Training advice needed, 24 hour endurance event

wollow007

Hi Guy's

I got myself booked in the a 24-hour endurance off road event in May (CLIC24). Basically I need to do as many laps as possible during the event day and night.

I have been going to the gym, riding during the weekend off road at Swinley and a couple of courses in Dummer and locally off road. The CLIC24 course is around 10 miles, and as it is in Mendip I suspect the terrain will be mixed and fairly hilly.

My plan is to ride 2no 10 mile laps and then rest for a hour or 2 before attempting a couple more 10 mile laps, rest etc. The plan is to do 8-10 laps which is an average.

My fitness level is medium, I have a fairly physical job which also includes a lot of walking, and with the gym and weekend riding I think I'm currently doing ok but need to do lots more.

What would you guy's do, how would you train for the event?

Any advise welcome, only been back riding for around 5 months so I'm still a little green, especially when it comes to events.

getonyourbike

as I said on mtbe

wollow007

Not so easy to cycle to work as I work all over the country :roll:

Yeah epic weekends sounds like and idea, got some pretty narky routes planned.

fastandfuriousxc

Also riding clic24, and rode event last year.
Depending on current training level if not already done so a lot of base miles are needed 1000ish preferably aim for 150-250 per week if your serious about doing well until end of march/early april, if this is a one off event don't worry as much about tapering up as speed is second to endurance if your going for the full 24 hours. If possible ride the course a few times in various conditions as after 24 hours you will make mistakes! I live in cheddar and ride the same trails the course makes up regularly, there is one fast rocky downhill followed by a long fireroad climb, steep fast rocky decent and then road back to the start. It is a very good course and holds up well.

8-10 laps is 80 to 100 miles so try to ride as close to the distance as possible the 2 laps 1 hour rest will equate to approx 2 hours riding 1 off which as a novice should be ok but personally would ride for 4 hours 1 off 4hours on and then a last lap in the morning. From personal experience i felt much worse after 1 hours sleep (all be at 4am) and regretted not staying up all night.

What bike are you using? as with any long event, fast rolling tough tires are a better bet over lightweight and tubeless will save a lot of hassle if the puncture fairy visits. Make sure the contact points are comfy as it is a long time in the saddle!

Ensure you get there earlier and set everything up sat morning of fri night so no last minute rush and do not ride the couple of days riding up to the event (say thursday onwards), caffeine is allways good but save it for the night/early morning laps. I assume you are doing the 24 hours solo?

Most importantly enjoy it there is a very friendly atmosphere and a good mix of new riders to seasoned racers, as this is the 10 year anniversary it should be a good one and for a well deserving cause.

Dan

wollow007

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the reply, looks like I need to up the training lol.

So are you really into cycling then, do you do races etc or just for fun?

Yeah really looking forward to CLIC24, doing a solo ride bit have a couple of friends and family riding also.

So how man hills are on the course and what are they like. To be honest I could cycle all day but I find the hills and technical trails knacker me most. I do a lot of cycling over at Swinley forest, not sure if you know Swinley, very good technical trails, fire roads and a lot of singletrack.

Cant wait, well can really as I need to train lots more lol

Deepunder

I'm ride Mendip a lot as its my local area but never done the clic24. I don't know route it covers but Mendip is generally not too technical but there is definitely some good stuff!. Hills ain't to big but guess over 24 hours they will feel bigger!

Mendip doesn't drain too well so depending area of route, if there's been plenty of rain close to event take that into consideration as it may get sloppy.

fastandfuriousxc

One long fire road climb, not too steep but a bit of a drag finishing with a sharp rise (most people walk), one road climb at the start, nothing that bad, the main (long) downhill is fairly technical but would cause no issues, the other short downhill is very loose and claimed a few victims on the night laps! but again take it easy and will be fine. see below link for gps of route http://www.sharemyroutes.com/routes/Uni ... ngmap.aspx

As far as training at the end of the day you get out what you put in, with a target of 8 to 10 laps what i suggested may be more than needed, just start slower and build it up. Personally aiming for 16-18 laps solo so more training would be required! taking the step up to racing properly this year (did a bit last year top 10 at Bristol oktoberfest) and planning on racing a few 24 hour races Bonty 24, os mountain mayhem, clic and some xc/enduro events british series, south west champs...

If you are riding at night good lights are essential, following on from deepunder the mendips get very sloppy in the wet but the course is designed to cope with many laps and all conditions (mostly rock/fireroad/road no long open sections) so can get away with most tyre setups, 2.1 all round tyres would be spot on ignitors/nevegals/Racing ralph for example.

springtide9

Oooooh, the CLIC24 looks pretty interesting (and local)... and mid May... sounds interesting.

Still can't get around the idea of racing at night with lights... I assume you have to take stashes of batteries to keep the things going for the night?

fastandfuriousxc wrote:

..
Personally aiming for 16-18 laps solo so more training would be required! taking the step up to racing properly this year (did a bit last year top 10 at Bristol oktoberfest)...
..

Really sorry for being off topic... but I spent 8 hrs going around that track in October.. and you were in front of me I assuming you were in the 8hr event? If so, what position did you finish in? Only ask as I came 11th - 14 laps myself - and you are obviously the competition LOL [edit... Dan - 9th - no. 492 ? - if so, you were 11mins in front]

Back to the OP and general discussion CLIC24. How on earth do you keep going for 24 hrs? Generally, do most take a break for some sleep in the night? And do you take a tent/sleeping bag etc... [what is the age range? do you get many 40s?]

The technical challenges of having enough batteries for the race seems tough enough!

But I guess if you are after a challenge... a 24 hr event would be it.

wollow007

Simon, go for it, i'm 40 in July and have only been back in the saddle for around 5-6 months.

Also got a Commencal Super 4 Carbon

springtide9

wollow007 wrote:

Simon, go for it, i'm 40 in July and have only been back in the saddle for around 5-6 months.
Also got a Commencal Super 4 Carbon

I knew I should have got the Carbon!!!

Had a friend on the phone to me last week (who bought a Rocklobster just after I got mine) - and was asking me about my newish Super 4. I pointed him at Bikeactive's website.... an hour later he informs me 'got the black one'. Git!

I'm actually waiting for the 2012 Super 4 carbon - apparently it's a complete redesigns and will make all other Super 4 carbons look outdated within a month!! [joke]

Might do the CLIC24 as it's got me thinking... just that I have a few commitments now for the summer and not sure I can fit it in (or should I say, get another weekend pass). What's sad is that I'm more worried about having to look after the kids after the event than riding for the 24hrs - that would be worse than a hangover and small children!!!

wollow007

Lol, yeah the Carbon is cool but where I ride is pretty sandy so by 2012 there will be nothing left and I will have no option than to go for the 2012 Super 4 Carbon, or that's what I tell the boss

Yeah kids after a 24hr ride wouldn't be good, they have a beer tent there to so beer and a 24hr ride is going to be nasty, looking forward to it though :twisted:

fastandfuriousxc

Yeah that was me, really enjoyed that event (until crashing into the same tree twice )As far as lights go I run a deal extreme setup of 2x 900 lumen and a helmet mounted light can get 10 hours on low run times and only using one on flat sections light but will borrow a tiger light as well.
The clic is as much a charity event as a race although it is aimed more at racers this year, personally really enjoyed racing at night loads of other riders all lit up. They have a charging station there loads of free mains sockets to charge lights if needed.

It's definitely worth a shot, very friendly and good atmosphere could allways do the 6 hour if you didn't want to do the 24. If you see me up there say hi, will be wearing bad ass bikes/RAM kit and on a white ram xc.3 probably looking very tired

wollow007

Got me an Exposure Six Pack for the bars and a Diablo 2 for the head, you will see me coming from miles away lol

wollow007

2700 lumens in total, the Six Pack is like a search light 8)

Deepunder

fastandfuriousxc wrote:

hi, will be wearing bad ass bikes/RAM kit and on a white ram xc.3 probably looking very tired

Shop rider? Used Bad Ass Bikes for repairs recently for first time - good service from those guys, maybe it was you? Do you know more about route, I see on map it's pin pointed on Charterhouse, is that the loop start finish?

I like the sick idea of a 24hr event but also never done one...seems rude not to seeing at this one is on my door step, maybe next year. Good luck Wollow interested to hear how you get on any what your 1st timer tips would be.

fastandfuriousxc

The start/finish is the field next to the charterhouse centre, it then goes out towards the trig point down towards the bottom of rowberrow, back up towards trig point and back along the road.
I don't work there but do ride for them hence the kit, glad you had a good experience. This year there are also 6 and 12 hour rides if you don't fancy the full 24 hours.