Late night training?

[toddre]

How many of you train late at night on the trails to acclimate yourselves to riding at that time?
How do you go about it? Are you riding alone at 2a.m. or convincing a buddy to go with you?

[baker]

Originally Posted by toddre

How many of you train late at night on the trails to acclimate yourselves to riding at that time?
How do you go about it? Are you riding alone at 2a.m. or convincing a buddy to go with you?

I'll ride at night, but never way way late. I don't think it would do anything except make me tired for work or training the next day.

I do group and solo night rides. If it's quite late and last second, I just go by myself and stick to dirt roads or hit the trail and try to forget about the mountain lions. :-)

[stevland]

I try and ride with someone but will venture out solo. I probably end up riding more solo at night than with other people just because here in AZ people want to get out super early in the morning and I'm not a morning person.

I'd recommend taking the normal solo precautions: let someone know where you're going, when you expect to return, and take it slower when you need to.

I don't see an advantage to heading out at 2am. Once it's dark it's dark. Like Baker, there's plenty of stuff that hunts at night around here and has sharper teeth and nails than me. The trails close to neighborhoods are the best bet to avoid a cougar or coyote encounter.

[smellycat]

I've done it solo and with buddies. Riding by yourself can get a bit eerie and with other is always more fun but most of the time I ride when I can get it in my schedule regardless of who can show up.

[thumpduster]

It depends on what you're training for. Rides like these are more about building mental stamina than physical endurance.

Going out late at night by yourself is fine if you really want to be prepared for the long, strange hours of the night you'll experience during a 24 hour race. When you're 15 hours in it will be dark, you will be very tired, things won't make sense, and simple bike handling skills may require all the concentration you can muster. You might fall off your bike and not know why. You will be totally alone inside your head. You can practice the "Did I just eat, or do I still need to eat?" game for a whole hour until you realize what the answer was.

If you're going to experience these things in a race why not get a little training in?



+1 on the whole "taking the normal solo precautions" idea.

[AlliKat]

I spend a lot of my trainer time starting around 9:00pm after my daughter is in bed. I drink some sort of recovery and go to bed. (my weight is low so I don't notice the eat right before bed weight gain.) I run late at night too which is typically on roads. I haven't experimented with the bike outside late at night though. This past saturday, I got of the trainer at 1:00 am. Then, I ended up riding road outside 10:30 am next day for 5hr saddle time in 12 hours clock time.

[ne_dan]

Just by going out at night, and being well rested doesn't get you ready for being tired physically and exhausted mentally. At my first 24 hour race I had to stop and ask someone at 3am what state I was in and what the name of the race was. In the past when I was in the Army and overseas we used to run multiday missions and I was never as tired as that first 24 hour.

[staylor]

I ride at night by myself nearly every night after the family goes to bed. I'm on this trail at least 4-5 times per week (but at night):



And this is what it looks like:

[gcadelina]

After work and family training is really limited. My suggestion is to do early morning training like 4am- 8am or 3:30am-7am. Training before sleeping or midnight or very early morning training will disrupt your sleep time/ recovery time and will affect you in the future. Sleep first , get up early and train.

[dr.endo]

I try to hit a local trail after work once a week for night laps. We actually have a regular night ride on Tuesday nights, so as a chick, I know that if I have probs on the trail, odds are that someone is gonna be by soon. I'm usually off the trail by 10pm, but riding in the dark with lights consistantly has made a huge difference in my being very comfortable for my night laps in the wee hours during a 12 or 24 hr race

[staylor]

Originally Posted by gcadelina

After work and family training is really limited. My suggestion is to do early morning training like 4am- 8am or 3:30am-7am. Training before sleeping or midnight or very early morning training will disrupt your sleep time/ recovery time and will affect you in the future. Sleep first , get up early and train.

If you read the first post, the question was:

"How many of you train late at night on the trails to acclimate yourselves to riding at that time? How do you go about it? Are you riding alone at 2a.m. or convincing a buddy to go with you?"

[toddre]

Thanks guys....

[LuminTrek]

Night riding is great, especially if you can get out on the trails you'll be racing on. The better you can replicate race conditions in your training, the better your results will be for sure. I usually ride with friends. They help push the pace, plus group rides are why I got into this sport in the first place.

[robdeanhove]

I love it, and night riding is necessary in the winter if you have a normal job and want to keep riding your bike, but I find that a little music in my ears helps if I get spooked, which can happen occasionally if I'm honest!

[lightjunction]

Originally Posted by robdeanhove

I love it, and night riding is necessary in the winter if you have a normal job and want to keep riding your bike, but I find that a little music in my ears helps if I get spooked, which can happen occasionally if I'm honest!

Riding at night can really get me spooked too, especially if I'm on unfamiliar trails. Music gets my head back where it should be.

[zeeke]

I love night rides, sometimes they are the only chance to train. I was thinking of doing a 24 hour race in a few months but I dont see that riding at 2am will be any different other than id just be that much more tired. I think just get used to the night riding in general.

Staylor wins, I will never think my night rides are rough ever again.


LightJunction, its funny im looking at a reciept from you from last week, Didnt know you were on here I like the SC600.

[JMac47]

Originally Posted by staylor

If you read the first post, the question was:

"How many of you train late at night on the trails to acclimate yourselves to riding at that time? How do you go about it? Are you riding alone at 2a.m. or convincing a buddy to go with you?"

What are you the Endurance Police? I think what this poster was saying was don't worry so much about the "not riding at night" for training, as much as "get your self in shape first" then adapt to the dark/wee hours of a 24 hr race.

[staylor]

Originally Posted by JMac47

What are you the Endurance Police? I think what this poster was saying was don't worry so much about the "not riding at night" for training, as much as "get your self in shape first" then adapt to the dark/wee hours of a 24 hr race.

No, I'm not the endurance police, but if you want the job feel free to step in.

Based on your 4000+ posts on mtbr you might have noticed how quickly threads go off track. The OP asked a specific question. Reread the OP's question again. He didn't ask 'what's the best way to get in shape?', there's not much room for misunderstanding his original three sentences, for your convenience, see below...

"How many of you train late at night on the trails to acclimate yourselves to riding at that time? How do you go about it? Are you riding alone at 2a.m. or convincing a buddy to go with you?"

[JMac47]

Touche~. True, true. But the OP should be able to determine which post relate specifically to his/her needs, and/or gain some additional info not thought about.

Good site you have btw.

[staylor]

Originally Posted by JMac47

Touche~. True, true. But the OP should be able to determine which post relate specifically to his/her needs, and/or gain some additional info not thought about.

Good site you have btw.

You are right of course. Maybe I was a little heavy handed? It's hard to discern the subtleties of forum etiquette when you are in the middle of a final big push towards 24hrs of OP. ;-)

[toddre]

OK... so maybe a bit of this thread got a bit off topic... anyways, thanks everyone for the help. I was just curious how many of you trained out there alone at night and how many of you might be able to convince a buddy to join you. Seems like I wouldn't be in the minority if I was out there late at night by myself.....

[JMac47]

No prob. Best to you @ the OP.

[Brewtality]

I do night rides about once a month, so I am used to riding at night.
If I get really serious about 24hr races, I spend nights in the spin class room at the gym.
12 - 14 hours at a time, all night long.

[PedalFasterJonathan]

Originally Posted by Brewtality

I do night rides about once a month, so I am used to riding at night.
If I get really serious about 24hr races, I spend nights in the spin class room at the gym.
12 - 14 hours at a time, all night long.

That's brilliant, but I have to wonder what the employees are thinking

[ruusta]

i do not go late night. In the winter, I go 1 or 2 times a week for a 5 mile spin on trails right by my house 7pm. I always go solo.