Monday, August 28, 2006

Notes on 2006 24 Hours of Allamuchy

Limiters

  1. Cramps
  2. Cramps
  3. Cramps
Not sure I can sum it up any better than that. Ok, so let's try to refine this a little better:

  1. Not being in good enough shape (cramps)
  2. Bike food is still a major WIP (as is drinking from the bladder)
  3. Muscular endurance?
I'd say #3 is more my need to fill in a 3rd option. That really goes with #1 though there's certainly something to be said about the fact my longest ride was 3 hours before this. Considering, I'd say the 7.5 hour stretch was impressive enough.

Race & Setup Notes

  • Course was good, technical but not too much
  • No need to setup the day before, especially if we want to camp together
  • Having said that, site was quite far away, would prefer closer
  • Better off taking the Monday off than the Friday (unless you want a close camp)
  • Did I mention cramps?
  • Need a canopy next year
  • Consider a stove, or anything warming
  • Don't start at the end of the pack
  • Make lap #1 slower?
Food List Assessment

  • cold pizza was excellent
  • pasta with chinese sauce was excellent
  • potatoes seemed unappealing - too cold
  • corn flakes and grape nuts and rice milk work well
  • any more than 1-2 bananas is useless
  • you only need 1-2 salty snacks
  • bagels good to have, but not 12 of them
  • did not touch fig newtons nor PBJ nor Clif bar in ride time
  • did not touch V8, coke, pudding, or soup
  • had too much food again
  • bagel chips were good
Camp List Assessment

  • need canopy
  • cold weather clothing a must (include footwear)
  • stove might have been handy
  • Overall had all bases covered save for above items

Ride Plan Assessment

  • may have started a little too fast
  • having said that, being in the main glob of a pack was frustrating and energy sapping
  • calories is a major concern still
  • liquid intake seems fine
  • pit stops handy, though we were pretty far away
  • taking notes at pit stops was tough, but I did it
  • had a lot of fun
  • did not ride a night lap - only glaring omission
  • slept for 6 hours
  • ate plenty of recovery food Saturday, not enough Sunday
  • hot shower was amazing
  • Consider mixing all bottles before race

Bike Drinks

  • Accelerade - I've had enough of this stuff, use as light flavoring
  • Gatorade - Not as bad as Accelerade, but also just for flavoring
  • Maltodextrin - only thing I could stand after a long day
  • Consider mixing all bottles before race
  • Need to learn to drink from bladder routinely
Course Description

This is my post to the mtbr.com forum in response to course description...

9.5 mile course, maybe 1+ then 1.5+ miles in the boy scout camp at the beginning and end.

Course started as it did last year, with a climb on the fire road out of camp. Short descent after that then some mild climbs, some techincal through 2 miles. Overall climbing wasn't anything brutal - there are certainly more painful loops available in the park. Technically there were a handful of log jumps, none that caused me to clip out. There were 2-3 rock gardens that were pretty tough, but again, nothing that a carefully picked line, some patience, and a good grind couldn't overcome. Probably the toughest section for me was a rocky/grassy incline that was not well travelled, half submerged in grass. At the end, there was a 2 foot rock laying in wait, which I wasn't able to clean on any of my 5 laps. It's the only obstacle that got me every time. On the last lap I made it up the climb but bailed due to lack of energy. There were a few downhill runs that were outstanding in this section. Aid station was just short of mile 6. From 6 to 7 was some climbing and roots/rocks, generally rolling. From 7 to 8.5 was mostly flat to downhill, very nice run but very wet on the next day. The last mile was a brutal climb which occured as you got back into the boy scout camp, so that was a surprise for most people. That was followed by the same fast descent as last year, but in much better shape because it wasn't washed out.

All in all, solid technical but not brutal. Decent climbing but again, not brutal. There were no climbs I couldn't clean most laps. As a reference, I cannot clean all the climbs at Round Valley. Also, I cannot make that steep climb going East from Chimney Rock Road. I am sure there are a handful of people who can say they clipped in, started their lap, then cliped out when done. I was not one of them.

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