[laura]

TN and I have decided to ride in our first 24 hour "race" this year. It is actually just considered a ride, and not a race. This works in my favor. I am a huge fan of racing when noone else is aware. Ups my chances of winning. The route runs right past our new house so we'll have quite the plush pit stop.

So since this is not a real race and I only need to stay awake and pedal for 24 hours (12 really, TN and I are on a team) what are some important things that I need to know? When is the earliest that I can safely start drinking?

 

[reflux]

When is the earliest that I can safely start drinking?

Yesterday.

 

[splat]

eat, eat, eat , eat ,eat ,eat ,eat ,eat

 

[laura]

eat, eat, eat , eat ,eat ,eat ,eat ,eat

This I can do.

Is it actually difficult to stay awake? Do you ever try to sleep on your breaks?

 

[OGRipper]

Sounds like a great opp for one of these, definitely do it.

There have been a bunch of threads on dealing with 24 races, you might try a search. For food and water, a steady slow drip is the way to go. Eat and drink a lot, but in smaller amounts very frequently rather than holding off for a while and then eating something larger.

When I was doing 24 hr races I would have a beer pretty much whenever I wanted. I never won one, but it was always lots of fun, even when I did a solo.

 

[Westy]

I find it very hard to sleep on my breaks. Once I do fall asleep I find it very hard to get back up but just a 20 minute nap makes a huge difference.

 

[jonKranked]

crystal meth

 

[jimmydean]

24 hours is way too long to race. My longest DH race was about 8 minutes and I nearly died twice.

<edit> Good luck to both of you!!!

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

The first (and only) 24hr race I ever did was on a team of 5 guys, I slept a full 8 hours, did the minimum number of registered laps in order to "qualify" for placing, and did one lap alongside my friend that was unregistered just to keep him company.


Needless to say, we took it far from seriously.

 

[stevew]

i'd rather do a 24hr drinking binge.......but that's just me.

 

[I Are Baboon]

Awesome! The vibe at 24 hour races is really cool...laid back and a great atmosphere. People are there to have fun.

Are you and TN doing a two person team? I've only slept at one 24 hour race (I've done four of them). I slept for four hours when I did a two man team with splat because I was friggin exhausted.

 

[laura]

Awesome! The vibe at 24 hour races is really cool...laid back and a great atmosphere. People are there to have fun.

Are you and TN doing a two person team? I've only slept at one 24 hour race (I've done four of them). I slept for four hours when I did a two man team with splat because I was friggin exhausted.

We are doing a two person. I don't think that I will be able to sleep but it has been a while since I have tried to stay awake for 24 hour and pedal a bike.

 

[OGRipper]

This I can do.

Is it actually difficult to stay awake? Do you ever try to sleep on your breaks?

With only two people you won't really have enough time unless you can get all your stuff ready for your next lap, eat something, take a nap, then bounce up and be ready to ride in the time it takes your teammate to do one lap. If you want to sleep you might consider having each person do 2 laps at some point to give the other a little more time for rest. (This assumes you care enough about your result to want someone on the course at all times.)

Like Westy I always found it super hard to get going again if I slept for any extended period - especially if it was after 12 or more hours of riding.

Whatever happens, try not to miss the sunrise lap.

 

[laura]

With only two people you won't really have enough time unless you can get all your stuff ready for your next lap, eat something, take a nap, then bounce up and be ready to ride in the time it takes your teammate to do one lap. If you want to sleep you might consider having each person do 2 laps at some point to give the other a little more time for rest. (This assumes you care enough about your result to want someone on the course at all times.)

Like Westy I always found it super hard to get going again if I slept for any extended period - especially if it was after 12 or more hours of riding.

Whatever happens, try not to miss the sunrise lap.

I don't care if we have a person on the course at all times. It is a ride to promote community. It is not anything super serious. I am really just doing it for fun and to meet some people in the new hood.


the laps are really short. Short enough that we will be switching off based on time ridden and not laps.

 

[Westy]

I don't care if we have a person on the course at all times. It is a ride to promote community. It is not anything super serious. I am really just doing it for fun and to meet some people in the new hood.


the laps are really short. Short enough that we will be switching off based on time ridden and not laps.

I do 2 person 24 hour events a couple times a year. We've found that starting around 1 AM we will double up on our time on the course to give the other person a couple of hours to get a short nap in. It makes all the difference in the world.

 

[I Are Baboon]

I do 2 person 24 hour events a couple times a year. We've found that starting around 1 AM we will double up on our time on the course to give the other person a couple of hours to get a short nap in. It makes all the difference in the world.

It's good to do a two man with the likes of splat, because he'll pull three laps in a row in the middle of the night while I sleep, and then I can slander him on the internet for not giving his 100%.

 

[Quo Fan]

Get someone to take care of your bikes, so you can concentrate on getting food, rest, etc.

 

[I Are Baboon]

Get someone to take care of your bikes, so you can concentrate on getting food, rest, etc.

We had both a mechanic and a bodyguard in Quo Fan.

 

[splat]

I slept for four hours when I did a two man team with splat because I was friggin exhausted.

and had we been able to just stay awake a little longer we could have won! Dam Smitty ! doing 4 laps in a row!

who asked Smitty and Charlene to join the race ?

 

[splat]

and don't forget to have Douglas giving you false split times on your last lap as your trying not to get passed . but then again I did beat IAB Best lap time that way

 

[TreeSaw]

First of all for choosing to do a 24 hour race!!! The 24 hour race vibe is like none other! Props also for considering it a "ride" rather than a race. I have gone from doing a 5-person co-ed team that just wanted to see if we could survive, to a competitive (or at least we think we are), to soloist, to duo and back to soloist. Honestly, duo was the hardest of all of them! It is very difficult to pace yourself and ride your pace with someone else. I would recommend going with ride time vs. laps if you can. Sq-Earl and I alternated laps, pushing my pace faster than I was comfortable with and not at all how I had trained...this became difficult for us. Double laps was a bit easier, but still not enough time to sleep.

The best advice I can give is:
Definitely get someone to work on your bike and make food, prep your riding gear...this will make and/or break your ride/race!

Have fun...above all, if you're having fun it's much easier to keep going!

Eat, drink, and eat some more.

Practice riding and eating at various time during the night. It's harder than you would think to get on your bike, clip into your pedals and keep up your energy at 2-4 in the morning!

The sunrise lap is the most amazing ride of your life!

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Good luck!

 

[huckqueen]

and had we been able to just stay awake a little longer we could have won! Dam Smitty ! doing 4 laps in a row!

who asked Smitty and Charlene to join the race ?

hehehehehe... it was so nice of him to do 4 in a row! He's a machine!!!!

 

[TN]

gotta get some blinkie lights.

 

[I Are Baboon]

and had we been able to just stay awake a little longer we could have won! Dam Smitty ! doing 4 laps in a row!

Ed wouldn't have let us win. If we did more laps, he would have done more laps. We were taking second place whether we liked it or not.

 

[splat]

Ed wouldn't have let us win. If we did more laps, he would have done more laps. We were taking second place whether we liked it or not.

But we had the Lead!!!!

 

[TN]

who thinks a fifth of makers will last 24 hours between us two during the race....that is the real question.

 

[TreeSaw]

who thinks a fifth of makers will last 24 hours between us two during the race....that is the real question.

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

 

[TheTruth]

Whatever you do, don't smoke pot!

 

[douglas]

and don't forget to have Douglas giving you false split times on your last lap as your trying not to get passed . but then again I did beat IAB Best lap time that way

you are welcome

 

[laura]

Whatever you do, don't smoke pot!