Endurance Racing
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) rules limit Marathon events to distances between 40 km (24.9 miles) and 120 km (74.5 miles). Generally the N. American mountain bike Marathon scene leans towards a longer kind of endurance event, where 100 miles in rugged terrain is not uncommon.
I consider endurance racing to be anything 6 hours or longer. No matter the terrain, elevation gain, or course conditions, if you are racing competitively it all comes down to ‘how long’. A 2 hour cross-country race done at a competitive race pace is HARD, a 12 hour endurance race done at a competitive race pace is also HARD – they are just two different kinds of hard.
In the last 4 years I’ve raced over 500 hours in endurance-distance events, racing as long as 48hrs in a single event and also racing in multi-day stage races. Along the way I’ve had ample opportunity to learn from my mistakes and successes and I’ve also learned a lot from the competition. Something I learned early on is how hard endurance racing can be if you aren’t fully prepared, we all like to think the plan is good entering in to an epic event but as a rookie endurance racer I really didn’t know what I was up against in those early days.
Stepping in to the unknown is probably the hardest thing for athletes who haven’t raced for 6 hours or more. Getting a few endurance races under your belt starts to make things a bit easier, but seeking experienced advice makes things a whole lot easier. I should have looked for a voice of experience back when I first started endurance racing but stubbornly I wanted to ‘do it by myself’, I paid a price for that mistake.
In my first 24hr solo mountain bike race I prepared as hard as I could leading up to the event and really thought I had a handle on things, as it turns out I didn’t. For the first few hours of racing I was feeling great and I soon realized I was doing well against a field of 80 other 24hr soloists on a tough course. My plan was to race non-stop (no sleep) and keep improving my position heading towards a podium placement. 12 hours into the race I started to vomit and for the next 12 hours I couldn’t keep any food down and very little water. I continued to race for several more hours until my body wouldn’t let me race anymore, after a 2 hour break during which I still couldn’t eat (but managed to keep some fluids down) I got back on the bike for another 3 hours at race pace and managed to improve my standings in the overall event. I was a wreck at the end of the event, the following day I had to go in to Emergency based on symptoms I was exhibiting. As it turns out I had created a gastric ulcer during the race based on some poor choices I made within the event and also by following some bad advice from another endurance racer. My first 24hr solo was really hard on my body and my head, I was in great shape for the race, but endurance mountain bike racing is much deeper than how fit you are.
Endurance racing can quickly demonstrate the old adage of ‘Learning through the school of hard knocks’, in other words if you want to throw yourself into endurance racing without leaning on some experienced advice, prepare for some ugly lessons. If you want a guiding hand, some experienced advice, or a full endurance coaching package, feel free to drop me a line on the Contact page or leave a comment on the Blog Page. I love endurance racing and all things endurance, I’m so glad I toed that start line years ago, looking back I’ve got way more out of it than I could have imagined.
