2012 DII TTT NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

What to personally bring to a bicycle race

It happens every year at almost every race that someone somewhere forgot something and has to scramble around in the last remaining minutes before the gun goes off to make something work, or, worse, they realize they have driven hours to a race which they fail to even start. The best way to approach getting ready for a race is to have everything ready beforehand so that on the morning of the race, you can wake up, eat, and get ready with the least amount of stress.

It pays to get everything in organized little piles, ready to go, the DAY BEFORE you are to leave. Usually bike races entail getting up quite early to get on the road before the event. You should have to do nothing more than throw on the clothes you’ve set aside for yourself, grab your bags and go when you wake up. This will cut down on morning prep time as well as morning prep error.

So, it’s the night before and you are ready to get your gear in order. I find it easiest to visualize myself, starting from the feet and the shoes, and going through each corresponding article of clothing that is required to be racing my bike, and moving up the body to the head, with the last piece of kit being the helmet. Incidentally, forgotten helmets and cycling shoes are (as far as I’ve seen) by far the biggest reasons for non-starting a race.

I’ll do the list that I do mentally each time.

(parenthetical items are optional weather depending — note that some ‘cold weather’ clothing should always be in your bag)

  • (overshoes)
  • Shoes
  • Socks x2 (lucky pair for racing, dry pair for after, walking around)
  • Legwarmers (x2 if raining)
  • Shorts
  • (undershirt or baselayer) (x2) (x3 if raining)
  • heart rate strap
  • jersey (x2 if raining)
  • windvest or jacket (you should always have at least something in addition to your jersey unless it is quite hot)
  • arm warmers (x2 if raining)
  • gloves (x2) (x3) (x4?) (depending on weather varitation, it may be prudent to bring multiple types/changes of gloves)
  • cap or under-helmet hat
  • glasses (multiple lenses for conditions?)
  • helmet

other clothes you should also bring

  • clothes to just be around in (you do not want to be in cycling shorts hours after your race)
  • warm hat
  • warm jacket
  • towel (large enough to change into shorts while wearing)
  • normal shoes!
  • sunglasses that are not slimed with energy drink and sweat

other things to bring

  • bike
  • race number (i think we maintain these all year, but i am new to this collegiate thing)
  • enough water bottles for your race plus 2 (filled with whatever your liquid plan is for that race/day)
  • food for your race + more that you think you’ll consume
  • (general food) (sandwiches, bananas, etc, though we may be taking care of some of this)
  • (sunscreen)
  • chamois cream
  • (embrocation/liniment) (if used)
  • 2x spare tubes
  • tire lever
  • multi tool (at the very least, though we will be bringing a tool kit)
  • safety pins (even though they usually provide them, you can be that much more efficient if you save your old ones and keep them on your number)
  • spare r wheel w/ cass/tire mounted (tagged w/ note w/ your name/school on it. if you have one. without the cass, this is rather worthless)
  • spare f wheel w/ tire mounted (tagged w/ note w/ your name/school on it. if you have one)
  • (floor pump) (but we will bring these generally to races for the team. going to a race by yourself? bring one!)
  • (trainer) (but i think we are working these out too)
  • ipod w/ trainer music + headphones
  • book/magazine
  • homework

it may look like a lot, but it really isnt that bad.

Note a couple of things. You should always have extra clothing than is necessary for before a race. if you warm up on a trainer quite well and then you sit on a frigid start line while the officials are talking at you for fifteen minutes and you’ve taken all your clothing off, your warmup was useless. keep extra clothing on (even to the point of sweating) until the last reasonable time you have to take it off. often there will be teammates to whom you can throw things like legwarmers and extra bottles to at the start and they can deposit it back at the where you stuff is.

those extra water bottles are for drinking prior to the race. you want to start (most races) with full bottles. you can always dump water on the course, but you may not always get a hand-up. keep them in your jersey pockets and get rid of them right at the start

dont be a noob. learn how to pin a number well. it should not flap around in the wind and should follow the contours of the jersey. crumple up the number first to break it in as they start life quite stiff.

do not have a pump/co2, tire lever, multitool, etc, in your pocket in a race. the most you will have time for in terms of a mechanical is a wheel change, if that.

remove your pump/saddle pack/lights/extraneous whatevers prior to race

place gels and bars in the side pocket of your jersey that you can most easily access (R or L). with bars and similar, pre-open them before beginning

gels and gus and the like can go one each on top of the thigh under your shorts with the tab sticking out slightly. other things in the same place are unseemly.

do not toss wrappers. ever.

if you are the sort of person who knows the parcourse and where things lie and how long laps are, remember to reset your computer when the gun goes off. otherwise it is useless. you will not (should not) care about your speed, time, etc.

The next item is VERY IMPORTANT and is not meant to be funny or glib:
you should do what you normally do to be regular the morning of the race. coffee, yogurt, oatmeal, whatever. try to get your business in well before even getting to the venue. usually there is a port-o-john, sometimes nothing. it is a luxury to have a restroom at the venue available for use, and even if there is one, it will be well used and quite popular before the race. you should also try to stay quite hydrated, to the point of peeing mostly clearly, but make sure you have ample time to go once more before you have to be on the start line. you want to be as hydrated as you can be without starting the race and having to go in the worst way within the first 5 miles.

I am not kidding you when I tell you that this last bit is one of my main concerns for every race morning. I want to figure out where I’m going to stop, whether I’ve been properly caffeinated, had the appropriate waiting period, etc, etc…. and if you have everything else sorted out like you do because you packed everything so well the night before, this relatively minor and sometimes comic stress point is entirely manageable.

I think that’s about it. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I’ll be going over what to do in a race in the clinic session.

Rule # 1-100 of things not to do prior to a bike race:

Never change anything, install a new part, adjust your position, swap tires, etc. the day before a race. If you are going to change anything before a race, you want to have ample time to ride the bike (2 or 3 rides ideally) before racing on the equipment. If you made a mistake, the stuff is faulty, the position is wrong, or whatever, your race ends pretty quickly.

I would say the #3 reason for someone’s race ending before it begins (#1 and #2 are forgetting shoes/helmet) is changing something on the bike the night before (say a tire, improperly installed, on race day is finally aired up to high pressure, and the tube blows just after warmup and right before the race begins).

- td