Not sure about the timing- but if it is hot why not carry a bottle ? I find one bottle cage doesn’t get in the way, and I can (usually) find the time to take a swig on a long straightaway mid-way through the race.
Food is hard. I can’t eat during races, and I usually race in the afternoon. I had it dialed when I raced in the morning - have a big breakfast, and a quick snack an hour ahead of the race then go. But now I struggle with it more. I still eat a good hearty breakfast, but I feel like I’m just always missing the mark with amount and timing of food throughout the day. I race at 1:30, I’m usually at the venue at 10, do I eat lots of little snacks? Do I eat lunch? It’s even worse for night races. What do you guys do when you have a long time before races? Regardless, I always have a light gel with some caffeine 5-10 minutes before the start and a coffee with my warm-up 45 minutes before the start.
The other thing I have a hard time with is hydration. I always make an effort to stay topped off the day leading into and the day of a race, but especially in early season when it’s hot an hour at full blast is a long time to go without water. I’m thinking of trying sodium loading to help, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it. Does anyone have opinions on that?
When I rode a TCX this was so key. Just remember to put your bottle in the seat tube cage so you can still shoulder if you have to. Unfortunately now I ride a bike that actually fits me and there’s no room for both my shoulder and even a small bottle. 
Oh well.
I try to eat around 2.5 - 3 hours before the start. So if you have a 1:30 race, I would look to be eating something simple like rice+chicken around 11. Then a gel at the start line. If you wake-up around 7 I would have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and then eat again at 11.
For evening races same thing- eat normally throughout the day, and then have something 3 hours prior to racing. Also, don’t neglect your recovery- have something to eat/drink after the race.
If you can’t carry a water bottle during the race, make sure you are staying hydrated during your warmup and pre-race course inspection. Carry a bottle in your jersey pocket, and keep drinking up to the start line. At which point toss the bottle and get ready to go!
Ooh, I like the sound of that. My go-to is usually Sleeping Beauty +X (for some value of X), but I think I will try Megantic tomorrow. Honestly I can usually get through Sleeping Beauty + 4 or +5 pretty well, Megantic sounds much harder.
Totally this. Right now I’m racing at 2:45 most weekends, so I’m eating around noon, and that’s my first food of the day (noon is my preferred breakfast time). Sometimes a banana before the start, sometimes I’m in a rush and forget that. I’ve been trying a bottle of juice or mix an hour or so beforehand for hydration and sugar. It’ll all be a bit easier with respect to hydration when the weather cools a bit.
Race #2 for my yesterday. We are continuing our unseasonably wet weather–it was properly muddy and fun. Lots of slow muddy corners with lots of ruts. Well, slow for me. There were three technical single track sections as well which were pretty fun. Small field of only seven, which was surprising. I got my customary slow start and settled in to last place. I was not riding well for the first half of the race, but at least I was keeping 5th and 6th in my sights. In the last couple of laps I passed one guy with a flat tire and another who absolutely popped. The two that had been in front of my all day stayed there (had been 5th and 6th, became 3rd and 4th), so I ended up finishing 5th, twenty seconds behind third. Most happy that the elites (one minute head start) didn’t lap me this week. Damn the jump from Cat3 to Cat1/2 is big!!
Looking forward to next week, double weekend on the hardest, hilliest course I have ever ridden. I did well there last year, hoping for a little redemption.
Hardest riding conditions for me. Every season I try to find a way to practice riding these conditions, but it’s impossible when all MTB trails are closed. It seems like every season has one or two races that are muddy and slick, and those are the only two bike rides of the YEAR that are in those conditions. So I really never improve.
I usually chalk my poor placing up to the mud and write it off. However, despite how bad conditions are, the physically strongest riders still finish in the top 5 regardless of how bad it gets. I’ve yet to see someone with superior handling and inferior fitness finish in front of the strongest riders regardless of conditions.
I was looking at Sleeping Beauty. I’m going to give Clouds Rest a try tomorrow. I’d like to nail this and then give Megantic a try.
Side note, I start all of my indoor rides between 5-5:30 am and on an empty stomach. I’m starting to think this may be a hindrance. Not so much the empty stomach, but thrusting myself into a high-intensity workout 15 minutes after waking from a night of sleep. Would love to know if there have been studies conducted around optimal timing of high-intensity workouts. I can’t help but feel they might be easier later in the day.
I can’t comment on any studies, although I am sure they are out there. But personally I can’t do a ‘hard’ ride like that. I could hop on for Obelisk or Pettit, but for anything that requires real work I need to have been up for several hours.
Good stuff, thanks for the feedback. So basically don’t over think it, breakfast, lunch, gel, race. I suppose my nervous habit of eating doesn’t do me any favors here!
It’s unfair to those riders to day that they just do so well because they’re so strong, but dang if those watts don’t help! In any given local elites race I start I’m pretty much guaranteed to be the smallest and least powerful rider in the field, but focusing on skills and handling for the last two seasons has helped me make the most of what power I do have and that efficiency puts me ahead of a lot of those stronger riders. Of course, the really fast guys have the skill and the power, but what can you do? But seriously, it’s impossible to overstate the role good skills play in cyclocross. Good barrier technique is a few bonus seconds a lap. Really good cornering is a second per corner. Knowing when to go hard and when to recover gives you a lower perceived exertion for the same speed. A stronger rider can still hang with me, but I can make them burn their matches to do it. Work your skills. It’ll pay. I promise.
Newbury? I was in the V40s there too.
If I put a cage on my frame I have trouble shouldering my bike, so I’m going without water. However, my skinsuit has pockets, so I have jelly babies in one and a water bottle in the other as I’m pre-riding and getting ready. I ditched the bottle on the start line (and was basically out of jelly babies by then anyway), and collected it and finished it off at the end.
Huge bummer. It was such a great event as both a racer and spectator. I got to do it once in 2015 and loved it. I’ve been on injury forced hiatus from CX since then - still can’t get my ankle to do things like run and jump, but pedaling’s fine - and I’m bummed I may never get to do another Gloucester even if I make it back to CX.
I think any time you’re coming out of a set of corners or a dismount obstacle into some kind of long straight, standing for 2 or 3 pedal strokes to get your speed up quickly is key. When I started looking for it at Jingle Cross this weekend, I noticed the pro’s doing that pretty consistently in some of the same spots I was thinking I should stand.
You could stay seated and turn up the watts in those spots, but I’m finding more success doing them out of the saddle. I think there’s a few things at play. First, you’re going slow and standing will give you more torque, and most riders get more power standing as well. Second, I think my core is a little weak as after a while I start to get lower-back pain as my back muscles get in on the core stabilization game. And once my back is getting sore, I start having trouble putting power down elsewhere.
There’s absolutely no way you can deplete glycogen in 40 minutes. Not clear if you’ve raced yet or not, but possibly what you’re worried about dehydration. This is particularly pronounced early in the season since it’s still hot/warm out, and can certainly manifest as inability to go hard. Hydration is not just about water, but also salt to retain it.
Starting at the first row this weekend (only because I registered early as cat5). I’ve read all the things about getting ready, e.g., right before the start, grab brake while you push down on pedal, sit on the saddle, with the opposite foot on toes on the ground, getting in right gear.
But I’ve noticed that I am riding backwards during the sprint starts, i.e., starts are slow.
I got Shimano’s spuds when they first came out in the early 90s and used to wear them all the time when going to classes in college. So clipping in is hardwired, although, there’s been a 20 year hiatus so the wires a bit rusty.
So do you prioritize clipping in first or prioritize pedaling hard even if you’re not clipped in, during sprint starts? Or do you clip in in the first try / first pedal revolution?
First race done. A bad Start followed by the worst of the worst when I rolled a tub at the start of the 2nd lap, but rode ok from the bike change on.
Short power build really does help get you ready for early season intensity.
My body still feels broken 2 days later however.
That means you’re doing it right!
Oh I know how its supposed to feel.
Its just been almost 2 years since I had the feels.
A few weeks of racing and the monday morning hurt gets considerably less.
Try it both ways. Personally, I’m a fan of clipping in before I pedal. Here’s how I do it: I always start in the same gear. 42-25. Unclipped pedal down. Other pedal clipped in and crank arm parallel with the down tube. Foot on the ground right in front of the pedal. Now here’s the key. My foot is maybe 6" from the pedal, and the pedal is in the same place every time. I make it muscle memory to put my foot straight into the pedal, then I go. In practice, this means that everyone gets about half a bike length on me, but they’re going easier because they aren’t clipped in. Then I have full power and close that gap back up, so I’m either back to the front or off the front. It takes a lot of practice to get this dialed, but I absolutely think it’s worth it.