Considering a 24hr race...

[andrew_carter]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I got news of the next 24hr mountainbiking event to take place somewhere in April (I think). I've been seriously considering doing it hopefully with a friend or solo if I have to. Before you think I'm crazy, I have to say that I'd just be doing it for fun and I won't be riding anywhere near the full 24hrs. Naturally I'd try to do as many laps as I could but I'm not going to kill myself.

One of the main things that would put me off doing the race would be getting in other people's way. There are a lot of people who take these races very seriously and I don't want to slow the down or get in their way at all. I know I've asked this before, but has anyone had any good or bad experiences with this? Just to refresh my memory. Now that I think about it, that's a very worrying factor.

Another thing...what's it like riding a unicycle at night with a light attached to your helmet? I've got a good quality Cygolite that I should be able to rig up to my helmet in some way. Night muni is something I've never experienced before.

Have any of you ever done a 24hr event like this before?

Thanks,
Andrew

[Dirtsurfer]

You're not crazy, 24 hour races are fun but most of all, like a festival. I would think you would be better off in a group, seeing you haven't done one before. Don't worry about "getting in way," they have to worry about passing. I haven't personally raced in one, but patrolled for the NMBP (National Mountain Bike patrol). Go, have a good time, bring camping gear, and lot's of food, unless provided. By the way, did you choose a color for your custom frame?

[spickydoo]

I've done a 24 hr race before. Myself, sofa and muni_guy along with 2 others rode in a race. We were there just to have fun and see if we could accomplish our goals which were to do 2 laps each and not finish last in our group. We attained our goals( which was quite good considering each lap was 17 km of some fairly technical single track). Riding at night was no problem on a uni. Unless your extremely fast, you won't outride your light. It's definetly a cool experience riding at night with just the other competators lights and the sound of disk brakes squeeling. Very neat. Even though some people are very competative, riding a uni will make even the most serious of racers smile. Most of them are courteous and won't mind going around you.(unless they're real idiots)
I would highly recomend doing the race. It's definetly an experience you'll remeber.

[andrew_carter]

I'm hoping to be riding in a group, but if I do it'll only be 2 or 3 at the most. There aren't enough other muni riders. I don't care about getting in the way on a bike (I've done one 3hr and one 6hr) but on a unicycle you go a lot slower.

I've chosen metallic orange, and if I can't find a good one, metallic blue (pretty light blue). I'll have to be careful with the orange because there are some bad shades of orange out there. I'll try to get my act together and get it painted because there's now some harmless (but ugly) surface rust forming. Getting it painted will mean not riding it for a few days.

Andrew

[Sofa]

I was always aware to the sounds of others coming up behind me. if I was in a tight singletrack area, or a one lane of some sort, I would hop off until they passed (getting no enjoyment from the little break, honest)

There aren't too many 'elite' 24 hour racers...most people are there just for a great time

[GizmoDuck]

Originally posted by andrew_carter


One of the main things that would put me off doing the race would be getting in other people's way. I know I've asked this before, but has anyone had any good or bad experiences with this?

Another thing...what's it like riding a unicycle at night with a light attached to your helmet?
Andrew

We did a 12hour race as a team of four + a monkey last year:

Day/night thriller

And I'm also thinking of doing a 24hour race later in May.

Unless your terrain is all singletrack, I don't think getting in peoples' way is too much of a problem. Our race had over 400-450 riders at any one time, so obviously the organisers made sure that there was plenty of doulbletrack/ places to overtake. We mostly got alot encouragement for our efforts more than anything; not a single bad comment.

You tend to gain a slight advantage at night and in the wet, because it slows down the bikers more than it slows you down. Provided of course, that you have adequate lights. Our lights really sucked and we lost a lot of time as a result. I think we were using Cateye helmet mounted lights (can't remember what model exactly).

Good luck,

Ken

[andrew_carter]

Thanks guys,

It really does sound like lots of fun. I'm particularly worried about the finish line/change-over area because that's often quite narrow. I wouldn't like to have to get off and push the uni through there if there were other riders around. Maybe I'll just have to ride faster .

Andrew

[andrew_carter]

Ken,

Nice photos! Thanks for that link.

[jerryg]

A 24hr race is something I'm really interested in doing as well. I got myself a light some time ago and find riding at night in the woods to be really fun. You just have to remember not to look at the stuf running around beside you, because it takes too long to get your light and focus back on the trail. Most 24hr races around here are pretty laid back and most are out there to have fun. I hope to find a team to do a 12hr or 24hr race soon...
Jer

[john_childs]

By all means, try some night muni. Before doing a 24 hour event be sure to get some night riding practice in. You can't just go night riding and expect your first ride to be a success. You'll have equipment (light) issues to work out, you may find that your light doesn't work like you expected, etc. Get those bugs worked out before doing a race or a serious ride.

I've done some night muni and night Coker rides. I have a Nite Rider Digital HeadTrip. It's a helmet mounted light with 15 watts of halogen light. It works OK, but on a muni ride I sometimes wish it was a little brighter.

Helmet mounted lights work best for unicycling. A flood bulb is better than a spot bulb. If you have the option of getting a flood bulb for your light you will like it better. A flood bulb will light up a wider area close in front of you which is where you need to be looking while unicycling.

I suggest a minimum of a 15 watt halogen light for muni. Sometimes you can get by with less, sometimes 15 watts will be just right, and sometimes it won't be enough. If you're lucky enough to ride on a night with a full moon and a clear sky then 15 watts will probably be more than enough.

If it's cold you will find that your breath fogs up right in front of a helmet mounted light and makes it hard to see unless you keep moving. If it's dusty and you're behind a bunch of bikes you'll find that your light just reflects off the dust and you won't be able to see the ground. Those are the disadvantages of a helmet mounted light.

[andrew_carter]

John,

I've just found out some more information about my light:
- Cygolite Night-Rover
- 12.5W dual beam 6 volt system
- Runs for 3h on single beam, 1.5h on dual
- Charge time 10-12h (which gets a little frustrating when you're in a hurry)
- One beam is flood, one is spot

It's been a great light.

Andrew

[john_childs]

Originally posted by andrew_carter
John,

I've just found out some more information about my light:
- Cygolite Night-Rover
- 12.5W dual beam 6 volt system
- Runs for 3h on single beam, 1.5h on dual
- Charge time 10-12h (which gets a little frustrating when you're in a hurry)
- One beam is flood, one is spot

It's been a great light.

Andrew

Looks good. Cygolite sells a helmet mount for it. Give the light a try. After you give it a try you can decide if you want to switch to two flood bulbs instead of a flood and a spot.

If you are going to do a 24 hour race you'll probably need to also get a second battery for it.

One thing about helmet mounted lights is that they cause your helmet to slide down your forehead. Some helmets slide more than others. It depends on how tightly the helmet fits. It's not really a problem for road riding, but when you're off-road bouncing around the helmet moves around more. I use a skater/jumper style helmet with my light because that helmet doesn't slide down my forehead like my MTB helmet. Those are the types of bugs that you'll have to work out before a race or a serous night ride.

[Sofa]

Originally posted by john_childs
By all means, try some night muni. Before doing a 24 hour event be sure to get some night riding practice in. You can't just go night riding and expect your first ride to be a success.

My first 24 hr race was the first time I rode at night, uni or bike. It was fine. The lights weren't mine, so they had been tested, but I was fresh. It was fine.

I ride with a 9w light. I have the option to make it 12 or 15, but I've never needed more than 9w when I ride. This goes for riding my bike as well.

I am really impressed with my cheap/perfectly fine light from MEC called PlanetBike insight.

[Dirtsurfer]

Originally posted by john_childs

Looks good. Cygolite sells a helmet mount for it. Give the light a try. After you give it a try you can decide if you want to switch to two flood bulbs instead of a flood and a spot.

If you are going to do a 24 hour race you'll probably need to also get a second battery for it.

One thing about helmet mounted lights is that they cause your helmet to slide down your forehead. Some helmets slide more than others. It depends on how tightly the helmet fits. It's not really a problem for road riding, but when you're off-road bouncing around the helmet moves around more. I use a skater/jumper style helmet with my light because that helmet doesn't slide down my forehead like my MTB helmet. Those are the types of bugs that you'll have to work out before a race or a serous night ride.

I, also, like the skater style helmet for night riding. The regular MTB helmet seem to push down on my glasses with a light attached. I found running the light as high up as possible helps alot.