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This Sunday, the Black Park XC event.
6 laps. 20 Min laps. It'll be a quick blast so not something I've been tailoring my riding around, so I expect to die a thousand deaths!
In the 7 days leading up to a.n.event, how long to leave it before you leave the legs well alone and rest?
What's your own routine in the last 7-10 day's lead-in time before a big race / event; & I'm thinking here the 12 & 24hr events here specifically?
20 minute laps!? Christ I've got 8 to do!
Easy spins Friday and Saturday to keep your legs fresh should see you right. Use common sense, if you're gonna do any 4-5 hour rides, do them tomorrow/Tuesday.
I'd say rest from wed, very easy day on friday or day off, ride sat with a few 10 sec flatout sprints for a hour poss checkout the course.
Thanks.
Did 4hr on Saturday.
Planning something similar tomorrow lunchtime.
4hrs does seem to drag by on the road on the mtn bike as opposed to the XC routes!
This means that the plan of 2x night XC rides with some loacl STW guys on Tuesday & Wednesday evening should be OK.
Might can it then, OR maybe have a look at Black Park too if I get the opportunity. Maybe take my 4hr ride down there and back if it's possible.
This bl££dy 24hr ride at the end of May had better be worth all this! 😮
364.
My race prep is as follows (and comes into effect tomorrow for the Final Round of the soggy bottoms)
Ride wise: Saturday the weekend before the race, long ride to tire my legs out, and either usual Tuesday club right or Monday fun ride and Wednesday Reps. Then nothing till race day.
Food wise: I replace Thursday fun ride with a visit to Weather Spoons Curry club extra chips and beer obviously (as much carbs as possible), Pasta friday and Saturday. Works every time, the two races where I've done rubbish have been the two times I missed curry club.. defiantly a link!
I don't hold off from Alcohol during the week won't have any on the Saturday mind just so I sleep properly on the night before the race. But I do stop drinking Caffeine from Monday till race day. I usually drink loads of water during the week but make sure I drink 6 or more pints per day.
Race day sleep in, loads of Porridge and Water, get to venue, warm up (pre ride lap) drink can of coke (lack of caffeen during the week and sudden boost really helps). Listen to this:
wait till it drops then go out and tear the race apart.... and have a gel every lap.
I'm finding a gel (Hi5 ones have some caffine in them) a lap or every 20 mins useful over a 3hr race, plus an energy bar or two if I can manage it.
No alcohol.
De-caff tea in the office and at home.
(polishes halo)
Plenty of water in the days leading up to the ride.
With all this info I might avoid coming last!
Cheers
Keep the routines coming!
Well, the BP course is remarkably dry with the exception of one 2m stretch before the bridge. Laps might even be quicker than 20mins 🙂
I'd use the caffeine gels sparingly. They are really good but there is an optimal level of caffeine consumption. 3 caffeine gels per hour would seem to me to be too much.
To be honest, I think three gels and a couple of bars per hour is too much. I'm guessing this is about 100grams+ of carbs. Assuming you are using an energy drink too you are likely to end up with stomach problems. Just too much carbohydrate for your body to process.
1gram per hour per Kg of body weight is the rough rule. 75kg = 75grams which would equate to one bar, one gel and a bottle of drink. I would alternate the gels so that 1 was caffeine every two hours.
This will be much more important in a 24hr event where stomach problems could be the difference between you contining or retiring. I've been there and its not nice.