132k in a day. Fitness is looking good now and working up to the day – so what else? On my list I’ve got hydro tabs on the camelbak, high 5 2:1 in a water bottle, emergency gels, fig rolls and a round or two of Obree style jam sarnies plus the usual spares.

What other tips can you give me for the day?

Tunnocks
Soreen
Haribo

its not that far 😉 On your own? music?

big night on the lash the night before.. 😉

I did 100k today and was fuelled by water, soreen and a jam sandwich. 🙂

Best thing though was the benefit of a good nights sleep. THE most important thing i reckon.

Ok. I’m looking for sub 8 hours also. Nothing special like 60psi in the tyres etc? Or just get on the bike and ride?

Cut your toenails. Seriously.

Plus 1 for sleep

Assos creme.

Spare pair of shorts.
Antiseptic wipes.
Small tub of Sudocrem.

How about taking your blood sugers and heart rate over say, a 130km ride, and chart them out on some graphs. You should then be able to map out your refueling slots for MAXIMUM efficiency. You could also check you hr zones and work out when you to breath more or put down more power. It may be useful to over lay this over a map of the terrain, so you can see how your hr zones stack up. I would also recommend cramping a massive poo off before you start. On reflection only one of these things may be of use, but i get the feeling you would enjoy them all.

There’s always one arsehole eh.

It’s usually me 😕

Consider yourself not required tonight Rorschach…. 😀

Get used to eating on the move – you’ll save loads of time. A tri-bag, like the Topeak one, will help.

+1 for a good nights sleep.
My kids are ill at the moment and I had a crap nights sleep last night.
I felt terrible out on the bike today and bailed after an hour.

God, never tease a hand wringer, eh.

I always take a pack if nurofen on a big ride for sore knees or headaches.

find something really nice to have when you are finished….

Where you riding what terrain?

This is the Bucks off Road Sportive so its the Chilterns ktmblag.

I did that a few years ago. It’s a great ride in the dry. Let’s not talk about what it’s like in the wet! Best advice I had was to cut up energy bars of choice (cliff bars for me), stick ’em in an easy to get to bag and eat a chunk every 20 minutes. Last hour or so go for a gel or two to get you over the line. I had an energy drink before but stuck with water on the ride.

It was only five hours tho so might not be totally relavent, but first time I hadn’t ended up mostly dead near the end.

Flowers for the Mrs

A month or two of growth hormone works wonders.

Packet of cleanex.
Multiple uses.
Emergency wound dressing.
Handy if you get caught short and need a wild poo.
Useful wipe if you find hedge porn in singletrack.
Cleaning hands after a mechanical.
Can be used to wipe your nose.

So that’s about 82 miles right? I’d seriously consider ditching the camelbak, especially for carrying water, I bought a bontrager double bottle carrier that fits to the back of the saddle, easy access on the move, getting the bottles in comes with a bit of practice. I would also tape gels to the top tube, take too many. I ran out of food after 12 hours in the saddle, your mood can get very dark and you feel very disorientated.

Good luck.

stick with camlbak easy to hydrate. I would watch the energy drinks and gels you can take too much and they de-hydrate you. If I take gels and bars I just have water in camlbak. But you must have enough food. I have tri bag on top bar, I have salt and vinger sandwhichs as my fav treat for 12 – 24 hour solo stuff its my big treat.

I never use water bottles on MTB because if you have been on any long enduros over even modest terrain you find the bottles have bounced out and the rider has lost his hydration.

Weight
Save weight get rid of junk. You need tyre repair and trail tool and chain link. Anything else is junk. I also work out where the water stops are and how much I need between the stages and fill accordingly. A litre water = 1kg so if you only need a litre between stops only load a litre. Get fit and slim down will save most weight.

132k in a day

Seriously, why?

Wont such prolonged over-exercise leave permanent scarring on your heart?

Same as on the Monday after a heavy weekends riding you wouldn’t commute by bike to work?

take a good book to read…it’s a really dull route 😕

Have to agree with twodogs – but a good training ride

Thanks, some good stuff here.

I’ve some zipfit energy wine gums which I’ll tape to the bike and munch on route, and my c/bak is light weight (Charge LR)but I’ll remove unecessary stuff. Its a 2L resevoir so I’ll stick 1.5 in it and top it up at the midway feed stop.

Against my better judgement (becuase I’m a wuss) I’m taking the light (22lb) hardtail rather than the confortable full suss, with the weather as is probably with Ralphs on.

Why am I doing it? Becuase I can, and becuase its the furthest I’ve ridden on an MTB so why not eh?

I’m on / have been fitness training, extending my road rides to 100k+ over the next few weekends, evening HIIT’s and as of this week (hooray for the weather) some lunchtime MTB sessions. I ride quite regularly anyway.

Spare pair of shorts.
Antiseptic wipes.
Small tub of Sudocrem.

For 80 miles, are you serious? What sort of terrain is it? Can you buy supplies en route or do you need to take everything with you?

But bike sorted, don’t put anything brand new on the bike, don’t wear anything new, eat/drink little and often, and thats about it really.

I’d be looking to take some energy in every 30 minutes after the first 60 minutes. So gel, bit of energy bar at 60 minutes, then something every 30 minutes thereafter.

I find the problem with things like this is that as much of it is not technical, you are sat in one position for a long time that and the long miles means that any little thing like seatpost being 1cm too high or suchlike can have an effect and you end up with the those niggly pains in knee of elsewhere. So i’d say make sure you are 100% about contact points with the bike and where your best padded shorts!

I find the problem with things like this is that as much of it is not technical, you are sat in one position for a long time that and the long miles means that any little thing like seatpost being 1cm too high or suchlike can have an effect and you end up with the those niggly pains in knee of elsewhere. So i’d say make sure you are 100% about contact points with the bike and where your best padded shorts!

This is why I am doing long road rides indispersed with MTB on the intended bike. Nothing’s changed/will change on the bike, and I shall be wearing my most comfy Bibs under….

I did this a couple of years ago. I think the long route took me about 7 hours, although I was dragging my wife around too. The one thing I remember was all the hills are in the long route extension, the bit at the start and end are fairly flat. Also the distance between the 1st and 2nd drinks station felt like a very long way. The 1st food stop had loads of drinks and cakes, by the time we got to the 2nd one there wasn’t much left, as the riders on the shorter routes had got there before us. We had carried some food with us so wasn’t an issue, but could be if you were relying on food stations.

If it is dry fast rolling tyres are definitely the best choice. If you can downland a file of the route and put it on a Garmin, that helps massively if any signs go missing. I would go with a lightweight hard tail, rather than full suss.

Take different types of food so that you can eat what you feel like eating.

I don’t bother with all the sports-specific products and just take a mix of: chocolatey things (e.g. mars), sugary things (e.g. jelly beans), savoury things (e.g. oat cakes, torilla chips), and cakey things (e.g. malt loaf). Maybe not all of those unless it’s multi-day, but you get the idea. Having food that you don’t want to eat is no good at all.

I don’t know the exact route you’ll be on but Chilterns are great for slashing tyres so make sure you can repair them.

Sounds like fun, where you riding to?

Wont such prolonged over-exercise leave permanent scarring on your heart?

Eh? He’s doing 82 miles. People do the South Downs in a Day and that’s about100miles, they don’t need a heart transplant after.

Dried figs, apricots and dates are nice don’t give you that sicky feeling gels and bars do. Takes some salty nuts as well.

Hmm, tyres get slashed? I have non snakeskin ralphs, probably best to get some snakeskin ralph / rons then?

eyeride it – must catch up soon – epping must be rideable by now!

racing ralphs – your gona die