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12 hour race, 2man team - 7mile lap - alternate every lap, or every 2 laps?

1K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Manicmtbr 
#1 ·
12 Hours of Millstone , VT coming up this Saturday.
This is my first 12 Hour and first team race.
Doing 2-man singlespeed.

It makes sense to me to switch off every 2 laps (about 1:45) of technical riding, 2,800' of vert, instead of every lap. My thinking is that at 1 hr the muscles are just getting warm and the head is just getting in the game.

Maybe it makes sense to switch every lap after 6 hours or so due to fatigue?

thanks for your pearls
 
#5 ·
I've done a few of these as a 2 person team. This last Feb. my wife and I did a 12 HR coed and were in it to win it. We took 2nd and even beat all but one all male team. We ran 2 laps at at time till the last few hours...the 2 teams that beat us rode one lap at a time.

Having the extra break of running 2 laps at a time was nice, but If I do it again, I'll run 1 at a time to keep the speed up.
 
#4 ·
...makes sense to me to switch off every 2 laps (about 1:45) of technical riding, 2,800' of vert, instead of every lap. My thinking is that at 1 hr the muscles are just getting warm and the head is just getting in the game...
Depends on your goal. If you're in it to win it, I'd say switch every lap and even go to the trouble to have a windtrainer or some other strategy for being optimally warmed up as soon as you hit the course for a lap. 12 hour duo is a speed game--it's almost like a modified version of the traditional XC race.

Come off your lap, hydration and fuel, catch your breath and stretch, then get warmed back up and hit it like it's short track. For pure speed there's benefit to getting off the bike and taking care of physical needs.

That said, I don't operate that way. And I'm never in it to win it. It often takes me over an hour to really warm up, and the disruption would be unpleasant. But I'm a diesel. Speed isn't my strength, pace is my strength. So I would be doubling up. At least.
 
#7 ·
Follow up post-race:

It was awesome. Went with switching every lap because course was technical and demanding. With a 2-man team, we hammered all the time when riding.

We won the singlespeed class and 2nd fastest time overall (all geared teams)

Here is my race report with thoughts on singlespeed endurance style and nutrition (pickle juice was the sauce):

 
#8 ·
...pickle juice was the sauce...
Congratulations on a great finish! Nice!

Regarding pickle juice: I was an aid station volunteer at the Gunnison Growler in CO in May. It was hot. One of the guys thought to get a gallon jar of pickles. There was some activity the night before the race with volunteers consuming some of the juice in what they called Pickle Slaps which were pickle+whisky shooters.

There were two days of racing, Saturday 32 mile Sunday 64 mile. The pickle juice went fast Saturday (what was left after all the slapping the night before). So a team was sent to town for more pickles and more PBR. It was VERY popular on Sunday. We were putting out dixie cups of it. One rider came up and threw one back and then said (chokingly) "That's not Gatorade!"
 
#9 ·
TomP , good tip on the Pickle Slaps and thanks for the congrats. Pickles vary a lot. If you haven't tried some small batch organic, vinegar-free pickle juice, I highly recommend it. Maybe it's the next big thing on the endurance race scene.

I will be meeting with a local pickle/fermentation company to discus being a primary sponsor for a small race team. Their tag line is "Naturally Fermented and Raw". - a great misfit bike team slogan.
 
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