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Hi
I'm thinking of riding thetford dusk Til dawn as a solo.
Ive ridden it 3 times as a pair and also mountain mayhem twice as a team.
Just for personal achievement.
I've got 3 months.
I ride about 8 hours a week at present but I know I will have to incorporate a long ride at some point.
Ride fuelling I think will be key but I always struggle to eat at silly times.
Any advice from those soloists out there will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Do you want to compete, or just complete?
If the former, then probably already too late. If the latter, then sounds like you already have a good level of base fitness, so keep it up and gradually increase your workouts (if possible) up to about a fortnight before, then taper down until the event.
Fuel wise. Little and often. Better to stop on every lap for a minute and scoff something than to do 3-4 quick laps then get hunger pangs and need to take a 30 minute break. Slow and steady wins the race so to speak.
Eat plenty of protein whilst you're riding too (and before, and after). Carbs only is ok for a 2/3 hr ride, but in 12hrs you'll need a hell of a lot of protein to keep any muscle strength. My favourite was a massive tub of spicy pasta bolognese I made the night before, it was a real treat inbetween sweet energy bars and gels. Energy drinks are a must too, and plenty of fruit (especially bananas) to keep cramp at bay and blood sugar levels up.
Before attempting my first, the longest ride I had done was 6hrs. I finished Bontrager 24/12 in 14th out of about 65 entrants, with 12 laps in 12hr20min and approx 11hr40 actually moving (according to Strava), so I was quite chuffed at my first attempt considering I'm barely average as a rider at best. You'd be surprised what you can put your body through with good preparation and a bit of determination. Too many strong riders turn up thinking they can just do a solo through fitness and a bit of hard work on the day, and they'll go off fast then blow up after 6-8hrs or so!
Interesting, not really thought about protein intake.
I had a go at my first solo last weekend at Mayhem, I ended up coming 40th out of 194 so I was pleased with that.
I did the eat every lap thing, but found that out of the aray of normal biking food that I took (flapjacks, malt loaf, haribo etc) I could only really stomach bananas, ready salted crisps and super noodles. That and flat coke, open a can at the start of your lap and drink it over the next two breaks.
But I suppose everyone is different, mayhem was pretty hot - mid 20's for most of the day light hours - so dusk til dawn may be different due to sweat quantaties etc
Check out [url= http://ukxcnews.com/2014/06/11/ukxcnews-guide-to-24hr-solo-racing-part-1/ ]this.[/url] We've only done two parts so far, but there's more to come. 😉