bluefxstc
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Having never been involved in a 24 hour race, I thought a thread on specialized equipment and logistics necessary for a 24 hour race on an Alta, might be beneficial. There is a lot of racing experience on the forum so trying to pool the knowledge to give everyone a leg up and help ensure a good showing at the races.
Lighting:
In post number 26 of the Perry Mountain 24 Hour Challenge thread @snydes gave a good summary of the lighting options available from Tusk Racing. Anyone know about another manufacture of lighting that might be appropriate? Maybe @Judaslefourbe or @datadog can chime in on what 12V circuits are available on the MX, EX, MXR and EXR and any software limitations on the use of the circuits?
Charging Power:
Most of the teams seem to be 5 or 6 riders. With one rider on the track that is 4-5 Alta's charging all the time. That is a lot of power. 4 Alta's with a standard charger is 10Kw or 42A at 240Vac. 5 bikes is 12.5Kw and 52A. With the fast charge option at 3.3 kw, 4 bikes is 13.2Kw/55A and 5 bikes is 16.5Kw/69A. Throw in charging lights, lights for the pit area and other electrical needs and you have some pretty high power needs. Even with a 50A RV circuit you are going to need some generators to keep everything running. If every rider rides for an hour that mean one hour riding and 4-5 hours resting. If each bike takes 2-3 hours to charge, you probably don't need a charger for each bike, but the team still needs a lot of power to keep everything going.
Pit area:
I have not done any racing since the late 70s, (yep getting older, but not old yet
) so I will let others speak as to what works, what is necessary, what doesn't work...
Race Strategy:
In team racing, what is the best rider strategy. Obviously the lap length will have an impact on this but how often do you switch riders and what is the impact of having an electric bike? Should one rider ride for an hour then switch? Ride until the bike is 25-50% charge left? Do you change the strategy at night vs day?
Riding Gear:
Given the 24 hour nature of the race you are gong to need more riding gear for the race. The gear you wear in the afternoon is not going to be appropriate at 3AM. Any proven strategies or concerns to deal with this?
Bike Prep/Setup/Gear:
Maintenance for the pits other than charging? Prep for the bike before the race? Would a GPS be helpful, especially at night, to give you an idea of what is coming with limited night visibility? Any changes to bike setup for night vs day?
Race Prep:
@leeo45 discussed in the Perry Mountain 24 Hour Challenge the need to go out and trail ride at night using the lighting you will have on the race. It is whole different picture at night. What other specialized riding prep would be beneficial for a 24 hour race?
Other Concerns/Ideas:
I know from flying at night it can take up to 20 minutes for your eyes to night adapt and only a few seconds to destroy night adaptation so you probably want to have a way to protect the next riders night vision to give him/her the best vision when they start riding at night. What else?
What am I missing? I haven't' done any racing in a long time and have never done a 24 hour race so what is needed? If I do something like this I would like to be prepared and minimize the "I wish I would have brought that or thought of that". There is a lot of experience on the forum, and even some people who have 24 hour race experience, so what are the must haves, nice to have, and the sounds good but really didn't work? My goal would be to develop a checklist for the teams to use to make sure they show up with everything they need and have a good strategy during the race.
Lighting:
In post number 26 of the Perry Mountain 24 Hour Challenge thread @snydes gave a good summary of the lighting options available from Tusk Racing. Anyone know about another manufacture of lighting that might be appropriate? Maybe @Judaslefourbe or @datadog can chime in on what 12V circuits are available on the MX, EX, MXR and EXR and any software limitations on the use of the circuits?
Charging Power:
Most of the teams seem to be 5 or 6 riders. With one rider on the track that is 4-5 Alta's charging all the time. That is a lot of power. 4 Alta's with a standard charger is 10Kw or 42A at 240Vac. 5 bikes is 12.5Kw and 52A. With the fast charge option at 3.3 kw, 4 bikes is 13.2Kw/55A and 5 bikes is 16.5Kw/69A. Throw in charging lights, lights for the pit area and other electrical needs and you have some pretty high power needs. Even with a 50A RV circuit you are going to need some generators to keep everything running. If every rider rides for an hour that mean one hour riding and 4-5 hours resting. If each bike takes 2-3 hours to charge, you probably don't need a charger for each bike, but the team still needs a lot of power to keep everything going.
Pit area:
I have not done any racing since the late 70s, (yep getting older, but not old yet
) so I will let others speak as to what works, what is necessary, what doesn't work... Race Strategy:
In team racing, what is the best rider strategy. Obviously the lap length will have an impact on this but how often do you switch riders and what is the impact of having an electric bike? Should one rider ride for an hour then switch? Ride until the bike is 25-50% charge left? Do you change the strategy at night vs day?
Riding Gear:
Given the 24 hour nature of the race you are gong to need more riding gear for the race. The gear you wear in the afternoon is not going to be appropriate at 3AM. Any proven strategies or concerns to deal with this?
Bike Prep/Setup/Gear:
Maintenance for the pits other than charging? Prep for the bike before the race? Would a GPS be helpful, especially at night, to give you an idea of what is coming with limited night visibility? Any changes to bike setup for night vs day?
Race Prep:
@leeo45 discussed in the Perry Mountain 24 Hour Challenge the need to go out and trail ride at night using the lighting you will have on the race. It is whole different picture at night. What other specialized riding prep would be beneficial for a 24 hour race?
Other Concerns/Ideas:
I know from flying at night it can take up to 20 minutes for your eyes to night adapt and only a few seconds to destroy night adaptation so you probably want to have a way to protect the next riders night vision to give him/her the best vision when they start riding at night. What else?
What am I missing? I haven't' done any racing in a long time and have never done a 24 hour race so what is needed? If I do something like this I would like to be prepared and minimize the "I wish I would have brought that or thought of that". There is a lot of experience on the forum, and even some people who have 24 hour race experience, so what are the must haves, nice to have, and the sounds good but really didn't work? My goal would be to develop a checklist for the teams to use to make sure they show up with everything they need and have a good strategy during the race.
