I know a couple of people who ride 24hr races on a regular
basis, and do really well at them too. I figured that if I can compete against
them in cross country and cross country marathon races then I should be
competitive 24hrs racing. One of my goals this year is to figure out 24hr
racing and see if it will toughen me up. The Delirium 24hr road race was the
ideal first race. The course is a 3.7km anticlockwise loop with lap times being
around 6min 30sec to 7min 00sec when riding solo and a low risk of crashes.
Seeing the pit crew 8 times an hour would mean the motivation should stay high.
When I start a new format of racing I do a lot of research,
and very quickly it became apparent that there was so much planning to do.
Interestingly most of the online and verbal advice was that the nutrition would
be the hardest part, not the riding itself. The first step was working out how
far I thought I needed to go and how hard to ride. Results from last year’s race
were available so I had a fair idea that I needed to get around the 700km mark
to get on the podium. As an engineer I love spreadsheets so getting the
nutrition plan sorted was pretty easy. I train and race with a power meter and
all the advice I got was that you absolutely needed one to keep track of your
intensity. I typically train with 70% intensity for endurance rides and 95% for
intervals. I devised a plan based around a 60% average intensity and a cadence
of 90.
The field is comprised of both teams and individuals. Past
results showed the teams averaging 40km/hr and the individuals around 30km/hr
for the 24hr period. I could see that
many individuals would smash the first 4-5 hours by circulating with the teams
and then blow up. I knew I had to ignore them and just stick to my plan.
Race day rolled round and it was raining. My two handlers
set up the tent, chairs etc and took shelter. The race started with a rather
subdued first lap after which it ramped up. I completed the first 3 or 4 laps
with the lead groups at over 40km/hr to get warmed up and then settled into my
plan. I rode by myself most of the time, preferring to stay clear of other
bikes in the rain and any other 24hr solo riders. No one on course knew who I
was and I wanted it to stay that way for as long as possible. At about the 4hr
point, and just as predicted, the first of the 24hr solo riders started to blow
up after riding with the teams. The team riders typically rode 30-45 mins each
turn and so got plenty of time to recover. The solo riders had no recovery
time. I stuck to my plan with my intensity at +/-60% and my cadence at 90rpm. One
by one the solo riders starting heading in for their first rest. By the 5hr
mark I was one of only a couple of riders who hadn’t had a rest. I was grabbing
a bottle and solid nutrition every hour but I was spending 2-3 minutes every
hour off the bike peeing into the bushes down the back straight. I made the
decision to move to a bottle every 1.5hrs and up the solids. I needed to
consume 95grams of carbohydrate every hour so my handlers upped the amount of
food accordingly.
The day progressed really well and after 8hrs of riding I
had moved into 2nd place. Sticking to the plan was working, all I
needed to do was keep to it. As night fell the lights went on and things quietened
down a bit. The teams were still lapping at 40km/hr but many of the solo riders
were lapping really slowly or had gone for a rest. The guy in front of me had
done the race the year before and knew what he needed to do to stay in front. As
in any endurance race tactics play a huge part. Once you have established your
position in the field you look to the guy behind you to see what he is doing.
If he sleeps, you sleep.
My nutrition plan was simple, 95grams of carbohydrate every
hour, it was up to my handlers how they would give it to me. They kept a
tracking sheet detailing exactly what I was eating, how much and the cumulative
carbohydrates. There were 15 or so items on the menu and my handlers would surprise
every time I stopped. Rice pudding, Nutella sandwiches, Flapjack, Em’s Power
Cookies, Watties Spaghetti, bananas, Chocolate Custard, dates all went down
with ease. I had been told to stay off the energy gels until maybe the last few
hours so I did. To stay awake and alert I also consumed large amounts of
caffeine, about 100mg every 1.5hrs. After 17hrs of riding straight my guts were
starting to feel a bit crook, the nutrition was starting to get the better of
me. I told my handler, Brendon, that I was feeling like crap and he suggested I
have a 15min rest. My plan was to not get
off the bike for the entire race but I had no choice, I was struggling to keep
reasonable lap times and the realisation that something was wrong started to
get me down. After exactly 15mins Brendon told me get back on the bike,
begrudgingly I did. I put in another
hour but I didn’t get any better, my lap times deteriorated even more. After
18hrs of riding, over 500km ridden and in 2nd place I was done. I
got off the bike and went for a lie down. Brendon and Emily kept a vigil outside
the tent and kept an eye on what was happening in the race. As it turned out
everyone else had got off their bikes and gone to bed too. After 3hrs lying on
the floor in agony my guts started to some right. I asked where I was and they
said 2nd place, but the other riders were up and getting out on the course.
At that point I knew I was going to finish the race on the podium. A quick
change of top, a bottle of water, some gels and I was away.
I smashed out the next 4hrs with some of my best lap times,
tagging occasionally onto the back of the leading teams’ train. The guy in
third was lapping constantly with the teams but I knew I just had to hold my
nerve. In the end I finished in 2nd place, 2 laps clear of 3rd. I couldn't have done this without my two awesome handlers Brendan and Emily.
Some stats. I covered 644km with an average speed of 32km/hr,
average cadence 89rpm, consumed 40,000 Calories, caffeine equivalent to 20 cups
of coffee, and 23L of water. The guy that won was more than 20 years younger than me. The result now puts me in 7th position on the all time Delirium Hall of Fame for distance covered.
