Sunday, May 18, 2014

24 Hour Race Practice

The course for the 24 Hour Race is marked and I rode it from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm today. I wanted to see how I felt after a long ride and test out my fluids and food plan. On the first lap I thought I took it easy but I obviously didn't since I completed it in an hour and ten minutes. I backed it off a notch and did the next three laps in 1:20 each. That still isn't ideal for me since I plan to ride for the entire time. I did six laps in eight hours, which averages out to 1:20 a lap. My goal is to do at least 200 miles and this was about 90 so my goal seems reachable.

Less than a week away.

For my fluids I grabbed a fresh water bottle on each lap and I drank half of a chia seed-infested sports drink. That seemed to work well. I had no hydration issues. I practiced eating Clif bars and Shot Blox while I was riding. That helps slow me down because it's difficult to chew and swallow if you're breathing hard. I had a Clif bar at the beginning of each lap and a Shot Blox after completing Five Minute Hill. That was fine but after five hours my stomach was needing something substantial. I think I'll fix some sandwiches for the race. That way I can chow down and make my stomach happy and take an extra slow lap to allow some time to recover from the prior five hours.

 I'm running out of skin.

I biffed it on the second and third lap. The first crash came courtesy of a tree branch I got too close to on a turn. It caught and turned my handlebars. For the rest of the day every low-lying branch protruding into the right side of the trail gave me a stinging reminder. The second crash was from a pedal strike on a big rock. It was minor. It only knocked off some of the scabs I got from last Wednesday's crash.

If nobody claims it after two laps, it's mine, right?

I think it would be wise for me to add a first aid kit to my gear list.

2 comments:

John Greer said...

6 laps in 8 hours is very impressive Hank. Get used to having riders yell passing on your left and you'll have the endurance pace set. You might want to put something that scratch.

John Speare said...

try potatoes! boiled with salt. eaten cold. yum.