[Closed] Prep for a really long MTB ride....

Tunnocks
Soreen
Haribo

its not that far 😉 On your own? music?

big night on the lash the night before.. 😉

I did 100k today and was fuelled by water, soreen and a jam sandwich. 🙂

Best thing though was the benefit of [b]a good nights sleep[/b]. THE most important thing i reckon.

Ok. I'm looking for sub 8 hours also. Nothing special like 60psi in the tyres etc? Or just get on the bike and ride?

Cut your toenails. Seriously.

Plus 1 for sleep

Assos creme.

Spare pair of shorts.
Antiseptic wipes.
Small tub of Sudocrem.

How about taking your blood sugers and heart rate over say, a 130km ride, and chart them out on some graphs. You should then be able to map out your refueling slots for MAXIMUM efficiency. You could also check you hr zones and work out when you to breath more or put down more power. It may be useful to over lay this over a map of the terrain, so you can see how your hr zones stack up. I would also recommend cramping a massive poo off before you start. On reflection only one of these things may be of use, but i get the feeling you would enjoy them all.

There's always one arsehole eh.

It's usually me 😕

Consider yourself not required tonight Rorschach.... 😀

Get used to eating on the move - you'll save loads of time. A tri-bag, like the Topeak one, will help.

+1 for a good nights sleep.
My kids are ill at the moment and I had a crap nights sleep last night.
I felt terrible out on the bike today and bailed after an hour.

God, never tease a hand wringer, eh.

I always take a pack if nurofen on a big ride for sore knees or headaches.

find something really nice to have when you are finished....

Where you riding what terrain?

This is the Bucks off Road Sportive so its the Chilterns ktmblag.

I did that a few years ago. It's a great ride in the dry. Let's not talk about what it's like in the wet! Best advice I had was to cut up energy bars of choice (cliff bars for me), stick 'em in an easy to get to bag and eat a chunk every 20 minutes. Last hour or so go for a gel or two to get you over the line. I had an energy drink before but stuck with water on the ride.

It was only five hours tho so might not be totally relavent, but first time I hadn't ended up mostly dead near the end.

Flowers for the Mrs

A month or two of growth hormone works wonders.

Packet of cleanex.
Multiple uses.
Emergency wound dressing.
Handy if you get caught short and need a wild poo.
Useful wipe if you find hedge porn in singletrack.
Cleaning hands after a mechanical.
Can be used to wipe your nose.

So that's about 82 miles right? I'd seriously consider ditching the camelbak, especially for carrying water, I bought a bontrager double bottle carrier that fits to the back of the saddle, easy access on the move, getting the bottles in comes with a bit of practice. I would also tape gels to the top tube, take too many. I ran out of food after 12 hours in the saddle, your mood can get very dark and you feel very disorientated.

Good luck.

stick with camlbak easy to hydrate. I would watch the energy drinks and gels you can take too much and they de-hydrate you. If I take gels and bars I just have water in camlbak. But you must have enough food. I have tri bag on top bar, I have salt and vinger sandwhichs as my fav treat for 12 - 24 hour solo stuff its my big treat.

I never use water bottles on MTB because if you have been on any long enduros over even modest terrain you find the bottles have bounced out and the rider has lost his hydration.

Weight
Save weight get rid of junk. You need tyre repair and trail tool and chain link. Anything else is junk. I also work out where the water stops are and how much I need between the stages and fill accordingly. A litre water = 1kg so if you only need a litre between stops only load a litre. Get fit and slim down will save most weight.

132k in a day

Seriously, why?

Wont such prolonged over-exercise leave permanent scarring on your heart?

Same as on the Monday after a heavy weekends riding you wouldn't commute by bike to work?

take a good book to read...it's a really dull route 😕

Have to agree with twodogs - but a good training ride

Thanks, some good stuff here.

I've some zipfit energy wine gums which I'll tape to the bike and munch on route, and my c/bak is light weight (Charge LR)but I'll remove unecessary stuff. Its a 2L resevoir so I'll stick 1.5 in it and top it up at the midway feed stop.

Against my better judgement (becuase I'm a wuss) I'm taking the light (22lb) hardtail rather than the confortable full suss, with the weather as is probably with Ralphs on.

Why am I doing it? Becuase I can, and becuase its the furthest I've ridden on an MTB so why not eh?

I'm on / have been fitness training, extending my road rides to 100k+ over the next few weekends, evening HIIT's and as of this week (hooray for the weather) some lunchtime MTB sessions. I ride quite regularly anyway.

[i]Spare pair of shorts.
Antiseptic wipes.
Small tub of Sudocrem.[/i]

For 80 miles, are you serious? What sort of terrain is it? Can you buy supplies en route or do you need to take everything with you?

But bike sorted, don't put anything brand new on the bike, don't wear anything new, eat/drink little and often, and thats about it really.

I'd be looking to take some energy in every 30 minutes after the first 60 minutes. So gel, bit of energy bar at 60 minutes, then something every 30 minutes thereafter.

I find the problem with things like this is that as much of it is not technical, you are sat in one position for a long time that and the long miles means that any little thing like seatpost being 1cm too high or suchlike can have an effect and you end up with the those niggly pains in knee of elsewhere. So i'd say make sure you are 100% about contact points with the bike and where your best padded shorts!

I find the problem with things like this is that as much of it is not technical, you are sat in one position for a long time that and the long miles means that any little thing like seatpost being 1cm too high or suchlike can have an effect and you end up with the those niggly pains in knee of elsewhere. So i'd say make sure you are 100% about contact points with the bike and where your best padded shorts!

This is why I am doing long road rides indispersed with MTB on the intended bike. Nothing's changed/will change on the bike, and I shall be wearing my most comfy Bibs under....

I did this a couple of years ago. I think the long route took me about 7 hours, although I was dragging my wife around too. The one thing I remember was all the hills are in the long route extension, the bit at the start and end are fairly flat. Also the distance between the 1st and 2nd drinks station felt like a very long way. The 1st food stop had loads of drinks and cakes, by the time we got to the 2nd one there wasn't much left, as the riders on the shorter routes had got there before us. We had carried some food with us so wasn't an issue, but could be if you were relying on food stations.

If it is dry fast rolling tyres are definitely the best choice. If you can downland a file of the route and put it on a Garmin, that helps massively if any signs go missing. I would go with a lightweight hard tail, rather than full suss.

Take different types of food so that you can eat what you feel like eating.

I don't bother with all the sports-specific products and just take a mix of: chocolatey things (e.g. mars), sugary things (e.g. jelly beans), savoury things (e.g. oat cakes, torilla chips), and cakey things (e.g. malt loaf). Maybe not all of those unless it's multi-day, but you get the idea. Having food that you don't want to eat is no good at all.

I don't know the exact route you'll be on but Chilterns are great for slashing tyres so make sure you can repair them.

Sounds like fun, where you riding to?

Wont such prolonged over-exercise leave permanent scarring on your heart?

Eh? He's doing 82 miles. People do the South Downs in a Day and that's about100miles, they don't need a heart transplant after.

Dried figs, apricots and dates are nice don't give you that sicky feeling gels and bars do. Takes some salty nuts as well.

Hmm, tyres get slashed? I have non snakeskin ralphs, probably best to get some snakeskin ralph / rons then?

eyeride it - must catch up soon - epping must be rideable by now!

racing ralphs - your gona die

FFS - what tyre then? Its go Bonty Mud X on at the moment...

You will be fine on Ralphs, just carry a couple of spare tubes. Even if it was wet I wouldn't go for a mud-x, far too many road sections.

Ah, misread that as miles, not kilometres.

I'd still take the Sudocrem and the wipes though!

Well I'm running Tubeless but planned to carry 2 x Tubes and 1 x Parks patches anyway.....

[b]Food/Drink[/b]
Make sure you drink lots and stay hydrated. Food wise, eat little and often. Don't experiment with new food/gels, only really use what your body is used to.

[b]Bike[/b]
Fit bar ends. Your hands will be in the same position for a good few hours, so these will allow you to change the position.
Obviously depends on conditions but i'd look at running quick rolling thicker tyres. Race King 2.2s are great.
Another obvious one but make sure everything is working, chain wont snap, cables not frayed, brake pads in good condition.

Have fun though, sounds a good ride.

Maxxis crossmax or ardent and tubeless repair kit, glue in hole, stick in cut off, pump, keep rolling.

Don't use thin tyres in the Chilterns if you have a choice, you may be fine, but I flint tyres from time to time locally and the thinnest I use is 2-bliss Specialized. Been through UST maxxis. Flints at high speed do damage.. got a sealant-sprayer this weekend, typically it was about 3/4 through a long ride when tired and 3 miles before the food shop - so I walked in looking like I'd been having too much fun in my sleeping bag )

60psi in the tyres etc

It's a hard-packed hoof-chun rattle fest at the moment. May change by then but if not it'll be lumpy in places, much more so than normally. I had 18psi in 2.3s this weekend and was getting a beating in places.

Blimey, maybe the sligthly heavier (26.5lb) ASR-5 with its NN snakeskin tubeless sitting in the shed with propedal on is the better way to go.....

eyeride it - must catch up soon - epping must be rideable by now!

We went for a walk around Rangers Lane/Chingford on Saturday and the forest was looking quite dry. The group I ride with reported there was a dry line on most of the trails now. Hopefully the weather this week will widen them up a bit.

[i]There's also been unconfirmed reports of dust yes [b]DUST[/b].[/i]

I'd love a ride in the forest but the new baby, means the only riding I'm doing at the moment is commuting to work. At least I'm getting 110 miles in a week, better than nothing I suppose.

Of course - many congratulations - boy or girl?

Sorry, should've added for perspective, although the trails seem lumpier than normal I was on a rigid bike and it was an unusually long ride for me.

Thanks, we had a Boy. Elias 8 weeks old on Wednesday.

😀

Best thing ever!

Kryton57 - Member
This is why I am doing long road rides indispersed with MTB on the intended bike.

Do your road rides on your MTB. 100k on a road bike is relatively easy, and doesn't give you any indication of what long distances on your MTB feel like.

done this the last 3 years and its a good day out. As has been said, most of the hills are on the long route extra loop. I would agree that there is quite a way between water stops so you'll need to carry a reasonable amount. I can't make it this year as it clashes with the 24 hours of exposure and id entered that before i noticed they are the same week. shame as I've really enjoyed the previous ones. I personally think it's a better event than the HONC.

So come on then, what tyres for Chilterns/flint 😐

An flint with your name on will go through any tyre so not worth worrying about it too much. I just find EXO / UST / thicker TLRs etc tend to get smaller, more fixable holes when it happens. That's only 3-4x a year for relatively high mileage, local area for 90% of my riding so chances are you'll be fine.

I've some zipfit energy wine gums which I'll tape to the bike

I have images of a bike looking like this .. [img] [/img]
Sorry ) just reading through for long ride tips myself.

Edit, I use Ardent EXO/LUSTs when it's dry, usually a worn-down one on the back. OK on the hardpack and good in the looser / wooded bits. There's faster options esp if there's road miles, ie Ikons / Crossmarks etc. Race Kings may be the fastest, riskiest option.

sausage pie for breakfast.

Lots of good advice there but also a couple of things that I need to take issue with.

Firstly, please avoid Nurofen/ Ibuprofen BP. This whole class of drugs are really quite harmful over prolonged periods of exertion, contributing significantly to the stress that kidneys and liver are under. If you absolutely have to, take paracetamol but better not to take anything. NSAIDs are harmful and are finally being banned by some race/event organisers.

Isotonic additives don't de-hydrate you but on the other hand, they also make little or no difference to your salt balance. This will seem like heresy to some folk but they don't prevent cramp and don't help your body cope better with exercising in heat. They are a product invented by the American sports drink industry to part us from our money. Dietary salt intake has next to no effect on blood sodium during single day ultra events (Noakes), and the amount in tablets or drinks is so small, all these drinks do is over-hydrate you further.
Drink only to thirst, not any particular theory or plan.

Less controversially, food wise, a simple piece of savoury food like a favourite pie or pasty might be an absolute life saver and could be just what you need and want later on.
Hope the prep is going well and have a good one.

I've done longer rides than that, they're not that tough!

Given there's food and drink available you probably shouldn't take too much along with you - maybe a couple of gels just in case. A ham and cheese sandwich always goes down well after 10 hours of sugar-laden energy foods and drinks - sorts your stomach out nicely. Again assuming regular food stops you should stick to water in the camelbak.

Decent bib shorts and a comfy saddle. 10gbp Aldi-special shorts might be fine for shorter rides, but you'll appreciate a proper pair of bib shorts over longer distances. Obviously make sure you've used them a couple of times before the big day. Chamois cream isn't a bad idea, either.

Get some decent long rides in, but beyond 100km (and assuming you're not dehydrated / run out of food) it's nearly all mental rather than physical. So your long training rides probably don't need to be more than 80k.

I'd use a backpack (Camelbak) rather than bottles, unless you've got a really bad/weak back it'll be fine. Clear out all the crap, first - you don't need tools like a chain-checker or bottom bracket spanner in there. A couple of inner tubes, multitool, tyre levers. Check your brake pads before you go, change if necessary. Chain oil can be handy, especially if it's going to be wet.

Try and anticipate the weather - take some sunscreen if you usually need it, after 3 hours riding you'll need to reapply it. You can get small (and stupidly overpriced) bottles that don't weigh much. If rain's not forecast you don't need to carry a jacket around with you. Arm and leg warmers can help if it's going to be a cold start and hot at midday.

Apart from that, same principals as you would apply to a road trip - don't leave your shoes or helmet at home, for example 🙂

Less controversially, food wise, a simple piece of savoury food like a favourite pie or pasty might be an absolute life saver and could be just what you need and want later on.

Exactly what I said, but 15 minutes earlier!

For me the best thing to do before a long ride is to make sure you are relaxed. Make your effort even - and have peice of mind that you have the basics covered (obvious spares / food / whatever).

Lots can happen on a long ride - and being up tight does not help when things go off plan.