Originally Posted by
worldtraveller
Doing a MTB event of a 99 miles in Minnesota. Combination of pave road, dirt road, trails etc etc
would take over 6 to 7 hours
Are you a professional mountain bike racer?
If not, that time range is very optimistic. In NEU events the winner generally comes in around 6.5 hours. With most riders finishing around the 9.5-10 hour mark.
People that are saying this is a short ride have obviously never done an ultra MTB race before. The difficulty is on par with a fast 400k or more, with technical requirements on top of that. You'll need to have enough in the tank to possibly descend a difficult rock garden after 90 miles of hard riding or climb up a steep switchbacking climb with loose dirt and roots, etc at mile 80.
How you use the drop bags also depends on how fast you're going. The fast guys will have a set of full bottles in each bag, as the volunteers will pull them out before they arrive at the stop, so they can just grab the full bottles and go without having to wait at all. If you don't mind standing around for a few minutes to fill your bottles, eat a bit, and grab some extra to throw in your pockets, you might not need much in the bags.
If you have any specific dietary needs for long rides, include that in the drop bags in case they don't have it.
Also remember you probably don't have to pick up the bag, generally they'll deliver them back to the finish after. So, you can always throw an extra tube or gloves or something in the bag, and if you don't need it, just ignore it and ride.