Pacing for 12hr Endurance Race

springtide9

Entering the Bristol Bikefest 12hr solo event in June and looking for a bit of pacing advice.

Haven't done a 12hr 'shift' before, but did the 8hr version in Oct. I looked at my Ave Hr for the 8hr event and it was146bpm over the 8 hrs (max is around 186bpm and I'm 41)

Haven't found any 12 hr pacing, but did find 24hr... looks like I need to push for first 2hrs (155bpm ave), slacken for the middle 8 hrs (maybe 135-140bpm), and push for the last 2 hrs..

Any Comments / Advice?

njee20

Ride on feel. To many external factors affect HR to make it a really useful pacing tool on that sort of distance IMO. To be honest, I'd expect to do it at a similar pace tour 8 hours anyway.

springtide9

Thanks.

For the 8hr, I basically kept the same pace for the 8 hr (with a bit of speedup for the last hour)..

Forgetting about the HR, is it worth pushing for the first couple of hours or just keeping to a steady pace.

For what it's worth, I have entered the 'over 40's' this time (as a bit of a giggle)... and would have got a 4th based on my time/distance at the last event in this cat for the 8hr.... so looking at hopefully doing better (although I think the 12hr will be more popular due to the time of year). Got 11th (open) overall in the 8hr (but only out of around 40). The top riders were obviously 'laps' in front..
I am sure a lot of people are thinking the same way, but you have to push yourself and take a chance..

njee20

I'd look to get a quick lap in, to get ahead of the traffic and then settle down. IMO consistency is key, if you can speed up toward the end that's better than blowing halfway through.

springtide9

Thanks again. Sounds like a plan