Indian Pacific wheel race, one for the dot watchers
Discussion
bigdom said:
Gruffy, how many calories are these guys taking on each day, what sort of food are they consuming, and where do you pick up drinks?
It'll vary but at the front they're likely to be consuming around 10k-11k calories. 13k is considered to be a bit of a physiological ceiling and that'll be assuming an optimum diet, which they won't be on. The menu will also vary massively from rider to rider. I prefer shakes when I can get them but it's really down to what's available under race conditions. They're stopping at roadhouses every 150km or so, which is the only resource available until they reach the more populated part of Oz, like Adelaide. Chances are they're on burgers, fries, shakes, haribo etc. After a while your digestive system becomes a furnace and it'll destroy anything you put in it. The constant barrage of simple sugars does take it's toll though. Your mouth gets shredded with ulcers and your guts complain. The farting... my god, the farting.
Gruffy said:
bigdom said:
Gruffy, how many calories are these guys taking on each day, what sort of food are they consuming, and where do you pick up drinks?
It'll vary but at the front they're likely to be consuming around 10k-11k calories. 13k is considered to be a bit of a physiological ceiling and that'll be assuming an optimum diet, which they won't be on. The menu will also vary massively from rider to rider. I prefer shakes when I can get them but it's really down to what's available under race conditions. They're stopping at roadhouses every 150km or so, which is the only resource available until they reach the more populated part of Oz, like Adelaide. Chances are they're on burgers, fries, shakes, haribo etc. After a while your digestive system becomes a furnace and it'll destroy anything you put in it. The constant barrage of simple sugars does take it's toll though. Your mouth gets shredded with ulcers and your guts complain. The farting... my god, the farting.
Only experience of 24 hour riding I have is that my stomach literally shut down at 2am, it was like "thats it ive had enough", rest of of me felt good, but horrid cramps in my stomach
Anything I could do to help this? I guess best first step is to try different food to see if it happens again or was a one off
Dr Hutch tweeted recently about how ultra-distance becomes more of a mobile eating competition than an athletic one. It's very true. There's no simple formula I'm afraid. It's a lot of trial and error, which is really difficult because you can only really trial accurately under ultra-distance circumstances. What you can tolerate for a 12 is very different to a 24 and different again when you're talking about multi-day unsupported rides.
For 75-150 miles it's probably down to simply eating enough. You get so tired of eating after a while that it requires discipline to keep shovelling it in.
In an ideal world, assuming a steady effort to pace over 24 hours (probably 30-40% of FTP) you'd avoid the simple sugars which cause insulin spikes. A steady supply of low GI carbs, a little fat and a little protein. Not too much fat, fibre, dairy, simple sugars (gels, bars and powders), meat etc. Gels, bars and powders are great for short intense stuff but they'll cause gastric distress after a while and you can't rely on them for ultras. Apparently you can train your digestive system to a certain degree. Same as with other types of training the trick is to build up gradually.
Try and avoid higher intensities immediately after a heavier bit of fuelling if you can. Eat the stodgier items at the top of a descent and try and leave a bit of space ahead of any big climbs. Fasted training rides (again, build up gradually) can help train your body to burn more fat too.
For the riders on IPWR there's no escaping the deficit. You keep pushing food in but you're typically riding at 40% intensity because that's the only pace you can sustain on crap food and a calorie deficit.
For 75-150 miles it's probably down to simply eating enough. You get so tired of eating after a while that it requires discipline to keep shovelling it in.
In an ideal world, assuming a steady effort to pace over 24 hours (probably 30-40% of FTP) you'd avoid the simple sugars which cause insulin spikes. A steady supply of low GI carbs, a little fat and a little protein. Not too much fat, fibre, dairy, simple sugars (gels, bars and powders), meat etc. Gels, bars and powders are great for short intense stuff but they'll cause gastric distress after a while and you can't rely on them for ultras. Apparently you can train your digestive system to a certain degree. Same as with other types of training the trick is to build up gradually.
Try and avoid higher intensities immediately after a heavier bit of fuelling if you can. Eat the stodgier items at the top of a descent and try and leave a bit of space ahead of any big climbs. Fasted training rides (again, build up gradually) can help train your body to burn more fat too.
For the riders on IPWR there's no escaping the deficit. You keep pushing food in but you're typically riding at 40% intensity because that's the only pace you can sustain on crap food and a calorie deficit.
Juliana Buhring was decked by an allergic reaction to ibuprofen. She's on her way back to Perth. She's going to recover and then start again.
Juliana said:
Hi all, sorry for the silence, but out in the desert there was no phone reception. Long story short, on the second night of the race I had to stop at the hospital in Norseman as I was blacking out, coughing and having trouble breathing. The doc didn't know what to look for but after some tests said I had blood in my pee and my heartbeat was irregular. They wanted to keep me overnight but I decided to keep riding as it didn't seem anything too serious. My knee had been a bit painful so I had started taking a painkiller to manage it and as I came on the third day I started swelling up, my breathing got harder and my heart was doing strange things. By the time I got into Caigula outpost I was in very bad shape. My face was so swollen I could hardly open my eyes, my head felt like it was being inflated with a bike pump, my skin was on fire and I was struggling for breath. The only thing I am allergic to is ibuprofen and peanuts. As I'd had nothing with nuts I guessed it must have something to do with the painkiller. Turns out it was from the same family as ibuprofen, same components, but 4 times stronger. Fortunately the staff at the roadhouse were really cool and got me on the phone with a doctor who told them to give me cortisone. I need to medicate for a few days and get back to health, so I'm heading back to Perth. But it ain't over till the fat lady sings. I'll start over from the beginning and do it all again, cuz I haven't come this far to go home. Don't worry, that little dot will soon be moving once again. Thanks for the concern and well wishes. I'm still alive and kicking and that's the important thing. Also, I'm doing PR for cyclists with the road train truckies.
Legend.Paraicj said:
It looks like Donncha Cuttriss has pulled out, any news on that? I'm Irish so had been following his dot. It had been erratic all through yesterday, lots of short stops, overtaken by Sarah Hammond, then re-overtook her, then overtaken again. Now he's crossed out.
He was pulling a monster pace and I think he hit his own wall at exactly the wrong place. He was struggling to stay on the bike and going too slowly to safely cross the gap to the next roadhouse. He took the sensible decision to grab a lift and scratch the race instead of dig himself into a deeper hole and get into serious trouble in the wilderness.Gruffy said:
Juliana Buhring was decked by an allergic reaction to ibuprofen. She's on her way back to Perth. She's going to recover and then start again.
Indeed! Would be outstanding if she now set the fastest known time in the process.Juliana said:
Hi all, sorry for the silence, but out in the desert there was no phone reception. Long story short, on the second night of the race I had to stop at the hospital in Norseman as I was blacking out, coughing and having trouble breathing. The doc didn't know what to look for but after some tests said I had blood in my pee and my heartbeat was irregular. They wanted to keep me overnight but I decided to keep riding as it didn't seem anything too serious. My knee had been a bit painful so I had started taking a painkiller to manage it and as I came on the third day I started swelling up, my breathing got harder and my heart was doing strange things. By the time I got into Caigula outpost I was in very bad shape. My face was so swollen I could hardly open my eyes, my head felt like it was being inflated with a bike pump, my skin was on fire and I was struggling for breath. The only thing I am allergic to is ibuprofen and peanuts. As I'd had nothing with nuts I guessed it must have something to do with the painkiller. Turns out it was from the same family as ibuprofen, same components, but 4 times stronger. Fortunately the staff at the roadhouse were really cool and got me on the phone with a doctor who told them to give me cortisone. I need to medicate for a few days and get back to health, so I'm heading back to Perth. But it ain't over till the fat lady sings. I'll start over from the beginning and do it all again, cuz I haven't come this far to go home. Don't worry, that little dot will soon be moving once again. Thanks for the concern and well wishes. I'm still alive and kicking and that's the important thing. Also, I'm doing PR for cyclists with the road train truckies.
Legend.
Those lines are converging again. Kristof hasn't had a meaningful rest stop for a 35 hours. His pace dipped as he climbed out of Port Augusta, whereas Mike held his steady, grinding his tiny cassette like a diesel engine. Kristof will need to rest soon and there's only 65km of breathing space back to Mike, which is 2.5 hours. I wonder if he'll stick to his normal schedule of 4 hour stops or if Mike's proximity will encourage him into breaking his strategy. Either way, I think this will give Mike a huge boost and put his head back in the race, if it isn't already.
I can never work out what the correlation is between time, number of uses, distance traveled and weather when it comes to maintenance.
Seeing as this sort of event manages to cram a years’ worth of commuting into less than a fortnight how does this work? Are you/they topping the tyres up twice a day and oiling the chain regularly?
I’d imagine most people would go through a chain in that distance, and probably a rear tyre.
Seeing as this sort of event manages to cram a years’ worth of commuting into less than a fortnight how does this work? Are you/they topping the tyres up twice a day and oiling the chain regularly?
I’d imagine most people would go through a chain in that distance, and probably a rear tyre.
Edited by donfisher on Thursday 23 March 16:01
I find tyres/tubes/tubeless lose air at different paces and under different conditions so it's hard to give a formula. I taught myself to be accurate with a squeeze test and only topped up once during the TCR at around 2,000km. Tyre wear depends on conditions but I rode Schwalbe Pro-One tubeless on the TCR and although they're quoted as 3,000km lifespan mine were in pretty good nick by the end of 4,000km of mostly fair tarmac and 20km of off-road nightmare in Macedonia.
Chains are likely to get a lube every day as a dry chain can add 2-3% resistance, which will very quickly offset the time taken to maintain it. In reality I tended to relate every 3 days or after rain but only because I forgot, but every day would be better. I use Ultegra chains because I'm told they're more durable than Dura-Ace and they'll quite comfortably last the distance in Europe. I couldn't be sure how they'll cope with the orange paste that would've been sloshed up during the rains of the first few days but I doubt it'll be an issue.
Chains are likely to get a lube every day as a dry chain can add 2-3% resistance, which will very quickly offset the time taken to maintain it. In reality I tended to relate every 3 days or after rain but only because I forgot, but every day would be better. I use Ultegra chains because I'm told they're more durable than Dura-Ace and they'll quite comfortably last the distance in Europe. I couldn't be sure how they'll cope with the orange paste that would've been sloshed up during the rains of the first few days but I doubt it'll be an issue.
Gruffy said:
Dr Hutch tweeted recently about how ultra-distance becomes more of a mobile eating competition than an athletic one. It's very true. There's no simple formula I'm afraid. It's a lot of trial and error, which is really difficult because you can only really trial accurately under ultra-distance circumstances. What you can tolerate for a 12 is very different to a 24 and different again when you're talking about multi-day unsupported rides.
For 75-150 miles it's probably down to simply eating enough. You get so tired of eating after a while that it requires discipline to keep shovelling it in.
In an ideal world, assuming a steady effort to pace over 24 hours (probably 30-40% of FTP) you'd avoid the simple sugars which cause insulin spikes. A steady supply of low GI carbs, a little fat and a little protein. Not too much fat, fibre, dairy, simple sugars (gels, bars and powders), meat etc. Gels, bars and powders are great for short intense stuff but they'll cause gastric distress after a while and you can't rely on them for ultras. Apparently you can train your digestive system to a certain degree. Same as with other types of training the trick is to build up gradually.
Try and avoid higher intensities immediately after a heavier bit of fuelling if you can. Eat the stodgier items at the top of a descent and try and leave a bit of space ahead of any big climbs. Fasted training rides (again, build up gradually) can help train your body to burn more fat too.
For the riders on IPWR there's no escaping the deficit. You keep pushing food in but you're typically riding at 40% intensity because that's the only pace you can sustain on crap food and a calorie deficit.
Cheers for this fits and reminds me what I learnt in the past, its funny I end up graving really plain sandwiches, like just tuna or Ham, nothing else !For 75-150 miles it's probably down to simply eating enough. You get so tired of eating after a while that it requires discipline to keep shovelling it in.
In an ideal world, assuming a steady effort to pace over 24 hours (probably 30-40% of FTP) you'd avoid the simple sugars which cause insulin spikes. A steady supply of low GI carbs, a little fat and a little protein. Not too much fat, fibre, dairy, simple sugars (gels, bars and powders), meat etc. Gels, bars and powders are great for short intense stuff but they'll cause gastric distress after a while and you can't rely on them for ultras. Apparently you can train your digestive system to a certain degree. Same as with other types of training the trick is to build up gradually.
Try and avoid higher intensities immediately after a heavier bit of fuelling if you can. Eat the stodgier items at the top of a descent and try and leave a bit of space ahead of any big climbs. Fasted training rides (again, build up gradually) can help train your body to burn more fat too.
For the riders on IPWR there's no escaping the deficit. You keep pushing food in but you're typically riding at 40% intensity because that's the only pace you can sustain on crap food and a calorie deficit.
Then all you can find is a ancient petrol station and all they have is a ginsters cheese and onion slice and a mars bar in stock!
I have to say IPWR has caught my attention, a colleague in work pointed me to the race before the start last week.
I find it a fascinating spectacle of endurance and more so mind over matter.
Even doing short rides, I find cycling can be a hugely psychological sport with peaks and troughs affecting performance, ramping the mileages up to IPWR levels is orders of magnitude higher than even the TdeF, making it seem like 21/22 sprints by comparison.
The feats of endurance being shown by all the competitors is exceptional.....
I find it a fascinating spectacle of endurance and more so mind over matter.
Even doing short rides, I find cycling can be a hugely psychological sport with peaks and troughs affecting performance, ramping the mileages up to IPWR levels is orders of magnitude higher than even the TdeF, making it seem like 21/22 sprints by comparison.
The feats of endurance being shown by all the competitors is exceptional.....
Ultra-distance is changing. The fixed route and really good tracking map of the IPWR has helped bring lots more fans out onto the road to see riders pass through. A few hours ago Mike and Kristof passed through Adelaide where they'd even set up a modest fan zone. The mayor was there with news crews and the slightly overwhelmed riders gave brief interviews. Imagine that during a TdF stage! This buzz will fuel their spirits for the climb out of Adelaide.
Given the explosion in popularity that unsupported ultras are enjoying and the maturing coverage, I wonder where the scene will be in a few years time.
Given the explosion in popularity that unsupported ultras are enjoying and the maturing coverage, I wonder where the scene will be in a few years time.
I can see it heading in to two camps. One camp where you have the fixed route and a GPS setup like IWPR and Tour Divide, with tracking via Trackleaders or the own website. The 2nd is a setup like TCR has, full GPS tracking of riders but no fixed route, being much more self reliance on the rider and more adventure like.
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff