Race Preparation
2010-04-13 00:11:361 Week To Go...
Planning: Get the long term weather forecast – and make sure you have suitable clothing and tyres for all conditions.Training: Try not to do any “epic” rides. Even if you haven’t put the work in when you needed to, 3 steady rides will be more productive than 1 hard one. Try to make your rides non-damaging (keep off road rides short and not too bumpy, don’t push big gears round). This will allow your body to recover quickly from any sessions, and help you be in peak condition for the race.
Equipment: Give your bike a good clean – a clean bike is easier to check over! Replace any parts that are damaged – racing is the toughest test for your bike – you will brake harder, and change gear more aggressively than at any other time.
2 Days To Go...
Planning: Check the weather forecast again – you are in Britain! Plan everything you need to do tomorrow, and on race day, and make sure you are allowing enough time for this.Training: Take it easy! You can’t get any fitter between now and the race, so just relax and eat well – the food you eat today is very important. Get a good night’s sleep – you probably won’t sleep well tomorrow.
Equipment: Get your preferred race tyres on, and pack your kit today – this means you won’t be in a panic before you travel.
1 Day To Go...
Planning: Get at least one practise lap in. Once you know where you are going, you can judge your effort much better. Practise the difficult bits; try to do complete sections in one go – as you would in the race – even if it means finding diversions to get back to the start of the section. Don’t look at the difficult bits for too long – either ride, or don’t!Training: You need to do your practise lap at a decent speed to get a good feel for the course (going easy on the climbs, but fast on the technical sections helps to keep you from overdoing things). Warm up and down – this will make you lap feel easier, and make your legs fresh for the race. Eat and drink regularly through the day – try not to have a big meal at night – so that you can sleep well.
Equipment: Get your bike cleaned and checked over after you have done your practise lap. Wearing an old pair of socks over your shoes helps cut down on the cleaning you have to do!
Race Day...
Planning: Get to the venue in plenty time, with all your kit ready. You don’t want to be running around filling up water bottles before your race! If you have time do an easy lap of the course to see if anything has changed since yesterday – or watch the early races/ask the riders.Training: Get a good warm up. Warming up helps you to maximise your physical and mental performance, and helps you avoid injury. As the race approaches, keep your warm up in the arena, that means you can easily get to the start line in plenty time.
Equipment: Finalise your tyre choice, and get everything checked over thoroughly – you don’t want to be crunching gears as soon as the race starts. Make sure your chain is well lubed. It is worth polishing your bike with a specialist product (furniture polish will do!), give the frame a good polish – this can help prevent build up of mud.
