Hi!
For the first time, I'm doing a 24 bike-race In the coming weekend In Nürburgring In Germany. We Will be four on the team.
As mentioned, I have never tried this 24-hour concept before. What do You think will be the right strategy ( riding 1-2-3 hours each time, what to drink/eat and when, sleep/no sleep.... )?

Looking forward to read your suggestions ( maybe some of You have experience from simular competitions ).

Fyssen

I've done a couple of 24hrs mtb races. The "best" format depends on a couple of things, first being approximate lap times and relative fitness of each of the team.

The two formats I have used in the past was, with 1hr10min laps each rider did one lap. So ABCDABCD until about 2200hrs when we switched to alternating pairs ABABAB then CDCDCD in order to give each rider a solid amount of sleep. The second half we all agreed sucked balls.

So next time we started the same ABCDABCD till approx 2200hrs when we then switched to doubles for each rider AABBCCDD. Usually, because of the time of night, the average times dropped noticeably but after a solid bit of kip times picked up again in the morning.


Key thing is that, like any times endurance event is that any time you're not rolling you're losing. Putting along at 15kph is better than resting and trying to make up the time.

_________________
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

Not quite the same as what you're doing, as this was a MTB race, but if you look at the results from 24 hour in the old pueblo and see how the teams managed their laps:
http://www.epicrides.com/results/24resu ... Index.html
I think with a 24 hour race like that, especially during the night laps, it's really going to be up in the air about who feels good and who doesn't. Who gets to sleep, and who keeps going. Of course there's always solo riders who keep going non-stop the entire time too, so if everybody has the legs, then by all means keep rotating. As others have mentioned, the key really is to have someone out on the course at all times. With 4 people riding with a 3 hour break in between I think you could cycle everybody in order pretty easy without any downtime. Of course you could always go with the Breaking Away strategy and just put your best rider in pretty much the entire time.

I can share some of my experience in the 24 hour team relays. The best relay strategy I found for races with 1h to 1:30h laps is the second suggestion by Tapeworm - i.e. start with at least one lap each and then at the beginning of the night - start doing two laps each, so the others can get some sleep in. The main reason for the first cycle, where everybody gets a lap in is to familiarise the route in daylight, because during the night it is usually much harder to find the route markings and pick your lines.

As for the food/drink - whatever works for you individually. My advise is to have someone to help you out with the food/drink and somehow prepare yourself at least one quality meal just before getting the night sleep. You will be tired and full of adrenalin before going to bed, and a good warm meal helps a long way in winding you down.

Bring enough clothes with you, including some rain and cold gear. You will be doing may be 4 stints each if the lap is in the 1h range, so it's best to prepare 4 sets of base clothes (riding shorts, jersey/base layer).

And the most important - have fun. 24h racing in 4 man relay can be massive fun.

Stefan

I did one a few years ago, same as you, team of 4. 2 experienced road riders, 2 keen sportive riders. We started with the best road rider who rode for 2 hours to get a decent position, then one of the less experienced riders to try to hold our place, again for 2 hours, then the other experienced rider to work on our placing, then the last inexperienced rider.

Each turn was 2 hours so as to minimise time lost in transitions and maximise the rest we would get at night.
Was a great event and we managed to finish in the top 10 which was a bonus.

The only thing we would have done different was take a manager to monitor our position and let us know where we were and the best time to pit and have radios or an agreed way to communicate as we did lose placings due to pitting at the wrong time.

^ important point there. A team manger/wrench monkey makes a huge difference. Also a "catcher" at transition is great. Great being able to flake at transition while the wrench monkey wheels off the bike, cleans it, preps it, makes you a cuppa etc etc.

_________________
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

Thanks for sharing your experience. On our strategy meeting, er decided to start with one round each. Every round is 28 km and 500 hm, and expects to take around 50 minutes. The run starts 13.15, so when it's getting dark, plan A is to do two rounds every time, You are in the saddle.
Fyssen