Been training for 6 months, looking forward to it... but a bit worried about too!!!
No real strategy other than just try and keep it rolling..................
that's a good strategy. Don't forget to eat and put some cream on your bits.
See you in the solo tent perhaps.
Enjoy. Set of slow and get progressively slower was my tactic when I did a solo a couple of years ago. Don't sleep and keep eating. Make sure you are as comfy as possible on your bike.
The hardest thing I found was not racing - someone would overtake and it was hard not to chase them - but I knew for my level of fitness slow and steady was the only possible way
Somehow, I've managed to persuade Mrs JB to come along to feed me and wash/oil bikes as required... so we're going to set-up camp with some other friends that are riding as a team, that way we might still have the threads of a relationship at the end!!!??? Good luck!!!
Being a slightly competitive person (!!!)... not sure how I'll cope with 24hrs of being overtaken!!!???
My first too, team last year so know what to expect re: conditions.
A few thoughts: -
Every pedal stroke gets you closer to the end of this lap. just keep moving, regardless of how slowly.
The granny ring is your friend. Stomping a big gear out of the saddle probably is not.
Don't try any new kit, food or drink. Use only what you know to work.
When you're knackered, do a head to toe system check and ask yourself "which part of me cannot go on?". You'll probably find that you've got a few pedal strokes left, then a few more, then another lap etc.
Eat small things very often. Eat as much "real food" as possible, not just energy bars, gels etc. I have found small Heinz tins of beans, spaghetti, ravioli etc are ideal. Bananas are great too, as are noodles.
No-one ever died of tired legs.
JB - just tell yourself that even the fastest of the team members will only do 6 /7 laps or so and you are aiming to double that at least. I did find that tricky tho to be overtaken consistently. To some extent I guess its how seriously you are taking it - I was only aiming to get into the top half of the solos. Distinctly slow and unfit me.
Other things I found useful to me was to find the most efficient lines rather than the fastest - not always the same thing. Not hammering up to corners and taking a tight line but taking a wide line so I could hold onto my speed. I was surprised how many folk I did overtake tho.
I agree with GF about the granny ring - my motto was "I've got a granny ring and I'm not scared to use it"
It is hard being overtaken and resisting the urge to chase people down.
Apart from those handful of freaks at the top end, it's not really racing, it's just about whether you can keep going through the dark cold hours. The feeling at sunrise is wonderful and makes it worthwhile.
Soloists - Your all mental!
Best of luck tho people!
Yep... I know... Cant even explain to myself why!!!...
Because at the end you get a real sense of acheivement. Even though actually when you think about it, what you have done is totally and utterly pointless 🙂
I did my first 12-hour solo at 24/12 last week - racing pairs at SITS, gulp - and as a first time soloist, the thing that I found helped me was to break it down into chunks rather than trying to look a the whole thing, which is daunting. Have something treatish to eat at the end of every third lap, for example, and then look forward to that, not 'the end'. Also really enjoyed watching the course changing gradually, which is quite different from team racing when everything is jerky and sporadic. Also found talking to people was ace and really broke things up and riding with an iPod for occasional laps also helped pass the time. Be careful with your choice of tunes though, you don't don't really want to be hammering around at Nine Inch Nails pace...
Don't try to subsist on energy food, it'll wreak havoc with your guts, take some peptibysmol or whatever it's called, in case things do go a bit nauseous, eat real food, take a good choice. Ride with a smile on your face and expect it to hurt at some point cos it will, oh, and based on my experience anyway, you'll have a bad lap when you think everything's falling apart, but keep at it and keep eating and drinking and you'll be okay.
I'm hardly an expert, okay, definitely not an expert, but that worked for me and I was mildy chuffed with where I finished despite throttling off towards the end. Good luck and see you out there 🙂
I'm doing my 1st solo aswell. Only decided to do it about a month ago. I certainly haven;t been training for 6 months but have been biking fairly regularly.
I did Dalby at the weekend and now got myself a bit worried as to how I'm gonna do this weekend.
Think I'm gonna take it 'Slow and Easy'. Got plenty of advice from some friends who have done this sort of thing and there's also a few of us doing it solo so may think that will help.
If the rain absolutely slings it down I'm retiring to the pit crews Gin Palace until it's passed 🙂
Good Luck though and hopefully see you out on track!
You just have to try and ignore everyone else and not get caught up in the usual racing "I'll just catch them up" sort of mentality. And remember that while at the time it seems like it will never end, it will. Oh and no matter how many laps you do, the next day you will always convince yourself you could have done another one.
I went straight in at the deep end with my first race - solo at MM08.
I'm pretty competitive too, but I found it quite easy to sit in my own little world and know that the people blasting past were in a different race. All I wanted to do was to see how long I could carry on pedalling.
The other reason for doing it solo was to have a choice about when to ride, and it worked out perfectly. Apart from losing a lap to a mechanical, I stopped when the rain got silly, had a decent sleep, waited for the course to dry out and had a blast in the morning as the course got better and better. Fastest lap was the last lap, spanking it round to get back to the line before 24:00:00 clicked over. Missed it by 5 minutes.
I did 9 laps, nothing special, but I was pretty happy when I left. It wasn't until the results came out that I started to look up the sheet and try and re-run the race. I think I could have done another 4: no mechanical, stayed out for 1 more in the night, and if I'd left an hour and a bit earlier in the morning, I could have got round twice more.
Fitness wasn't a great problem, but my knees were. I finished on ibuprofen (something I told myself I wouldn't do) My knees were a bit ruined for quite a while after that, and would only have been worse if I'd done more.
I think your first 24hr solo is always going to be a shot in the dark (boom tish). You don't know how hard to push, where your limits are, how you'll cope, what you'll want to eat... First time you're racing yourself, if you do it again, you start racing everyone else.
Personally I loved the experience, and I'd love to do it again, but I don't think I will. I've always suffered from overuse injuries, and unless I make a breakthrough there, I'll steer clear of opportunities to push myself that hard.
Very best of luck, JB, have a good one!
For some help with the mental battle, have a read of this: [url= http://www.bikemagic.com/news/article/mps/uan/7188 ]Rob Lee Pennine Way Double[/url]
First time solo for me as well. Some good real world advice here which I'll try to take on board, particularly the don't get goaded into racing and the eat proper food.
Did the C2C with a couple of mates in around 19 hours last year so I have some idea of how I'll cope with being in the saddle for a long period of time. The thing I fear is boredom with doing laps of the same course as opposed to a long distance route.
It helps if you get to chatting with people while you ride, just nice vignettes pointing out the silliness of it all (not with the quick guys though) because you'll see them again and that helped me keep going and took a focus away from the pain for a bit.
I have not trained at all. Yeah. Pain.
Regarding food, it's so individual, and it's really hard to know what you fancy at 3am. I took plenty of crappy things like potnoodle and tins of heinz spag bol, as well as a thing of cherry tomatoes, and quite a few different sandwiches.
I swear though, the best tasting thing ever in the whole world was the jacket potato with veggie chilli I had from Wilfs at about 2 or 3am.
The longest I've been up and eating alsorts of stuff wsa 44hours when my wife had our first. It can't be that bad, can it!! 😉
btw, did I menion it's my birthday 😉
gingerflash speaks the truth!
it's mental, not just physical - your 6 months of training will have got you fit enough to do well, but you will get seriously tired, you're supposed to - a good performance comes from carrying on when your body is trying to convince you it's time to sit down!
oh - don't worry about the "being overtaken" thing - you'll still find people to ride past, and by god it's satisfying!
I am finally with the programme mrsflash fussing about your birthday and such. Thats all we have to do right? just fuss.
overpriced the food from Wilfs is.
don't plan any big rides for about a month afterwards! You will be wrecked!
as others have mentioned, just go steady. at the start, go slow, then a little slower, you really dont want to be breathing very hard at all. once your at a very steady pace, it's all mental - just get through all those mental lows and you'll be fine. have a few planned scenarios in your head, rain etc.. so you know what you're going to do before hand, rather than when you've been riding for 16 hours. if you can, just keep going, and don't stop for longer than 10 or 15 mins. eat small amounts of proper food every lap, or every other lap. forget about normal meal times - this is about a continuous supply of food. you WILL go through very very low points, but then you'll have moments of elation too. never chase a wheel, EVER! if you've got spare wheels, take them with some thin mud tyres on. sweet hot drinks are the best thing in the world. hopefully you'll have been using an energy/hydration drink during training. if not, I wouldn't bother too much with one at the event. jelly babies. bog roll. several sets of shorts. chamois cream - it really is essential. it will hurt. but it will end, and you'll feel ace 🙂
curry and beer afterwards tastes crap.
Aha, Eth3r gets it. It really doesn't matter how many laps you do, it's the fuss made of me that is important!
Oh and make sure you save a clean & dry set of kit for your last lap. there is little as lovely as putting clean socks on 🙂
Don't bother running the start either. You will only get held up in the bottlenecks anyway. a nice gentle stroll to your bike and then you get a clear first lap ( even if you get lapped before you complete a lap)
Look out for the buffalo that appear in the edges of your vision around 3 am
The thing I fear is boredom with doing laps of the same course as opposed to a long distance route.
I found the opposite! There were some boring stretches that sometimes were a bit longer than I remembered, but one of the things that I enjoyed was looking forward to the fun bits in each lap. the jumps and the pumps and the whoops and the roots get funner and easier each time when you know they're there.
And the advantage from the extra knowledge that comes from riding the course much more than most is really useful: you get your lines sorted, learn were you can let the brakes off, get faster on the downs and then carry more more speed into the climbs.
You save energy and end up passing people through technique and course knowledge rather than how hard you're pedalling, which is immensely satisfying. I remember passing a couple of people each lap just because I knew to change into the middle ring before a particular blind bend, rather than after!
Good point about dialling your technique with the passing laps. Are the buffalo friendly tj? 🙂
First time solo for me too. It will be interesting. Camping with mates who are doing it as a team to keep entertainment levels up over the day. Weather is starting to look very singlespeed though
JB dont even think about sleeping because I am not going to let you!!! Bring lots of nice food and I will make sure you have a cuppa ready after every lap.
Jelly babies are the key and I,m expecting you to do 20 laps 😀
Looking forward to listening to my cycling buddies moaning about the weather and my heckling.
Mrs Flash what do you want for your birthday?
mrsflash - Member
Because at the end you get a real sense of acheivement. Even though actually when you think about it, what you have done is totally and utterly pointless
didn't read all of this thread but what a brilliant quote!!
i'll be there in a team but good luck to you soloists.
btw - has anyone received any confirmation from the organisers? have seen the list of teams on their website but no instructions for the day...
Mrs Flash what do you want for your birthday?
Encouragement and perhaps the odd jelly baby 🙂
Will try and think of a good heckle then, what colour JB,s? or are you not that fussy.
I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this. I want to be doing this.
there was a post up yesterday with a place on offer harry.
I'm mowed out at the moment.
I may pop along on Sunday with Mini Me to watch.
You've got to, you're doing a lap for me!
Let on to me if you see me. I'll be with a toddler with a bucket on his head.
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JB,
I am sure you will be fine, your a brave man. See you at the weekend
Jules
did my first solo at 24:12 the other week. my big mistake was sitting down too long and falling asleep in a deckchair! don't sit down too long - don't fall asleep - keep going.
use each lap to visualise exactly what you need to to do when you pit and it will be a lot easier. ie - change bottle - have coffee - eat cake - change jersey etc etc. better than getting to pits and trying to work out what you might want to do.
Just been down to set-up the tent/Gazebo etc... getting excited now!!!
Thanks for all the good wishes guys... pleased to see there's lots of tips that i'd been thinking were a good idea too so must be right.
Hey Postie, any requests on the food front?
JB
How did you get on, JB?
He did 21 laps and i think he was 7th in the solo cat and 2nd in the vets,was helping him out with his SO.
Probably in bed still.
This SitS was my first solo, on a rigid SS (far easier than a geared full suss last year). I managed 11 laps, and my goal was to just finish, so goal achieved. At the moment I'm even thinking I'd like to attempt it again next year now I know what it really feels like.
21 laps is an amazing feat, Rob Dean putting in 26 even more so!
Can I just say that every bit of me hurts today... just shambled down to the Cafe to inhale a "Belly Buster" breakfast!!!
Big thanks to Postierich, the rest of the boys & my missus... outstanding support!!!
Had I known that 1st place in the Vets and 6th overall was only 6mins ahead..... etc etc!!!
JB
Wowsers! well done, JB!
So you'll be recruiting a Current-Standings-Checking-and-Pitboard wallah for next time, will you?
Hey thanks nedrapier, i'm still a but surprised myself... I lined-up at the Tape with all the Elite boys feeling like "The Great Pretender"!!!
Now I did say... "never again" yesterday... but today I find myself analysing lap times and strategy!!! A live weblink to current standings would have been cool...???
And Postierich, your words of encouragement on the last combo of climbs before the run in to the water crossing were much appreciated. I did get plenty of beers later before crashing comatose!