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What tools should I take on a 80 minute race?
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
I'm going to do my final race for school at Thredbo for the Australian schools championships next weekend, and in the process of wanting to save carrying a lot, wonder if anyone has any suggestions as to what are the necessary tools for a 20km (5 lap) race... Also - should I use a water bottle or camelbak for the duration of the race and how much water is necessary for the duration.
Cheers
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spare tube, multi tool tyre levers and pump
What "refreshinglygood" said.
Also, if your tubes, assuming you have tubes, don't have goo in them, that might be a good idea. Maybe a puncture repair kit, too.
I'd recommend 600ml to a litre of water per hour, and personally I prefer Camelbaks: they're useful for storage.
Have fun
like he said plus take a $5 note in case you tear the sidewall of the tyre, you can wrap it around the tube at the point of the tear and it will hold the tube in. I have one plastic tyre lever in there because your fingers may be weak and wet and you'll be in a rush and making mistakes if you have a puncture.
I also carry a SRAM powerlink in the toolbox to facilitate repairing a busted chain but it's no good unless your multitool has a chainbreaker. It's not neccesary for a XC race but comforting for longer rides in the middle of nowhere
Drinkwise, one bottle should be fine for 80 minutes unless it's really hot. I prefer a bottle to a backpack on short races, less weight and less fuss. As it's a multi lap race you can always leave a spare full bottle on the side of the track at a strategic point in case you're using a lot of water, cheap insurance
Depends on how hot it gets. If your laps are only 5km long, I'd go with the bottle and get someone to hand you fresh ones at transition.
I wore a camelbak at the WSMTB 4 hour a couple of weekends ago when it was 40C, and I reckon it was responsible for me feeling like a goose in a farmer's wife's oven. I really struggled with the heat, yet the guys just using bottles only seemed to be a lot more comfortable, and I was only using half a bottle a lap anyway (half-hour laps). And the less weight on your body the better.
It was an interesting learning experience.
If you can't get someone to pit for you, is there any scope to fit a second bottle cage? Some bikes have an extra set of bidon braze-ons fitted to the underside of the downtube.
unlikely it will get very hot at thredbo, so I would go the bottle just have a spare ready at transition in case you drop it!
Hey dude.
Firstly - good luck with your race.
I'd suggest you get a inner tube, and tape it to your seatpost, along with a gas bomb (c02 cannister). In your back pocket carry a small multi-tool.
As the race is a championships (you are going there to actually compete rather than just bunt around) you are aiming to win / get a place - not just finish.
Its 4km a lap (20/5) so you would be best to use bottles. Given the nature of MTB there will be bits where you cant drink (rocky / techy parts of the course, so you will probably only two or three spots on a lap where you can get a swig.
Try and pre-ride the course in advance and work out where you might want to drink.
If its possible, have 4 bottles. half fill all of them (you dont need the weight of full bottles, as you wont be drinking loads each lap).
Start the race with no bottle on your bike (no-one drinks on the first lap, as its too frantic).
After each lap, pick up a fresh bottle as you ride through. Get your parents or a teacher to help you, and ask them to keep the drinks cold in an esky, but get them out just before you come round. During an 80min race, maybe think of taking 2 gels too - one at lap 2 and one at lap 4.
I'd be surprised if 20km takes you 80mins.
Most importantly though - drink loads and loads the day before. Get up on the morning of the race and pee for hours. DONT drink any more than a normal amount on the day of the race as it will make you heavy, fill your guts, and risk cramp. Just normal pattern on race day.
Dont try anything new on the day of the race either. There are no magic potions that will make you faster. Warm up, stretch, and go hard.
Good luck!
at the Highland Fling, from now on in, I am not gonna bother though.
I figure I can carry enough spares in my pockets and you can tape your tube to your bike as well. One bottle in the cage and one in the middle jersey pocket job done.
For the Capital Punishment I will be running bottles only and carry enough Infinit in bags for the race to fill the bottles, I have also managed to recruit a friend of mine to meet me at the transition at the 68km mark to give me bottles etc, Same for the Willo this week as well!
What everyone else said, but a CO2 pump instead of a normal one. If its a trail ride then 5mins to pump up a tyre with a mini pump is fine. In a race a CO2 pump will save lots of time and effort if you are unlucky enough to get a flat.
They are pretty cheap too http://www.cellbikes.com.au/Bike-Rider-CO2-Gift-...
All great advice. The half bottle idea is great, I'm going to try that strategy myself. However I'm not a fan of the tube taped to your seat post approach. I find it can easily get covered in grit, sand and water coming off the rear wheel and can be a PITA to remove. I'd put mine in my jersey pocket inside a ziplock bag with a bit of talcum powder in. The talc keeps the moisture out and lets the tube slide freely when seating the tyre back on the rim.
Have fun and go hard!
My 2¢
I picked up one of those CO2 bomb things as a prize at WSMTB a few weeks ago from the nice folks at BikeMinded, and was wondering what you guys do. I get the bit about taping bomb and tube to seatpost, but was wondering how you carry the adapter nozzle.
Do you carry it separately in your pocket, or pre-fit it to the gas bomb? Concerned about it getting lost/damaged in a jersey pocket as it's so small, plus getting grit and garbage in the threads/seals is obviously not going to be very helpful.
...use electrical tape or plumbers tape around the thread (only one wrap), only screw the head on to finger tightness and it wont budge.
I carry two. One to inflate 100% if I need to use the inner tube, and another to just get a bit more air in if I burp the tyre and lose =/- 5psi.
I've done this but be warned. I punctured at the 2009 (46deg Fat Tyre Fest) and to my horror discovered that it had pierced the seal and I had lost all the air in it. Def carry two with you.
I picked up one of the fully loaded tool canisters from Cell for about $25 (including CO2) which lives in my spare bottle holder. It's never been used in anger but there's no fuss or thinking about what to take for a ride as it's packed and on the bike at all times. It covers from XC races to a lap of the dam to a 100km enduro quite nicely
It weighs about 400g and contains:
spare tube
CO2 head and 2 canisters
chain link
tyre lever
$10 note
I throw my multitool in my jersey pocket (as it tends to get used more often) and that's all you need
I could be completely off track here since I don't race, but I would imagine in a short race like that, any flat or mechanical would pretty much put you out of contention?
Would it be better to just get set up tubeless, ensure the bike is tip top before the race and then take the punt that it will all hold up for 20km?
You could be saving half a kilo or so in weight too by leaving the repair kit behind.
... it would. But surrender when you get a flat or break a chain and that probability turns into a certainty.
Plus, at this stage in his career, I reckon it's likely that potential sponsors (the ones worth having, anyway) would be looking at how he deals with adversity as much as his results. They prefer guys who, when they get knocked down, get back up again. So I'd be inclined to pack the tube, gas bomb and multi-tool meself. They don't weigh that much.
And not giving up is a good life habit anyway, eh?
for that type of race I normally just have a multi tool, pump and tube (if anything). For anything major it's generally going to be quicker to run the bike back to the tech area and fix it next to your tool box.
Really, it's not like a point to point. 5 laps for at total of 20kms that's 4km laps. That means at most you'll only ever be 2 km from the tech zone and your tool box.
.
I much appreciate having so much feedback on what to bring, and have concluded that I'll take
-CO2 blaster
-Spare tube
-Multi tool with chain breaker
-Chain link
-1L water
I'll take a bunch more tools to the start of the race
I think I may stick with a camelbak because I've raced with it once and found it much quicker and easier to grab a sip rather than fumbling for my bottle. I reckon it's easier than having to get off to grab more water en route, as I can't waste any time for this. The intent is to put all supplies in the camelbak. If it's very humid, I'm using bottle and toolbag instead.
In terms of food, what's the best stuff to eat in the days leading up and the morning of the race?
I wouldn't put nutrition product in the bladder of your Camelbak - they're very hard to clean, and go all yuk with black stuff growing in them if you do.
Salt tablets are fine, but nothng with carbs or protein.
You are fit and healthy now. You are still alive. So what you are eating at the moment is doing a great job!
Based on the above, there is very little need to change anything before the race. In the days leading up, just cut any junk food, (I was gonna say beers too, but dont think thats an issue for you!). Eat good whole foods, but dont over-eat. Certainly dont over do the carbs. 80mins is pretty short, and like I said - I doubt you'll be out there for 80mins anyway.
Keep your meals normal, but not big. Dont eat more. Have I said that enough yet?
The day before the race, maybe cut out any meat as it takes too long to digest and will still be in your guts when you line up for the gun.
On the morning, a bowl of cereal, a banana and a maybe some toast and honey. Nothing radical.
Dont over think it, just do what is natural to you, and concentrate on going hard. Being relaxed is worth much more than a 'special dinner / breakfast'.
Hi Tris,
Some good advice above. The choice of bottles or camelbak is personnal. But there is a feedzone where you can pick up a new bottle. You would probably only use a total of two in this race. I'd be putting tools in a pouch under the seat - and not in your pocket. They can cause a nasty bruise if you have a fall onto a tool. You won't have great amounts of time for repairs - a change of tube using the gas bottle is about it.
At Thredbo Interschools, the Seniors will normaly do 4 laps of the circuit - ie about 16km. Winning times are a bit under 1 hour, and therefore maximun time without being lapped (and pulled off) is about 1 hour 15 minutes. Note that any rider that is lapped by the leader gets pulled off the next time they cross the finish line. Being pulled off still counts as a finish and gets points.
Remember, this is a teams race - and therefore it is important to get three riders from your school to finish. Individual performance is great - but finishing is critical, even if you have to walk your bike in across the line!
The Seniors start later in the morning, so get a good breakfast. Warm up, check your gear - have a GU just before the race, and enjoy.
Best of luck,
Ray Rice
XC VP WSMTB
xc@wsmtb.com
my favourite race tool....the trusty bottle opener! baboom tsh!
Well I came in top ten for both my races (I think fifth and sixth for short and long XC respectively), luckily not having to use any tools etc. Pretty good, considering I was up against people who were sponsered and others who had trained the whole year for that race alone!
well done Tristan you should be pleased with that, keep training!
good job. Would you do anything different next 80 min race?
Good job Tristan!
More race training and you will be all over it!
The man's got talent
Talks us through what you did re: tools, nutrition etc from the advice you got from here.
You can put carbs or protein in your Camelbak no problem if you treat it right.
All you need to do to keep your Camelbak bladder in tip top shape is give it a good thorough rinse with hot water after a ride and pop it in the freezer (inside a container) this way nothing disgusting grows in them and you can put whatever you want in there.
I do this and only have to give them a good clean every month I have been using the same two bladder for about three years now with nothing disgusting growing in them.
Cleaning a bladder and tube is fairly easy with the right brushes.
I reckon a Camelbak is the go for me, though lots of people were using water bottles. Not much to do differently next time.
I'm not going to race again until I leave school - I'm an acedemic who just does a bit of MTB on the side! But then I'd probably do the same, thoug put a bit more in the bag depending on the length of the race!
Hi Tris - a nice result. Hope to see you at Yellomundee when you need another study break. See www.wsmtb.com. Next club race 3 April.