have never raced 12 hours, but I regularly do a day road ride which starts at 3am and I get home around 4 or 5pm, and that's how I learned to pace myself.
 
quiggs

quiggs

Likes Dirt
Not knowing what you have achieved in the past is difficult to give solid info on. But if its your first crack at a real enduro. Set out a simple race plan, with some flexibility inolved, food intake is vital in the first 4-6hrs maybe sit and eat after around the 6-7hr mark throw some new knicks and socks on. Enjoy, really work out the track where you can eat/drink every lap, where you can coast and save energy and where you ned to push. Sometimes those shitty pinch climbs are better climbed in a bigger gear, sometimes the steep ones are better covered walking to save energy and at times can be quicker.

Will be you feel fresh at the end of the 12hrs unlikely and for me after every 12hr l have done I wonder how the hell I double that and do 24hrs??

hope this helps

quiggs
 
L

Larabeemax

Likes Bikes
Good advice

Good advice Quiggs - look forward to seeing more detailed stuff on your race report when you finally get around to it...
 
DaGonz

DaGonz

Eats Squid
quiggs said:
Not knowing what you have achieved in the past is difficult to give solid info on.
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Indeed... I'd dare say you should do three things as a priority between now and then:

* Google blogs and forums, and search this forum or perhaps MTBR.com. there's a tonne of information on the web these days that wasn't available 4 or 5 years ago

* Try and figure out your "Lactate Threshold" or annarobic threshold or whatever they call it these days (if you don't know it already). Knock 10% off that, try not to go above that during the race.

* Try to figure out your sweat rate. Try to Hydrate based on that. 12hrs you really need to make sure you've hydrated properly in the first 6-8hrs or you'll have major stomach digestion issues (among other things) in the last 2-4 hours. I wish someone had suggested this to me in my first few years of racing...

You should be able to google above (or search this forum) for how to do both of the above. There are a tonne of threads here though, you just need to search around a bit...

*shrug*

Cheers
Spoonie
 
B

Boreit

Likes Dirt
for me the most important & hardest lesson have learnt from going out & doing these longer enduro's is ensuring your bike setup is spot on. highly recommend getting someone that has some sort of real world credentials to perform a bike fit. you dont want to be struggling with a knee injury for months just because your seat height was out of wack bla bla. you might get away with a dodgy bike fit while riding 1/2/3/4 etc hours. start cranking out some longer seat time & the body ability to compensate is compromised.... recommend www.bodymechanic.com.au ,

moral of the story is don't wait till it is too late.
 
2be

2be

Likes Bikes
Be confident in your physical ability, make sure your bike is sound, the most obscure things can fail. Most of all be prepared for the mental challenge, at times it seems those voices in your head are going to win. Most importantly eat and just keep going.
 
rearviewmirror

rearviewmirror

Likes Dirt
My advice is to ride your race, have a plan for a pace that you can sustain for 12 hours. Don't get caught up in racing people on the trail, for all you know they're on a 2-man or 4-man team. If you know you can ride at a certain HR or speed for 12 full hours stick to that like clockwork, and make sure you eat and drink sufficiently. If you moderate your output and take in food/drink properly you'll find that a solo 12 hour will a breeze.
 
D

dyon

Likes Bikes
Make sure you have some good mental motivation to push on to the end of the race.

I did the Gravity 12hr on the weekend and while I'd trained for a few months for a 24hr a month ago I didn't have any real goals for the 12hr other than to make the most of my training. After about 5 or 6 hours I just wanted to pull the plug and sit down. I didn't have a support crew* so I didn't feel that I would be letting anyone down. During the afternoon I found myself hoping for a catastrophic bike failure so I could just stop. Luckily I managed to push on until the end and the buzz from finishing was totally worth it.

Also, I can highly recommend taking a spare bike. I lost some time with a couple of mechanicals that also dropped me a place which was a bit disappointing.

* Not quite true, I had a great group of friends who were filling my bottles and who did some quick bike-fixing, but they were there to do their own race not as my support crew.
 
quiggs

quiggs

Likes Dirt
dyon said:
Make sure you have some good mental motivation to push on to the end of the race.

I did the Gravity 12hr on the weekend and while I'd trained for a few months for a 24hr a month ago I didn't have any real goals for the 12hr other than to make the most of my training. After about 5 or 6 hours I just wanted to pull the plug and sit down. I didn't have a support crew* so I didn't feel that I would be letting anyone down. During the afternoon I found myself hoping for a catastrophic bike failure so I could just stop. Luckily I managed to push on until the end and the buzz from finishing was totally worth it.

Also, I can highly recommend taking a spare bike. I lost some time with a couple of mechanicals that also dropped me a place which was a bit disappointing.

* Not quite true, I had a great group of friends who were filling my bottles and who did some quick bike-fixing, but they were there to do their own race not as my support crew.
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I wish you did pull the pin it would have been nice to finish one spot higher!!!!

:p

quiggs
 
quiggs

quiggs

Likes Dirt
dyon said:
Next time get your support crew to offer me a cold beverage and a comfy chair and I'll probably accept ;)
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Your on! only problem is if I see you sitting enjoying a cold bevvy I'm a big chance to sit also and enjoy a cold refreshment also
 
E

extreme_dog

Likes Bikes
Thanks for the tips one and all, I've done a bit more research and based on my last 100km enduro time (7hrs 45mins, ie SLOW) I'll plod along and see how I'm feeling each hour.
 
C

C Dunlop

Likes Dirt
nice.

Given that you're asking about the basics, i'd just go out plodding and try to keep going.

Don't complicate things, 280 cal/hr. Perpetuem is your friend, as is some kind of low sugar magnesium drink (not the ones you get in supermarkets that start in "S" and end in "taminade" - too much simple sugar)
 
E

extreme_dog

Likes Bikes
C Dunlop said:
nice.

Given that you're asking about the basics, i'd just go out plodding and try to keep going.

Don't complicate things, 280 cal/hr. Perpetuem is your friend, as is some kind of low sugar magnesium drink (not the ones you get in supermarkets that start in "S" and end in "taminade" - too much simple sugar)
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, I'll check them out and that's my plan, go (slowly) until I stop.
A slight aside, but how many peeps tackle a 12 or 24 on a hardtail? It's what I plan to take but comfort wise over 12 hours how much would riding a hardtail contribute to fatigue?
 
C

C Dunlop

Likes Dirt
If you have a dually you're probably better off on it. If not, there are heaps of people who've ridden 12/24hr races on hardtails, as well as rigid bikes.
 
E

extreme_dog

Likes Bikes
Well the 12 hour is done and dusted (strong emphasis on the dust bit) and I'm pretty worse for wear but glad I did it. Things I've learnt: need to do more training, lots more. I got lapped so many times. Only did 105kms (6 laps) ad it destroyed me. Want a new bike the alias just doesn't cut it, although it has never had a mechanical. Night riding is freakin awesome too very different. That's my two bobs anyway. More training and start scrimping for a new ride.
 
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