12 hour support

Benjamin Hall
Benjamin Hall Posts: 608
edited May 2012 in Amateur race
Does anyone have any tips on riding a TT of this length without someone there to hand up food/bottles/clothes etc?

I stupidly signed up for the national 12hr but didnt really think through the logistics of getting my missus to drive up from Bristol which she does not want too. That leaves me with two options, either get the train up and ride alone or pull out and find a race closer to home.
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Comments

  • Surfr
    Surfr Posts: 243
    I've done 1 completely unsupported where I parked my car at a common point on the circuit and rode with 4 bottles on the bike and a bento box on the top tube for gels. I stopped twice for a total of 9 minutes to refill bottles and to sponge myself down (face caked in salt and hands covered in gel. that 9 minutes also includes the 1 or 2 times I stopped for a pee too. I had everything laid out in the boot of the car and a bowl of water with a sponge in.
    6102107437_fd2d079fc1_o.jpg
  • Spaniard
    Spaniard Posts: 69
    I did one a couple of years back, and having support was a real godsend. Do you know anyone else in the race that has support? Maybe you could ask them to store your supplies (which you will need) - that's what I did as my wife doesn't drive. Good luck
  • Benjamin Hall
    Benjamin Hall Posts: 608
    hmm, it sounds doable. Unfortunately I dont drive but im sure I can find somewhere on the course I can leave a box of food and things.

    Who is hosting the nation 12hr? I only see a name on the CTT site, no mention of a club.
    http://ifonlyiwerebelgian.wordpress.com/

    https://twitter.com/#!/IOIWBelgian
  • sub55
    sub55 Posts: 1,025
    Benjamin Hall wrote:
    hmm, it sounds doable. Unfortunately I dont drive but im sure I can find somewhere on the course I can leave a box of food and things.

    Who is hosting the nation 12hr? I only see a name on the CTT site, no mention of a club.

    Just looked in the book and this years 12hr is being promoted by the big white chief Keith Lawton.
    CTT national secretary. So be on your best behaviour.
    Normally promotes for Elmet crc. Although thats pretty much inconsequential.
    The Elmet 12 course does lend itself quite nicely to an unsupported rider. Though how you manage to ride a 12 and get home again without a car would be more of an issue than riding an unsupported 12.
    There are many riders out there who regularly ride 12`s and 24`s without a support crew, with no ill effects what so ever.
    constantly reavalueating the situation and altering the perceived parameters accordingly
  • Benjamin Hall
    Benjamin Hall Posts: 608
    Im pretty confident I can manage unsupported and looking at transport I can get there and back for £50 if book a train soon.

    What is the course like? Big lap or little ones? Whereabouts is the HQ\start likely to be?

    Cheers
    Surfr wrote:
    I've done 1 completely unsupported where I parked my car at a common point on the circuit and rode with 4 bottles on the bike and a bento box on the top tube for gels. I stopped twice for a total of 9 minutes to refill bottles and to sponge myself down (face caked in salt and hands covered in gel. that 9 minutes also includes the 1 or 2 times I stopped for a pee too. I had everything laid out in the boot of the car and a bowl of water with a sponge in.
    6102107437_fd2d079fc1_o.jpg

    How did you get on mileage-wise?
    http://ifonlyiwerebelgian.wordpress.com/

    https://twitter.com/#!/IOIWBelgian
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,461
    If you're Bristol based you could always ride the Welsh champs instead - it's based in Raglan so only about 20 miles over the bridge.
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,823
    You should find some info on the timetriallingforum if you haven't already headed over there.
  • Tim Farr
    Tim Farr Posts: 665
    I rode the North Mids '12' in 1987, and a couple of guys from my club were my helpers, and I would never have done it without them. This is a '12', not an evening '10'. You are getting up 4am to drive to the course for a 6am start. You are pushing yourself for 12 hours and afterwards it's the journey home for 8/9 pm. Having someone to hand up the food and drink, provide support if you have a mechanical and do the driving means you can concentrate on the cycling and really go for it. I don't believe you can do an all out without helpers. I went for it, did a good distance. But the collateral damage included double vision and complete exhaustion - it would have been unsafe for me to drive home.

    So my message is - get some helpers. Try your club - if you have one; ask friends; ask at your LBS.

    Good luck - it was a very rewarding experience for me and I hope it is for you.
    T Farr
  • Surfr
    Surfr Posts: 243
    Benjamin Hall wrote:
    How did you get on mileage-wise?

    231.9 miles in the National.
  • SBezza
    SBezza Posts: 2,173
    Benjamin Hall wrote:
    What is the course like? Big lap or little ones? Whereabouts is the HQ\start likely to be?

    Here is a link to the course info

    http://cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/Default ... &tabid=362

    I have no doubts there would be a drinks/food station on the course somewhere, you might be able to leave bottles and food with them. We were able to do this at the CC Breckland 12 hour last year. If you can get support though it will make your life a whole lot easier, try a member of your club, or a friend. Getting home afterwards as mentioned would be extremely tiresome, I have to drive back down to Kent afterwards, but at least I will have a helper.

    If you do enter, I will see you there. :D
  • DavidJB
    DavidJB Posts: 2,019
    12 hours :shock:

    Your under carriage must be a train wreck after one of those!
  • SBezza
    SBezza Posts: 2,173
    DavidJB wrote:
    12 hours :shock:

    Your under carriage must be a train wreck after one of those!

    Can be if your saddle isn't quite right for you. I have done 3, first 2 all fine a dandy, last year with a different saddle (original one broke so just put up with an old one), and I was in hell for the last 3 hours, painful on the under carriage sitting on the saddle, and bloody painful in the legs when out of the saddle.
  • Surfr
    Surfr Posts: 243
    DavidJB wrote:
    12 hours :shock:

    Your under carriage must be a train wreck after one of those!

    Yup I had 90 minutes off the bike on my first 12 last year due to being severed by a Fizik Arionne. That's why I went back to do the National a couple of months later as I knew I could do better. Adamo saddle that time, and got off after 12 hours, "fresh as a daisy". OK not fresh as a daisy but the underside of me was fine :)
  • Jeff Jones
    Jeff Jones Posts: 1,865
    +1 for the Adamo. I've done two 12s, both using an Adamo, and my undercarriage was about the only bit of me that didn't really hurt afterwards.

    Previously the max I could manage on a normal saddle was 50 miles and even that was quite painful.

    note: Adamos take a few weeks to set up and adapt to, and some people never get comfy on them. I think they do offer try before you buy.
    Jeff Jones

    Product manager, Sports
  • Mr Bunbury
    Mr Bunbury Posts: 37
    I did the Elmet 12 last year. The course is easily doable unsupported as you pass the HQ on every lap. Lap 1 is 35 miles, lap 2 is 37, then you do 3 lunchtime laps of 20 miles. It's then back to the full circuit for a further two laps, ending on the 14 mile finishing circuit.

    I dumped a bag of food and bottles outside the HQ and stopped whenever I felt the need. See you there in July!
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,461
    Just to hi-jack this thread slightly rather than start a new one (but hopefully relevant to the OP anyway). Can someone explain how the distance gets measured in a 12 hour? I know there are set circuits of set lengths and they add together how many of those you do before going onto a finishing circuit. Once on the finishing circuit I believe there are timekeepers at regular intervals but this is the point where I get a bit confused! Does each timekeeper record your time as you pass them, you then stop at the first control point once the 12 hours is up and they then interpolate your distance from your time at this checkpoint and the time at the final checkpoint prior to the 12 hours being up?
  • SBezza
    SBezza Posts: 2,173
    Pross wrote:
    Just to hi-jack this thread slightly rather than start a new one (but hopefully relevant to the OP anyway). Can someone explain how the distance gets measured in a 12 hour? I know there are set circuits of set lengths and they add together how many of those you do before going onto a finishing circuit. Once on the finishing circuit I believe there are timekeepers at regular intervals but this is the point where I get a bit confused! Does each timekeeper record your time as you pass them, you then stop at the first control point once the 12 hours is up and they then interpolate your distance from your time at this checkpoint and the time at the final checkpoint prior to the 12 hours being up?

    Basically yes, your final distance is always a slight guessimation I suppose, but mine has always been pretty accurate. Timekeepers are a set distances, so they calculate the average speed between the 2 TK's and work out how you will have travelled. That is why you should continue to race after the 12 hours is up, and keep going until past the final TK

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