I too carry all the repair gear, I think I’ve settled on a small lightweight saddle bag to carry most of it. I settled on the USWE outlander pro as the lightest, most streamlined pack I could find, which takes 2L if you want it.
I am about 25 kg heavier than you right now, so I’m guessing I do need more water than you and the extra weight wouldn’t bother me as much.
I’ve tried some different things and settled on a very small 1.5l hydo pack with 4 scoops tail wind per two hours + 1 gel per hour. I finish the hydro pack every 2 hours +/- depending on nearest aid station to 2 hour expected arrival.
1 gel per hour + .75L (1/2 of the hydro pack) with carb mix gets me about 75g carbs per hour.
For 6 hour events, I carry 2 ziplock bags with 4 scoops of product per ziplock in my right most jersey pocket. Refill every 2 hours at closest aid station, topping off the pack with water and contents of one ziplock.
In left pocket I carry 5 gels. One per hour after first hour (one also just before start of race).
Co2 and inflator, dynaplug, tube, master link, and multi tool goes in a “keg” on bottle cage on bike frame. Also carry a very small lezyne pump in my right jersey pocket.
I can’t imagine this being the lightest setup, but in these longer events, my aid station stop time is likely less than 60 seconds, at 2 stops maximum.
The camelback hydro pack I use has a large circular opening that is pretty fast to open, dump powder in, and fill, without making much of a mess.
Who’s going to be there this weekend?
I’m commiting to no hydration pack now and just carry 2 700ml bottles and refill at the aid station(hopefully just once)
I’ll carry 7 or 8 gels in my jersey pockets and 2 bags of endura drink mix I’ll put into my bottles at the aid station and add water.
I’m storing a pump on my frame and co2, multitool, quick link and dynaplug in a saddle bag.
Do you think I should pack a tube too?
I’ve noticed my bike fit is less than ideal since I’ve dialled up the volume in preparation for this, I’ve made a few little tweaks but my comfort over the duration is probably my biggest concern. I’ve got a pinching going on in my left shoulder I can’t seem to sort out and it shows up after only 45 minutes or so. I’m just going to ignore it on the day, as long as my legs feel fine I’ll just keep pedalling.
I’m heading up there. I’m carrying 1x 750ml bottle and 1x 1.5L hydration pack. Hoping to bypass the first station and fill up at the second aid station around 70km in (only if required).
Most of my carbs will be in the liquids, although I might stuff some jellies and snickers in my back pocket.
I’ve got the same pump / saddle bag set up as you, which I’m running on my cannondale hardtail w/ Continental RaceKing 2.2 tires front and rear. Weather has been sunny all week so hoping the course will be dry.
I’m also in 2 minds about packing a tube. I might see if I can pick up one of those TPU MTB tubes and just strap it below the bottle cage near the BB for added peace of mind. Probably worth the weight penalty.
Looking forward to it!
What an awesome ride! A lot chunkier than I imagined. 2 bottles got me to the last 70km aid station and it took me 30 seconds or so to fill a bottle with water and my own drink mix out of a ziploc bag to get me home the last 30kms. So 3x 700ml bottles in total with 8 winners gels.
Finished in a time of 4hrs 55mins, so sub 5 which was sort of my goal. 7th in the 30-39 age group. Will do it again one day for sure, maybe next time on a full suspension bike instead of my old hardtail to help with the chunky bits.
Congrats!
Yeah that part through the ‘rainforest’ with all the overgrown plants, followed by about 20km of rock garden was painful (I was on a hardtail as well). That also meant it was almost impossible to take on food during that entire section. I ended up going through my 2L backpack plus a little bit of my 750ml bottle, 2 bananas and a bag of lollies. Would have liked to take on more food for sure.
If I did it again I’d definitely choose a dually for the comfort.
I ended up 4h33m, which I was happy with. Weather was perfect:
Damn. Now I wish I’d pulled my finger out and done it!
Well done mate, 4hr33min is a solid effort. I know what you mean by wanting to eat and drink more, I planned to go through 4 bottles but simply couldn’t take my hands off the bars to reach for a drink.
Thanks - I definitely didn’t have anything left in the tank by the end! Here’s my Whoop HR data from the race:
Damn, must have dug deeper than me. I was a bit unsure how to pace it not having done races that long before so I did avoid putting in some punchier efforts cause I was worried it would come back to bite me later, that being said I don’t think I left a great deal out there.
If this was your first time doing the Convict, your pacing strategy seems to have worked perfectly. To go sub 5 first time is impressive - I think the first time I did it I was over 6 hours!
Now that you’ve done it once, will you be back?!
Yeah for sure, I’ll probably be back next year. There’s definitely some things to learn doing it the first time I hadn’t anticipated.
Maybe working harder at the beginning to be with a lead group, I got a weed stuck in my derailleur just before the creek crossing and got stuck behind a load of people pushing their bikes up the next few climbs and really had trouble finding the guys riding my pace.
I feel the road sections are a missed opportunity if you’re caught solo on those too.
To be honest though I’d probably have just as good of a time out if I forgot about racing it and just enjoyed the ride at an easy pace.
