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Racing Tips
Tips from the interwebs and veteran racers
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Revolution-Peak Fasteners Mountain Bike Race Team Endurance Racing Clinic |
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Written by Lucy
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Thursday, 26 August 2010 22:00 |
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On August 24, 2010, 27 team members attended a round table discussion held at Dennis and Greg Larson’s CPA office in Sandy to share our collective endurance racing knowledge. We enjoyed Café Rio before the clinic began. A few of our endurance racing experts who were on hand to field questions were Drew Jordan, Drew Free, Bob and Lyna Saffel, Andy and Rhonda Hypio, Ryan Ashbridge, Jenelle Kremmer, and Bart Gillespie. Below are a few of the topics and some of the advice that came out of the discussion. 1) Training a) There are lots of resources for training out there. The general consensus was to start tapering 2 weeks before the race. Do a massive ride 2 weeks prior to the race, then your longest ride should be 2 to 3 hours at moderate to easy pace. You can do shorter hard efforts in those two weeks, but nothing epic. b) Ride with faster people. Long training rides are essential, but long training rides with people that will push you is just as important. These are the rides you should test your food types on too. 2) Fueling a) What works for one person may not work for another! b) Pre-race meals - do everything normally. i) One to two days before: Some say to eat normally and just stay hydrated. Others say to have a bit more carbs for the day or two before. Don’t eat anything out of the ordinary and don’t overeat. ii) Breakfast on race day: Some say not to eat within 3 hours of racing but more agreed 1.5 hours is generally good. Most agree that you should eat a normal breakfast that has carbs for sure and isn’t super heavy on fat and protein. c) Race day i) Eat Early. Eat Often. You might set a timer to go off to help you to remember to eat every 35 minutes. If you wait until you feel yourself slowing down, you’ve waited too long. Should be eating and drinking in the first hour. It is worth it to slow down and lose 5 or 10 seconds to eat; otherwise you may bonk and lose 30 minutes. ii) Time your intake correctly. Don’t eat something solid before a big climb. You won’t be able to digest it. Maybe eat something solid if you have a long decent where you will be able to start digesting. iii) You may be able to go the entire race on carbohydrates alone. Other people may need some protein. Carbo drinks, gels, and blocks will be the quickest form of fuel. Protein and fat are slower burning. iv) A general rule for how much you should eat is 200 to 300 calories per hour depending on your weight. Your body cannot process more than that. v) You might try to stuff your jersey pockets with sugars (gels or blocks) on one side and solids (bars) on the other, so you know where to reach for the fuel you need in a hurry. vi) Hydrating is ultra important too. If you eat a lot of gels or solids it is especially important to have plain water too. 3) Race strategy a) Ride steady and smart. b) Be nice to your bike. Bike mechanicals are the racers fault. Don’t mash the gears. If you are riding in dusty or wet conditions, it is worth it to take a few seconds to clean/lube the chain. Ride smooth to avoid flats. Make sure your bike is good to go before race day (see gear section below). c) Have a goal. Possible goals include: 1) win or place high  , 2) hang with a certain crowd that you think are your speed or a little faster, 3) beat your time from last year, 4) get through feeling like you did your ultimate best, rode your hardest, and didn’t bonk, 5) make the cut off times, 6) finish!  d) Play to your strengths. If you are a great climber, maybe you push it a little harder on the climbs knowing you can recover on the downhills. If you aren’t such a great climber, maybe you spin up the climbs but race harder on the flats or gentle climbs. e) Pace: There are a couple of schools of thought on this. Some may try to keep their heart rate in a zone 3 or 4 the whole time, but if your race has a lot of steep climbs, that will be nearly impossible. Many racers try to keep their heart rates at the top end of the endurance zone and keep the cadence high. Higher cadence is a good strategy to prevent muscle damage, but if you don’t practice that way during training, spinning on race day isn’t going to work. f) If your race is at really high altitude, you won’t be able to recover after a climb, so it is better to not hammer the high elevation climbs. g) Try not to let other racers get in your head. In long endurance races, someone may pass you, but you’ll pass them an hour later. Race your own race. h) Nervousness and how to stop it. Nervousness will go away the more you race. Cherish the feeling. Remember that you’re only racing for fun. 4) Getting through the inevitable low points.  Every racer has those times when everything hurts, he/she feels horrible, and quitting seems like a good idea. Here are some strategies to get past those times: a) Set small goals: pick one hill to summit, set a time to make it to (20 minutes is good), set a distance to do (make it through the next 4 miles or to the next aid station), or set a heart rate to stay at. Once you achieve that goal, you’ll probably be through your bad spot, but if not, set another small goal. b) Just stick it out and it will go away. Cry and get over it. c) Keep positive. 5) Gear a) Bike maintenance: i) Do NOT do anything drastically different like change saddles or change the fit substantially the week before the race. Do NOT get new cables the week before the race. Do NOT bring your bike to the shop and expect them to be able to hook you up the night before the race with a new wheelset. ii) DO make sure your tire sealant is topped up. In the hot summertime, Stans will dry out in a month. Also check for dirt in your bead. DO make sure your tires have good tread. b) Sunscreen: wear it. c) To wear a hydration pack or not? Pros: easiest to drink out of on technical courses, allows you to carry more than two water bottles worth of fluid. Cons: retains heat, may aggravate back problems. d) What to bring: i) Essential: 1 or 2 tubes and/or patch kit; pump, Big Air, small CO2 or some combo of those; salvaged piece of a sidewall, dollar bill, piece of Tyvek, energy bar wrapper, or some other tough flexible material to fix a sidewall rip; chain tool and master link; zip ties. ii) Optional depending on the race: rain gear, derailleur hanger, small bottle of chain lube if the course is dusty or lots of water crossings, duct tape, sunscreen. 6) Above all, remember, this is supposed to be FUN  . Be courteous to fellow racers and enjoy the challenge! 7) Health awareness. Beware of air travel thrombosis and deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the legs that move to the lungs or heart). Endurance athletes account for 85% of air travel thrombosis cases. This is because we have slower resting blood flow which carries greater risk of stagnant blood subject to clotting. We are also more likely to have bruises and sore muscles that can trigger clotting. To avoid, make sure you move around every 15 minutes during travel and wear medical compression tights. Symptoms include one swollen leg, chest pains, trouble breathing. Read here for more information http://www.airhealth.org/athletes.html. |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 26 August 2010 22:49 |
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Setting up your Reba |
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Written by Andy Hypio
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Friday, 23 July 2010 10:40 |
| | At the factory recommended air pressure settings from Rock Shox I felt like my Reba 29 fork was dead and unresposive. After an internet search odyssey I found this article on a MTBR blog on how to set up your Reba fork and found it quite helpful. If you're not happy with the performance of your Reba (26"or 29") give this method a shot. It worked quite well for me and dozens of other prople on the MTBR forums. The gist of the article is to put 60% of your riding weight in the positive chamber and 10psi less in the negative as a starting point. Don't worry so much about sag, worry more about how the fork responds. Enjoy! Andy
After fitting your new fork to your bike, you need to set it up correctly for your ready to ride weight, your riding style, and your local trails.
First, set the rebound on the bottom of the right hand side fork leg. Set this at full fast, turn it fully towards the hare.
Now lets go to the air chambers, which are located on the left hand side of the fork leg.
Remove both covers from the Schrader valves, unscrew them and carefully let all the air out of both the positive and negative air chambers.
You will be well advised to turn the bike upside down when removing the air from the negative air chamber on the bottom of the fork leg, otherwise it may spit fork oil all over you.
Use a rag when removing the air ... wrap it around the fork leg and valve to prevent oil getting on the front disc and pads.
When you have released the air from both chambers, go get your fork pump and pump 60% of your ready to ride weight into the Positive chamber. Then pump 10 psi less into the Negative chamber.
Place a loose zip tie on one of the stanchions to be able to see the travel you are getting.
Take your pump along with you, and go ride.
! FORGET SAG. You don't need no stinkin' sag!
Your aim is to get full travel on the fork on the BIG hits. If you are getting full travel on relatively small bumps, increase the air pressure by ten psi in each chamber, ALWAYS pumping the positive air chamber first.
Ride again, checking the travel and 'feel' of the fork. As I have already said, you need to see full travel on the BIG hits.
Keep on 'tuning' your fork until you see this. Always obey The Ten psi Rule. That is, always have ten psi more pressure in the positive chamber than the negative.
Why?
The positive chamber is like the main coil spring in your fork, it maintains the travel and prevents too much sag .... which might feel "nice and soft" but will allow the fork to bottom out on big hits.
Keeping the negative chamber air pressure BELOW the positive one stops it overpowering your main 'spring' and robbing you of travel and control.
** If the Reba is on a full suspension bike then remember that it has to be balanced with the rear shock to maintain stability at speed over rough ground. **
>> Tune the rear shock to give the same amount of travel on the slider as the front fork.
So ... if you are seeing full travel on the Reba fork after a ride, you should be seeing the same on the rear shock. Tuning them for a nice balanced feel will make the bike much more controllable over the ground.
If the rear shock is too "strong" ... ie, too much psi pressure, it will force the front end of the bike down on fast rough terrain, placing the rider in extreme danger. It is always better to have the rear shock slightly lower in pressure than the front fork if you need to get the balance correct, and NOT the other way around.
On some of the more current FS bikes like the RIP 9, you will have to disregard the 10psi Rule, and increase the pressure in the Reba fork up to 20 psi over what you would normally use. So if you are usually running 100 psi positive and 90 psi negative, you may find that for high speed downhill riding over steps jumps and rocks an extra 10-20 psi in the Reba will help things greatly.
This setup is simply because the Reba just can't handle the extra heavy impacts at high speeds and needs to be helped out a bit by increasing the positive pressure to maintain its composure. The Reba is a fine fork, but some of these newer bikes like the RIP 9 really benefit from a longer travel fork. To compensate for the Reba's lack of travel, more air pressure is needed in the positive chamber.
This will take away some of the nice low speed compliance, but will give a huge increase in control when things get blurry-fast on rough steep downhills.
[**This only applies if you are riding hard on rough trails at high speeds, the normal 10 psi Rule should be adhered to otherwise.**]
Once you have the Reba tuned in to your satisfaction, you can play around a little with the rebound settings. I prefer a fast reacting fork, so always leave mine on the 'hare' or full fast...ymmv..
If you have a poploc on your Reba, set it up as follows...
After attaching the lever to the handlebar and connecting the cable correctly to the poploc on the top of the R/H side fork leg... make sure the poploc lever is in the unlocked position. Now, lock the lever, and turn the adjuster knob on the top of the fork leg to the right in the direction of the arrow, or clockwise until it stops. Now unlock the poploc lever on the handle bars.
Ok, this is what you have done...
You have set the poploc to blow off pressure when it is locked out if you hit a big bump. The wastegate will open and pressure will be released to prevent damage to the fork internals.
The poploc will NOT lock the Reba fork out completely, you will get around 20mm of travel even when locked out, the fork is designed like that.
What the lockout is designed to do is to allow you to stand up like a man and pedal hard or "mash" up steep hills without the front end "bobbing" around and wasting your power.
If you need to do a quick sprint standing up, you hit the lever closed, stand up, sprint hard, then sit and unlock the poploc again. E Z..
Frequent maintenance is required on the Reba. If you ride a lot, then you need to do two services per year to keep the Reba working at 100%. It also helps to use a good quality stanchion lube once per week to keep it sliding well.
IF .... after following these simple instructions, your Reba feels like garbage, or you aren't getting full travel ... or the fork is generally 'sick' feeling, then you need to look at the oil levels inside the fork itself.
Some forks come from the factory with either too much or too little oil in them. A service by a good Reba wrench who knows his stuff will fix this easily. If you are a decent hand with the tools, you can even attempt it yourself, it's not too hard.
The Reba is a fine tune-able fork. It deserves it's reputation as the most popular fork on the market. You can make it as plush or as firm as you want it just with a little time and tuning.
Remember the 10 psi Rule.
Good riding ...
Rainman.
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Last Updated on Friday, 23 July 2010 10:43 |
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Race Starts and Pacing |
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Written by Bob Saffell
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Tuesday, 05 August 2008 22:23 |
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Figuring out your race pace is a personal journey, using your strengths and knowing your limitations is a great way to improve your performance, be it climbing, descending, flat sections or technical sections, knowing your limits and performing within them is very important. There is a time and a place for going into the red zone, rarely is that time in the beginning of a race. So I am going to use a few real life examples for this tip. Solitude Mid Week 7/29. I start the race in the back of the pack, almost off the back, trying to keep contact, but not trying too hard, we hit the single track climb and I am gapped by quite a bit. I slowly ramp up my effort at the top of the course on the first lap, and in the end I have a record a personal best 1:03:38 Solitude Mid Week 8/5 I want to play some team tactics for BZ, With Ryan Ashbridge and Shannon Boffeli not racing, I could win, come in last or even DNF and still hold onto 4th for the series, I wasn’t moving up and I wasn’t dropping down, so why not have some fun. From the start I take off as HARD as I can, Halfway up the start road a porcupine rider and I have about 15 yards or more on the group, my head is down and my HR is high and my legs screaming but I know I can sustain it till the short downhill to the climb and then settle into a race pace and hopefully making it a shorter race for BZ to win by setting a slower pace on the climb. Well, I almost got killed by a truck on the pavement climb and ended up going into the singletrack in 4th, but that is not the story. Putting myself deep into the red at the beginning had an adverse effect on the rest of the race. I got passed by 2 of the Later category riders on the first climb, I passed one of them back and was pulling the other back when I ran out of time, but it took me a lap and a half to recover from putting myself in the red. In the end my time was around 3 minutes slower than the previous week. Deer Valley National Race Expert 40-44 6/28/2008 You never know who is going to show to a national race, people come from all over. The Deer Valley course has always been a good one for me, but the Little Stick Climb can ruin a race quickly. Going over the top of Little Stick on the first lap I was in 3rd place and comfortable. Descending the first DH I was being held up by 2nd place, but 1st place was still in sight, so I relaxed. At the beginning of the Village trail climb I put in a short attack and moved into second, I then slowed up and spun at a lower race pace, I saw the 1st place rider about 30-40 seconds ahead of me and knew I could catch them, but all the way up the village trail and up the solamere climb I kept repeating to myself, “it is better to be at the front in the end, not now”, over and over again, then halfway down the solamere DH I got around him and was in the lead, I rode a smart race and held on for my first national win MTB racing is an endurance sport, beating people to the hole shot or to the top of the climb is great, but beating them at the end of the race is better. For most people it is best to ramp up the effort over the course of the race as apposed to having no choice but to ramp down. Another good race mantra- Just because you can does not mean you should. |
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Some More Race tips from Experienced Racers |
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Written by Bob Saffell
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Tuesday, 29 July 2008 08:21 |
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BZ----- Switchbacks on the DH - Do you come in flailing with the back tire locked up or do you scrub the appropriate speed and roll through the corner quickly with control? Skidding is for kids and fixies...most of the time.... Most switchback corners are better navigated with minimal or no skidding. Enter the corner from the far side not the inside. Make sure your front wheel has the appropriate amount of weight on it. Stand on your outside foot with the pedal pointed straight down. Determine the appropriate apex, whether it's center, late or early. The trick is to make the corner as wide as possible and in doing so, roll through with as much speed as possible. Keep your eyes down trail... further down trail than you've been doing. A tire with designated side knobs work well for cornering. Maxxis makes two tires that I hook well on corners. My current favorite is the CrossMark with a close second being the Monorail. Common switchback mistakes - Most riders don't start wide and most cut the apex far too soon. Most riders have a tendency to focus only a few feet in front of the bike when making a sharp turn (it's true that you must know what rocks, slope, dirt condition, etc you are rolling over, but a quick glance or use of periphery is much better!). And most riders don't realize they need more weight on the front tire. Monique--- - The amount of time for warm up depends on the length and intensity of the race. I actually shorten warm-ups for longer races, wanting to save energy and power for the race. Long races aren’t generally won with power, but with endurance, so keeping as much in the tank as possible is my train of thought.
- Another thing I might add is I try to pay attention to what I eat and drink pre-race. For big races, this might be the entire week prior, but more generally it’s for the 24 hours leading up to the race. I stay as hydrated as possible, and eat plain, healthy foods, especially pre-race dinner. I have a nervous stomach, so foods like pizza and Mexican are out on the night before the race. Generally a plain carb like rice, pasta or quinoa, a lean protein, and some veggies. Breakfast also has to be a couple hours prior to the race, and I get in at least 20 oz. of electrolyte drink that morning. Everyone has their magic breakfast that takes them through a race, but I really like cereal or oatmeal and a banana (potassium) and blueberries (antioxidants).
- Pre-riding the course for me is about mentally talking myself through the race, and thinking about what lines I’ll take through tougher spots, where to eat and drink, about how long it’s going to take, and knowing where I’m going to have to “remind myself” how much fun I’m having.
- I don’t know about most people, but sometimes I get really nervous before a race. Once the racing starts, though, all the nervousness goes away, so I visualize those moments in the race when I will be enjoying myself, and try to make that last from pre-race through to the finish. It’s all about having fun, right?
Erika--
On Nutrition: General: - Fruits, Veggies, Lean Meat, and Whole Grains are best for you.
- I eat protein with all meals and most snacks and I eat often but never a lot at one time - snacking keeps your metabolism up.
Pre-Race: - My pre-race meal is slow cooked oatmeal with raisins, cliff or power bar, and a carb-boom gel on the start line.
Race: - Water and carb-boom gel every 30min-1hr
Post-Race: - Endurox drink right after while I cool down then usually have a turkey sandwich and some fruit.
On downhill: - Cornering: Point your hips in the direction you want to go, seems to help bring the bike around.
- Also look ahead, look through the corner not at the corner if you can.
- The further you look ahead in general you faster you will go, your peripheral vision will pick up what's right in front of you.
Jen-- - When warming up before a race, I like to spin easy for 15-20 minutes before doing some hard efforts to get my heart rate.
- When pre-riding the course, I look for places that I can drink from my water bottle. I make sure to drink even if I am not thirsty at these key places. I also eat a power gel 15 minutes before the start and every 30-45 minutes.
- I like to ride the day before a race for about 1 hour. I do a pretty easy ride with a few efforts to get the legs moving. I usually take a rest day two days before the race.
- Positive energy can go a long way. When really suffering, I try to replace negative thoughts with positive ones or even try and smile.
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Race Nutrition |
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Written by Bob Saffell
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Monday, 07 July 2008 20:18 |
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Racing expends lots and lots of energy. Your body only has the capacity to store a limited amount of energy. As a result, regardless of category we all need to feed during a race. A good rule of thumb to follow is 2 gel packets and 1 bottle of water or energy drink per hour. NO ENERGY = NO GO
The following is what Bob does, others may do differently, you may need to do more or less, Again, this is just my experience, use at your own discretion. My Expert races are usually around 2 hours, I carry a gel flask with 4 GU’s and the rest filled with water. I usually grab one 20 ounce bottle of CarboRocket per lap. It has carbs and electrolytes as well. This adds up to around 75-100 grams of carbs per hour. The hydration aspect is critical as well, regardless of the temperature. That covers during the race. Pre race, my general strategy is the few days leading up to pay attention to my water intake, meaning, I am sure to do at least the healthy 8 glass a day thing. I try and load up on healthy complex carbs the day before the race. Pasta, whole wheat bread, choclate milk, fig newtons, etc… as well as non US meat portions (Meaning around 4-5 ounces per meal) The morning of the race I try to get around 200 grams of carbs in 3 hours prior to race start. I eat waffles and top it off with a Yogurt Smoothie (40-50 grams of carbs per). I sip water from a bottle while getting ready and warming up. Then 15 minutes before my start time I suck down a GU with a water chaser. Post race I try and get a recovery drink in, chocolate milk for me, a sandwich and a coke. I then start grazing on pro Bars, fig netwons, chips and salsa, etc.. Your body needs fuel, otherwise you will not recover. I try to eat as much post race as I do the day before. By the time the day after a race comes around, I am kind of tired of eating. So, think about your race fueling strategy, do you go in with an empty tank? Do you keep the tank empty during and after? Do you bonk during the race? DO you bonk 15 minutes into your recovery ride the next day? Next time I will discuss Race strategy. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 07 July 2008 20:35 |
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Racing Tips
