Top Tips For A Tip-Top 24

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BY: Andrew Howett

Published: 4th January, 2014

You have done your training. You are as fit as you are ever going to be. The pit crew are ready. The bikes are ready. So what else do you need to think about?

I will say at the outset that this is by no means intended as a guide to how to win a 24hr race, it is more a list of things to think about. Everyone is different and will have different requirements and priorities but make sure you have these areas covered in a way which suits you and you won’t go too far wrong. No matter how many 24hrs you do they are always daunting, but prepare thoroughly and they will (almost!) be enjoyable, get it wrong and 24hrs is a very, very long time to suffer through.Some of these tips will only save you a minute or so but add all of those up over the course of a race and it can, and indeed does, make a difference.

Pit Crew

Let’s start with the most important part of whole thing, your helpers. Yes, it is possible to do a race without any, but you will be very much in the hands of Freyr, God of Weather, Hodur, God of Night, and the God of Mechanical Gremlins, whose name I appear to have forgotten.

Choose wisely.

It is a good idea to have a helper who is not emotionally attached to you. When it is 3am, cold, wet and horrible and you look like death you need someone who can push you out again for another lap, not someone who is going to take pity on you and get you to have a sit down with a cup of tea and a warm blanket. It can also be rather unpleasant for your other half to have to see the state you can get into during a 24.

Also, think about how they react under pressure. There is a big difference between setting a bike up in the comfort of the garage and trying to get one working again in the dark and the pouring rain with numb fingers in less time than it takes the rider to eat a pasty. Can your chosen person cope with this?

Ann and Simon, Mt Stromlo, 2010 World Championships

Plan the race together

Make sure your pit crew know your race plan, write it down and go through it together. For example, think about at what point in the race you will need your lights fitting. They will need to know how long the battery will last and when to change it. More on lights later, but spend some time with the guys in the pits before the race familiarising them with the details of your lights, all the little bits like how the clamps work.

Also make sure your pit crew know the details of your bike(s). For example, write down what tyre pressures you like for this course, which chain lube to use in the dry, which to use if it’s wet and how to change your brake pads. Practice these things together before the race if you can.

They will need to know how long it will take you to get round a lap, obviously. If they know when you are due back into the pits they can have whatever you need ready for you at the right time. Getting the timings on the hot food and drink right and having it ready just as you arrive is a bit of a black art and takes some getting used to, if you can work with the same pit crew at some 12hr races before the big day this will be great practice.

Get organised

A blackboard or at least a pen and paper is very helpful. They can write down the time you left the pit, your expected lap time and the time you are expected back. This is especially important if there are several riders sharing a pit and they need to know who is due in when, it’s all too easy to lose track.

Give them chance to think

Try to give them plenty of warning for things that you want. This isn’t always possible, there will be unexpected problems, but “it’s getting cold out there, I will need a hot drink next time round” is much better than “I’m now freezing, get the kettle on”. Forewarning will give them chance to prepare and the pit stops will cost you far less time.

Try to do two (or more) things at once. For example, if it takes your pit crew one minute to fit your lights then that is the lap to have the stop for the pasta. It is a waste of time to only have a banana that time and then wait for the lights and then have to stop again for the pasta on the next lap.

Bottles

If you have not worked with your pit crew before spend a while with them practicing taking bottles on the move. In the first few laps you will probably just take a bottle, and maybe a gel or two, as you would in an XC race and only move onto solid food later in the race.

Food

This is the other really, really important aspect which you just have to get right, there is no muddling through if you get this wrong. Rather helpfully there is an article all about eating and drinking here

The Pits

Home for a day

Moving on a little from the pit crew we come to the pits. It may sound obvious but this is where your pit crew will spend most of their time so make sure it’s a nice place to be. They will at the very least need a big tent, the biggest you have. There should be enough space inside to fix a bike when it’s raining, a chair or two and lights. For my pit light I have a vehicle inspection lamp and an old car battery, this keeps a 40W bulb going all night. If you are lucky enough to have two or more helpers have somewhere they can take it in turns to sleep, either in the van or a tent away from the noise of the race.

Make sure the big tent is well anchored, the wind can change significantly over the course of a race. I always use a ratchet strap to tie mine down using the spare wheel off the van as a weight. A gas patio heater would be a very welcome addition to any pit. 

Dawn. Things are hotting up in pit row.

Location, location, location

My preference is for a pit near the start/finish line, and in particular the guys doing the timing and the leaderboard. Yes, it will be a little more rowdy there but who’s planning on sleeping anyway? It is much easier for your pit crew to keep an eye on the opposition from this position. There will usually be a couple of tight-ish corners in the arena to slow the riders as they come past the timing guys. It is a good idea to get a pitch on the slowest corner if you can, if you have to stop it will cost far less time getting back up to speed again than stopping on a flat-out section.

Check out the location of other things before the race. Your helpers will need to find the water supply, maybe the electricity supply or light charging area, the neutral kitchen if there is one, anything which will be useful and could be tricky to find in the dark.