Planning to Race
So, your first race is this weekend. If your bag is stuffed full and you can't decide whether to leave behind the Family Size box of Twinkies or your cycling shoes, then read on. This is basic, but will help you tons in reducing stress for the race.
- Prior to leaving for the race, print out a pre-race packet with:
- Directions to and from all hotels, races, parking lots, etc
- Race flier or information including start times, costs, race distances, etc
- Contact information for hotels, teammates, etc.
- Make sure your equipment is flawless, prior to getting to the start line (ideally the night before) How sad is it when you get to the start line, there is an unmistakable hissing sound of air leaking out of a tire. You think to yourself, "poor guy, that sucks" before realizing the tire belongs to you!
- Always pack your bags with:
- Race license
- Money
- Cycling shorts
- Short sleeve race jersey
- Cycling shoes
- Helmet
- Socks
- Short and long gloves
- Windjacket or vest
- Arm warmer and leg warmers
- Rainwear - regardless of weather report
- Winter hat
- Many warm clothes-waterproof, windproof is a huge advantage
- Casual clothes
- Race food - 5-6 energy bars, 10 gels, on-the-bike drink mix, post race drink mix
- Gallon of water
- 5 water bottles
- Basic tools
- Bring all your own food and water. Usually nothing is available at the race courses, so always bring more than enough food and water to get your through the entire day. That means breakfast, lunch, post race snack, lots of bars and drinks. The 15 minute post-race "window of opportunity" closes fast so have food available. Sandwiches, PB&J, yogurt, bananas, bagels all work great.
- Eating before and after races: Make sure to eat a good sized breakfast no less than 2 hours prior to the event - any closer to the event and you are likely to get stomach problems. If you can eat 6-800 calories that is ideal) Feel free to snack on foods leading up to the event. Be a little cautious snacking too close to the start of a TTT or crit - these races start fast and furious meaning more digestive time is needed. Immediately after an event, have a recovery shake with some protein and carbohydrates. If you have a double day, make sure to eat more than you think you need - the key to double days is staying well fueled.
- Warmup & cooldown usually 20-40 minutes per event - ride about 20 minutes easy, about 8-10 minutes moderate and about 2-5 minutes quite hard. Play around with this to find what works. (see previous TT topic of the week) Finish your warmup about 15 minutes prior to the start of your event. You are ready to race when you feel loose, limber, and you are breathing easily. Try to cool down by riding slowly for about 10 minutes after your event.
- Stay warm - do everything you can to stay as warm as possible - wear more clothes than you think you need (shivering builds up lactic acid, so you might as well not bother warming up), wear raingear over warm clothes, always have a hat, if it is cold, try to get hot water right after your event. If you forget to pack warm clothes, there is a good chance one of your competitors is not watching their bags closely.
- Have a pre-race and post-race meeting with your teammates before after every race. This is how you will learn and get faster and earn lots of future prize money so you can pay me, your coach. Talk about the course, your goals, strategy, what you will do at the finish. After the race talk about what you noticed in the race, why that happened, , what you did well, what you could improve, what you learned and will do differently in future races, and why everyone else around you that beat you cheated or is taking drugs (in the collegiate Men's D field)
