24h

index.md

lwcoaching.com

• http://lwcoaching.com/executing-your-first-24-solo-part-1-nutrition/
• http://lwcoaching.com/executing-your-first-24-solo-part-2-lights/
• http://lwcoaching.com/executing-your-first-solo-part-3-pits-chammies-the-run/
• http://lwcoaching.com/executing-your-first-24-solo-part-4-pacing/
• http://lwcoaching.com/executing-your-first-24-solo-part-5-training/

lw_coaching_lights.md

Executing your first 24 solo, part 2 (lights)

by Dave

Pivvay (Chris) has done a great write-up on DIY LED lighting. It’s a bit of work and no guarantees you will have light out in the boonies, but check it out: http://slipangles.blogspot.com/2006/03/geek-this.html.

Yuri: How many lighting systems should I have and, do you wear a system on your helmet as well?

Dave: Great question. 24′s can be won and lost in the dark, trust me on this one. For starters, there’s a lot of info at MTBR on lights. There are so many choices out there…I encourage anyone reading this with different experiences to post a comment of favorite setups.

It depends on the style of riding and the course demands…but I generally prefer two light systems. On the bars I’ll have a bright wider beam light, and on my helmet a narrower spot beam. I like the helmet mounted light to be narrow and bright enough that it can throw light farther than the bar light. This is especially helpful if there are high speed sections on the course. At 24 Hours of Moab, for instance, there are some straight shot gradual descents that are rippin fast – if you have enough light, anyway (unless of course you just use the force).

Also, some types of lights seem better for certain types of terrain. For example, if it’s dark terrain, like high-country in the woods stuff, I prefer brighter light. If it’s desert terrain, like Moab, I like yellower light.

I wouldn’t consider any light system that I didn’t trust to run for about 3 hours. Also, the batteries must be able to charge up within the same time frame. This way, you can get by with 2 light systems and 4 batteries. This is what I’d consider the bare minimum – if you can beg, borrow or steal a couple of backup systems and/or batteries you’ll have more piece of mind. 24 hour events require a backup light source of some sort, and this requirement is satisfied by a second light. That is a great argument for two light systems. You can get the charging done by neutral support probably, depending on the type of systems and support offered, or you could do it yourself with a power inverter and your car battery. I’ve been doing the latter for years. The inverter can be found at Radio Shack. I can charge multiple batteries and run a low wattage shop light through the night, works a charm.

Here’s my setup:

Before the race, you’ll want to make sure you have it all dialed in. If you need a connecting wire from the bike mounted battery to the bar-mounted light, zip tie it in place…if you need an extension from the helmet mounted light to the battery, make sure you’ve got that worked out and it works. Sometimes long cords develop shorts at the worst possible times. I find that the routing of the wire from the helmet to battery is non-trivial, in particular. Good to have it figured out so it isn’t in the way on race day (night).

As a final note on night riding, take good care of your eyes. I can’t stress this one enough… Always wear eye protection, no matter how much it might feel good to go without (initially). The colder the temps, the more critical this becomes. Evolution, for example, has set up some deep water fish with mechanisms that keep the eyeballs at a constant 20-25C. It turns out that the “speed” of sight is greatly determined by eye temperature. I can tell you from personal experience, if you scratch your eyes with dust or whatever, then it gets cold, you are going to be so pissed as you crawl in your sleeping bag listening to the race carry on despite your temporary blindness.

So there you have it. Stay tuned for more rants and secrets.

lw_coaching_nutiriton.md

Executing your first 24 solo, part 1 (nutrition)

by Dave

A long time racing bud, Yuri, shot me an email the other day with a great set of questions on how to make his first 24 hour solo mountain bike race attempt a success. It seemed like a great thing to share here…so here we go. Don’t worry Yuri, I’ll send you a few top secret details off-line :)

First of all, Yuri has been racing a long time at a very high level. He’s already a hammer, and that’s a great place from which to launch your first 24 hour attempt. The following responses are geared towards a rider who is already fit, fast, and has a good bit of racing under their belt.

Yuri: First of all, I’ve only done a 24 hour event as part of a four man team, so I’ve never suffered for 24 hours straight by myself and I’m wondering if you have any nutritional secrets that will help me out? What is your favorite/most effective replenishing food? How were you feeding…did you take it on the run, or did you stop?

Dave: Do I have secrets…hell yea! I’m a blabber mouth though, so here we go.

Support: You didn’t ask about this…but your support at a 24 solo is the single largest factor for consideration. My teammate Lynda did her first 24 totally unsupported (the sicko finished 3rd), and for her second 24 did 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo this year with a killer support crew. She thinks support make a difference of about 3 laps in a race. 3 laps! Start dialing it in now.

On a SS, you might get by without a mechanic, but it’s still risky. A lot can happen in 24 hours. At the very least, you’ll want one dedicated, very patient individual. I’d suggest more because it is very hard on that one person to do it all. At OP Lynda and I shared pit; we had a professional mechanic and 4 support staff, 2 kids, and one dog. Dogs not needed…

Feeding: my normal feeding routine is pretty simple, and perhaps gross…in one back pocket I carry bananas already peeled and cut into 3 or 4 chunks. Easy to grab and I don’t tire of them. In another pocket is an eGel flask. Fluids are almost always EFS and water. I’ve used other drinks in the past, but can’t tolerate anything else for long periods. EFS is high in electrolytes so you won’t need additional supplementation unless it is really hot, or you are a heavy/salty sweater. As a general goal, I aim for 250-300 calories each hour. Eating that much is a challenge if your pace is too high – use that as one of your pacing gauges. No matter how fast you go, you’re still going in circles for 24 hours.

As the race progresses, the need for solid foods with a bit of fat becomes apparent. My favorites are salted mashed potatoes or tortilla, almond butter, and honey wraps again cut into chunks. At 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, Tinker was in the next pit – we saw him going for bite size snickers & oreos. You’ll probably want some variety in there – my taste buds were all over the map at the first couple of 24′s I did, and at one of them I was eating enormous amounts – most of it what Anna (my support guru) had brought for herself. Some riders need a lot more salt that can be obtained from drinks and will eat soups in the night. Ever look at the sodium content of a can of soup? It’s like eating 20 endurolytes.

For your first 24, I’d strongly recommend sitting down to eat at least twice during the race, once about 6-8 pm, and once about 4-7am. Not too much, and easy on the fats/proteins, something easily digested, but you’ll thank yourself later if you do. I never planned these breaks in my first attempts, but they became mandatory anyway. Planning them in will give you something to look forward to, and keep energy levels up. It should only take 10-15 minutes. One of my favorites is instant oatmeal (maple & brown sugar, oh yea), I can down one of those in 30 seconds at lap transitions…At 24 hours of Steamboat, I cracked so hard I darn near threw in the towel. 3 instant oatmeals, 4 advils, and a jug of coffee later I was a new man and soldiered on (at the coaxing of one very persistent crew member, Jen Murphy. She about kicked my a$$).

Most of the time, all this eating happens on the bike. I’ll have a table set up with some easily grabbed items in the pit to fill pockets and mouth.

There are some essential supplements in my 24 hour kit. I make sure to take in a little protein each lap. The research I’ve seen suggests that additional protein can mitigate muscle damage and also prevent/delay mental fatigue. If the temps are cool I’ll mix whey protein with OJ. If it’s hot I’ll mix it with V8 juice (the V8 provides a ton of electrolytes for the heat). If this secret gets out there is going to be a lot more competition this year… I use something with some zip in the night to help stay alert and keep the bike handling sharp. Things that have worked are coffee, yerba mate, and Red Bull. If you use caffeine, though, don’t get carried away – you can easily bonk on that stuff! The idea is just to keep bike handling sharp, not necessarily to hammer. More on that in pacing…

If it’s a really tight race and you want to drill the finish, you might try defizzed pepsi or coke, either watered down or full strength if you have water as well. That works well for me, and sometimes pepsi in the night will settle an unruly stomach. Not sure how something that can eat pennies settles a stomach, one of the great mysteries in life…

I find a small, 50 oz water filled camelback to be the trick for 24′s. 30 oz would probably be plenty big. I’ll also carry the EFS water bottle. Except for the first lap where I don’t have a camelback, I use that combo for the duration.

Don’t ask me why, though ;)

lw_coaching_pits.md

Executing your first solo, part 3 (pits, chammies, the run)

by Dave

Yuri: How long were your pit stops?

Dave: They’ve been all over the map. At 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, they varied between 0 and 5 minutes, probably averaged about 1-2 minutes – except for the 8 hour forced stop :( Moab was similar, quick stops throughout. Competition was really tight and strong; I was motivated to hustle them all on through.

Pit stop length seems to be something I’ve adapted to. I couldn’t do short pits in the first couple of events. I tried…but ended up stopping for 5-10 min through the night after 9pm or so, and really looked forward to the “every other lap” in the night when I switched out batteries, since it took a little longer.

For your first event, I’d strongly recommend taking a “relaxed” plan of attack. You want to keep the wheels rolling as much as possible, but it might be too costly to shoot for 2 min stops throughout the night. Have a good plan in place, then on race day be flexible and seek the flow.

Yuri: I know this one is a little more personal but, how many shammies/bike shorts did you go through? Did you rotate every few hours or did you just use one for the whole 24 hours? Any issues with chaffing, if so, any secrets for prevention…besides vasoline??

Dave: It depends on the race. If it’s a close one, I’ll go the whole 24 without a change. I think the perfect plan is to change twice during the race, every 8 hours. The first change could coincide with when you mount your lights, the second the am breakfast stop. To keep things pain free (well, sorta anyway) new chammies are key, and the kind that you know are uber comfortable. I started using performance bibs, not sure the make but they come from Italy…every 24 hour event gets a new pair of bibs. 24 solo events are so big, so epic – that I figure I just owe it to my nether regions. The other key is a saddle you know won’t rub you raw. I prefer the WTB lasers as the whale tail design spreads the pressure points over a wide area – but this is totally subjective. It all gets lubed up with Udderly Smooth udder cream – cheap and works better than anything else I’ve used, although it doesn’t have the menthol tingle of that expensive euro stuff.

Yuri: Now, I read your blurb about the run….how important do you think it is to be in good position on the run? I don’t think that Laguna Seca bottlenecks too bad at the beginning, so there will be time to bring people back. How do the other solo riders approach the run?

At 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo last year I dawdled the run and got completely bottlenecked in traffic. My first lap was about 25 minutes slower than the second. This year I was on a mission, and getting bottlenecked wasn’t part of the plan. It takes a few races to get a feel for how you’ll respond, and with each race confidence improves, allowing more aggressive pacing. However, for the first one, the position of the run is absolutely meaningless. You could walk it and it just wouldn’t matter, especially on a course that doesn’t bottleneck. For example, last year at Steamboat I was pretty much dead last on the run. Didn’t expend any effort at all, yet it certainly didn’t affect the results. In fact, there are some potential pitfalls of an aggresive run. First of all, it will put you with the front-runners, which may motivate you ride harder than you should. The second point – if you aren’t accustomed to running, you can do muscle damage in the first 60 seconds of the race that will haunt you the rest of the race.

Most solo riders take the run nice and easy. The exception would be the contenders. Even then, the race is not won in the first 400 yards ;) ———————————

Next up: pacing, then training.