April 30, 2008
More tips on racing for newbies
I just have a few random ideas that may help you get started… nothing scientific, nothing guaranteed, but you may like to consider these thoughts:
- Ride a bit more than usual before your first race, and push yourself a bit harder to gain some confidence
- Then have a rest day before the race, or just a short, easy ride
- Get into bunches and practice riding with a group
- Eat well, keep fats to a minimum and eat plenty of carbs with fruit, rice and bread in the mix
- Don’t ride hard if you are sick or injured, or overweight (see your doctor for help there before starting any exercise program)
- Remember the rule of thumb: train in a week 3 times the distance of your race – so a 30km criterium means you should do at least 90km in a week, and you need to do that at least for a month prior to build your base
- Remember the other rule of thumb: you lose whatever you gained after 3 days, so don’t leave it 3 days between rides
- Get to the race early and warm up gently but firmly – end the warm up with a cool down and build up to a race gear, but don’t over-do it
- Don’t cool off completely before the race
- Register for the race and get your number ASAP, don’t leave it to the last minute
- Ride around if necessary to keep warm
- Don’t miss the start
- Follow the experienced riders, listen to them and watch what they do
- Within the limits of what you can do be prepared to dig deep and grit your teeth to “hang on”
- Don’t cross wheels with other riders, one swerve and you’ll be down
- Don’t show off in your first race, just absorb and learn
- Sit on “in the draft”, conserve energy, don’t fidget, don’t surge, be smooth – momentum is everything
- Stay close to and follow experienced wheels carefully, certainly not in a jerky, sudden or unpredictable way
- Do a turn when your turn comes, then pull off into the wind, allowing the next rider to shelter in your draft and easily come up to replace you
- As you pull off do so gradually and slowly ease up, drifting to the back
- If you feel comfortable ease back into the first 3rd of the bunch, otherwise go to the back again
- Do what the others do, unless they are totally out of their minds!
- Be there at the end
- Have a go at the sprint but be realistic – don’t get in the way.
