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off road duathlon tips???

Doing my first off road duathlon in february. 5k run 20k mtb and 3k run. Done loads of regular tri's but was wondering if anyone has any spacific off road tips?

Comments

  • Different shoes ?

    Different bike ?

    What exactly are your worries ??
  • bathtubbathtub Posts: 280
    If you dont already I would reccomend plenty of off road riding to hone your handling skills and make sure you have the correct tyres for the terrain

    Good Luck
  • Have to agree with Bathtub here, whilst fitness is important in respect to the bike leg, bike skills are equally important.

    Find out exactly what type of terrain the bike course is. If it is on fire track roads then bike fitness will translate pretty well, if there is a fair bit of singletrack then this is another ball game altogether. The rule being keep it moving, keep it moving, keep it moving.

    In the past I have race cross country and a key skill is keeping a rhythm going through technical sections which comes down to good skills as much as fitness levels. The more you ride this stuff the better you will get. It is also critical not to get stuck behind slower riders in such sections. Off road pacing is very hard to get right and in any event a lot of riders will go off too hard, the issue is then getting past them. Be prepared to really push hard to overtake on easier sections of the course, knowing you will be able to recover on the more technical stuff. What I would try and find out on MTB forums what type of tyres and at what pressures to use in the area you are racing, makes a big difference.

    I would simply get out there and train on this type of terrain for both the bike and run. Both require you to be able to read the trail ahead and process this information quickly so as to keep momentum going. This is very different to being on the road or a smooth track and I think you will find off road races to leave you mentaly tired as much as physically.

    It may be the case that this is a straight forwards duathlon masquerading as being off road and as such will be no problems, or hopefully it does have technical sections and as such offers something a bit different at this time of year, good luck.
  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    What sort of bike do you have? Hardtail? full sus?

    What sort of rider are you?

    What is the course like?

    There is a huge range of possibilities, as has been said, the course will be everything.

    You need to decide what to wear - which will be dependent on how hard you go, where you want to place, and weather etc.

    Have a nosy round the xterraplanet.com and the like for some ideas.

    But the difference between friendly tracks and going down some bolder strewn slope in the pouring raining in a force 8 gale is very different.

    hard to give advice without more info!
  • Thanks for the info.
    As far as i know the bike isnt that technical but the second run is supposed to be a stinker.
    Im doing the "stinger" in newmham park in plymouth.
    I have proper mtb shoes that you can walk in aswell, but should i be looking at road type shoes for a faster transition??.
    Im a fair runner so should i go hard in the first run and just hang on for the second run?? to avoid getting stuck behind slow bikers?
  • My experince of off road. I did the eveil sheriff last year and it was eveil. I didnt change my shoes I just wore my trail trainers adn went straigth out on the 20km Bike route. The biggest issue I found was that the route was tight and passin was hard so if you can get our towards the front it will help.

    If you can get out where the course is and see what the route my be like. When did mine i though it was goign to be along forest tracks not single muddy tracks with lng climds and steep downhill.

    Bike control is the key there were a number of people coming off as they werent use to the slippery conditions.

    I did a load of training on a local bike course, which helps loads as it taught me the stop start nature of off roading.

    I also did a load of brick session which was helpful.

    Hope the above has made sense
    Will
  • nivaghnivagh Posts: 595
    Yes, go hard on the first run, particularly of it's short like 5k. As for shoes on the bike, wear whatever gives you enough control. If the bike course isn't technical, consider a cx?
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