"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - warm up options before a race

i've got a race this sunday but due to it location i probably won't be able to bring a trainer on which to warm up. I also don't know if i'll be able to preride the course and warm up that way....so does anyone have any suggestions for warming up off the bike? i was thinking of doing some plyometrics as my warm up. Think this will be sufficient?

No. You need to warm up on the bike. And if it's a crit, you need to warm up hard.

Are you driving to the race? If so you should be able to throw your trainer in the car.

I generally prefer to warm up on the bike. Sometimes that a bit of a logistical issue, (rarely can you warm up on the course) but usually you can find somewhere even if you've got to do a bunch of circles of a parking lot.

If you can park your car you should be able to use a trainer to warmup. It really does make a huge difference in your ability to go hard right from the starting gun. If it is a crit, like merlin said, make sure you get a good, significant warmup in. I will usually WU for 30-50 minutes for a cat 4/5 crit.

Good luck in your race!

^^^^ thanks for the advice guys.....the problem is the race is on an island which means taking a ferry, no cars allowed, so the trainer is one more bit to lug with me (which won't be fun seeing as i'm biking to the ferry) not to mention leaving it when i go and race. I'm not sure how the course is set up but i imagine they'll just use of stretch of closed off MUP path. Which means the rest of the path will more than likely have the usual assortment of people using it.....which makes warming up on it difficult.

I would make sure on your ride to the race you get a few hard sprints in there somehow, I have been told that you need to arrive to the start line sweating for crits and TT.

^^^^ thanks for the advice guys.....the problem is the race is on an island which means taking a ferry, no cars allowed, so the trainer is one more bit to lug with me (which won't be fun seeing as i'm biking to the ferry) not to mention leaving it when i go and race. I'm not sure how the course is set up but i imagine they'll just use of stretch of closed off MUP path. Which means the rest of the path will more than likely have the usual assortment of people using it.....which makes warming up on it difficult.

So everyone who is racing is lugging bike + pit/spare wheels on a ferry to race on a bike path???? Sounds like a racer meets roller blader incident waiting to happen.

This sounds like a fine, fine piece of race organizing to me.

well the ferry part is correct......i can only assume the path will be closed to the public for the race.....The paths on the Toronto island are fairly wide as they accomodate the service vehicles. Apparently its a very good course for races and TT's......its just lugging everything over there thats the problem

i should invest in a pit crew, but i'm sure all my friends will be hungover sunday morning

get a big bag and put your trainer in it, then sling it over your back.. 25-35 lbs or however much it weighs wont really matter.. and anyone that steals it while you are racing will have the same problem, so I wouldnt worry about it.