Road Bike Racing - signed up for 3rd race..any tips

Well ive got 2 weeks before my 3rd race, was wondering if there were any tips to be had to kind of hone the edge or become more prepared? Ill be racing in the elite5 at the sea otter race. Should be a blast!

anyways TIA

baw

find someone who knows the course, and how the races usually pan out.

i was lucky. when i started out i had friends who were a cat above, and had raced every race worth racing in the region, so it was like having my very own DS.

:D

Intervals for the RR along with hill work. The hill is nasty and just long enough that it will probably separate the men from the boys real quick. Wind can be a factor on the North side of the course and the final 2 mile climb is tough so stay towards the front but do not do any work if it can be avoided you will need alot left in the tank for the climb out. The circuit is more of the same the hill will be more of a factor later in the race when the field wears down.

Don't crash.

Try and stay near the front as much as possible. This will keep you out of danger and you will be able to respond quickly to attacks/splits etc....

I've been racing for about 10 years and I've always suffered more near the back than at the front regardless of my fitness level.

awesome!

mucho gracias!

You racing the circuit or road race?

road race :D

ive already got butterflys in my tummy LOL

my 2nd race I finished top 10 (8th) that was aaaawesome (Central Valley Classic)...i could have done better but got boxed in the last 2k...but the course had 0 climbs...im a bit on the larger side for a cyclist (180lbs) so will prob have trouble with the climbs. But my motto is 1. not to crash 2. not to come in last!!

road race :D


Save everything for the hills. You miss the selection and it's an awfully long day out there by yourself.

Dont have some guy come sweeping across the course from inside to outside taking your front wheel with him. Dont subsequently land on your head face and hands requiring you to vsit emergancy room for six hours post race to have negative CT scan. Dont get numerous deep abrasions on both knees, grind the knuckles off the back of both hands, big burn inside left knee, burn left elbow, burn left shoulder, or big burn on left hip. Wear helmet and be glad it was destroyed instead of your skull. Dont limp around for a week eating vicodin so that you can keep working even though you fell like rotten hamburger. Make sure your bike is ready so you can resume racing in two weeks after most of the skin had healed. Oh, buy new gloves and helmet before then and see if you can get a new team uniform by then. Have fun and ride/race safe.

I've done about the same # of races as you. I have similar goals: (1) don't crash and (2) don't come in last.

I also think it is good to use these things as a learning experience. Go out with the goal to give it 110% and see how your body responds. Talk to people that know the course, try as hard as you can to stay close to the front (but not at the front) especially at the beginning. Once you lose contact with the main pack, it's hard to get back on. If you are concerned about the climbing, try to be at or near the front before so if you do happen to slide back then you can hop back on as you go over.

Be sure to get good sleep 2-3 night before the race, but don't worry about what happens the night before. Eat a good pre-race meal and make sure you are well hydrated. Don't let sudden cramps in your leg ruin an otherwise good day. I've seen that happen to other riders who didn't eat/drink properly right before their race. do a good warmup.

thanks for all the tips, sounds like curiouskid had a traumatic experience...hope all your boo boo's are healed up! As far as training should i be putting in the max number of hard miles possible up untill the last few days before the race? Damn rain is really putting a damper on my training =o(

thanks for all the tips, sounds like curiouskid had a traumatic experience...hope all your boo boo's are healed up! As far as training should i be putting in the max number of hard miles possible up untill the last few days before the race? Damn rain is really putting a damper on my training =o(

The week of the race, just focus on trying to maintain what you have. There aren't a lot of improvements that will come that week, but it is very easy to mess things up by riding too hard, tiring yourself out or not sleeping/eating/hydrating. The rain puts a damper on things, I agree.
BUT, since you've got a few weeks until sea otter, you'll definitely want to keep your workouts going through first part of April so you don't lose too much fitness. Do you have a trainer? I'll assume that you do. If not, go get one. :)
Right now on rainy days I'm trying to substitute my hill climbing workouts with the Carmichael "climbing" DVD. It's not the same as what my coach has me do, but I figure it is giving me a good workout on a day when I can't ride outside due to the rain, or when the rain just makes the hilly areas unsafe to ride on (slick roads, no shoulder, etc. )


If I'm racing on a saturday, my coach usually has me do my normal workouts through wednesday then I have thursday completely off the bike. the day before is usually a simple workout. 2x6' intervals that are just under my LT (low end = LT-17, high end = LT-8), then I do two efforts where I progress from LT-17 up to LT+a few beats over 5 minutes and at 90-95 rpm. The rest of the 1.5 hours is spent riding around at an easy pace. Then I do a pre-race warmup that varies depending on what kind of race it is.

Also, try to keep your routine the same. Don't try any new foods, gels, drink mixes or anything. Basically don't experiment before a race.

Hopefully the rain stops before Saturday! I'll be starting 5 minutes behind you, Master 30+ Cat5. As far as what training to do this week, follow Snicklefritz advice and you will feel good Saturday.

Here are few more thoughts based on a meeting I had this afternoon with Dr. Max Testa:

Anyway, I had been talking with him about my bad result at Landpark...wondering why my body pooped out so soon into the thing. Anyway, turned out he said it had a lot to do with the way I was eating and drinking before the race. I hadn't timed things properly and I had an increase in blood sugar and subsequent drop (after insulin kicked in) at a bad time...

So he recommended before a race to eat a meal about 1.5-2 hours before. Make sure it doesn't have too many carbs otherwise you end up with this sugar spike and subsequent drop. Some of his recommendations included simple PB&J or ham and cheese. Then during the hour before the event, slowly consume some kind of sport drink. Take a gel, gu, or similar thing a few minutes before the race. He said that sometimes people make the mistake of having their pre-race meal too early and then have sugar/insulin ups and downs at the wrong time. But be careful not to eat too close to the race otherwise you'll still be digesting stuff when you go to the start line.