While 6 hours of Heck in Paradise is over, there are plenty of races at Kualoa ranch coming up. We asked some of the participants to give us their best advice and biggest lessons learned while racing at Kualoa Ranch.

The Newbie: While Kelly Zastrow has a serious athletic background, MTBing is a brand new passion. Here’s what she learned while racing the women’s solo category:

• Don’t give up if the course conditions seem impossible. Unlike many courses, trails at Kualoa ranch can dry out and get better from one lap to the next, they aren’t necessarily going to get more rutted and difficult.
• If there is a section you can’t ride, talk to the other racers. Often there is another way around it.
• Mechanicals happen. Most of us don’t have the luxury of bringing a backup bike for emergencies. But you can think about who is about your size that you could borrow a bike from. Hint: this works better with team riders than individuals.
• And finally…don’t drink an entire bottle of wine by yourself while waiting for your friends to finish, just go do another lap. The later will hurt a lot less the next morning.

The Veteran: For MTB coach and trail builder David Nash, racing at Kualoa Ranch means camping out and BBQing with friends in the most beautiful valleys on earth. Here are his tips to thrive on technical Kualoa singletrack:

• Never stop peddling-it rebalances you and carries momentum over obstacles.
• Focus where you want to go, not on what you don’t want to hit-your body goes where your eyes lead.
• Visualize water running down the trail and follow that line-this keeps you centered in the lowest part of the trail and if it’s wet at Kualoa, your tires will end up there anyway.
• Now get off the road! It’s mountain bike season!!!

The Endurance Animal: All around endurance athlete Jennifer White won the women’s solo category at 6 Hours of Heck. Here are her lessons learned for the next race:

• If you’re camping, bring a shovel. You’ll immediately know what it’s for. (hint: Kualoa is a working cattle ranch)
• Don’t celebrate when you get to the top of a hill…there will likely be more and they’ll only be worse
• Remember to stop and enjoy the beauty of the valley and the lines of twinkling bike lights