Unsupported ultra-endurance gravel race - what do you wish you would have brought?
 

I'm getting anxious for The DAMn (240-mile gravel race across Minnesota) - we leave the SD boarder at midnight and must make it to the check points and get to the WI boarder by midnight. I've successfully ridden completely unsupported solo 150-mile rides, but this one is longer, much more remote (Western MN is very sparse). We will have support vehicles at the check points to reload supplies, otherwise the first 150 miles riders will be limited to what you have on you.

I'd be interested to hear your stories about long rides and that one thing you forgot to bring that would have made the difference.

For the Dirty Kanza 200, I wish I would have brought . . . less. I was prepared for EVERY eventuality. But every eventuality didn't happen. And everything I did carry added weight to the bike. I should have reduced the amount of stuff I took. (Probably not the answer you were looking for.)

Broader variety of food - especially more savory/less sweet carb options. I've pretty much sworn off gels and chews in favor of real food, especially dates, but after several hours my stomach starts to rebel at the thought of sweet things, even if it's something natural like dates. Savory things like salted up mashed sweet potatoes really start to sound nice.

Honestly, this is very reassuring!!

Very good advice! I found myself suffering from 'sweat overload' a couple years ago on an very hot 140-mile ride. For me the sweats get old fast on hot rides - on a cold ride, I seem to be able to manage the sweats all day long. (odd? normal? IDK?)

*border *sweets

One thing I see people forgetting to take quite often is a chain breaker and quick link. They're so small and useful if you break a chain. And nothing will stop you faster than a broken chain.

Nah I think that's pretty common actually, it's harder to eat when it's hot and it's especially hard to eat sweets.

This year, on a couple longer rides, I threw some Epic meat bars https://epicbar.com/ in my pocket just for some added protein every few hours. I'm not a nutritionist and I only have a basic working knowledge of dietary needs -- boils down to carbs every hour, with some added protein every 3 hours -- but for some reason when I ate an epic bar it was like when Popeye ate a can of spinach. My friends that I was riding with said it sucked because I started riding faster.

So that's one data point. FYI I like pretty much all of them but the salmon variety, which is disgusting, and the venison has way too much pepper to eat on a ride.

Not going to be much help, but wanted to say good luck with it and it would be cool to hear how it goes for you. I grew up in Southern MN by Mankato so I am familiar with the area. Starting at midnight should give you about 9 hours of cool weather to ride in so that should help with how much water you will need to make it past the first 150 miles. How much are you thinking you will need? At 65-70F here in Denver, I am thinking I could probably make it 150 miles with my large camelback with water and 2 bottles of sports drink, but MN is a lot more humid and I would sweat a lot more there than I would in CO. Do you think you would need a lot more water than that? You could add a top tube frame pack and put a second camelback bladder in there. Or you could mount these brackets to the handlebars and add two more bottles up there:

https://planetcyclery.com/velo-orang...r-cage-bracket

How are you going to keep the electronic stuff charged? Will you be using a dynamo type hub to keep your lights going? Cell phone and or Garmin or other computer? Or will you be bringing battery packs to help with this? Or do you think you will not need that and get additional lights or batteries at the check points?

Here is a good video on food and hydration from gravel cyclist at the DK200 if you haven't seen it.

Anyhow good luck and have fun. Let us know how it goes. Maybe I'll give it a go one of these years when I visit my parents up there.

Damn it.... dyslexia is always entertaining!

Great point about the chain breaker and link. I'm happy I learned that lesson from another rider's mistake - it was cold, no cell connection, and his chain was done. That guy had a long cold walk.

Ugh, that would suck so bad!

Thanks!

My current plan is two large water bottles with a Scratch Labs mix on the bike and a 3L CamelBak of water. I have fork mounts to add more bottles, I'm going to see about the weather before adding the fork mounts. Additionally, I'll keep a Coke and/or a coffee drink stowed in my CamelBak for late night energy.

I just bought a Garmin 1030 for it's 20+ hour battery life, and will be testing it this week with a local 24 hour race. As a back up, I'll have my old 510 and that'll easily give 12 hour back up GPS. My phone is well testing and great - Moto Z with battery 'mod' - my work can have me working on my phone for 16 hour days. I know from other long rides, my phone stays in a pocket 95% of the time and the battery lasts much longer.

If I keep doing these type of rides, a dyno hub is in my future!

I will be sure to share my experiences from The DMAn

So how exactly does this work? I see there are no maps of the route on their website. Do you just show up in Gary SD and they give you a cue card telling you how to get to Bob's corn field for check point 1. Then at Bob's corn field you get a cue card telling you how to get to Joe's bean field for check point 2? From the rules, it looks like you can take aide from stores on the route. I know on the west side of the state, you aren't going to hit many towns with a convenient store especially not ones open at 4 am. However, one you get to Gaylord, Henderson, New Prague etc, there are places, but how do you plan anything if you don't know the route? Or do you and I am missing it?

AFAIK it's basically show up, get your cue sheet, and go. For some reason there's a handful of endurance gravel events where the promoter has some misguided notion that gravel races don't count unless no one knows where they are.

I blame a certain Iowa promoter who is incapable of riding more than 150 miles at a time himself despite putting on a 350-mile race every year.

I've no experience with ultras but do a few centuries in rural areas.

Has anyone mentioned caffeine? Gu Chews, gels and now gum are very convenient and caffeine is definitely a performance booster.

I also bring a container of Hot Shot on long rides, especially gravel in remote places. It works for cramps.

HOTSHOT | Scientifically Proven Muscle Cramps Treatment


-Tim-

You are spot on, it's like the Trans Iowa, get cue sheets at start line that'll get you to check point #1 ; check point #1 has cue sheet to get you to check point #2 , etc. It has been made clear, don't follow last year's route, they've made changes.

I have a support crew (Lisa - AKA wife), she'll be loaded down with food and drink to reload. I'm most concerned about the start of the ride, there will be little-to-no places to reload except check points. And like you say, get to the east end of the state during the day, it'll be easier to find food and drink.

LOL! To each their own. I've done many rides following a line on my Garmin... so I'm excited to challenge myself with both following the route and the endurance. I have many friends that rode The DAMn in 2017, nothing but positive things to say about the ride.

Don't get me wrong, I applaud your effort and anyone who tackles these rides. They are true hardman and woman rides, no question, and I don't begrudge anyone who participates in their version of fun. I'm looking forward to your ride report. (I had half a mind to make the 10 hour drive to do the Heck of the North this year because the countryside looks amazing, but it's just not going to work with my schedule).

The attitude of the promoters on this point just rubs me the wrong way, but I don't lose sleep over it.

:thumb:

This thread was an eye-opener for me...I never would've imagined that a race would be run like this in 2018. I'm amazed that the promoter wouldn't post a GPS file ahead of the event. Is this sort of thing common?

How long have you been riding gravel grinders/endurance events?

When I started gravel grinders nearly 10 years ago, I had a simple Cateye, GPS devises were pricey and rare at these events. So cue sheets were the best way to follow the route. And there are purists out there that loved adventure/endurance rides prior to GPS devises. In general, it is an additional challenge to the event. Think about alleycat races, you don't know some or any check points until you start the race.

This type of event isn't for everyone. But nobody is forced to ride these events, The DAMn has more riders interested than space available (240 riders). So these GPS-free races aren't common, but there is demand/interest.

I appreciate the info...That's why I asked!

But even without GPS, an organizer could send out cue sheets in advance - email them or post to the website. But okay, if you're saying that there is a market for an event like this, I believe you.

I mean, Henri Desgrange resisted allowing riders to use geared bikes in the Tour de France long after they had become commonplace. He was wrong, too.

Ha ha, bitter much? Whether GT can finish a race he hosts or not doesnt seem to be good reason to dislike the way the race is run. Thats basically saying that if he could do the TransIA, then you wouldnt blame him?...odd.

In life there are plenty of race directors/promoters cant complete the race they are overseeing.

I would struggle with not knowing where to go until the next checkpoint. It would be a struggle from a comfort perspective more than anything else- i love exploring an area I havent been, but i like knowing the plan for how to get to the end!




ETA- i am not attacking you or trying to pick a fight. just found it funny that GT is blamed and decided to respond. I completely understand someone not liking cue sheets.

I know we have switched away from nutrition but here is a pretty solid and simple option for you. take one tortilla add peanut butter and jelly. Slice and add 1/2 a banna. Roll it up burrito style, wrap in saran wrap or foil if you prefer. Repeat. Its a pretty dense calorie load that is easy to stuff into kit pockets, and other places and helps with the "I can't eat another damn M&M for the life of me!"

That's exactly what I'm saying. If the guy actually knew from personal experience what it takes to finish an ultra-endurance event then maybe he wouldn't be so fixated on including rigid, inflexible obstacles that add nothing to the race and really detract from the overall level of physical competition. But instead he can't even finish one Dirty Kanza but he's really arrogant and condescending towards people who can't finish TI because of some intentionally confusing and misleading cue sheets.

And this isn't sour grapes -- I never had any desire to enter TI (and obviously can't anymore because it won't be happening again) -- I draw the line at events that are more than 24 hours. Also I have no problems reading maps and cue sheets -- reading maps is kind of a big deal in the Field Artillery and I've carried those skills with me for years. Plus, I've only had a bike computer with navigation for about a year so before that I exclusively navigated with cue sheets. I just think it's silly and arrogant not to provide GPS files to people who want them.

[QUOTE**ETA- i am not attacking you or trying to pick a fight. just found it funny that GT is blamed and decided to respond. I completely understand someone not liking cue sheets.[/QUOTE]

Ha, no worries -- so far it's a friendly debate and I've always enjoyed your commentary on the gravel forum. I mean, I agree a promoter is free to run a race how they want, and if that includes cue sheets that's their prerogative.

Just like it's my prerogative not to participate in those events.

+1

Lisa (my support crew & wife) just got the same 'recipe' from a co-worker that's a nutritionist and ultra-endurance athlete.

FWIW - The DAMn organizer is a capable ultra-endurance rider. He rode the 2018 Alexander 380 single-speed - OK he DNF'd, but was deep into the ride, the riders he was supporting had all abandoned, and he's on a SS?!?! He's a great guy and loves a challenge!