2011 Island Cup Series - Official Thread

Plus it's got lots of carbs in it.

Begin by asking yourself: why am I drinking this beer? There is only one answer: domination. But there are many aspects to domination that must be balanced against each other. Physical domination, of course, is paramount. Here, there are three main things to consider:

1. Calories. You want them. Beer has them. In general, beers with more calories will serve you better on the bike.

2. Alcohol. Unfortunately, many high-calorie beers also have a high percentage ABV (alcohol by volume). Alcohol is not necessarily your enemy—anyone caught drinking Sharp’s on a bike must be beaten severely about the head and shoulders and ridiculed to the point of submission—but it bears remembering that alcohol and lactic acid are chemically and in some ways physiologically very similar. A little bit of alcohol can take just the tiniest edge off of the pain—either physically or mentally—but too much and you will first lose your desire to win, then your focus, and eventually your bike handling skills. The trick is to find a beer that balances high calories (150-200 per 12 oz) with relatively low ABV (4-5% is pretty ideal, but anything below 6% will usually do). Chimay, for all its meaning in the cycling world, is at 9% not for the bidon. Brown Ales and Amber Ales typically have the best calorie-to-ABV ratios, but at 209 calories and 5.6% ABV, it’s tough to beat Anchor Porter here. Each individual will have a different tolerance, however, and, of course, different tastes. Watch out for IPAs; they are tasty and refreshing but often too fruity and alcoholic to be effective as performance beverages.

3. Awesomeness. Though highly subjective, it is important to drink a beer that makes you feel good. Heavily carbonated beers, while nice for sitting around the BBQ after dominating your morning metric century, generally suck on the bike. Nitrogenated beers like Guinness tend to go down easy and stay down easy, as often does witbier. One tip here is to pour your beer with a thick head a good 15 or 20 minutes before you get on the bike and leave the top of the bidon open so the beer can breathe a bit. It’ll be on your bike; I guarantee it won’t be flat.

http://www.velominati.com/blog/general/beer-in-the-bidon-field-test-update/

Does the 12 hour always happen on Fathers Day weekend? I'm pretty sure it was last year. I'm trying to link it up with a family trip to Hornby Island next year which needs to be booked way in advance.

Does the 12 hour always happen on Fathers Day weekend? I'm pretty sure it was last year. I'm trying to link it up with a family trip to Hornby Island next year which needs to be booked way in advance.

It's the closest weekend to the solstice. So it's pretty much Fathers Day weekend.

Come next weekend - we're on Hornby for the final xc and Super D race!

Well next year if you set the schedule the same way ill be at both for sure. With a newborn and a toddler its not happening this year.

I Hope you guys are having better weather than we had at red mountain challenge in mission today. It poured all night and morning.

Well next year if you set the schedule the same way ill be at both for sure. With a newborn and a toddler its not happening this year.

I Hope you guys are having better weather than we had at red mountain challenge in mission today. It poured all night and morning.

weather was just fine!

perfect riding weather and a fun course.

for some reason it hurts to sit down today.

I sat down after the race and couldn't stand up! Doing the race on a Range wasn't the best weapon choice

Sam Wittingham who won solo men's did 26 total laps including one sh*t bike lap for a total of 182km

Going to add up the total distance ridden yesterday.

And did it on a 29er single speed as well!

Not sure if it has been posted anywhere. Whats the distance per lap. Still trying to wrap my head around the 27 some laps Sam did to win the 12 hour.

Not sure if it has been posted anywhere. Whats the distance per lap. Still trying to wrap my head around the 27 some laps Sam did to win the 12 hour.

approx 7km per lap.

Just in case you didn't know about his records…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Whittingham

My GPS said 6.49kms per lap so that's what I based my total off of

Coming up this weekend - Hornby Island XC [HTML_REMOVED] Super D!

Full details on the website http://www.islandcupseries.com