I entered the Bontrager 24hr race down in Plymouth in July, as a solo.

Now is this a stupid idea, moment of madness or will this be the end of me?

Now i havent raced for about 15 years, however i am fairly fit (and have 7 months to train)

Now does anybody have any advise or bits of information about preparing and training for said even (or generally 24hr solo bike racing)

Got two Pit bitches sorted as well as a large tent for base, so thats a start…

Have 7 months to get physically and mentally ready… I am used to not sleeping or not getting much as i have two young kids…

So help me!!!

It’s a fun event, so even if you don’t ride the full 24hrs you’ll have a good weekend.

2 years ago i sat on the sofa a little tipsy on dec 25th and entered. i did alright.

there are 3 parts to training/ preparation

you
fuel
bike/kit

make sure all 3 are ready before the race. whilst you are busy riding lots getting ready for the race day, make sure you sort out the bike (don’t change tyres on the morning) or wear brand new shorts, work out what you like to eat, what you like to drink and what you don’t.

do this and the rest will come easy(ish) 😉

As said, a very social event.

This year was very hard going in the mud fest, if great fun at night.

Knee deep mud one year, dry and dusty the next. The same event but very different.
IME unless you ride over twelve hours on a regular basis, you might have a few surprises in store…..mine crippling stomach acid, that burns for weeks afterwards.

No, great idea!

It’s exactly what I did this year. Finished 14th…

http://www.cyclistno1.co.uk/features/racing/amateur-racing-mtb-marathons-part1.htm

Gary,

thanks for that link. Will have a proper read later (booked marked for future help)

Sounds like you had some bad luck there with illness…. Glad you got over it.

My best solo was my first, solo’s number 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 all got worse. What I’m saying is make the most of the first one, really capture that freshness.
Though I’m sure having helpers will err help, never had a helper and often fell asleep whilst heating up food etc.
I hste to go on about the weather, but it makes a huge difference. You only need to see hoe many tents have gone when you return from a wet lap.
I’d love to do another, but I know I would crack if it all got too hard, or if it poured down….weak you see.

Dekerf – no worries, and feel free to drop me whenever.

Although very much an amateur, I did it like a pro in terms of kit and support. But the one thing that made a difference was having a well drilled crew that genuinely gave a shit about how I did and took care of worrying about things like food and drink.

I literally just did what I was told and kept pedalling.

Don’t be too proud to resort to mud guards and waterproof shorts!

Gary is right. I did a solo 12 with great helpers and I didn’t get off the bike to eat wee or for maintenance. I recall been handed a bowl of pasta by one person, another lifted my rear wheel and another sorted crud from my mech, helps so much.

With that starting point you should win it!

My mate Craig won the Solo24 at Bonty this year with pretty much the same starting point. Talented racer back in the day, just riding occasionally as time allowed for fun these days, decided to enter and fitted the training in around his long hours office job and 2 kids.

I’d say a good back up crew is pretty essential if you want to do well rather than finish, we had 4 in our crew looking after him, all (!) he had to do was pedal and drink, we sorted everything else.

He must have motivated a few people because most of his crew want to ride the 24hr themselves this year, 2 of them very much novices.

Good luck.

Yeah Craig played a blinder although I think you might be playing down how fit he must have been to begin with as it was a very credible performance!