Amateur MTB Marathon: Introduction

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Amateur MTB Marathon: Introduction
First in a series of articles documenting CNO1 Editor Gary Lake's adventures in MTB marathon racing. Follow Gary over the following weeks and months to find out how he gets on and learn from his experience.

Words by Gary Lake - posted 22/12/2009

Welcome to the first of our amateur racing series features. To kick off, I'm going to put myself through a big MTB marathon and report back - throughout training and up to race day. If you've ever thought about doing one (or are already signed up), hopefully through my experience, you can learn and find out more about what's involved.

What are MTB marathons?

MTB marathon racing comes in a variety of distances and times with no single specific format. Marathons are raced in teams (4 or even more riders), as pairs or solo. The length can be a set duration, usually 6, 12 or 24 hours; or a distance, anything from 50km, 100km, 100 miles or more! Courses can be short and lap based, or an epic single lap.


Le Mans starts add drama and excitment, as well as breaking up the field a bit - photo by Brendan Thorpe	Marathon riding in the UK, expect 4 seasons in a day - even if it is the Summer! - photo by Gary Lake

Marathon events are becoming increasingly popular due to their social, festival-like atmosphere and experience. And also due to the fact that they offer such good value for money compared to traditional short-distance XC racing. So common are they now, there's almost certainly one in your area. Book your entry early to avoid disappointment - the most popular events are selling out within days of being on sale!

The Rider

I am Gary Lake, Editor of Cylist No.1. I've entered a few of these events before, but mostly as a team member and usually with little or no training. An attempt at a 12 hour solo last year went particularly badly retiring with injury after 6 hours. So yes, I've got my work very much cut out! I'm quite happy riding all day in a group but to actually ride for 24 hours, let alone 12 is going to require some serious dedication in the build up!


Obsessing over tyre choices - photo by Rob Johnson	My last effort didn't go too well - this time I'll be back - photo by Brendan Thorpe

The Event

I'm entered into the Bontrager Twentyfour12 (July 24th-25th), a popular time/lap-based event offering multiple races all going on in a single 24-hour period. Riders can chose to race the first 12 hours (starting at midday), the second 12 hours (starting at midnight), or the whole 24 hours. This can be done in a variety of team sizes, pairs or solo. I'm doing the full 24 hours - solo!

As mentioned, I've dabbled in these sorts of events before but for this feature, I'm attempting the "big one". And along the way I'm going to share how it's going, and report on the things you can do in the build-up to improve your chances of simply making the distance, or doing it as fast as you can.

In addition, we're going to investigate nutrition, training and what the event actually involves. We've got some experts on board to help me and they will be giving their advice and insights throughout the build up. I'll be blogging about how it's going, and reporting any interesting developments as I go through the process of becoming a big marathon rider!

Fundraising

With Cyclist No.1 being not-for-profit, it's only natural that I do fundraising along the way. I'm going to be supporting CLIC Sargent and any donations made via my JustGiving page (coming soon) will go straight to CLIC Sargent. So if you're enjoying the series, think I'm a bit daft, or feel a touch sorry for me - please give generously!

What next?

Going into the new year we'll be looking at kicking my regime off by making sure I'm eating the right things to get the most from my training. I'll be baring my soul by analysing my current diet and any symptoms I'm having, and looking into what role nutrition can play in sorting them. We'll look into setting a good base by focusing on a really good breakfast, and also making some basic changes to the rest of my diet.

Sign-up to the Cyclist No.1 mailing list in the right-hand column of this website, and we'll be sure to keep you updated via our newsletter when we create a new article in the series.

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