First race
 

Hey guys. I've signed up for a 62mile/100km race. I'll be doing it on my fixed gear (Surly Steamroller). Getting pretty nervous, as there are some steep climbs (well, one big climb at 5 miles). But overall, there is only about 4,000 ft elevation gain.

I've never ridden that long on my fixed gear nor raced period. Any tips from you guys that have done these longer races? Or general thoughts of motivation?? :D

There will be 3 food/water stops, so I'm carrying a couple of water bottles and maybe some energy gels. I've also ordered a new set of brake pads from Kool Stop (Salmon/Combo) in hopes to help with the brake fade that will happen on the other side of the 5 mile climb.

Thanks.

When is the race? Just get as much time in the saddle as you can until then. Definitely carry several gels. Do some group rides.

Metric century with rest stops is not a race.

"only" 4,000 ft elevation gain?? u kidding me? that's a load of climbing for a fixie.

I routinely do that much in my geared roadie, usually takes me about 2 hrs (pros' record is about 1.5 hrs) over 24 miles on a local mountain. Whats your gearing? on the flats, crit-style I'd say it's completely doable but not when road turns up.
I'm not saying it's impossible but I'd still do it for the experience.

It reminds me of my last clandestine alley cat race, there were a couple of sneaky state champions, it was supposed to go for a full hr, needles to say I got chewed and spitted out the back 3/4 of race :mad:

I'm geared at 70 gear inches. My normal rides cover about 2k ft elevation gain, so I thought it wouldn't be too bad. There are plenty of hills around here and I've been trying to hit them pretty hard. The big climb smack dab in the middle is what worries me a little. Not looking to win, but just a new challenge for me.

And good thought, **********--I'll keep telling myself it's not a race. Will ease the nerves.

Also make sure you are eating correctly: before and after the race. This includes:

Before:

-Pasta w/light sauce (if you want) the night before to get your glucose levels up
-No or minimal dairy on race day
-Carbs w/a little protein for breakfast
-Water, water, and more water (especially the night before, but remember to go potty before the race)

After:

-MILK. It's one of the best recovery drinks. A fellow member named Carleton has recommended chocolate milk a lot.
-Remember to replace the calories you burned. A 4-5 hour ride with lots of climbs can burn upwards of 4000 calories.

I didn't include everything and some of the stuff I said may be off. Hopefully the people who know what they are talking about with chip in.

/rant.

Once the race starts, start pedalling, when it is done, stop. Drink some water and eat something too.

draft, draft, draft, and draft - assuming this really is a race. Don't forget to drink and eat

All that said directly above by homebrewk^
Why no milk before? If you're wondering; milk would curdle in your stomach from all the activity and you'll end up puking it out.

Keep a steady pace and stay hydrated. Do not hesitate to take advantage of any support crew, resources, and handouts if needed.

In addition you might want to tweek your gear ratio because the uphill portions sounds long and grueling on a fixed gear.

are they stops or just water/food hand off points

Also: it should be noted that milk will probably decrease your performance all the way up to puking because you will be feeling really sick. And after you puke you will feel bad too.

If this is really a race and not a recreational metric century, you'd better have someone supporting you at the feeding zones (that's if you want to be competitive), otherwise you'll be carrying a lot of gel packs in your pockets and maybe a third water bottle. In terms of strategy, you need to draft as much as you can, and try to beat the roadies up the climb and hope to have gained enough time such that they won't pass you on the descent/flats. Run the highest gear ratio that you can manage the climb with and hope for the best.

Edit: Do you have to raise money in order to participate in this race? :thumb:

Post what the event is and we'll probably have better advice for you. We can't even decide whether it is an actual race at this point.

USAC does not allow fixed gears in their road races.

Clearly false as they sanction track events. But just because it isn't USAC sanctioned doesn't disqualify it as a race, e.g. alleycats etc. We don't even know if the OP is in the US. Also, the only "bike races" I've been in were USAT sanctioned and they do allow fixed gears.

@**********: It doesn't have to be USAC sanctioned in order to be a race. CBR here in SoCal seems to be their own entity.

Yeah I was talking about road races, not track races. I doubt the OP is doing a half ironman on his Surly Steamroller.

CBR shares the same rules with USAC. Both do allow fixed gears in TT's I think.

This doesn't sound like a race to me (more like an organized charity ride), but if it is a real road race, you are going to get slaughtered with 70 gear inches. You will need 80+ gear inches to stay with the pack for any extended amount of time.

So I'm going to assume with ********** that this is some sort of benefit ride. People do sometimes get worried about doing these kinds of distances when they have signed up to do the "Tour de Cure" or the "Race against Hipsterism". This is mostly because they have analogized the distance to what might be a comparable running event AKA the marathon.

A century is not like a marathon. Leukybear just finished metric centuries 12 days in a row and I don't think he would claim to be a world champion. If there are ultradistance runners who could run a marathon 12 days in a row they are extremely few in number. The Tour de France involves these kinds of distances for more than two weeks. Bicycles are simply a much more efficient way to travel and they need not involve a great deal of damage to the body, if done for even very long distances.

Basically when it comes down to finishing a century the only thing you have to do is keep pedaling. Following the advice above about hydration and nutrition is good. Don't try to be fast. In these kinds of rides, you are very likely to not be timed at all. They will could have a staggered start and they will have no way to keep track of your time. If you want a time, bring a watch or a cycling computer. In this kind of situation you do not need to worry about being shot out the back, so strategy-wise the best thing to do is find some riders at a pace you are comfortable with and hang with them. Most importantly have fun.

Don't do it fixed. You can recover better/faster if you can coast.
Do some training rides with the local racers.
Ride the race course to determine the biggest gear you can push up the hills.

Ok, apologies, guys. I heard about this through another rider and was told it was a race. Well, it's not. Just as you guys said, it's just a charity ride. Ok, I'm not worried about it any more. Should be fairly easy to keep up with my current gearing. I'll have a FW on as well, just in case.

Thanks for all the comments.