Rusty Nuts Grand Challenge 2005

[Warr]

15-16 Oct '05
Are there any KB's from Waikato/northwards who are contemplating entering.
Wanting to hook up with anyone who is.

There are some excellent reports from previous events to be found on the site.
Just search "Grand Challenge 1000"

[Waylander]

Ooh day after my birthday. Definately try and give this a go. Depends on what my job situation is around that time. (if nothing good for that I may be able to get fuel as a 'birthday' gift...}

[justsomeguy]

I've just replied to your PM Warr - a small team sounds like a bloody good idea. I think unless something unavoidable happens I'm in.

I believe a few of the KB senior members have done it before, some several times.

[Warr]

Compulsory reading if you've not done it before. These are blackbirds ride reports. The '96 was his first and gives a good example of endurance riding in any-sort-a-weather.

Some would say endurance riding is only for the soft in the head. I'm 47 so perhaps it has something to do with age.
A 24hour 1600km ride is no walk-in-the-park. As anyone who has done it before will be sure to tell you.
So the more who put their hands up the more buddies you'll have to ride with at the pace you prefer.

1996 (930K)

2003 (640K)

Found a couple of posts from Hitcher after last years event too. Not so large too
Hitcher Part1

Hitcher Part2

Another excellent report for the '04 GC from Mangells
mangell6

[matthewt]

I've done the last 3 and I would say the weather can decide just how much of a challenge it is. The first 2 I did were fairly OK but last years was a real pain in two sections because of rain and fog.

Usually a great weekend all said and done.

[texmo]

whats the deal is it like the gum-ball rally?

[Warr]

whats the deal is it like the gum-ball rally?

Yea.. You get a list of checkpoints and 24 hours to do it in. Leaving at timed intervals after 3pm on Sat afternoon.

[justsomeguy]

A 24hour 1600km ride is no walk-in-the-park. As anyone who has done it before will be sure to tell you.

I know what you mean - I tried something like this when I was younger and stupider. Ended up driving 1300kms in 22 hours. 5am to 3am the following day

This was in a cage as I didn't know about the wonderful world of bikes then.

We were rolling through red lights at 1am and my mate (equally brain dead) would go hey that was a red light and I would go yeah - this conversation was about 5 secs after we passed it. Then he'd go take the next right and I'd go which side it that??

Seriously it may seem funny but at that time it was really frustrating to not be able to think or figure things out quickly due to your brains inability to focus.

[Warr]

Courtesy of Rider in Black

Yes did it last year and doing it again this year Not part of a group. Found it better to set your own pace. You'll find that sometimes your with a group and sometimes your on your own. Hardest part is between 1am and Sun rise (a lot give up then). Make your seat as comfie as poss. Do night rides, rain rides, and early morning rides. Make sure your riding gear will haddle everythnig that is going to be thrown at it. Get you bike fully serviced at least 2weeks before hand (Let the shop know that you are doing the GC). New tyres, brake pads. Check you bearings (steering head, wheel etc). Read up on the GC on the Rusty Nuts' Web Site. Enter GC

[Blackbird]

Yep, Doug (RIB) is right on the money with his comments. Solo riding might suit Doug but we really enjoy riding as a team. Mind you, the important distinction is that we've ridden together for years and have the same riding styles. You need to trust your riding partners implicitly. Food and drink are also important as I felt really crook one year when I drank too much V and junk food. Since then, I have stuck to bottled water and scroggin (dried banana rings, nuts, pumpkin seeds and so on). Felt much better for it and didn't need to go to the toilet so much either!

Stops make a huge difference too. The first 1000 miler we did involved substantial stops and we simply stiffened up. You can save a lot of time by only stopping for 10-15 minutes when you gas up, do some stretches, throw food and drink down your throat and get underway again

A few other things to think about too, but I won't bang on about them!

Geoff

[RiderInBlack]

Yep, skip the V-type drinks and coffee until you last fueling stop (they'll dehyrate you), keep well hyrated (water or electrolite supplement drinks is the best), and keep your carbohrate intake up (DON'T eat heavy hard to digest food). Best dam advice the Old GC pros gave me.

Dehyation and low blood sugars will cause you fatigue and make you feel drousy.
Cafine (like Alcohol) causes you to pee lots, thereby dehrating you. It all so causes you to burn through you carbohydrates quicker.

Heavy food use lots of energy to digest, so will in the short term make you feel tired. With the GC leaving at 3pm, your better off having a big Breakfast and a medium lunch. Then during the GC just have light high energy snacks. They have a good big meal waiting for you at the finish (which really goes down well then).

I had a 2l Carbo drink made up at 1/2 the recommend strength, that I drunk at every stop. This, plus the odd Moro was all I needed for most of the 21 1/2hrs I did the GC in. Had a LiftPlus at the last fuel stop to get me home.

A few repeat GC's had Camel-Packs which helped them big time. I'm using one this year.

[Hooks]

This is something I have been thinking about doing since I got my bike back on the road ... I reckon it could be fun ... any from here in Palmy interested ??

[Warr]

A few repeat GC's had Camel-Packs which helped them big time. I'm using one this year.

Trouble with one of those would be to not drink too much .. then u'd want to pee all the time!

Something else that newbies like me dont know about is "The Start"

Grand Challenge: The starters send bikes off in pairs at two-minute intervals. Your start sequence is based on your event registration number. Last year Mrs H and I were numbers 44 and 45 (from memory), so we were about an hour and a half after the first away. Completing the Challenge in the allotted time requires a good rolling average -- any time you spend stopped is time lost -- so there is no point waiting around for mates to start. Bikes tend to bunch up from about the first checkpoint onwards, if that's what you want to do.

[RiderInBlack]

They are only 1-2L. You'll need at least that over 24hrs.

[Hooks]

So where do you register and much is it ??