Re: My first race

#93406
"dgaddis" wrote

Since you’ve never done a long ride like this, there’s a few things you should know. You’re not going to come even close to winning, and you’re going to suffer. These races are crazy fun though! And that’s what it’s all about. They give you a chance to ride with a lot of friendly people, and a chance to push yourself further than you thought possible.

I’ve done a few 6hr races and a lot of 50-65mile races (which take me around 6hrs). On a good day I’m a mid pack finisher. I’m just now really starting to get good at knowing what/when/how often I need to eat/drink and how to pace myself. It’s taken me 3yrs to get to this point, it’s a learning process, everyone is different and has to figure out what works for them. So here’s my advice.

Start hydrating two days before. Don’t drink TONS of water, just make an effort to drink a few glasses throughout the day, and stick with plain water at meals.

Don’t eat a huge sized meal the night before the race. Eat a moderate sized meal that’s heavy in carbs, like pasta, but don’t eat a ton. No need in being full/bloated on the morning of the race.

Poop before the race, so you wont have to during the race. That’s an important tip right there!

Start slooooow. It’ll be hard. The start of a race is exciting, especially since it is your first one, and you’ll want to go hard, or try and keep up with everyone else. You’ll pay for it later if you do. For a 6hr race, if you’re like me (aka not a pro or aerobic freak of nature) you should try to avoid ever letting your heart rate get high – stay out of the red! If you find yourself breathing too hard to carry on a conversation, you’re going too hard, so slow down. This is especially true the first few hours of the race. You only have so much energy in the ‘energy bank’. And going into the red withdraws a LOT of energy from the bank in a very short time.

For food, you have to experiment…sounds like your race will be your first experiment if you’ve never done a really long ride like this! Everyone’s different as far as what they like and what works well. You want something you can eat quickly and easily (and on the bike if possible), and easily digested stuff is good, don’t want to mess up your stomach. I personally use gels almost exclusively for rides in that 5-7hr range. Gels are easy to eat on the bike, quick, and lots of calories for their size. And they don’t upset my stomach. I’ve seen people eat burgers or pizza at these races tho. Everyone is different.

For fluids I use a sports drink mix. That way I’m constantly taking in calories and electrolytes. I’ve been using Gatorade Pro lately, but I mix it much weaker than they suggest, it’s too sweet at full power. Not all drink mixes have both carbs and eletrolytes, so pay attention to the labels.

One other tip – keep moving! If you need to eat, walk and push the bike and eat instead of sitting down in you pit area. Same thing for resting, walk, don’t sit. Time sitting is time you’re not making forward progress, and a few minutes here and there adds up quickly. It can easily make the difference between doing one more lap or not.

REMEMBER – it’s all about having fun! You’ll probably have to remind yourself of that at some point haha.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

EDIT – one more tip, possibly the most important (besides the poop thing) – get some sort of chamois cream (aka butt butter). it’s basically a lotion that lubricates your skin so you don’t chafe. I know it sounds gross, but trust me, it’s important. I can ride comfortably without it for 2-3hrs, but after that my butt feels like it’s on fire. With a cream, that never happens, even after 7hrs. I use Chamois Butt’r brand. I put it on the padding of the shorts, either the night before the race or the morning of. Some people apply it directly to the affected area, but, I prefer to just put it on the shorts 😆

this are quite true….