Revolve 24 - advise
Discussion
Has anyone ever entered this before?
Booked in with 3 friends as a bit of a challenge for the summer, never entered anything like this but really looking forward to it.
We've all entered circa 50-60 miles sportives in the past so this is a bit of a step up but hoping as a team of 4 we should at least be able to survive, even if we do finish at the back of the field.
Any useful tips and advice for either training or the event itself would be gratefully received.
Booked in with 3 friends as a bit of a challenge for the summer, never entered anything like this but really looking forward to it.
We've all entered circa 50-60 miles sportives in the past so this is a bit of a step up but hoping as a team of 4 we should at least be able to survive, even if we do finish at the back of the field.
Any useful tips and advice for either training or the event itself would be gratefully received.
We had a full garage of PH riders last year plus a handful of us doing The Six.
As for advice, I only rode The Six so I'll leave the others to chime in on the full 24, but I'd say be prepared for climbing. Brands is a relatively lumpy circuit and the average gradient is quite telling over time. I don't think you need to do anything unusual in training, but I'd invest some time into developing good recovery habits. The lads rode the race as 1 hour fast stints and then 3 hours recovery, so your ability to recover will have an impact on how comfortable you are for the next stint and how enjoyable it is.
We're all planning to be back for 2016 so that tells you it's fun.
As for advice, I only rode The Six so I'll leave the others to chime in on the full 24, but I'd say be prepared for climbing. Brands is a relatively lumpy circuit and the average gradient is quite telling over time. I don't think you need to do anything unusual in training, but I'd invest some time into developing good recovery habits. The lads rode the race as 1 hour fast stints and then 3 hours recovery, so your ability to recover will have an impact on how comfortable you are for the next stint and how enjoyable it is.
We're all planning to be back for 2016 so that tells you it's fun.
I was one of the team of 4 doing the 24hour in 2015. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
As Gruffy says we rode 1 hour on 3 off. During the night (11pm to 7am) we rode 2 hour stints so we all got at least a bit of sleep.
In 1 hour we were doing between 7 and 8 laps and if felt about right as a sustained amount of effort for the even, considering we were never going to worry the top teams. The fast teams were doing flying 4 or 5 lap blasts and coming in to change. That seemed the fastest way around but I'm not sure I'd have managed to keep that up.
As already said Brands is very lumpy. There are no flat sections of track, it's all up or down, so be prepared for that.
It is a very well run event, and I'm looking forward to doing it again in the future.
As Gruffy says we rode 1 hour on 3 off. During the night (11pm to 7am) we rode 2 hour stints so we all got at least a bit of sleep.
In 1 hour we were doing between 7 and 8 laps and if felt about right as a sustained amount of effort for the even, considering we were never going to worry the top teams. The fast teams were doing flying 4 or 5 lap blasts and coming in to change. That seemed the fastest way around but I'm not sure I'd have managed to keep that up.
As already said Brands is very lumpy. There are no flat sections of track, it's all up or down, so be prepared for that.
It is a very well run event, and I'm looking forward to doing it again in the future.
Edited by CoolC on Wednesday 13th January 14:56
Edited by CoolC on Wednesday 13th January 16:37
Cheers for the replies, hadn't realised quite how hilly brands was, should have done really as I have a season pass and have race on the GP circuit a few times.
Good to here it's well run, I did want to do the Nurburgring or le mans events but this looked like a better event for a beginner and is only 20 minutes up the road.
We had discussed either 1 1/2 or 2 hour stints, certainly think 2 hour stints through the night would be a good idea so you've got the chance of 4 or 5 hours sleep and 1 hour stints for the rest would work.
Good to here it's well run, I did want to do the Nurburgring or le mans events but this looked like a better event for a beginner and is only 20 minutes up the road.
We had discussed either 1 1/2 or 2 hour stints, certainly think 2 hour stints through the night would be a good idea so you've got the chance of 4 or 5 hours sleep and 1 hour stints for the rest would work.
I can only echo what Al and Gruffy said, it was great fun, the organisers didnt get quite as many entries as they had hoped which gave the event this odd, low key feeling, but at a superb venue.
I got really lucky with the stints I did, starting with the first stint, 1500-1600, then 1900-2000, 1100-0100, 0700-0800 and then 1100-1200. Starting at 1500 was the only issue, it meant you had been up all day faffing about then had to race through the night and on to the following afternoon. I'd have preferred a midday start which would have been better for sleep, eating etc though having the six hour race join us at 0900 was fun and increased traffic on the track so kept you awake. .
The first stint was manic, I bust a nut to try to reach the front breakaway group but couldnt quite catch them then just went as fast as possible for the hour. The evening sessions were good as it still felt like a proper race but some of the soloists and pairs had a break in the night so the traffic on track dropped significantly. It was strange because you could go for half a lap without seeing anyone, especially round the back of the track then you would see a little flashing red light and reel them in.
Camping was convenient but we stayed in the pit garage for most of the event because there was always something going on and it was a social event more than anything. Once the race was on, I think I only went back to the tent after the 1100-0100 stint for that much needed sleep...The night time stint was really nice and worth the entry fee alone. It was hard and times slipped down but it was worth it for the challenge.
Starting a stint at 0700 was hard, I got very little sleep and my muscles were tired but you just get on with it. My lap times were pretty good and psychologically, its a new day. It was nice watching dawn rise though and everyone was in a good mood. I really pushed in the final stint and was really pleased that I was lapping under 8 minutes. You chat to people on the way round too, especially if they look like they are struggling, little words of encouragement at 2am were very welcome. I'm tempted to do it again but I am short on weekend passes already this year...
As Gruffy said, shorter stints mean you only need a bottle on the bike, at the start of the stint I put a few pieces of flapjack or haribo and an emergency gel in my pocket but only used the gel once on the longer night stint. I munched on the flapjack and haribo but it wasnt really necessary. Tony brought a massive urn for the garage so had boiling water on tap, literally!, which was useful for tea, coffee and pasta/cupasoup type things. You need to bribe Al to bring some homemade flapjack too...
As far as tactics go, You just need to push it really hard for an hour, there is always the nagging thought in the back of your mind that you dont want to let your team down so you are always pushing. The key is recovering after the ride, eating something, rehydrating, getting some rest then warming up again but 3 hours is plenty to fit it all in safely.
Our lap times etc are here
http://dbmax.racetecresults.com/MyResults.aspx?CId...
I got really lucky with the stints I did, starting with the first stint, 1500-1600, then 1900-2000, 1100-0100, 0700-0800 and then 1100-1200. Starting at 1500 was the only issue, it meant you had been up all day faffing about then had to race through the night and on to the following afternoon. I'd have preferred a midday start which would have been better for sleep, eating etc though having the six hour race join us at 0900 was fun and increased traffic on the track so kept you awake. .
The first stint was manic, I bust a nut to try to reach the front breakaway group but couldnt quite catch them then just went as fast as possible for the hour. The evening sessions were good as it still felt like a proper race but some of the soloists and pairs had a break in the night so the traffic on track dropped significantly. It was strange because you could go for half a lap without seeing anyone, especially round the back of the track then you would see a little flashing red light and reel them in.
Camping was convenient but we stayed in the pit garage for most of the event because there was always something going on and it was a social event more than anything. Once the race was on, I think I only went back to the tent after the 1100-0100 stint for that much needed sleep...The night time stint was really nice and worth the entry fee alone. It was hard and times slipped down but it was worth it for the challenge.
Starting a stint at 0700 was hard, I got very little sleep and my muscles were tired but you just get on with it. My lap times were pretty good and psychologically, its a new day. It was nice watching dawn rise though and everyone was in a good mood. I really pushed in the final stint and was really pleased that I was lapping under 8 minutes. You chat to people on the way round too, especially if they look like they are struggling, little words of encouragement at 2am were very welcome. I'm tempted to do it again but I am short on weekend passes already this year...
As Gruffy said, shorter stints mean you only need a bottle on the bike, at the start of the stint I put a few pieces of flapjack or haribo and an emergency gel in my pocket but only used the gel once on the longer night stint. I munched on the flapjack and haribo but it wasnt really necessary. Tony brought a massive urn for the garage so had boiling water on tap, literally!, which was useful for tea, coffee and pasta/cupasoup type things. You need to bribe Al to bring some homemade flapjack too...
As far as tactics go, You just need to push it really hard for an hour, there is always the nagging thought in the back of your mind that you dont want to let your team down so you are always pushing. The key is recovering after the ride, eating something, rehydrating, getting some rest then warming up again but 3 hours is plenty to fit it all in safely.
Our lap times etc are here
http://dbmax.racetecresults.com/MyResults.aspx?CId...
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