mrfreezesdefy3

Day before .I got my first ever road race 3\21\15@9am
Was just gonna get me a good 10 mile jaunt in the day before .considering, that race day is 40 miles and eat a decent meal the evening before .and get up early n get me a 2 egg omlet w bacon or chicken about 3 hrs before the race . Any thoughts or suggestions .
With 3 sag stops for me it's about my best time and making it the whole 40
So far my longest jaunts been right at 30 miles ,
I just don't wanna bog myself down , but I know my body enough to know I'm gonna need something a lil sustainable the morning of

jsigone

don't try anything new, no new breakfast, no new bike foods, no new sports drink. You still have a couple of weeks to see what works for you.

For me, my usual go to breakfast is on the road. Jack n Box Ultimate Sausage breakfast sandwich + the OJ. I never eat the hash brown stick cuz it's too greasy for me. Most race I get there 1-2 hours before + 30-60min to drive there. So it's plenty of time for the meal to digest some so I'm not on empty for the first hour of riding. Not eating will put me in the reserve tanks in the 2nd and 3rd hour.

My on the bike food eating order. Solid, densest first couple hours. Cliff bar or power bar #1 , Honey waffles, than Gu and BLocks are last. Those two are easier to swallow and digest later in the ride. Bananas are good any time and help w/ cramps. (saltstick pills work too).

I also do a bike tune up/check over 2 nights before the ride or race. Doing it the night before won't leave me time if I find you need something from the bike shop. I always try to have a couple shifter and brake cables in the garage for such lazy procrastination weeks.

TrojanHorse

Race? or cycling event.

Early breakfast is key, a good night's sleep the TWO nights before is key and hydrate plenty the week before.

At 40 miles, you won't need to each much, but snacking on something periodically in the first 30 miles will probably help.

What jsigone said, other than that. Nothing new and check your gear out before hand. Find everything you need the day before and set it out like your first day of grade school, so you don't forget anything in the excitement. Forgetting something critical like cycling shoes will kill your day. Ask me how I know.

Zoxe

This is my little routine. It's not based on science, but more around superstition.

For a Saturday race, I will do a shakedown ride on Thursday night. For a shakedown ride, I'm going to go 7-10mi at a moderate pace. Before the ride I'm doing things like checking brakes and other adjustments. I also check my tires before we go for any bad things poking out of them, that way if I need to change a tire I get a ride on it before the event. After the shakedown ride, there is NO wrenching on the bike.

Friday night is an off night. For most events this means packing and putting the rack on the truck and similar prep things. Dinner is something fairly normal but not greasy. Last season I got away from the traditional pasta and had some brown rice and lean meat.

Race day I eat as normally at possible. For me that's shredded wheat, skim milk, and black coffee. If I'm doing an out of town race (hotel), I'll often bring breakfast in a ziploc bag and grab some lobby coffee. Most places have scrambled eggs which suit me fine, but we're often out and headed to the venue before the hotel buffet opens. I prefer to get to the venue early so I'm not fussing with parking or standing in line to get packets or whatever.

If it's a timed event (Triatlon), Twenty minutes before buzzer, I'll eat a gel.

1242Vintage

If it's a supported event with sag stops, then there wouldn't be much prep. Day before is a light workout or a rest day with regular meals. Day of, eat a moderate well-rounded meal a few hours before, drink plenty of water, and you are good to go. Avoid the temptation to do a "tune-up" on your bike the day before. If there are sag stops I avoid trying new snacks and drinks.

Race day prep is a whole different animal. Day before will be a rest day. Eat three square meals and get a good nights sleep. I lay out all the essentials on the garage floor the night before; spare wheels, trainer, shoes, helmet, pump, kit, tool box, camp chair, and ice chest w/ water, snacks, recovery drink. Race morning I eat a light breakfast (egg, toast, fruit, coffee, juice), pack up the car, and arrive 1-1/2 to 2 hours early to register and warm up. During warm up a half hour or so before the man says "GO" I eat something small (granola bar or gel) and hit my inhaler a couple time so asthma doesn't lock up my lungs. Head to the line to stage and give 'em hell.

There's also a post race recovery ritual and decompression. After heart rate comes back down, put bike and all the gear away and go check results ... and don't forget to get the spare wheel set back. Then grab the camp chair, recovery drink, water, snack, and maybe even a beer and go watch the other folks race for a while.

jjjjjjay

This advice is coming from trail running experience a few years back, so feel free to disregard. To me the main thing, the most important thing, was not to overtrain the week before a race. I was once sick (mentally I think it was) the week before a big trail race, a half-marathon with tons of steep elevation. And I did much better than I thought I would after basically giving up and not training the week before. Based on that I would think about (it's hard!) skipping doing much for at least a couple days before... there's an official word for it: taper

My results were preceded by many, many brutal practice runs leading up to the event... but slacking off just prior seemed to really help. Again, listen to the more experienced folks & good luck !

brawlo

From my own experience, finding out the appropriate race day routine comes from experience. The experience is about learning what foods work for you and indeed if they will work for you if you try eating them on the bike.

Most of my experience comes from doing hard pace 50-60km training rides. I can cope with no food before or during, but those are at about 6am and food intake the day before is more at play that early in the morning. If I'm going for longer, say 60-80km, then I like to take in a banana before the ride and because our longer rides are split into 2 separate rides combined, I take the short break in between to take on another banana. If I'm feeling keen and looking at figuring in the end of ride dash and sprint, then I'll take a gel at the half way mark of the second ride. I only take on water for any riding - racing or training. I've tried sports drinks and I'm sure they help me with calorie/sugar/salt/magnesium/etc intake, but they make my mouth feel so crappy and pastey I now avoid them altogether and sub a gel in instead.

In actual racing, things are a bit different. I don't ride the day before at all. Lots do, but it does nothing for me and the extra bit of rest probably does more benefit. RELAX!!! Stressing yourself out will not help you. It will affect your sleep the night before and affect your potential performance in the race. Pretty much all of my 'longer' racing is 40-50km and I just make sure I don't eat a big meal within 2hrs of the start and take 2 gels with the aim of taking one at the half way mark and the second is a backup if I feel drained and need the pick me up. Don't load up on meat proteins before the race. They take a lot longer for your body to process and will just make your gut feel heavy. I'd just do the eggs and ditch the bacon/chicken. Take a banana about 30min before you start. After that comes the other mysterious beast - the warmup. Make sure you do something so that racing isn't the first thing to hit your legs. Search around for potential warmups and try different ones antil you find one that works for YOU. It's a very personal thing. For me I have found doing an intense push on the bike to get the heart rate up and sustain it for at least 5min with a total of about 10min with warmup works best. I do it to allow max 10min before start and try to keep the legs ticking over up util the latest point.

The most important point though is to make sure you have fun and enjoy it. I love racing, it's what keeps me going. I'm nowhere near the best, but I love the challenge and I use that to drive me to train and keep losing weight.

dbikingman

I'm going with the assumption this is a supported bike ride and not a race. I can't imagine racing a distance where my goal is "making it the whole 40".

As has been mentioned I find it easier to prep for a supported ride than a training ride. In a training ride you have to take food and water. In a 40 mile ride with three sag stops, I'd probably take water and some sort of emergency food such as a banana or energy bar and just stop at one or two of the stops.

As far as eating I find eating I find my normal breakfast works fine, as long as it isn't a big meal I can eat and ride within half an hour and be fine (much better than running).

The one advice I haven't seen mentioned isn't about eating, but just pace yourself at the start.

If you did 30 comfortably you can do 40 it is all about pace.

Enjoy your ride and don't over think it.

mrfreezesdefy3

Thanks for all the advice guys

vesteroid

This all assumes you really meant ride, not race.

Since its your first new long ride, I have a few tidbits.

When you start, dont get sucked into riding a pace you are not comfortable with. It is VERY easy to do if you are not careful. Dont load up on fiber and carbs in the breakfast, as the last thing you want to do is spend a portion of your time in the porta potty or wishing you could find one.

Dont guzzle down tons (an abnormal amount) of water...see reason above.

Do drink very well the day or two before and come into this with clear pee if possible. Drink regularly through the ride. try and make yourself get 16 oz or so each hour if possible.

For that short of a ride, I would consider taking with me what ever food you normally eat on a ride of that distance and not even stopping at sag stops, unless you need water or a potty break. Keep sag stops very short. Get your water and get out.

If you get tired recover on the bike, slow down to half speed for 10 minutes and you will feel better...stopping only makes it worse to me.

I dont know how long 40 miles takes you but I cant see you needing much food. For something like that assuming your ride 12 mph I would start eating a gel each half hour after the first hour, or the calorie equivalent of that. 200-300 calories an hour is the MOST you want to eat and honestly I wouldn't eat near that much unless its a really long ride for me and I am testing my limits. Since you said you have only ridden 30 miles and are doing 40, doing a few gels over the hours wont hurt you, but may help you.