bbbean 

Ideally, I'd love for my warmup to transition directly to a race with as little delay as possible. However, I have an appointment immediately before tomorrow's race that will allow me a max of 10-15 minutes between arriving at the park and the 5:30 start signal - barely enough time to sign in and get in position.

I will, however, have an hour or two in the early afternoon (1-3) that I could get in a ride. Woudl I be better off to get in a good ride in the morning, or to have an extra few hours of rest and energy saved up in my legs?

BB

Creatre

I'd be more worried about getting to the race on time at all. 10-15 mins is almost no buffer room. I don't think I can even get the stuff out of my car, register/pick up stuff, and pin my jersey in less than 10 mins.

waterrockets 

I've done that before. I think an easy spin earlier in the day may help, but I don't think it's necessary. Just have a smooth logistics plan for getting your poop in a group when you get on site. Maybe get in one hard jump while riding to the line. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I showed up barely in time for a race once, and they announced a $50 cash first lap prime at the line. I really needed cash, but didn't have time for the ATM stop on the way home (barely had a kitchen pass). I won that prime as my warmup. Just barely in the money at the finish (6th?). Meh.

bbbean 

Fortunately, it's a weekly series and we use the same bib through the season, and my prior appt is at the doctor's office, so I'll be able to put on my kit when I leave. It'll still be close, but at least I won't be wrestling with safety pins and spandex when I get there.

Even more fortunately, I've heard they aren't giving away an Escalade at this week's cat 5 race, so I guess I can suck wind with minimal consequences.

ips0803

Racing is stressful enough without showing up 15 minutes before the gun.

I'd be struggling to be composed and ready, let alone warming up.

gsteinb

This has got to go seven pages.

waterrockets 

That's going to take some arguing though. Hmmm. Here goes.

Seven pages is a pretty silly estimate. Have you ever estimated the future length of a thread before?

hack

More importantly, who warms up? Seems silly to me when you can warm up while racing....

Ygduf

The key to thread length estimation is to get in early. You guys are already ahead of the game.

therhodeo

With no warmup you'll never hit 40mph in your sprint.

caloso

I'm just going to sit in for a few pages as my warm up before commenting.

rkwaki

I have arrived, it could go 10...

furiousferret

I don't think riding earlier in the day would help. In your shoes I'd just suck it up during the race and survive until you feel good.

Being in your shoes that would be a no go for me. Maybe if I had more talent, maybe if I was younger, maybe if I was stronger I could warm up during the race. Right now there is a discernable jump in performance from when I start cold, to when I'm warmed up.

I also have no doubt there are racers on this forum that can show up 5 minutes early, pull up to the line, and tear it up. Everyone is different.

bbbean 

Not competing is an option, but as a new racer in a rural area (translation - 100-200 miles away from any regular events), I'm trying to get experience where and when I can. A DNP finish is still better experience and training than sitting on the couch or a bar stool.

FWIW, didn't realize I was cueing up a lengthy thread. But far be it from me to stop the keyboard commandos from expounding at length. Carry on!

BB

rkwaki

It doesn't take much...

jmikami

For me it would depend on a few things.

How long is the race, how early do you expect it to get fast, how well does your body handle fast transitions to speed? For me, if I try to do a hard effort while cold it will take me much longer to recover and the recovery will need to be at an easier pace, and the effort itself will be subpar, injury is less of a concern for me as it will be mostly my effort and race that will suffer. Athough it does make for an easy excuse if you get dropped ... hey I didn't warm up. If you can jump into the race and handle that first 5 to 15 minutes without a serious effort you will likely be fine. The point of my warm up is to spend 10-15 minutes to get my legs warmed up. After that my first effort should be medium, then at that point I am safe to go harder and will be able to recover after each efforts.

I would not do the extra spin in the afternoon unless I was really worried about the first minutes of the race, and even then the benefit of the early warmup is unlikely to last that long. An hour sure, but much more than that and you are very unlikely to get much benefit from the earlier warmup ... although more miles = more better for some. Me I would just ride an extra 30 minutes after the race if I really wanted more miles.

waterrockets 

That's related to my "am I warmed up?" test for crits. If I can hit 1500W, I'm warmed up. Usually my 2nd jump for that.

jsutkeepspining

i feel the same with an hour warm up as i do with a 5 second warmup

tetonrider

at san dimas, i saw a guy set up his rollers 10 meters from the starting line of the TT. that is pretty close, no?

Andy STi

Mine goes to 11...

rkwaki

I have the correct answer.
After much online research, medical testing research and journals I extrapolated the correct warmup procedure:









41 feet from the start line...
41 minutes in duration...
@ 41 km/h



I couldn't help it OP, sorry...

needmoreair

This seems like a pretty personal thing.

Personally, if I get in a proper pre-race ride either the day before or the morning before an afternoon race (meaning a 30+ min ride with a couple of jumps and efforts) then I won't usually bother with a warmup unless it's just to get in more miles for the day.

This weekend I did a race with another guy who warmed up on his trainer for about 35 mins and went straight from that on to the course. Same race, very different approaches.

You might want to experiment when you have the time to do so, if for no other reason than to see what you can get away with so when the situation arises (get lost or something) and you have to forgo the warm up you'll know if you're going to be golden or if you need to take it easy the first few miles to get your legs going.

I will add an exception. If I'm doing a good taper and have a lot of pop in my legs I might do a 20-30 min warmup with 4-5 mins of sustained efforts 'cause it seems like I always feel a lot more burn when I'm well rested then when I'm into a bit heavier training load.

needmoreair

And there it is!

bbbean 

To be fair, I'm a 50 yr old cat 5. I rarely sprint over 38 even with a warmup.

waterrockets 

Well, how you feel may not align with performance.

Show me power files from the following:

• 1' test, all-out every pedal stroke with no warmup when you're fresh (TSB close to 0)
• 1' test, all-out every pedal stroke with a 15-minute warmup at tempo, including two 5" all-out sprints in the middle 5 minutes, when you're fresh (TSB close to 0)