Tour de Ben Nevis tips

lochussie

Who's doing this? I've not done an xc race before so I'm after some ideas on:

Bottles or camelbak? I'm just drinking water.
How to carry food so you can get at it without stopping? Dates say. No pockets.
How many calories does a fairly fit person need to consume in an hour?
Does the route have any smooth DH sections where a 36 chainring will not be big enough?
Do they really check you've got all the gear list?
Any other tips?

Cheers

Ravelin

lochussie wrote:

Who's doing this?

I am. I did it last year too, slowly. Apparently I'm a sucker for punishment. A new, better, lighter bike...a new lighter, fitter me...and I'll be back to try to get around a lot quicker this year. I'm never going to be up amongst the front runners though as 4hrs is just a stupid time to complete that course in!

lochussie wrote:

I've not done an xc race before so I'm after some ideas on:

Bottles or camelbak? I'm just drinking water.

I just took a bottle last year, with plain water. Considering a bladder in my pack this year with water, and a bottle with water & carb powder on the frame. Plenty of minor streams to top up a bottle though, and last year they had 2 food/water points on the route. Will depend on the weather but water is heavy so going to try not to carry too much.

lochussie wrote:

How to carry food so you can get at it without stopping? Dates say. No pockets.

I can't eat much when cycling, hillwalking etc so I just snack. Most of the stuff I try to keep accessible in the outer pockets of my pack and get at them in brief stops.

lochussie wrote:

How many calories does a fairly fit person need to consume in an hour?

Not sure I qualify as 'fairly fit' but see above as regards eating. I'll stock up with food the night before and breakfast and try to eat just enough to keep my energy levels up during the event. Probably resort to carb drinks, gels, bars and pancakes with jam.

lochussie wrote:

Does the route have any smooth DH sections where a 36 chainring will not be big enough?

Smooth, your kidding! All I can remember from last year was constantly being rattled around, and seemingly cycling through more/deeper water than I ever thought possible.

lochussie wrote:

Do they really check you've got all the gear list?

No. Can't say they won't this year but there were 3 of us last year and they didn't check any of us. If you turn up with no helmet on, no backpack etc i.e make it obvious your not carrying stuff, then it's likely they'll question it. It is very rough and remote so I do advise you carry most of what they suggest.

lochussie wrote:

Any other tips?

Plenty of practice, and not just on flat fire-roads/trails. Did I say it's rough? Oh and hilly! Even the first section on the minor road is like one huge roller-coaster. You will also be carrying your bike on the uphill section after the river crossing, it's a narrow, muddy, steep path. Doubt even the best rider can ride up that.

Ravelin

lochussie

Cheers. If you could choose between a fairly burly 6" bike and a 140mm hardtail what would you do it on? I am thinking it might be a slog on the nomad but the downs would be a lot faster/more fun and much less snakebite risk.

Ravelin

I'm no expert, last years Tour is the only 'event' I've ever done and I only ended up doing that because my brother and his mate were doing it and I thought "what the hell". This year is just to prove I can do better.

If I had to classify it though I'd call it a roughish longer distance event. The only section I'd call technical is the drop from the WHW down to Kinlochleven, possibly the decent after the carry up from the river too. Both are pretty short though, maybe 1.5 & 1km respectively. The remainder of any descending is on rough, stony landrover tracks or decent fireroad, and not at all technical.

I can't say I noticed the exact split last year but there were a good mix of both HT and FS bikes. The 3 of us all did it on HT, but my brother is taking his new FS this year (but it probably nearly as light as his HT). Personally I'd go for the lighter option to minimize the effort climbing and pushing/carrying at the river crossing and the climb immediately after that. The climbing was where I suffered last year, my bike was just far too heavy, so I'm probably biased.

We all ran our tyres quite hard, at its worst the surface is loose rocks. Despite it being quite wet in the days in the run up to the event there was very little mud (but lots of deep puddles). Between us we only saw one person with a puncture, and that was on the steep descent down to Kinlochleven. Grip v rolling resistance v puncture risk - it's a hard call to make over that long a distance with so many different surfaces.

Ravelin

andrewmei

Would agree with just about everyrhing said.

Did the route today on a hardtail as a trial will use it on 24th. Didn't do the full route as part closed due to windblown trees distance was about the same. 3 punctures, both brakes had the circlips rattled out of them and a rock thrown up by the front wheel bent the rear derail. :roll: Took just over 6 hours and did get lost twice.

Took 3 litre camel with carbs. No food.

Things I learned - insect repellant a must as is a well lubed chain - i would also take some with you. Waterproof shoe covers I think will be pointless. Do not take your eye of the road or your hands off the bars.

Oh - and the peat bog - even when it looks dry can leave you up to your front axle and then some.

Just take some care and have fun

Northwind

No Fuss never seem to check their requirements lists- the endurance DH said everyone had to have full body armour frinstance but loads of people didn't. But they've probably put some thought into what they're recommending.

Think I became interested in this one too late in the year, I'd want to do a bit more endurance training and scout the route first so I'm going to skip it, but it's on for next year I think

Ravelin

andrewmei wrote:

Would agree with just about everything said.

Thank goodness, I was hoping someone else would chip in with an opinion.

andrewmei wrote:

Did the route today on a hardtail as a trial will use it on 24th. Didn't do the full route as part closed due to windblown trees distance was about the same.

You do the new route through Leanachan Forest, or last years route?

From this years handbook they seem to have changed that bit completely. After entering the forest and crossing the bridge, last year you turned right, following some singletrack and forestry roads, then eventually riding alongside the A82 back to Ft. William. This year after you cross the bridge you seem to turn left. The map in the handbook isn't very detailed but you appear to climb about 100m to the old tramway then follow that and/or fireroads past the ski centre and around the side of the hill before dropping down to the Aluminum works. From there they also seem to have added a section around Cow Hill to the south east of Fort William before finishing back in the town(?).

The new route is probably better from an off-road point of view, but has added around 300m of extra climbing and the tracks may be rougher. If you've done that section what is it like, especially the surface?

andrewmei wrote:

Waterproof shoe covers I think will be pointless.

If you want to keep your feet dry then knee length wellies may be effective, but I'm not 100% convinced. From the point last year I hit the West Highland Way my feet were wet until the finish. Didn't remove shoes or change to dry socks at the river crossing, it seemed pointless.

Northwind

They've probably used the new dual-use path round Cow Hill... Which is basically a bit of Glentress sneaked under the radar Really good fun.

andrewmei

It appears I did last years route. Would have done the new route - Leanachan forest was the part closed due to wind blown trees.

Parts of the route have been badly churned up by ATVs - initial descent on Lairig before you hit the fire road.

Not sure wellies are enough - waders maybe - and it was dry the previous couple of days before i did it.

andrewmei

It appears I did last years route. Would have done the new route - Leanachan forest was the part closed due to wind blown trees.

Parts of the route have been badly churned up by ATVs - initial descent on Lairig before you hit the fire road.

Not sure wellies are enough - waders maybe - and it was dry the previous couple of days before i did it.

andrewmei

It appears I did last years route. Would have done the new route - Leanachan forest was the part closed due to wind blown trees.

Parts of the route have been badly churned up by ATVs - initial descent on Lairig before you hit the fire road.

Not sure wellies are enough - waders maybe - and it was dry the previous couple of days before i did it.