24hr Solo Training – A whole year to do so…..

So, say someone has decided that she may want to do 24 hr solo next year at Mayhem and thus has a whole year of training to prepare…

….what would the STW experts recommend as the best way to make use of the time?

Ride alot, that might be stating the obvious but it works. Get a road bike so you can build your fitness up, and increase your miles through that.

Ride when your legs and body are tired, so you become used to it. When you want to go home or stop riding force yourself to either stay out, or get out!

Weekly mileage or hourly targets are also good to force you out.

Get into SSing and long rides – you get used to going at a constant pace, plus if the mud is bad, you’ll have a working drive train for the whole event…

3 things to sort out;

1: the bike; make it comfy, get used to it, wear it out (see 3), then before the race make it run smoothly.

2: the fuel; you need to know what to eat what not to eat. if after hours of cycling you like jam and marmite sanwhichs you better have one handy. if gels make you sick after 6 hours they’re no good.

3: the rider. ride lots. get used to riding in the dark. get used to riding for hours and get used to riding when tired. make sure your back is strong and make sure you get some cross training in – personally i can’t ride ride ride.

PS i don’t race 24s so i don’t know anything.

I figured the ‘ride a lot’ option was the way to go. However, I have a very busy working life which limits my time somewhat in the week. I can’t commute, but am thinking about ways to increase my time on the bike around other responsibilities. Riding to the gym, riding longer at weekends, etc.

What kind of mileage do I need to be looking at and how is the best way to build it up? Would I want to start now…or would that leave me burnt out over the winter, for example? My job is pretty physical which takes out a lot of my recovery time.

Do people who train ‘seriously’ always keep track of mileage, or are there people out there who really do ride ‘as much as possible’ and don’t worry about the numbers?

I’d love a SS (I have been looking at the possibility of a cheap retro-bike for that purpose. I’d love a Ti beauty, but funds say NO!) Also am already committed to getting a trail bike this year and already have the HT and DH bikes…..in a very very small house. I’m not sure I can justify one as SS in Malvern would likely kill me so I’m not sure how much use it’ll get either.

I didn’t do any specific training when I did my last 24hour solo, just road a lot. But no more than 5 hours at a go. Got some good speed raced smaller races, getting used to high intensity stuff so then when your riding at a lower rate you’ll last for longer (IMO).

Did a lot of core work (the plank, pushups, sit ups and hand crunches etc).

Bike wise I completely get what everyone is saying about getting used to your bike however I did the 24 hours (230miles) on my new bikes second ride…

Wouldn’t bother with starting on SS if you haven’t already, you’ll probably need to build a good base of cycling fitness by winter so just cycle when you can, didn’t bother with counting miles myself but what suits one may not suit another. Find a good strategy for getting through the night – I found being sponsored & telling everyone I was aiming for 16 laps worked wonders for keeping me going at 2am when I’d only done 10 & was ready to give up there & then! (not this year btw)

Tinker Juarez used to train for 24hrs by riding on a turbo for 24hrs staring at a blank wall. He is nuts, tho.

I have done 9,10,12 hour races solo and even won some of them, but no matter how much you train your body your head has to be in it too.

I say ride your bike as much as possible, train on the road, and build up to at least a 12 hour ride in the weeks before your big race, but only one of those (its not the miles that count but the time ont he bike). Also do some short sharp stuff too, to build speed/strength and general fitness, I recommend (deep breath now) turbo interval training. Huge taper for this too, don’t do more than 1 hour spins the week before to keep the legs moving.

Last of all, drink drink drink. 2-3 litres a day on the week before, and constantly during the race.

And good luck ! I’m toying with this myself as I find myself with lots of time on my hands this summer, so I may see you out there…

P.S not 2-3 litres of vodka. I suggest water.

Think you’ve got to ask yourself will this be a “one off” race, or something you’ll be doing often?

Tinker Juarez used to train for 24hrs by riding on a turbo for 24hrs staring at a blank wall

Think the longest I’ve managed on a Turbo is 2 hours (or three episodes of 24) and that was pushing it!

I know this goes against the grain Jo, but ride uphill more. Get a singlespeed and aim to do it on that. Maybe even a 29er
Singlespeeding increased my fitness in 6 months where as I plateaued with gears over the years.
Try entering more enduros too and the likes of Kielder 100. They will give you goals to aim for whilst training

8)

You’ll want to train a fair bit but you’ll also want to peak for the event. No good spending a lot of time training through the winter to bugger it up on the run in and conversely if you get the best out of the form you have, even if training hasn’t been ideal you can get the better of those who are ‘fitter on paper’.

My general advice for those looking at a 24 solo and who can’t commit to a proper training plan is to book a 10-14 day riding holiday that gets you home 2 weeks before the race, preferably somewhere above 1000m with some nice big hills around. Train for the holiday, not the race. Ride as long and as hard as you can every day on the holiday, eat well and sleep well (things that are more difficult with a hectic work and lifestyle but make a big difference whilst pushing yourself). Spin your legs a bit in the two weeks before the race. The race should then take care of itself.

Also as a general observation and truism; girls who ride more standing up, win more races 🙂

I have nothing but respect for those of you who can do it. I’d love to. I guess its striking a balance between racing & riding at a pace that you can sensibly maintain for 24hrs. Like those chaps who do the Puffer, solo on a SS. Just staggering.

Good luck littlegirlbunny.

I think before you can decide on training, you need to decide what outcome you’re after.
Podium?
Top 10?
Stay out on the track for 24 hours?
Ride for 8 hours, sleep 8, ride 8?
Say you were there?

Then decide how many hours you prepared to devote to that target and take it from there.

ride uphill more. Get a singlespeed and aim to do it on that.

Go on – punish yourself!! I used to do load of hill repeats when I was in marathon (running) training mode – **** brutal, but it made the distance running sooo much easier.

I was, then, much more all round fit than I am now, but am now more bike fit than ever thanks to putting in the effort on a singlespeed over the past couple of years. Took about 3 weeks to stop thinking it was crackers and about 3 months to really notice the difference in fitness.

Or…

You could stick to what you’re good at & love doing? Training for an event can be good in that you have something to focus on but it could suck the fun out of your hobby.

thinking about the same so will watch this thread with interest. May try a 24hr road ride – that would fookin kill!! How far would ya go?

My observations of those that have done it with some success…

It’s 90% head, 10% body. I’ve seen super fit people give up cos their mind wasn’t in it, I’ve seen people less fit than me finish 24hr Solo with a respectable number of laps cos they were massively head strong and wouldn’t give up.

Go out at a steady pace, don’t think “I’ll start strong and slow down anyway”. Get an HR monitor and keep your HR below a certain level, and if it goes over it, you need to tell yourself to back down.

Beg/steal/borrow a lightweight rigid bike, preferably a Singlespeed, for an event like we had over the weekend. If there’s mud like there was this year, rigid and skinny tyres makes the world of difference, and Singlespeed is probably more of a help than a hindrance.

Just bloody do it! Given the number of dropouts this year, even with little preparation but a strong mind, you’d have placed very well. I’m quite confident I could have gone out and done 3 laps of that without taking a rest longer than 10-15 minutes, maybe then had a longer stop, done another couple of laps, then got some sleep, with a couple more in the morning. That’s only 7 laps, but that would easily have had me top 20 in the blokes category!

My friend we nursed home on her last lap did 9 laps… She didn’t stop for more than 45 minutes in the whole 24hrs, but she probably could have done to recover slightly better and gain extra time on a couple of laps. Anyway, she’s finished 3rd or 4th (currently disputing a lap time) solo in the womens category. Her bike was weighed down with mud constantly, and her gears packed in. To be honest, and she knows it, if she’d had a rigid singlespeed she’d have managed another lap or two easily just cos you’re off and pushing anyway and a bike that only weighs 35lb covered in mud is soooooooo much easier to push than one that weighs 50lb+…

Oh, and friends and supporters make a big difference. A decent pit crew that will look after the bike, and feed you properly, and put up with your delusion is essential.

Get used to being up all night. If you don’t want to ride on your own and can’t find anyone to accompany you at that time then just stay up at home. Do that once a week for a period a month or two before the event. Even without activity it’ll make a difference to how you feel in the wee small hours.

Do people who train ‘seriously’ always keep track of mileage, or are there people out there who really do ride ‘as much as possible’ and don’t worry about the numbers?

Although i’m training for road races, yes to keeping track of mileage etc. You’ll want to record your hours, RHR, sleep, hydration, fatigue and soreness etc down as you’ll notice trends, progress etc that way. Also writing up any weaknesses is a good thing to note and look back on. As your jobs physical, you’ll need to watch your recovery carefully which again, logging training etc will help with. My training is done in hours not miles too.

I would have thought you’ll want to target a few other events/races in the run up to MM, to work on things like eating/drinking, treating it like a pracrise run and just to give you something different to do in training.

And again, although this is based on my experience on the road, training for an event is very different to just riding your bike. Its not always enjoyable but you do it because you have a goal and want to succeed. Build in things you enjoy to ensure you don’t do all your training on your own and get bored. My training plan is currently 13.5hours on top of work so sacrifices have to be made too. I don’t think i’d want to do much more than this per week (longest ride is 3 hours though). Although i’ve not raced 24s, i’d also recommend higher intensity workouts rather than just long slow miles.

Work on core/lower back etc too.

I’m not sure staying up all night would help much actually, its possible it would throw your sleep patterns out and add to your stress in the build up to the event when you’ll want to be bringing together your last hard block of training.

On thing that has helped me before though is giving up caffeine a week or two before. Helps you get good quality sleep and also will help you stay up without it until well into the race, at which time you can re-introduce it in small quantities with good effect.

Never done more than a 12 hour so this could be rubbish:

I tend to track hrs and intensity rather than miles.

I really don’t think I could spend a year doing turbo sessions so I would save them for the last 2 or 3 months leading up to the event.

I tend to ride long at the weekends and ride hard during the week only doing intervals to get speed before a target event.

Blimy, so much useful advice 😀

I’m not so worried about the actual race day….I’d not do it if I couldn’t have a decent support crew, tent, 10 changes of clothes, spare bikes/components, suitable tyres, loads of food etc. It’s more about the actual training commitment required before and, if I decide to do it, exactly what would be the best use of the time.

I think IanMunro has probably made the point that’s hit closest to home. I need to make a commitment to exactly what I want (ride for 24 hrs), neuter that with what I have time to train for, my likely fitness level and likelihood for several injuries between now and then (likely result = turn up and hope I can manage to ride the minimum number of laps heh heh)

I love the idea of a proper training holiday before

It’ll be a one off, I like the challenge of the 24 hour race. I did a 12 hour not long after I started mountainbiking and did pretty good considering, but by the end I was thinking “how the hell do people do this for 24 hours”…now it feels like the next challenge and I need something to work toward as my brief foray into DH racing has been rather un-motivating and very stressful.

DGoaB – advice most definitely noted. I know it wont always be enjoyable, but I tend to force myself out on the bike even when I don’t have a goal, if anything it’ll probably be easier for me once I have a reason to keep training. I feel like I need some focus now DH has fallen by the wayside

It’s not something I want to ‘get into’ or ‘get better at’….although whether this one-ff will be MM is another thing, it all depends on what date it falls and whether I am physically able to commit on that date (ahem, certain times of the month are a definite no because I am not physically well enough to do much so would look at entering a few and hoping that I at least one of them will fall at a good time, as I struggle to ride even 10 minutes, never mind for 24 hours on approx 4 days a month)

You could stick to what you’re good at & love doing? Training for an event can be good in that you have something to focus on but it could suck the fun out of your hobby.

This is also very true. For a start I’m going to have to start riding uphill like Bernaard says 😉

I’d say nutrition plays a massive part in it all. I’ve done a couple of twelve hour solo’s, well – attempted them and both times about 5 hours in I’ve had severe stomach cramps and had to pull out. Especially annoying when my legs and head were in it, but the fact I couldn’t keep any food in and dehydrated badly meant I had to stop.

Find out what works for you over that period of prolonged exercise. I found (well, my coach pointed out) I couldn’t have fatty/oily food as it stopped my stomach from digesting it properly. So that massive tub of pasta with creamy sauce is now a no-go if I’m to finish. Time will tell and I’m off to D2D this year much better prepared.

SS is a winner as well, it really does force you to pace yourself when everyone around you is sprinting into the darkness. Plus, when it turns into the slopfest that D2D has been for the last few years, there’s less to go wrong.

Having a proper training plan helps massively. I used to log everything but didn’t really know what I was doing. Having a coach to do the training plans is very much a luxury but it means that I can focus on specific training and get much more quality from time spent. If you can’t justify a coach, the Joe Friel book is pretty good – you can build your own training plans for this over the course of the next year and see where and when you can fit your training in. Just going out and smashing the miles hour after hour will eventually become soul destroying and you’ll lose your interest in it.

What Mboy said about pace is very true as well. Pick a pace that you think you can keep up for 24 hours, don’t be tempted to go blasting off in the start line madness.

SS may have some gains if it’s super muddy, but not in normal conditions. Although if you will insist, post up which races you are entering….

And half the point of the training is figuring out what works for you nutrition wise, but as you will be keeping a steady pace you should be able to eat fairly normal food.

P.S D2D – it can’t pee with rain all weekend yet again can it ??

I did a 12 hour not long after I started mountainbiking and did pretty good considering, but by the end I was thinking “how the hell do people do this for 24 hours”

Ride slower! Not trying to be silly but the hardest thing I find is to exactly that, ride slow. Getting used to pace that is sustainable is key. If you can feel that you are above a 7 on the RPE scale (below) then back-off. If a hill climb forces you to build up lactate, get off and push.

I’ve done a few 24s and the hardest part is the first few laps and slowing down to a pace that is manageable. Once I’m “in the groove” I switch my brain off and pedal.

However, I have a very busy working life which limits my time somewhat in the week.

Conventional wisdom says just do millions of miles, but there may be another way. iDave did his half iron man training on 6 hours a week, for example. Of course 24 hours is further than a half ironman.

Intervals can be good for endurance training. The principle being I think that if you increase your max pace then a lower pace will be a lower percentage of your max, and will be correspondingly easier to keep up.

I’m not sure staying up all night would help much actually, its possible it would throw your sleep patterns out

Fraid I’m going to have to disagree with you there Dasilva. Having worked weekend nights in my student days and done Mayhem solo in 2006 I’d say it definitely helps to be used to being up through the night. My training through May that year consisted mainly of doing the Thursday evening ride with the lads, stopping with them at the pub for an hour and then going back out til 4 or 5am.

One aspect of the race I found hard was keeping to a pace slower than I would normally ride and not being tempted to compete with team riders going at a pace I could normally find fine on a shorter ride. I think singlespeed might help there as you don’t have the option of cranking it in the big ring on the flat or downhill sections.

Heart rate monitor and linked to online diary like Polar. I wouldn’t agree with nearly all the advice above about trash mileage. Quality over quantity.. Turbo and road bike are required. Single speed has nothing to do with getting fit enough. It’s 90% rider 10% bike. It’s a common misconception. You can make your own plan. Read what’s on line. You should also include a series of events leading up to the 24 hour solo event. Experience is a great help as it gives confidence. Of course if you want to do a solo event and stop every lap then ignore the advice. You can just take a rest every lap, change kit or take a nap during the night. But I wouldn’t class that as a serious solo.

Heart rate monitor and linked to online diary like Polar.

This is fine for efforts under 2hrs. Over this you run into the problem of cardiac drift. Whereby your HR reduces for long duration effort at constant power.

linky

Over 2hrs my HR is reduced by 10% of max for the same perceived effort (guestimate). HR monitor is still really useful (I use one) but you need to understand what the figures are telling you for long rides.

Ah 24hr racing!!
Justdid my 5th solo but teamed it before soloing.
I would say its all in the head as long as you train well eat well and rest well when you can
I work shifts that may help at 0400 hrs in the morning.
I would say enjoy it and don’t let things get to you cos they will if you let them.
Have a laugh with others as you spin merrily around and take the pxxs out of everybody as me and my mate did at this Mayhem again!!
It works cos I came 16th soloing!!!
Cheers I’m off to bed now after early shift,

Oh I forgot to add I’m 50 this year!!!

Agree about HR but were talking about training and measuring the effort in training. A power meter is more accurate but very expensive. You certainly need to understand you own heart rate zones if your serious about training. Junk miles are just that. Wasted unstructured training.

Guess I need to dig the Garmin back out then.

I am not good at pacing myself, that’s for sure. I think it comes from riding with guys most of the time….I have to be about to blow a gasket just to keep up, so I end up working close to my max on most rides rather than just taking it easy.

I wish I could afford+justify a coach, but, lets be honest here, I’m just a ‘weekend warrior’ out to prove a point to myself and have a good time being abused by hecklers, not to podium or become adept at endurance racing in the long term.

What no-one has mentioned yet is the importance of bike handling skills. On a wet course like last weekend’s Mayhem there were huge gains to be had from being to spot the path of least resistance through the mud and having the confidence to stay off the brakes as much as possible. Being able to follow the narrow rut that the rider before you has carved out will result in a big reduction in expended energy.

One last tip from me…

Rice pudding! Record number of tins consumed = 16 at Mayhem 2008

Have you considered talking to Brian? I’m sure he could work with your time constraints to come up with a training plan. Glad you enjoyed your laps so much Jo, or was it the jump of doom?

Jo, you definitely already ride enough I reckon. At least as much if not more than people I know who do 24hr Solo’s and do well. It’s not about doing mega mileage (unless you’re Tinker Juarez and a machine and are out to obliterate everyone else by 10 laps!), it’s about being prepared.

You’ll have to learn to pace yourself. It’s something I can’t do, hence I know I’d not be very good at the 24hr thing, but from what I’m told by my friends getting a HR monitor and sticking religiously under a certain BPM (and getting off the bike and walking if it goes over!) makes an enormous difference. It’s like your rev counter. You can only keep your engine at 7000rpm for an hour or two say, whereas you can hold it at 4000rpm all day long happily.

What no-one has mentioned yet is the importance of bike handling skills. On a wet course like last weekend’s Mayhem there were huge gains to be had from being to spot the path of least resistance through the mud and having the confidence to stay off the brakes as much as possible. Being able to follow the narrow rut that the rider before you has carved out will result in a big reduction in expended energy.

Makes a massive difference at races like last weekend, I overtook 10 people inside 200 yards on the final descent on my first lap, but to be fair, the OP has already got 99% of the people on here pegged in terms of skills anyway, and rides more than most.

It’s DEFINITELY all going to be about learning to pace yourself in your case I think…

EDIT: FWIW Jo, doing the final lap with my friend helping her round on her 9th lap, the same thought was going through my head… I actually reckon that as long as I slowed myself down enough, and didn’t beat myself up if I did sleep for a few hours, I could have finished inside the top 20 blokes Solo this weekend as so many people just gave up! I’m tempted to do a Solo 24, I must admit… Training partner? 😉

inigomontoya – Member

Have you considered talking to Brian? I’m sure he could work with your time constraints to come up with a training plan. Glad you enjoyed your laps so much Jo, or was it the jump of doom?

Laps? Try lap haha! I was just a stand-in and had the luxury of pootling home to sleep in comfort to come back and find I wasn’t really needed on the Sunday. I did enjoy it immensely though, it was great to see so much support for the riders, despite the fact that the arena was dead quiet. I think the mud helped, it was soooooo much fun sliding around in that on the descents, and it didn’t take long to realise killing myself on the climbs was a bit pointless when I was having to stop so often to strip the mud off the tyres anyway.

I hadn’t thought about talking to anyone from the club tbh, they all have more important proper racers to support!

jimmers – Member

One last tip from me…

Rice pudding! Record number of tins consumed = 16 at Mayhem 2008

I went for Alpro custard when I totally bonked at Bristol. It was amazing stuff…..changed me from the ‘I-can-do-nothing-but-think-of-food-and-cry’ point to knocking out another lap and coming in with just two minutes to spare (all laps had to be within the 12 hrs back then). It was so close….I’d have never managed it without the custard 😆

Agree about the bike handling. Can always work on that. I can hold my own if there is gradient to help and I remember to concentrate. Technical pedalling XC I am not so good at.

mboy, I don’t really ride that much tbh and it is pretty much all casual unstructured riding. I’d love a training partner, although I’m not sure it’s something that would work out on a practical basis as my job is so unpredictable. I struggle enough to make sure work doesn’t over-run on the one day a week I organise anything (Ladies MCS Ride Thursdays) so to be able to commit to anything else would be difficult.

Well mayhem was my first ever 24hour race let alone solo. I came 8th and did it on the singlespeed which was meant to be my backup bike, hence not being in the SS category.
My training regime was lots of road riding. I commute 32 miles a day one of those commute days I would do an extra 40 or so miles. At the weekends I would go out for a 60 miler.
Nutrition I had a bottle of 4:1 and a gel per lap then stopped to throw some food in me at the end of each one.
Mental focus comes into it at lap 8 I was ready to quit, but I had a word with myself and did another lap.
Just do it it’s fun!!!!