24 hour experiences...

This was my third 24 Hour Solo Race. I was using it as preparation in the lead up to the 24 hour World's in Canada at the end of July. I wanted to learn and I wanted to deepen my experience in solo 24 hour racing. It's difficult to predict what might go wrong in such long events & for both rider and support it is crucial that they can be managed.

The Merida 24 hour certainly provided the unexpected. For 15 hours I was reaping the rewards of the previous months training and I was really happy with how it was going. I was on the new Superlight Felt RXC Hardtail paired with a cushy 2.25 rear tyre & a carbon seatpost. I felt like I was at home: the bike was light, comfortable, responsive. My body felt good, my support were faultless and nutrition & hydration were spot on...well so it seemed. I'd added home cooked zucchini slice at the last minute to my nutrition arsenal and it was going down a treat.

The "unexpected" arrived at about the 16 hour mark: cold sweats and blurred vision forced me into the pit. Things got worse very quickly and when I could keep anything down it was off to Beaudesert Hospital. I recovered in a few hours still confused by what had gone wrong. The mystery unravelled itself that afternoon when three hours after the race and after knawing on some zucchini slice, Prue found herself in a similar mess. Back to Beaudesert Hospital it was for us!

It's so often the simple things that are completely overlooked. The zucchini slice had travelled with us from Mooloolaba, it spent most of its life in the esky but certainily not all of its life there. Overlooking things like this in race situations can quickly become dangerous as our body's are already under stress.