[nathan.j]

Im doing a race on saturday and i want to pre-ride the lap but only time i can do it is 3hours before my actual race.

Heres the info about the lap:

http://www.abergavennyrc.org.uk/Offroad/2004 XC/welsh_champs.htm

Its quiet hilly i suppose, so do you think the fact that ill know the course from riding it before the race outweigh the fact that im going to be using energy by pre riding it?

If it helps its a 3 lap race.

Cheers
NJ

 

[OdaNelli]

[It's usually a good idea to preride a course the day before, but if that's not pheasible, do the race day preride, but go well below race pace. It may also depend on the length. Often on my prerides, I tend not to ride the whole course, but maybe do a 30 min preride at race pace the day before. Either way, on race day, I tend to do a 30 min warmup on a stationary or some nearby hills up until race time. I work up slowly for the first 15 minutes to get my heart going, and then try to get near race pace the last 5 minutes before start time. That way, my heart doesn't spike right at the start. I find that every rider has a "Prerace Ritual." This just kinda works for me. Good luck and have fun.

-4 miles shouldn't be too much of a drain to preride the day of. Just make sure you eat and hydrate properly before, during and after the preride as well as for the race..

 

[AndrewMcD]

Definitely do it.

Im doing a race on saturday and i want to pre-ride the lap but only time i can do it is 3hours before my actual race.

Heres the info about the lap:

http://www.abergavennyrc.org.uk/Offroad/2004 XC/welsh_champs.htm

Its quiet hilly i suppose, so do you think the fact that ill know the course from riding it before the race outweigh the fact that im going to be using energy by pre riding it?

If it helps its a 3 lap race.

Cheers
NJ

I'm a big advocate of doing a pre-ride of the race course. I usually do the pre-ride the day of the race and try to time it so that I finish within fifteen minutes or a half-hour of the start. The pre-ride is done slowly and carefully but fast enough to be comfortable. You may find riding too slow causes technical errors; just keep a nice comfortable pace. The pre-ride is often part of my warm up so I will do some strong efforts for just a few minutes a couple of times during the pre-ride. Most of the racing for position happens during the first lap of a race, after that people tend to "settle in." Knowing what the course looks like and thinking about where to pass, make a big effort or conserve energy is a great advantage. Obviously if the race course has two hour laps then a pre-ride the morning of the race isn't viable or advisable but anytime the race pace lap is an hour or less I'll do a pre-ride before the race.

 

[Jared]

yes and no

If you don't know the course, do it, maybe.

Last week, for my first race (a one lapper), I did a pre-race lap 'cause I had no clue what the course was. Whatever energy drain I lost, I gained by knowing where I could haul a$$ and when to get on the brakes and/or turn.

My race was only one lap, so I put everything I had into it. Being that yours is two, you may elect not to pre ride. Speed gained by knowing the course, IMHO, is outweighed by the fatigue factor of the second lap if you are a conservative rider. Of course, if you plan on doing a banzai on every downhill section, do the preride or you may not get to the second lap.

Good luck, ride hard. If you are the least bit competitive, you'll love racing. I'm training even harder now. Last week, I raced a 50 yr old woman to the finish, only for me to pull over and her to go on her next lap!!

 

[Trevor!]

Unless you know that pre riding the course is going to exhaust you, I would strongly suggest you get out and do a pre ride of the course. The benefits are many, You get to warm up, get the nerves out, and most importantly you get an opportunity to sus the race course out before the race, so there will be no surprises when the adrenalin is rushing and 100s of others are out on the course. One thing I would make sure is that I didn't go lactic in the pre ride.

In an ideal world, you would pre ride the course the day before.

After your pre ride, be sure to stretch and keep warm so you don't feel stiff the next time you get on the bike (To start the race) and if you can do a little warm up just before the race to.