I did a 12 hour practice ride for the 24hr record to get used to my equipment and see how far I could go. It’s hard to know how comfortable your setup will be until you’re in the saddle for a few hours, so it was an important part of my preparation. I rode my Triton 36 with Mad4One long handle-saddle, 100mm cranks on a Braus36 carbon rim/ Nimbus Nightrider lite tyre. It seems to be a fast setup, and in practice, I can wind it up to 27km/hr when riding a brisk pace.
My spare wheel- the Mad4One Unicorn 36 carbon rim/ Vee T-monster tyre is the same weight, but has greater rolling resistance. It would be an amazing wheel for gravel/off-road, but on sealed surfaces requires more concentration to keep in a straight line. It is also about 5% slower than the Nightrider, although the gap is narrowing as the tyre knobs wear down.
I started the day with porridge, my usual pre-race meal. A coffee to warm me up and then I headed down the track for an 0800hrs start. It would be a long day, but I had plenty of food/water to keep me fueled! I kept track of progress on my phone Strava, as well as my Lezyne Mega XL GPS computer. It was also a test to check battery life, especially bluetooth headphones and internet enabled on my phone. As well as this, I was trialing a Freestyle Libre 2 continuous glucose monitor, which gave me up to date readings on my blood sugar. A very interesting device which I will do a separate blog post about.
My legs felt good, and off I went! I knocked off a few laps cruising at 25.5km/hr. The strategy is simple- try to use as little energy while riding at 25km/hr for as long as possible. I suspected that my speed would drop to 20km/hr once fatigue sets in, but if I had enough buffer, it would give me confidence for the world record.
In my practices rides, there is a magpie who has been divebombing me from the trees. Today proved no different. The first few hours involved plenty of swoops and the occasional whack. Luckily my helmet offered good protection. After a hard whack the bird would take a break, but it always came back for more!
Now for most people, riding around in circles for 24hrs would be regarded as mind-numbing. I keep getting asked what I listen to. Previously, I had Spotify playlist, which was great…for about 30min. The problem is that music tends to dictate your tempo. There are various pump-me-up songs on the playlist, which is extremely fatiguing to listen to, and wasn’t in sync with my deliberately relaxed riding pace. This time, I set my phone onto national radio (RNZ), and listed to the Saturday broadcast. It was interesting enough- they interviewed a guerilla gardener and a movie producer. The sound of voices is an improvement over music, but still left me mentally fatigued. I turned it off after 5-6hrs. It will be fine to listen to for 2-3hrs at a time. When I do distance rides like Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge or Tour Aotearoa, I found it most relaxing to let my mind wander. Daydreaming is a very effective strategy for distance riding.
I was able to cruise at 25km/hr for 4hours before having a quick lunch break at 12pm. I scoffed down a cheese sandwich, chocolate milk and chocolate, all the time wary that my average speed was dropping. Luckily I eat fast and after 5min I was on my way again.
The post-prandial dip kicked in after lunch, and I suddenly had a power deficit. Interestingly, my blood sugars also dropped from averaging mid-6s to the low 5 mmol/L despite the food intake. My average speed starting dropping into the 23-24km/hr range.
It was a hard few hours from 12-3pm. At one point my legs locked on the corner and I ended up rubbing myself on the concrete. It looked worse than it was- just a graze on my chin but left blood everywhere!
Anna came by with the kids at 3.30pm with some cheese and steak pies, so it was another chance to stop and down more calories. I normally eat fast, but it still took a lot of effort not to choke whilst being mindful of the clock.
I hit 140km at the 6hr mark, which meant that my target of 250+km at 12hrs was achievable. The next 2hrs was difficult, but once I got to 200km (9hrs) I felt relief that I would surpass my target. When I hit 250km, it was enough to turn the grimace into a smile! I still had time to push it further, and stopped the clock on my Strava at 265km. Job done! I’ve proven to myself I can achieve enough buffer within 12hrs to beat the world record and even achieve the 500km target. According to Strava, my riding time was 11hrs44min, so some work required to reduce downtime/breaks.
Total distance (Strava) 265.6km
Total food consumed (riding): 1 large cheese sandwich, 1 1/2 cheese/steak pies, 3L Chocolate milk, half muesli bar, 100g Whittakers almond gold chocolate, 1 apple.
