Cyclocross - Newbie questions

Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'm entering my first cx race tomorrow. I am, of course, woefully unprepared in every way possible, a couple of which I'm hoping you fine folks can help me with.

1. Do you carry anything at all with you? For instance, a spare tube, tire levers and pump. Or if I flat am I just out? It seems like there are a few things I could fix mid-race with a pocket full of tools. My main goal is just to avoid the DNF, so time isn't much of a priority.

2. How do you prepare as far as water and nutrition go? What do you eat/drink the night before and day of?

I would start the day the same as I would for a century. Eat a good breakfast and make sure you drink plenty on the way to the race. Cross racers don't carry anything, they have a spare bike or at least a spare wheelset in the pits. If you are used to being prepared for any thing; a tube, tire levers and CO2 in your back pocket should be all you need. If you have a friend who can hand you off a water bottle as you pass by, that would be good. Remove anything you don't need from your bike, that means no racks, fenders or bottle cages. Have fun and get ready for the longest hour of your life.

If you have a friend who can hand you off a water bottle as you pass by, that would be good.

In the bigger races you cannot take hand ups

If you are worried about flatting run a high tire pressure and if you have spare wheels leave them in the pit. You could just leave your repair kit in the pit if you want.

How does the whole pit thing work? If I bust a wheel in the middle of the course do I just carry the bike back to the pit? Can I take shortcuts doing that, or do I need to follow the course?

The races I've done, you shoulder your bike and run around the course until you get to the pit. No shortcuts and no free laps or anything of that sort.

I just put a pair of wheels in the pit and leave it at that. DNF's in races aren't like DNF's in charity rides. You shouldn't give up or anything like that, but if you rip your drivetrain apart or break a seatpost or something, nobody's going to fault your for DNF'ing. I actually cannot think of anything that you might repair on the course that you can't just live with for the remainder of the race. I even protected a 10th place finish after rolling a tire (but not popping it) on my front wheel and on a different race, finishing the last two laps with a busted and inoperable right shifter/brake lever.

Thanks, everyone, for the tips.

I managed to pull out a top ten finish. Of course, that had a lot to do with the fact that only nine people entered the beginner's race today. :thumb: One of the perks of making a debut off the beaten path (which around here = Cross Crusade (http://www.crosscrusade.com/)). :)

But I did finish, and I stayed upright for the whole race, which were my goals. I managed to get through two laps before the leader passed me. I did four laps in all, and I think the other guys only did five, so I feel pretty good about that. I knew going in that I was going to be really slow.

In the race after mine, they discovered there was a wasps' nest on the course. Some poor guy walked into it after getting a flat. Apparently it made for a nasty hazard the rest of the race. The organizers were talking about trying to re-route for the rest of the day.