[Closed] 12hr training

If you can do progressively longer rides on the bike you use ending at 8hrs then if you're comfortable and well hydrated/fed at the end of that you'll be fine for 12 IF you manage your pacing well.

As above, it's all about pacing and nutrition, that and having the mental fortitude to do the same thing again and again and keep a lid on the pace

Find foods that you can eat easily and agree with you. Test them before the day. Make sure you include savoury. Pedalling is only half the story. No food and drink, no go. Simples!

Im hoping for a little further, but much flatter 😉

As already said, extend your existing rides. But make sure you are drinking and eating regularly.

Also see if you can book in other training rides, South Downs Way for example. This is a hilly 110 mile ride, not overly technical but will give you an opportunity to spend time in the saddle while under no race pressure.

Other training rides are available depending where you live, there's the quantocks if getting further South West is easier, or also the Trans Cambrian Way. The Trans Cambrian may give you the opportunity to build up slower, so 60 miles per day for example - give you the chance to get used to 7 hours in the saddle.

I prefer the type ride I mentioned as I find them less boring than trying to do loops of the local woods/trails. The big skies just give an alternative view.

So no ones doing hill repeats or owt like that. Just plenty of miles on long runs riding nice and economically?

I'd be looking to factor in a couple of interval sessions per week with a focus on building your FTP. You don't need lots of top-end for a mountain bike solo as you'll mostly be riding well below threshold - or blowing to pieces. If you can up your FTP - functional threshold power - you'll be able to put out proportionately more power at the lower levels you will be riding at.

To be fair, I finished top ten in the 12-hour solo at 24/12 a few years ago on the back of simply doing a lot of mostly hilly Peak District riding, but with hindsight, I suspect a fair bit of that hilly stuff effectively was around the right level to build FTP, so I may have inadvertently done that. Think riding the climbs pretty hard rather than just cruising everywhere. A power meter or smart trainer would make that a lot more specific though.

Ultimately I guess it depends on how serious you are about it, how much time you have and what resources. I think my approach these days with access to a smart trainer and stuff like the Sufferfest videos would be slightly different to what I did a few years back.

Simply riding a lot at a steady pace and getting the fuelling right - try stuff on training rides not for the first time on race day - will get you round just fine, if you want to be competitive, you need to factor in some more intensity along with the endurance stuff, all imho etc.

The OP mentioned doing it in a couple of years. My view is that hill repeats and intervals whilst useful are going to be more beneficial nearer the time.

The OP currently does 60 miles a week, personally I think this needs to increase. Maybe nearer the time (6-8 months out) I'd focus on intervals and hill repeats during the week while also keeping up regular long steady rides.

Horses for courses, but FTP increase is not useful in a 12 hour or 24 hour race if you have limited endurance. My FTP isn't great (approx. 265 watts for a 67kg rider) - but I can comfortably ride for 12 hours at a decent pace on a hilly course.  If I worked on increasing my FTP I'm not sure this will make me any quicker on very long hilly rides.

Just throwing an unscientific poll of one user - when I focused on racing flat crits I had my highest FTP and this was great for one hour rides. But I honestly didn't feel that fit for my long distance bikepacking rides. I would say I'm now better at endurance riding than a few years ago when I was focusing on my FTP and racing (only a cat 3 roadie). I also think I would get spanked back in the crits.

I'd also worry about burn out, hill repeats 2 years before an event plus HIIT - I know we are all different but that would be a bit brain numbing. Nice long rides, enjoy yourself for now. Nearer the event when you have built a strong endurance level then start adding in the HIIT sessions. Only my advice for what works with me. YMMV.

The OP mentioned doing it in a couple of years

I think you've misunderstood. The OP hasn't done it for a couple of years, but is intending to do it again soon.

The OP mentioned doing it in a couple of years.

I think you've misconstrued his post. I think he's saying he's doing 24/12 for the first time in recent years - paraphrased - rather than 'in a few years time', though I guess I may have got that wrong.

As far as increasing FTP goes, I'd suggest doing that at the same time as some long, endurance-orientated rides makes sense. Its not one or the other after all. I wasn't suggesting he spend all his training time on hill repeats or threshold intervals, just chuck in a couple of one hour sessions a week.

It's like beer and chocolate. You don't have to have one or the other, you can eat both.

But I think you've misinterpreted what he said about timings. Unless I have.

Your correct - it’s in 12 weeks time.

I did I think 8 years ago, came 39th out if 58 or so with 7 laps down. Which felt quite impressive at the time but is a very average effort.

I’ve just gone up a category and i’d like to beat that result. Think it should be possible.

just a question of training right!

I would suggest riding as much as you can and as hard as you can when you feel good. Long rides over say 5 or 6 hours wont aid fitness much but you need to do a few to practise fueling and get the feel for it

No expert, not by a long way but what worked for me (also a bit on race strategy for a 'survivor' mentality, in case anyone reads this and fancies a go as a first timer)

1/ increasing rides up to about 8 hours, but no need to really go further. Early mornings, shit weather even better, because then when i felt crappy after 7 hours I could go back to 'if I jack now, that ride in the pissing rain at 5am will have been a waste of time'.  Cunning!!

2/ Get a HRM (or nowadays power meter), find what your threshold is and practise riding below it (in zone 2, if you like). Time spent above can't be made back on the day, as long as you're below then as long as the food keeps going in the engine should keep running

3/ Do mix it up with some shorter harder rides...... and get fitter overall. If all you do is long, slow Z2 stuff, you will a/ get bored of riding; and b/ you won't have enough muscle power to be able to do the inevitable harder efforts (hills, etc.) at an easy pace. If your hills every lap are red line efforts you'll run out of steam. If there are hills that are really hard...... walk them. No prizes for cramping and jacking after 8 hours.

4/ Race day but ties in - resist temptation to hammer the singletrack because it's fun. Go too hard too soon and blow up and it'll be a long day. Get to 10 hours and feel fresh, then by all means let the horses out for a run.

5/ Think about changes to the bike - a saddle I had that suited me fine for up to four hours of sit down / stand up / sit down riding, suddenly after 6 hours of mainly in the saddle made little Johnny very sore. Find this out early - don't be auditioning new saddles 3 weeks before the event. Likewise, ditch the baggies, any extra seams are not needed. I also ditched the peak on my helmet, so I didn't have to lift my head up as far to be able to see, so avoiding neck pain

6/ Make a fueling and drinking plan - I made sure of a bottle every hour, plus some energy food and stuff that i had to eat. Then i had a short break every three and ate real food - sausage rolls, cake, rice pudding - you can't live on gel. And stick to it. As per 2, - as long as the food goes in.....

Whoops!! Apologies! Completely disregard my posts in that case.

was actually quite tempted myself after googling it. Anyone know what the terrain is like and most suitable bike? (Lightweight XC or full sus trail)

12 weeks training....hmmm very tempted.

Have done the last few twentyfour12 torchbearers, despite being a big unit I've nearly hit 100 miles, last year was always going to be impossible with the weather.

I can give you a link to my write ups if you want that detail both my prep and races.

Main advice, don't ****ing stop. Each lap have a quick stretch, drink and bike check. A pit crew are a godsend in shite weather. A 10 minute rest will not equal an 11 gain somewhere later on.

My training was a 40 mile each way commute once a week, a short course Mtb race league each week, 3 hour hard road spin and occasional 6-9 hour spin (Wicklow 200 and the like). I suspect if I stopped drinking like a dish and eating like a glutton I would get under 100kg too.

Would love to see the write ups!

Yeah any info would be greatly appreciated.

is that the general consensus for the 12 hour race, not to stop?

I cannot edit and predictive text is still pants.

I use an xc short travel bike, tis old but light, reliable and comfy. Course is old style xc, all rollable, all ok when knackered but loads of fun if you want to hoon. Atmosphere around the place is great too.

Would I be pushing it on a lightweight hardtail with 100mm travel?

Last time I did it I used a lightweight hardtail 26er with 80mm travel. I survived.

It’ll be 100mm 29er this time round

http://www.ldlr.im/2016/08/06/pivot2412-12-hours-a-virgins-view-by-ian-heald/

http://loaghtanloaded.com/2017/08/13/pivot-twentyfour12-the-one-where-i-stupidly-ignore-the-weather/

The delay was discovering that this site works pretty well as the desktop version after the mobile one just makes me want to cry.

I'm not an author and they are written very soon after the events so a bit more grim than I would write now. Enjoyed them and doing 24 pairs this year.

is that the general consensus for the 12 hour race, not to stop?

To be competitive - yes, I don't know the 24:12 stats but I did my solo at the Gorrick and to be competitive you would be doing about 45 minute laps (I averaged just about an hour) - so even a couple of minutes per lap costs you over half a lap in the end. The fast boys just throw off an empty bottle and get a new one with some food handed up and their feet barely touch the ground.

To challenge yourself - make your own rules...... as above I did 12 laps in a bit over 12 hours and my computer had me riding for about 11.5 of them so all told I lost maybe 45 mins in total - which was 3 x 10 min or so predetermined stops after 3,6 and 9 laps for proper food, plus short stops every lap to change a bottle and pick up some more on-bike food. The time soon adds up, and you couldn't lose 45 mins at the sharp end of the race.

The no stopping bit is very much the case though - if you are of the mind to say I'll just sit for 20 mins or so and have a break, very quickly people cool down and can't be arsed to start again. Don't even allow that temptation. I even found it quite hard with a decent mindset, you do get quite knackered and what is an easy task early on (not owning 12 water bottles, I had instead preweighed the powder to go into my bottle so all i needed to do was take the lid off, tip in a small food bag of powder, top up with water, grab a couple of gels and a bar and set off again) becomes quite confusing as you can't remember where you'd put the lid and you spill the powder all over the outside of the bottle which makes it sticky so you look for a wetwipe to clean it and..... so even if you aren't doing 'race stops' a helper to sort that for you and to make sure 2 mins is 2 mins is a great help.

I haven't done 24/12, but I have solo'd Mayhem 4 times with a best result of 9th overall in 2016. Along with Ten Under 14th Overall 4th Vet, Torq 12:12 5th Vet & 16th Overall, ST7 23rd Overall & Gorrick 100

Spending as little time in the pits as possible at the pointy end of the race and ride consistent laps through the night when you can make up a lot of time.

Last time out at Mayhem (2017) it was so hot it really got to me, I was 23rd at 10pm and by riding steadily through the night I pulled myself back to 13th and was edging towards top 10 again when it all fell apart (the heat on the Saturday) and I pulled out.

The same strategy applies in every endurance event, a bottle a lap as the laps are generally around an 45 mins to an hour - 600 or 750ml depending on weather, eat something every lap ensuring you get the at least right amount of carbs for your body size. Don't go off too hard or you WILL SUFFER. Keep riding all night.

If you have the luxury, take 2 bikes. ALWAYS carry spares with you, it's a bloody long way to walk with a snapped chain if you're halfway round a lap.

I did the 12 hr 2 years ago on a T130. It was great fun just rolling around and not pushing too hard. I think the mental discipline was my limiting factor to stop myself chasing every other rider on the hills.

Ended up doing 2 laps on, then refuel/stretch. I think i did stop for 45mins once but then i wasn't really racing. It was more of a challenge for myself to just do as many laps as i could.

With 12 weeks to go, you really have about 8 weeks of 'quality' training as anything else won't deliver the same training effect - the final 4 weeks is just about maintaining fitness and making sure you're fully rested / prepped for the event.  If your aim in that time is to achieve the biggest possible gains, then HIIT has been proven to deliver the greatest benefit in terms of power and endurance - a 1 hour midweek session; 20 minutes warm-up, 6-8 maximal level intervals e.g. flatout sprinting up a hill for 20 seconds, then a warm-down/recovery.  Don't attempt more than 1 or 2 HIIT sessions per week as you need recovery time.  Maybe at the weekend, look to do a longer, steady ride, building up to 75-80miles, plus this will help you to develop / understand your nutrition and hydration needs.

The same strategy applies in every endurance event, a bottle a lap as the laps are generally around an 45 mins to an hour – 600 or 750ml depending on weather

When I used to do this sort of thing, thinking about your issue with the heat, I used to take two bottles or one bottle and a camel back. One bottle ot the camel back would have energy powder in the bottle plain water mainly for throwing over the head and back to help keep cool.

is that the general consensus for the 12 hour race, not to stop?

<div>Yes from me too. Roll in, swap bottles, stick food in pockets, roll back out. If you have support, make sure they know what you want for the next lap, if you're unsupported, make sure you have enough bottles ready to go, maybe with gels / bars / whatever elastic-banded to each one.</div>
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<div>Swapping to fresh gloves, and maybe a clean, dry jersey and helmet's a good morale booster too. Lights charged and ready to go - make sure what time you need to have them fitted.</div>
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<div>Be prepared to have a bad lap, it doesn't always happen,  but it often does. Have faith that if you have the endurance and keep eating and drinking you'll get through it and feel more normal again. Don't panic if you do feel rough, it's often transient.</div>

When I used to do this sort of thing, thinking about your issue with the heat

I'm not sure anything would be helped that day, the guy pitted opposite me spent a substantial amount of time on IV fluids and I'll be honest seeing he collapse and look like he'd had a stroke affected me mentally.

I was pouring water over my head and back to keep cool.

I generally think I was under cooked (pardon the pun) for the event. Not a mistake I'm going to make again.

You will want to give up. Understand this and work out what you need to do to keep on going.

From about 8hrs have a treat waiting on your table - mine was half a can of coke per lap.

When I mentioned fresh gloves etc btw, I didn't mean every lap. Once or twice in a 12-hour is my usual take.