2014 Mid Atlantic 12/24: prep and endurance questions

[LarryOz]

I was wondering if anyone from the Cruzbike community is going to go to the Mid Atlantic 12/24, being held in Washington, NC on Aug 23, 2014. It is about 6 hours from where I live (which is near Asheville, NC)

I am considering riding in the event, and am also looking for some help and suggestions for preparations for such a event.
I currently ride anywhere from 40-50 miles a day. (commuting back and forth to and from work mostly). I am riding a Silvio 2.0. I will have been riding it a month come this Saturday. (July 12, 2014)
I recently road a couple of solo centuries during my vacation at the beach, so I was thinking of trying the 12 hour event.
Way back in my history (30 years back - I guess ancient history really!), I rode 350 miles non-stop on a DF bike (From Raleigh, NC to Savannah Ga). I went with a buddy for safety. Total time was 20 hours. Of course I was very young!, and it was all downhill (since Raleigh is North of Savannah. ) Last week was my first century since then. Kind of a long distance drought! But I enjoyed it and it makes me want to try for something longer again!

Anyway, some of my other questions are:
Wheels and tires:
Should I invest in some disk wheels for the event? If so, what kind?
And what about tires? Is there something that is great for ultra distance?
I currently have Velocity A23, with 32 bladed spokes front and back. They have 23mm gator skins tires.

Helmets?
What about helmets? Mine has that goofy adjusting knob at the back, which is in the way (Not to mention the back part of the helmet), plus a visor. I know I could do better here for sure! Has anyone found a nice aerodynamic helmet to ride on the Silvio and Vendetta with?

Silvio versus Vendetta?
I also remember reading a post (I think from Maria) where she said a Vendetta was about 1-2 mph faster than a Silvio. Of course, that makes me want to get one, just so my time could be "faster" if I tried for the 12 hour or more. Who out there has spent significant time on both Silvio 2+ and Vendetta 2+ to give me more real-world feedback?
What is the "learning curve" if one switched from a Silvio 2+ to a Vendetta 2+

Training and resting before a big event?
What works, what doesn't?
Do you train differently for a 12 hour than you would for a 24 hour event.
What are the differences when you ride them?

During a long ride? Do you try and maintain a certain heart rate? Or just not go over a number?
How do you stay awake during the night time portion if you are riding the 24 hours event?

Anything else? I am sure I have missed lots of stuff.
Thanks in advance for any feedback
Larry Oslund

p.s. I was not really sure what "Cruzbike forum" to put this in. Ride Reports seemed fairly appropriate. If you think it is better somewhere else, please let me know, and I will move it - thanks

 

[ratz]

Giro Air Attack Helmet with

Giro Air Attack Helmet with or without the visor works for me on both the Silvio and the Vendetta; the back of the helmet is high enough not to interfere with the headrest. ((Note I have qty 1 8-mile ride on the Vendetta so take that with a grain of salt).

Took me that 1 ride to get comfortable switch to the V2 from the S2.

 

[Ivan]

I removed that adjusting knob

I removed that adjusting knob on my helmet (Limar 105) and cut some tiny Velcro straps to hold the plastic straps in the right place for my noggin. Very simple and made me wonder why I didn't do it earlier!!

Maria switched from S1 to Vendetta. I think the Vendetta would be faster than our S2 but perhaps not by that much.

 

[Eric Winn]

Larry, check out some of the

Larry, check out some of the information at www.ultracycling.com and read the blog entries here by Jim and Maria about their exploits. There are also some posts where I asked some of the same questions and received some good responses from Dan Fallon and others. Jim/Maria have posted specifically about the Mid Atlantic 12/24. It looks like a fun event and one I'm planning on doing at some point. There are also some ride reports over on BROL.

I've posted about my Bike Sebring experiences and my 2013 N24HC - I still need to write up one for the 2014 N24HC (hint: don't foul your rear wheel with your drink tube).

If you are doing 200 to 250 miles per week commuting then you are probably getting enough miles under you. The key is to make them quality miles. Basically fewer, harder can work as well or better than longer, slower. I've found I need to do some 50+ mile rides periodically else I tend to feel some thigh cramping somewhere around the 50 to 80 mile point and then it goes away. If I get a smattering of 50, 70, 80 mile rides in semi regularly I don't seem to cramp when I do ultra events.

A lot of your questions are in context of greater speed. While this is certainly an important component the key is to stay on the bike and just keep moving. I'm still working on that one myself. Disks and aero wheels can certainly make a difference but always consider the venue and typical wind behavior as to whether they are advisable or not. I would ask Maria and Jim about their experiences with them. I've not used any (yet).

On my Vendetta, I am running 23mm Continental Gatorhardshells which may or may not be the fastest tire around but (knock on wood) I've yet to flat one of them (other than when I got hit by a minivan anyway). With the state of my local roads I've been thinking of trying out 25mm or 28mm tires to see how that affects my riding.

Whatever you do, don't join the UMCA as from what you've posted so far about your exploits you will totally screw up my standings.

Kidding aside, if you think you'll like this kind of stuff I encourage you to join the UMCA and see where it takes you. Read up about Dennis Johnson's recent RAAM success since you and I will be in that age bracket in the not too distant future. There is a really good interview with Dennis online at Over The Top. Maria's adventures are very compelling reads, especially as a Cruzbike owner.

I'm looking forward to seeing you out there. I'll try and update this with some links for you later.

Misc links:

http://www.ultraracenews.com/tag/mid-atlantic-1224/

See Doug Hoffman's article on page 36:
http://www.ultracycling.com/sections/magazine/issues/2012_V21_4.pdf

Jim and Maria at 2012 Mid Altlantic:
http://www.bentrideronline.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=88022

2013 Mid Atlantic 12/24 (You can see Maria in the video. She did 243 miles for the 12 Hour)
http://youtu.be/nicVSkUiYrk

-Eric

 

[LarryOz]

Thanks again to everyone

I really appreciate all the feedback from you guys!
Bob - I like the Giro Air Attack - I bought one online (with visor) for $155 which I thought was a pretty good price! Never spent that much on a helmet before, but after looking at all the research that went behind it, I feel it is a worthy purchase.
Ivan - Also a great idea - I am going to modify one of my other helmets like this for a backup!
Eric - Thanks for all the great feedback and the multiple links on the ultra cycling and such! Great reading! I am planning to try and ride in at least the 12 hour at Mid-Atlantic. Hopefully we can meet up at an event sometime in the near future!

I only live about 4 hours from Jim and Maria (in Lumberton), and have plans to meet with them next Sat (July 19th). I am hoping to get a good comparison between the S2 and V2 to see if it is worth me pursuing a V2 later on. Also hoping to get my wife interested enough in a Softrider or Quest to take up riding. She is a non-rider at this point, but am hoping she loves the cruzbike format.

fyi: got a flat last night on my front wheel! augh!! post for help with front wheel - Bob already replied and gave me the famed front wheel removal/installation link (thanks again Bob!) I don't have it fixed yet, as my patch failed and now I need a new tube. Road my Specialized Crosstrail to work today instead, and road the same route (25 miles or so) that I did yesterday on the Silvio! I can still climb better and faster on my DF, but overall I am about 3 mph faster on my Silvio! I have to remember this when I am crawling up my hills at 10mph! haha

 

[BBL]

Tires & Tubes

Larry ...
You may want to consider a faster set of tires. Al Morrison has done quite a bit of research on rolling resistance of bicycle tires. You can Google this. Long story, short - check out Continental GP 4000S 23mm tires with Michelin 22/23mm latex tubes. The differences from best to worst tires are significant.

Also, all things being equal, for the same power input, Vendetta will be faster than Silvio. This will be especially noticeable for someone like yourself, who is already turning 4:55 centuries on a Silvio.

Buddy