Endurance help: How to Ride Longer

[BFloFoxRider.]

Okay, i searched threads and couldnt find what i was looking for.
Im riding in the El Roble Bike marathon which i have mentioned on here, and while i have not got any donations for money, i am still going to ride and help motivate the kids to ride more miles/laps.
My question is, i havent ridden much in the past few months. This marathon is 24 hours, but there are 3 teams that ride in shifts.. team a rides and hour while the others rest then team b rides and so on and so forth for 24 hours..
I was going to attempt to ride as long as i could without stopping.
Can anyone reccomend how i can do this without cramping up and die? My Plan so far is water, and endurolytes and Gu. The track is flat so i can maintain momentum pretty well, but what else should i keep in mind so i can ride longer and keep pace for hours upon hours until i have to pee... then refill my bottle and ride some more.
Thanks peeps

[wgb]

Ride More!

[sdyeti]

you have to be willing to listen to your body and rest every once in a while though...

oh and, LONGER rides!!

[BFloFoxRider.]

Well i only have until the 15th and i actually work and go to school now, so imma busy guy

[Rawhead]

Originally Posted by wgb

Ride More!

+1


oh, and proper nutrition

http://www.svcc.org.uk/eating_on_the_bike.htm

[allison]

I say really do some more research. Hopefully a few of the 8/12/24 hour participants can weigh in.

You will need real food. There are very few people that can ride for 24 hours on water and gel alone (MikeC is the only one I've personally read about, and he chooses NOT to do that on a regular basis, or any basis for that matter).

Unfortunately I don't think you have the ability to go out and ride for 8-10 hours at a time for training (I think your parents might get worried about you).

But, get in long rides when you can.

I've never done a multi-hour race, so I can't say how they work (yet). But, I know that when people do duo's one person will go out for a lap or two, then they alternate. I've asked why don't they ride for longer stretches, but I think if you are out to win you stay more fresh/consistent when you split the laps. Since you aren't "racing" per se for podium, etc. I don't think that consistency is needed in lap time.

Are you part of the one of the teams? Don't forget others will want to ride and participate as well. If going solo, then I say ride til you fatigue a little. You don't need to do XC race pace since it's a marathon. Just take your time. Take breaks. Eat, let your food digest a little.. Enjoy it!

Originally Posted by BFloFoxRider.

Well i only have until the 15th and i actually work and go to school now, so imma busy guy

Kind of late to begin training Take your time, ride smart. Don't push it or you will be paying for it for a week or more.

[dirtvert]

don't stop (for long) when you throw up.

seriously- endurance events take months of planning and training. the best you can hope for at this point (one week prior) is to not hurt yourself.

[BFloFoxRider.]

Originally Posted by allison

I say really do some more research. Hopefully a few of the 8/12/24 hour participants can weigh in.

You will need real food. There are very few people that can ride for 24 hours on water and gel alone (MikeC is the only one I've personally read about, and he chooses NOT to do that on a regular basis, or any basis for that matter).

Unfortunately I don't think you have the ability to go out and ride for 8-10 hours at a time for training (I think your parents might get worried about you).

But, get in long rides when you can.

I've never done a multi-hour race, so I can't say how they work (yet). But, I know that when people do duo's one person will go out for a lap or two, then they alternate. I've asked why don't they ride for longer stretches, but I think if you are out to win you stay more fresh/consistent when you split the laps. Since you aren't "racing" per se for podium, etc. I don't think that consistency is needed in lap time.

Are you part of the one of the teams? Don't forget others will want to ride and participate as well. If going solo, then I say ride til you fatigue a little. You don't need to do XC race pace since it's a marathon. Just take your time. Take breaks. Eat, let your food digest a little.. Enjoy it!



Kind of late to begin training Take your time, ride smart. Don't push it or you will be paying for it for a week or more.

This is for the 8th graders, my old teacher has been in charge of it ans she said i could do it again if i wanted to, and she said i could ride as much or as little as i wanted too

[reflux]

Just a little tidbit I was once told regarding long-distance events: if you're pushing yourself (and the pace) at any point before nearing the end, you need to slow the f*** down.

[Kid A]

for the long ride

[mp3]

A bit late for any sort of training, but you're young and that's a big bonus.

Question: you want to ride as for as long as you can without stopping or you want to rack up the most laps? They aren't necessarily the same thing.

Lets say you want the most laps...bragging rights.
Keep it super simple. If I were your age trying this here's probably what I'd do.

1. Pacing: I'm guessing it's a regular HS track where 4 laps is about 1 mile? 10 miles an hour should be comfortable. That's 40 laps in 1 hour, 400 in 10. 10mph might be a little boring for someone your age so alternating 1 hr at 10 mph and 1 hr at 12/15 mph is ok for the first 10 hours too. Note I'm assuming you're riding a road bike or mountain bike, not a bmx. The latter is a different story entirely.
After 10 hours take a big break, 1-3 hours. Eat a big meal and rest. After that hop back on the bike and ride how you feel until the end. Ride fast when you feel like it or ride slow and converse with the ladies for awhile.

2. Nutrition: Gatorade and water. As far as food, I'd go with fruit like grapes, watermelon, oranges, pop a gu one an hour unless your stomach is feeling bloated then back off for an hour. During you big break eat whatever you want, you have 2 -3 hours to digest it. Once you're back on the bike you can go back to the same food as before or eat what you want as long as it's not too heavy.

my $0.02

Good luck!!

If you have more questions PM me.

[allison]

Brandon - listen to Mario!!

[lukewiens]

+1 to what mario said....proper pacing will be your best ally out there and keep the calories coming in. if you are in zone 1 heart rate the entire time you will be fueling your body from your fat stores with a little help from your carbohydrate consumption. take in some protein throughout the day as well to help...but not too much.

as mentioned, gatorade and powerbars will do the trick....take in some solid food during your break(s). if your stomach heads south, try coke as a last ditch effort but try not to use this until the very end as it is high on the glycemic index.

lastly, keeping your mind right will become extremely tough after a while especially if you are going in some kind of mindless loop. bring your mp3 player to distract you...or ride next to a buddy and carry on a conversation.

just remember what you are riding for and try your best to have fun!!

[TBlazen]

This is good stuff to reflect back on after doing CC....

I did have stomach problems, but that was it; Used Cytomax in the small Camel back; Had a Gu dispencer strapped on, but found I couldn't squish much down. Did a little Cliff bar I think it was at the bottom of motorway.

24 hrs is a whole nother ball game...

good luck