200miles with a bar bag on roads. Why not just overfill your brakes so they’re dragging all the way.
The only thing I’d add to a 200mile ride that I wouldn’t already have on my bike for a anything to 100miles is a small pump, because I wouldn’t want the co2 reacting with the sealant in my tyres long term.
You aren’t in Kazakhstan. You can fit a windproof, insulated gilet, and 24hrs of food in your pockets - maybe a top tube bag if you insist on carrying bulky food.
If you worry about needing more I suggest preventative maintainance.
Just for clarrification it’s not a big bag at all and is easy to grab from while moving, and yes I’m sure it’s a bit hipster! It also covers @AndySquare 's point about rubbish with the nets either side of it.
Bike will be serviced and tbh I tend to keep on top of cleaning and maintenance so she normally runs pretty sweetly. Testing some clothing reduction would prob remove the need for a large saddle bag, which would be nice.
Guess I need to get the kit out and see how it fits and then some test rides, thanks for the opinions. Can’t wait to get on it and see what riding though the night is like, and hopefully earning a pint when I get back to the end!
Toolkit - What are your carrying to effect repairs and what mechanicals are you prepared (and capable) to fix?
Clothing - What could be the expected temperatures range over the 24 hours. What weather conditions might be encountered and do you have experience of riding in those conditions when fatigued and less able to stay warm? What clothing will you have if the worst happens and you have to remain stationary and await rescue? If your gloves get soaked do you have a spare dry pair? How will you keep your spares dry?
Food - How do you intend to satisfy your energy requirements and what food will you carry with you and what will you buy during the ride? What will you do if a 24hr garage you planned on isn’t open when you get there?
Water - will you have anything in you water bottles? How many bottles will you carry? How do you plan to refill them and where?
Medicine and first aid - What will you carry for basic first aid and other physical ailments that arise? Aspirin? Ibuprofen? Diolyte? Imodium? Stomach settlers? Bandage? Plasters? Anti septic?
A glaring omission from your list is a head torch for night time mechanicals. You want both hands free, believe me,
I’m also UK based been riding ultra endurance past 13 years. Even in summer it can get down to 0C or at least low single digits overnight. Don’t underestimate how cold it will also be, without solar radiation, no matter the forecast. It can easily be 2-4C below forecast. Whatever you’ve been using for those kind of temps in day time this winter; it’s the kind of stuff you want to think about for overnight in summer. If it’s wet it’ll be even colder due to conductive loss as water is about 60 times less insulating than air.
Food and water - have planned for enough to eat something hourly with extras (see food page of sheet linked above). Drink will just be hydration tabs as I can’t think of an easy method of portioning drinks mix.
I’m not planning any specific stops just as I go past, as the two big places I know I go through will only be a couple of hours in, other places are smaller and it’ll be late by the time I get there.
A head torch (and a warm layer for late) is a good idea and is now on the list! Previous free time was climbing and there was an in-joke with wives/partners that whatever time I went out with my best mate somehow we’d end up walking off in the dark so always had a head torch, hell I think it was suggested that even if we went to Iceland where the sun doesn’t set we’d still somehow find darkness to walk off in!
I don’t have a lot more to add beyond what I have already said, but it’s so wild to me that the ride is starting at 18:00 and you have to ride through the night. Maybe that’s part of the ride’s vibe? Most audax type events that I know start you super early in the morning, like 04:00 or 05:00. So you just deal with a little bit of dark at the start, and then have a full day.
Will the cafe be open at 02:00-03:30? If it’s your midways point, you’ll be arriving in the very early morning. Riding through the night I wouldn’t count on any store stops. On a ride like this I’d be taking in at least ~90g of carbs per hour. Assuming I was having to use gels (and stores are not guaranteed), that’s 32 SiS Beta Fuel gels for your estimated ride time. That’s your entire bar bag on its own haha.
Maybe you should add a water filter to your list? Most of the places I have ridden wouldn’t have water stops open in the middle of the night.
I think all of this is manageable and something that you can do. But man, I’d be going about it in a totally different way.
It’s down in Devon on 2023-06-23, starting in Plymouth at 18:00, up to Ilfracombe (reckon I’ll get there around 03:00/04:00) then back on the same route to Plymouth.
Just getting to Ilfracombe would be further than my current longest ride - 119km currently ~160km there, hence the possible overplanning.
Okehampton was my unplanned planned place to refuel. I’ll have been on the move long enough and there should still be a petrol station or corner shop open.
IMHO, it makes sense: sleep/eat a lot during day before start, so you can be relatively fresh over night and sunrise will give you natural boost anyway in morning. And if lucky, can hand warm clothes used during night to partner/friend.
But yeah, if planned ride is doable within daylight, then early morning start is preferred.
The 400km in May a few years back the temperature varied between 20’c in mid afternoon to 1’c at 3am in the morning. If I think back the best bit of kit I was thankful to bring was my down jacket. Highly compressible it was stuffed in my rear saddle bag. Takes about 30% of space in this sort of setup and weighs around 310g (rab zero g 1000fill)
So thankful for that at midnight, went under my windproof, it got me through the last few hours to the finish.
Wasn’t the reason I packed it, it was if I was stranded anywhere for a period of time or had a mechanical to deal with… didn’t realise I would come to wear it doing the event.
I now pack it on running ultras, weigh to warmth is well worth it, if the unplanned stops happen…
320km on roads paths isn’t going to take 24 hours…so consider that. I’ve done just a skosh over 320km several times…the longest it ever took was 17 hours. It’s typically more like a 12 to 13 hour ride. I’ve done many, many 12 hour time trials & they were all pretty comfortably over 320km at the finish…so just something to think about.
Great idea about testing arm/leg warmers. If you really do have to ride through the night, the thing about 24 hour events is you can start to lose the ability to regulate our body temperature as you fatigue and start to ride through hours when you would normally be asleep (the witching hour). Plus, no sun to provide radiant heat…so temps where you might otherwise be comfortable w/o leg/arm warmers can really make you cold.
I would ditch the lock, the top tube first aid, and the space blanket.
Don’t decide you want head and bar lighting. Go do a three hour ride starting at 2am and know whether you want double lights or some other setup. Then ditch what you don’ t need and keep what you do.
For a 24 hour race I would never pack sun cream. Just slather it on before the start. Especially if I feel like I’m going to need arm warmers. Comfort is more important than most might think…I’d pack chamois cream before I packed sun cream.
It’s more gravel and firm earth than roads. It’s no time trial route and no hand ups like you have in 24hr time trial. Plus the route won’t be for exclusive use of the riders and they will need to mix with dog walkers and family’s out cycling during the day etc.
If only! I’m a one man team. At my last nationals they tried to remove my poor little hyundai because that area was ‘reserved for athletes’. Had to tell them I WAS COMPETING. Just in a very minimalist fashion.
But if anybody wants to come out and hand me up sustenance, that’d probably be great. So far, no takers.
Best bit of prep would be to bring your “longest ride” up from 119km to something like 200km. For example, do a longer ride every 2-3 weeks and add a few km each time. Those are also a good time to make sure your kit (bibs, shoes) is comfortable, as is your bike fit.
Get your saddle bag sorted with all the stuff you’d need for a mechanical.
I wouldn’t think about what warmer clothing to pack until much closer to the date when you can get a more reliable forecast.
If the ride starts at 6pm, you’ll probably finish sometime in the morning. At that time of the year, its only going to be dark for a couple of hours (maybe 6 down there? - you can look that up in advance). I’d find a light that’ll last long enough so you don’t need to recharge. Then find two small back up lights in case your main lights break.
Re food and drink - practice on your long rides what to eat. Some people are fine with sugar/gels all the way, but most want some real food at some point. You can probably just about carry enough food for the ride, but it might be better to plan for a shop at some point. Maybe there’s a late night petrol station or an early morning cafe?
Top tube bag (1L): emergency gels, electrolyte tabs, house key, multitool, tiny little headlamp that runs off CR2032s, a battery pack for charging things in case of emergency (that has a built in rear light, so doubles as spare light) along with appropriate charging wire.
Jersey pockets: waterproof rapha case thing with phone, cash, credit card and ID in it. shakedry rain jacket that doubles as wind jacket. arm/legwarmer if needed.
saddle bag (5L). repair kit (ex: tubex2, CO2, tire levers, sealant, tube repair kit, zip ties, mini leatherman, short piece of chain/spare quicklink, etc.). reflective vest for night riding. change of socks if wet out (FYI aerobars work great as a drying rack for wet socks). “first aid kit.” Depending on weather, filling with more clothes. If wet/hot maybe a small thing of chamois cream. Chemical toe warmer if colder out (also serve as emergency heat source in case of disaster; put them in your groin/armpits).
on bike: small frame pump (with tape supply wrapped around it). water bottles. lights.
Typically wouldn’t bring sleep stuff on a 24h ride. If i need to sleep during the ride, it means it’s a failure and I’m DNFing. If remoteness is an issue then something like a mylar “emergency bivvy” +/- silk sleeping bag liner for survival in case of disaster.
“First aid kit” is quite limited as there is a very narrow range of things that would need intervention, but would not also require abandoning the race and seeking proper medical attention. Tylenol, Koban, and a couple 4x4 dressings. Maybe a bandaid. Just use your water/drink to clean any wounds you have, antiseptic is unnecessary. Most dressings/bandaids don’t stick to you if you keep riding because of sweating, hence the Koban. Alternatively, any injury that is mild enough to allow you to keep riding after it happens rather than going to hospital, is also going to stop bleeding on it’s own. So I personally have a tendency to just keep riding after washing them when this happens. You end up with dried blood on you but then just clean up when you get home 12+ hours later.
It’s unlikely 320km will take 24 hrs, especially if you are planned and efficient with your stops. It’s advantageous to map out your stops in advance, and practice fast gas station stops during training.
Nutrition should take up more space than anything else on your kit list. While you will likely want to supplement with gas station nutrition, having your own fuel (and training with that fuel before the event) will help keep stomach issues in check.
For context, my 2021 Race Against the Sun (500km), took 22:14 elapsed time, and I was not keeping a fast average speed. I used a half frame bag, a tiny saddle bag, and used most available space for Tailwind mix to keep 70gs an hour for as long as possible.
Also packed: lightweight snowboard style lock hooked around the saddlebag (which I didn’t end up using), pump/co2/multi-tool, 2x tubes, long finger gloves, rain jacket, power bank, sunscreen/chamois cream etc… Lights mounted to the bike, and light on back of helmet for night riding.
In short, you can likely get away with taking less. And if you miss some pieces of kit you just ride faster to finish up quicker : )
Got the kit list sorted and the date is getting closer. I’ve narrowed down where everything is going except the jackets (Patagonia Nano smock and Alpkit shell). Initial planning puts them in my saddle bag but it’s a big ol’ bag since it fits my tent so I’ll end up with lots of dead space, drag and general wobble with that option.
Trying to narrow down the options to carry them:
Old mtb pack of unknown origin, lost to the mists of time! But easily holds a bladder and food for an mtb ride.
Hydration vest/bag (should be able to ram in coats)
Saddle bag (big enough for my bikepacking so a good size!)
I’m a one man team. At my last nationals they tried to remove my poor little hyundai because that area was ‘reserved for athletes’. Had to tell them I WAS COMPETING. Just in a very minimalist fashion.
So far, no takers.
