The Adrenalin 24hr World Solo Championships hosted by Whistler, BC Sept 4th and 5th, 2004. A record 200 solo riders started at the base of Blackcomb Mountain at high noon on Saturday, September 4 2004. The Le Mans start of a 400 meter run was the start of 24 hrs of BC style single track, rocky climbs, ladders and roots, making the epic race about as hard as it could possibly be.

The weather co-operated, although it was cold and overcast until daybreak on Sunday. The well-organized solo pit area was home to racers and crews from numerous nations. Biggest challenges for Lesley Tomlinson of Canada on the womens side were from Jenny Connor of Great Britain, and defending World Solo Champion Christina Begy of the USA. Throughout the entire race, the solo pits thrived with spectators, supporters and fans making the 24 hr challenge ultimately more bearable for those taking on the task.

In the early laps, Jenny Connor and Begy maintained close contact, forcing quicker than usual pit stops on the 1 hr 15 to 30 min laps for Tomlinson. Knowing that they would pay later for this strategy, Rocky Mountain Business Objects, Tomlinson upped the pace on the laps to allow for longer pits to refuel and rest. Although the longest stops the entire race were 7 mins, and as short as 1 min, this was enough to make the difference as the challengers tried to forego the stops to reduce the deficit from the lap times.

By 8 am Tomlinson had a 30 min lead and took a complete change and food stop. Connor tried one last effort to cut the lead by riding right through without a stop at all. This helped her to gain back 9 mins, but would ultimately cost much more in the final few hours. Begy likewise slowed to the point of being lapped by Tomlinson with 2 hrs remaining after which she retired from the race and was consequently passed by Louise Kobin, her Trans Alp Challenge partner of 2004.

The RMBO crew of Keith Yip and Karen Stark, assisted by young racer and mechanic Matt Green were indescribably competent and supportive. Between the three, the bikes, light systems and changes were flawless. Additional support by Daina Carmicheal, Kevin Calhoun, Brad Fairall and Alex Pro all of Rocky Mountain, was magic in fueling the ride.

Thanks to all for staying up most of the night and helping in the win.

Lesley Tomlinson


Jenn O'Connor reports from the World 24 Hour Solo Championships in Whistler, BC

The World Solo Champs was my first real international race, in a field of more than 20 Elite female soloists. I finished second behind Canada's Leslie Tomlinson (Rocky Mountain) after a very fast and tough race, and it's a result I'm more than pleased with.

Andy and I arrived in Canada the Monday before the race in order to settle in and adjust to the time difference. We had a lot to organise also, as we had to shop around to pick up all the bits and pieces that we couldn't take with us on the flight over.

Preparation went relatively smoothly, with the only major setback being that our energy drink was confiscated by Canadian customs. We had arranged with Powerbar Europe to have my usual Hydroplus drink sent out from the UK, as it isn't available in North America. But we didn't realise that Canada has unusually strict laws regarding food and drink imports, and the Hydroplus never arrived. We had to buy a supermarket carb drink from the local grocery store - it was unpalatable to say the least, although my stomach came around to it after about eight hours of racing. Luckily we'd arranged for Powerbars and Powergels to be sent by courier from Powerbar Canada, so we had plenty of those.
The race began with a Le Mans start, followed by a short prologue before heading out for the first proper lap. I started fast, as planned, and caught Leslie about a third of the way into the first lap and we rode that lap together, setting a blazing pace. I dropped back in the second lap and by the third was suffering with cramps and nausea. I dropped back to third as defending champion Christina Begy (USA, Spot) came past me, and I had to sit back and focus on staying steady and keeping my drink down.

The course was a mix of everything - big, steep climbs (1,600ft per lap), flowing singletrack and tight, technical descents. It was about 18km (11miles) long, including an additional 2km loop just for the Elite soloists. The extra loop was a steep, grassy climb followed by an even steeper forest descent. The descent was the most technical of the whole course, with nests of slippery tree roots, sheer drops, steps and chutes. About a third of the field (men and women) were walking all or most of it and the good technical riders were making up several minutes. I was able to ride the whole descent once I got my lines sorted, and although it was stressful it was a refreshing way to finish each lap.

The sun went down about 8pm, and by that time I was about 30 minutes behind the leader, and 20 minutes behind second place. I was starting to feel a lot better and picked up the pace, making up minutes on the leaders every lap as the track became completely dark. Meanwhile another former champion, Louise Kobin (USA) in fourth place was chasing me hard, closing the gap to 10 minutes at one stage.
It was the longest night I have ever ridden through, with a full ten hours of darkness. I caught Christina at about 3am and continued to put in fast laps to consolidate my second place. The sky began to lighten just before 6am, and by that time the leader gap was varying between 10 and 20 minutes. Leslie and I were both still pushing hard, and the gap to third place had stretched out to 40 minutes. Louise had moved up to third place, and Marg Fedyna (USA) was now in fourth, just a few minutes back from her. With only two laps left to race the finishing order was more or less set, and although I did put in a fast lap about 9.30am, I was suffering as the hard night of racing had taken its toll on me. I knew I couldn't close the gap on Leslie and had to focus instead on keeping a strong, steady pace in order to keep my second place, which I did comfortably.

All told, the race went well and I was lucky to suffer no punctures or mechanicals for the full 24 hours. I rode a 2004 S-Works Epic and a customized 2005 Womens Stumpjumper. The bikes were comfortable, climbed well and allowed me to tackle the technical descents with absolute confidence. I chose to ride with Panaracer Trailblaster Tubeless 1.95s as I needed a robust trail tyre that would handle everything.
For the night laps I used a Lupine Edison 10 for the first seven hours, then switched to an Edison 5 for the remainder of the night laps. The two batteries handled the ten hours of darkness with power to spare, despite the alpine temperatures.

I would like to give special thanks to Specialized for sending me to the race and providing me with such a great opportunity. I'd also like to thank Powerbar, Lupine Lighting Systems and Panaracer for their essential support. Finally and most importantly, thanks to my coach Andy Patterson and to my Mum and Dad, who flew from New Zealand to support me for this race.

Elite Female
1. Lesley Tomlinson (Can) 23:26:32, 17 laps
2. Jennifer O'Connor (GBr) 24:04:27, 17 laps
3. Louise Kobin (USA) 24:40:44, 17 laps
4. Marg Fedyna (Can) 24:48:57, 17 laps
5. Cristina Begy (USA) 23:03:01, 15 laps

If you have a good story to tell, please email it to:

worldchampionships@twenty4sports.com


Stuart

On the hottest weekend of the year so far, Britain's top endurance riders lined up alongside a healthy gathering of rookies to compete in the 24 Hours of Exposure, the UK's first solo 24 hour championships. After the leisurely lead out of Newcastleton village, racing was tough as youngster Josh Ibbett took the race to the more experienced endurance racers, maintaining his lead for 19 hours before Matt Page finally took the win to secure his Worlds qualifying place and Ant White squeezed passed on the last lap to take second, Ibbett holding on to third in front of Rich Rothwell.

The blistering pace and weather were complimented by the friendly, relaxed atmosphere of the rest of the field - the fantastic 7Stanes based course and stunning Scottish arena scenery at Rock UK all helped to create an incredible atmosphere at this inaugural event. Many of the riders commented they'd never experienced a race like it and were proud to have been part of such an historic event in the British mountain bike calendar, resulting in a good number of riders seriously considering attending the World Solo 24 Hour Champs in Australia to pit themselves against the worlds best.

More coverage of the race can be found at these links over on bikeradar.com and bikemagic.com.

Have news about your countries team? Fire it our way and we'll let the world know what you are doing or who's helping you get it done, emails can be sent to:

worldchampionships@twenty4sports.com

Jennii English is an Australian Sports Dietitian with a particular interest in nutrition for 24 hour mountain bike racing. Her husband, Jason English, has benefited from her expertise and he generally follows her advice! Jennii will be presenting a three part series on endurance race nutrition with a view towards easily understood descriptions and simple to apply tips - we hope you enjoy the series.

Carbohydrate Loading

Good preparation for a 24 hour mountain bike race should begin a few days out with attention to a high carbohydrate diet. Carbohydrate loading, if done correctly, maximizes muscle glycogen stores and improves endurance exercise performance. For effective carbohydrate loading, an exercise taper and a daily intake of 7-10g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight is required for the 2-3 days before the event. For a 70kg athlete, this means about 500-700g of carbohydrate per day. Achieving these targets requires planning and it is essential to practice this strategy during training and less important endurance events as it can represent a significant change to your normal eating plan. Commonly, athletes attempting to carbohydrate load fail to meet these targets and consume too many high fat foods along the way. Effective carbohydrate loading is associated with a body mass gain of about 2kg due to the increased stores of muscle glycogen and the water stored with it.

Race morning

A normal sized meal should be eaten 2-4 hours before the start of the race to allow sufficient time for digestion. Choose familiar foods that you have experimented with in training and other races. This meal should be high in carbohydrate to top up liver and muscle glycogen stores. Choose low fat and lower fiber options to ensure easy digestion. Some suitable options for this meal include:

·    Bread/toast/crumpets/muffins with jam or honey
·    Sports bar + liquid meal supplement (eg, Sustagen Sport)
·    Low fiber cereal + low fat milk + tinned fruit or banana
·    Pasta with tomato-based sauce (or other low fat sauce)

Aim to consume at least 1g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight in the pre-race meal. For the 70kg rider, this means at least 70g of carbohydrate.
Try to begin the race well-hydrated. Include about 600ml of fluid with your pre-race meal and top up with 200-400ml of fluid just prior to the start. This will prime the stomach and improve the delivery of fluid to the small intestines. Most athletes can tolerate about 5ml/kg of body weight (eg, 350ml for a 70kg athlete). Experiment with this strategy during training to find a volume of fluid that is comfortable.
 
Carbohydrate intake during the event

During low to moderate-intensity endurance exercise, carbohydrate and fat are the main fuels used by the working muscles. As our carbohydrate stores are limited, ingesting sufficient amounts of carbohydrate during the event will help to maintain blood glucose levels and delay fatigue. A good starting point for carbohydrate intake during prolonged exercise is 1g per kilogram of body weight per hour. This means roughly 70g of carbohydrate per hour for a 70kg athlete.














Experiment in training with a variety of different foods for use during the event. It's best
not to introduce anything new on race day. During the race, eat regularly and start early, certainly within the first hour. If you have trouble remembering to eat, set an alarm on your watch at 15 or 30 minutes intervals to prompt you to eat. Otherwise, find a couple of sections of track such as a smooth fire road and the feed zone where you aim to eat something each lap.

If you plan to minimize time off the bike, foods like carbohydrate gels, sports bars, bananas, sandwiches, pikelets and lollies provide carbohydrate in a convenient form. Make the most of any stops even if they are brief such as having the chain lubed. This could be an opportunity for some variety in the race diet such as an instant pasta snack or some tinned creamed rice, even if only a few mouthfuls.

If you think the track can get boring after 24 hours, so too can the food. A common problem for endurance athletes is "flavor fatigue" which usually results from consuming lots of sweet sports foods such as gels, bars, sports drinks and lollies. To prevent this problem have a variety of options on hand with different tastes and textures including hot and cold foods, solids and liquids, soft and crunchy foods and sweet and savory flavors. You just never know what you'll feel like eating at two in the morning!

This past weekend I got in some fun at an 8hr race right here in Calgary. The 'Giver8er' is in it's third year and is a great mixed category event put on by Deadgoat Racing who did an awesome job! The format was a closed repeating loop on some challenging mtb terrain with lots of spiky elevation gains and some nice technical riding. It would have been a handful in good conditions but throw in the several days of snow and rain on the days leading up to the event and it had to be redefined into another category other than 'handful'.

Weather means a lot in racing and Giver8er was going to start at a balmy 1 degree Celsius with visible snow around the trail network. While standing in the Solo area waiting for the race to start I heard the familiar voice of another 24hr Solo racer from last year's Worlds (hey Dave). As he rolled over he jokingly said "Is this the Giver8er or the Refrigerator?" That got a pretty good laugh, in fact I still find it funny. Besides the temperatures we would be getting an added bonus to the course, sloppy mud which modified itself after a couple of racing hours into tacky power robbing mud - sloppy mud or power robbing mud, which one is better - I'll let you decide.

Actually I'm trying to make it all sound dramatically harder that it turned out to be and the conditions weren't anything most readers of this newsletter haven't faced at one time or another. And truth be told, the course improved by hour 4 as things got pounded down by lots of tires, the temps raised a little bit and the riding was starting to get a nice flow to it. It was turning into a decent day.

I felt good on the bike and was managing to stick to a pacing plan that would let me have fun on the course without wrapping myself around a tree prior to BCBR which comes up at the end of the month. Things were going well but with the good you sometimes get the bad and right around the 5hr mark my Specialized Phenom saddle broke, which interfered with the fun aspect. By the 5.5hr mark I was standing on the sidelines cheering other racers on, with my bike laying on the ground beside me.

Did I have a spare saddle... uhmmmm, no. Why didn't I take my spare bike? Because I fell into the trap of 'It's only an 8hr race and I should be ok'. Obviously there's a lesson in there somewhere.

As I stood on the sidelines chatting with other racers and repeating the not very inspiring excuse of "... and then my saddle..." I couldn't help but think about what I will have to take to Australia and what I won't have space for. With the whole family going do I take the spare bike or does the 6yr old take his favorite blankie and the 5yr old take his favorite stuffed bunny. If the spare bike is out do I take a spare saddle or do the boys get to take spare underwear. I've done enough 24hr Solos, which required extensive travel, that it should be fairly routine by now but for some reason this years WSC just seems bigger, more challenging, more important, more pressure. I'm ok with that, in fact it's a good thing and I'm looking forward to it, I just hope the kids will understand when they only get to pack one spare pair of underwear and the 6yr old has a spare saddle as airplane carry-on luggage. ;-)

That's all for now, see you in three weeks...

Shaun