The Puffer

meanredspider

Might be doing the Strathpuffer - a 24 hour enduro MTB race in the Highlands on 6th Jan - as part of a team of 4. Most of it is run in the dark at this time of year (just like commuting). Ice is also a familiar enemy. Won't find out until tomorrow if I'm doing it - friend has injured himself and is seeing the physio.

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/news/artic ... fer-31214/

veronese68

I'm obviously far too drunk to think clearly. That sounds like fun.

meanredspider

Veronese68 wrote:

I'm obviously far too drunk to think clearly. That sounds like fun.

Clearly far too drunk. I have waves of panic that I'm actually going to have to take part!

desweller

Crap in a hat. That is a seriously terrifying prospect. Do you know if you're going to do it yet?

The West-To-East ride will be a doddle by comparison!

cjcp

Awesome. 8)

Do you know yet?

meanredspider

Still don't know yet - waiting for the phone call from friend after his trip to the physio.

In some ways I'm quite looking forward to it so I'll be disappointed if it's a no.

Then I look out the window at the sleet and gloom....Staying warm between rides is a real problem (a friend was literally hypothermic (is that a word?) one year). Other challenges are brake pads and sufficient lights.

61Sigs

meanredspider wrote:

Still don't know yet - waiting for the phone call from friend after his trip to the physio.

Shouldn't that read 'psycho'

It look insane, I bet if it goes well it's great!

meanredspider

Well I'm in! 8)

Oh Shiite! :shock:

cjcp

Result.

Will you have a van on site you can sit/sleep in and hang the gear up to let it dry out between your turns? Man, the inside of that van is going to be bumping with all that gear.

veronese68

I was definitely too drunk if I thought that was a good idea. Good luck.
Seriously though, that looks amazing. A bit too hardcore for me though. I had just been discussing doing London to Paris off road in the pub, which made everything seem like a good idea.

meanredspider

cjcp wrote:

Result.

Will you have a van on site you can sit/sleep in and hang the gear up to let it dry out between your turns? Man, the inside of that van is going to be bumping with all that gear.

I'm lucky in that the guy I'm taking over from owns a large building contractor business - we will have maybe two vans. His son is in the team so the dad is still going to be in a support role. The race is only 15 mins up the road but I'm not sure it's the done thing to pop home for a shower and a snooze! Given the credit card a beating getting mud tyres and sintered brake pads. I might get some more lights too - great excuse for a bit of shopping...

Better go and try the course tomorrow. Just did a hard hour on the turbo

61Sigs

Good luck chap, looks proper mental.

Have you got mechanical support (not a truss or anything )? If not, it will be interesting* to see how much sleep you get.

*interesting for me perhaps, not for you I imagine

meanredspider

61Sigs wrote:

Good luck chap, looks proper mental.

Have you got mechanical support (not a truss or anything )? If not, it will be interesting* to see how much sleep you get.

*interesting for me perhaps, not for you I imagine

I do have some mechanical support. Gathering the parts in time might be a slight challenge. We have a spare bike or two.

cjcp

meanredspider wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Result.

Will you have a van on site you can sit/sleep in and hang the gear up to let it dry out between your turns? Man, the inside of that van is going to be bumping with all that gear.

I'm lucky in that the guy I'm taking over from owns a large building contractor business - we will have maybe two vans. His son is in the team so the dad is still going to be in a support role. The race is only 15 mins up the road but I'm not sure it's the done thing to pop home for a shower and a snooze! Given the credit card a beating getting mud tyres and sintered brake pads. I might get some more lights too - great excuse for a bit of shopping...

Better go and try the course tomorrow. Just did a hard hour on the turbo

Do you know how long your turns will be?

Always worth putting the engine on so the fan can go on and you can start to dry them out. From my recollection of doing 24 hour events, I started to get cold about 30 mins after finishing my turn: the adrenalin had stopped pumping and, coupled with the fatigue, started to shiver. Get your head down and into a sleeping bag as soon as you can after doing your turn.

I guess a dry baselayer and socks for every turn is a must. Doesn't take up much space.

meanredspider

I've got enough dry gear I think - couple of Merino base layers (that I can wear between rides), several windproof jackets, several tights etc. There should be plenty of room to store that gear. As you say, the trick is to get dry and warm straight away. I have a big down jacket to snuggle into.

I don't know yet how often we will swap riders. Possibly a couple of laps each to start with (circa an hour each lap) though whether we can keep that up for 3 sessions each I don't know.

61Sigs

That was my point about mech support.

Nothing worse than 2 - 3 hours on/off and having to spend your down time sorting your bike and kit out. I've never done this cycling, but having done similar events in the past in other diciplines, you need to spend as much time as you can resting and eating. It's all about getting your admin sorted out. However, seeing as you are able to commute a fair distance, keep a job down and keep several bikes in running order then I suspect that getting sorted isn't your weakest point.

meanredspider

Thanks - no, I've got quite a bit "sorted" in the last year - all of the above plus dealing for a year with my son's cancer and a few other things to keep me busy. The guy I'm standing in for is incredibly capable and sorted too. But I really appreciate the input. I'd like to have had a little more than a week to prepare for this - but you don't always get time to prepare for things in life - you just do your best with what you've got to hand.

cjcp

Lots of Irn Bru and you're sorted.

61Sigs

A week to go is good, you haven't got all the time you need to prepare, but you haven't got time to worry either

When I did the Three Peaks, I paid my young brother-in-law to tag along. I gave him 3 bags of kit and a list of instructions. Whenever we got back to the van I'd dump my dirty kit, put on dry and be handed a hot meal, then I got my head down. Next stop all my dirty kit was stowed, I'd be handed a brew, a packed rucksack and cleaned boots and off I went.

I think the poor bugger put more effort into it than me.

meanredspider

61Sigs wrote:

A week to go is good, you haven't got all the time you need to prepare, but you haven't got time to worry either
.

...gives me plenty of good excuses too! (Not that I'll need them)(oh no)(not at all....) :oops:

meanredspider

Well I did the course today - took a few wrong turns (trying to follow a "course" on a Garmin Forerunner 305 on your arm is quite hard whilst riding). Did a time of about 50-53mins allowing for wrong turns. Had my Ice Spikers on too which was a mistake - far too much bare rock on the technical descents.

Observations
- Hard! Especially on the upper body
- Far more technical in places than I was expecting - going to be tough in the half-light.
- Big buzz from having completed it though

Need to do a couple of equipment changes - have better tyres to use but also set my saddle lower for the technical bits.

Will have another go on Monday night in the dark...

meanredspider

Went out today with a couple of my team mates. Fortunately I'd say we are reasonably evenly matched over a lap. Horrible conditions - a few inches of wet snow over much of the course including the seemingly endless fire road drag which was heavy going. Also impossible to see what you are cycling into - came off once as my Ice Spikers have no grip on the rocks. In fact, Spikers were entirely the wrong tyre to be on in the conditions as there was no real "ice" to speak of and they're heavy and slippery in the places you most need grip. There's definitely something about the course where you are seemingly climbing far more than descending - mostly because they are grinding climbs followed by short, sharp, technical drops. There's a glorious section at the end of the lap down through the trees on a sweeping path. There's also incredible amounts of mud and water.

Meeting tonight to talk strategy (nothing more sophisticated than how many laps each we will start with)

I'm kinda looking forward to it and a little bit in awe of it...

61Sigs

I'm slightly envious, in a 'sat in a warm house in Wiltshire' type way.

It would be great if one of your team could get some photos.

meanredspider

61Sigs wrote:

I'm slightly envious, in a 'sat in a warm house in Wiltshire' type way.

It would be great if one of your team could get some photos.

I might try to set up my GoPro HD so I can video a lap.

The idea of doing 6 laps is probably a little beyond me right now but let's see.

MARKF

Some of the forumites on singletrack do the puffer.There's banter about it every year and it always seems to have been a bit of a epic for those concerned :shock:
It's the sort of stupidity I'd be up for,fortunatley it's far enough away from West Lancs for me to give it a miss..
Here's a link to this years event http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... -countdown
Good luck,hope you enjoy it!

meanredspider

MARKF wrote:

Some of the forumites on singletrack do the puffer.There's banter about it every year and it always seems to have been a bit of a epic for those concerned :shock:
It's the sort of stupidity I'd be up for,fortunatley it's far enough away from West Lancs for me to give it a miss..
Here's a link to this years event http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... -countdown
Good luck,hope you enjoy it!

Thanks. Yes, Northwind from here pointed me over there - some useful pointers. The photos are quite useful to remind me of the different sections. That rocky slope (Rock Chute) pictured is quite intimidating on Ice Spikers as there's next-to-no grip at all (as the parallel lines etched in it from my rear tyre will attest!)

meanredspider

This event is looming. Last night I fitted the mud tyres and the sintered brake pads in preparation for the predicted mud bath (melting snow and 0.5" of rain yesterday). The temperatures are looking low but hopefully staying above freezing (though it's a close-run thing). Did a burn-time test on my NiteRider 600 Pro - over 4 hours (albeit at garage temperatures) which should be plenty - I'm only expecting to do 4 laps in the dark and won't be running it at all on the fire road climb. It's bloody heavy though. Only confirms to me how good the AyUps are.

Packing the van tonight ready to take it down on Friday. Race starts at 10am on Friday so last laps need to start by 10am on Sunday and must be finished by 11am.

cjcp

Getting butterflies?

How many laps are you planning to do each shift?

veronese68

Good luck with it. I hope all goes well. Looking forward to reading the write up.

meanredspider

cjcp wrote:

Getting butterflies?

How many laps are you planning to do each shift?

Too right - mostly because I want to make sure I've thought of everything. It's similar too (though nowhere near as bad) as the month leading up to my first motor race when I slept really badly. Of all the things I need right now is a good night's sleep but I'm waking at 4.30-ish with my brain whirring.

Our plan is to do a lap each to start with so that we all get to see the track in the light. Then 2 laps each - giving each rider a 6-hour window to sleep. Then 2 more laps followed by 1 lap (as time allows). I keep thinking about setting off for laps 4&5 at 4am to ride for 2 hours in the freezing cold on a really muddy, carved up track, feeling stiff as a boot....

cjcp

The graveyard shift. Ace...

You gonna have time to post a quick update on how things are going, or is there a live tracker website to follow your progress?