The Professional Pre-Race Routine: Part 2
Parking & Sign-In/Inscription - Race T-Minus 1.5 Hours
Events are first and foremost an opportunity to compete. Focus, especially before the race, is critical. The more decisions you need to make beforehand, the more your focus and energy is distracted from the event. For this reason, you should have an event schedule (at least mentally) of what you need to do once you get to the event, that way instead of trying to figure out what you need to do next or getting distracted by all the people you haven’t seen in forever, you can just stick to your schedule. Second to competition, events are social opportunities. Greeting your friends and fellow competitors should naturally be part of your pre-race environment, but try to reserve extended socialization for after the event.
Your event schedule begins with your arrival time. How far in advance of your start time should you arrive at the event venue? That depends on a number of factors, starting with parking. It is not uncommon for parking to be a challenge. Whether you’re desperately hunting for a spot for a downtown criterium, or staring down a mile-long line of bumper-to-bumper cars pulled off the solitary stretch of desert road, or the giant dirt parking lot has become a field of perilous peanut butter potholes, or find out that the venue is 10 miles inside the state park, only once you’ve reached the gate… I think you get the idea. It is rare that your race will have a Colruyt-size parking lot. Plan accordingly.
Once parked and unloaded, you’ll proceed to retrieve your number, and visit the restroom. It may take several minutes to walk or ride from your parking location to the registration area. Move with purpose. Anticipate a line at registration, a few pauses to politely greet your friends and rivals, and a line at the restroom. Even if you don’t feel like you need to go to the restroom, go ahead and try anyway before you get your kit on. Restrooms won’t always be conveniently located where you parked, and once you start your warm-up, there won’t be time to visit the restroom again without creating extra stress.
Pinning Your Number
Now that you have your number and you’re as light as you can possibly be, it’s time to get pinned up. Yes you should use pins, not magnets or glue. You should have your own box of pins - it is not the responsibility of the event promoters to ensure you can attach your number to your jersey. Don’t use the holes punched in the number, instead, double puncture the number with each pin to “stitch” it to your jersey. You’ll need at least 4 pins, but 7 is preferred. One for each corner at a minimum, then the sides after that if possible. Do not fold your number. Take care not to cover your pockets. Have a friend or family member double-check that the number is flat, fully visible, and that the pins aren’t over-stressed once you pull your jersey on. You don’t want a pin to pop or your jersey to tear mid-race!
Warm-Up - Race T-Minus 45-60 Minutes
It takes 20 to 45 minutes of consistent pedaling to bring your body to a state of race-readiness. Again, anything can happen in the first 20 minutes of a bike race- so anything is exactly what you need to be ready for. Meaning: your warm-up should encompass the full spectrum of intensity. It is better to warm-up a little more than necessary, than to not warm-up enough. The shorter your race, the more warm-up you need. For hydration and nutrition in warm-up, it is a safe practice to treat this hour before your race the same as the race itself: a bar, a gel, and a bottle of standard drink mix. The intent here is to replenish your fuel and hydration from the demand of your warm-up, or “zero-out” the warm-up from a caloric/hydration perspective. You want your fuel and hydration status to be “topped off” on the start line. Go ahead and load up your pockets with the food you’ll need in the race before rolling out for warm-up. Take your saddle bag with you as well. Budget 35 to 50 minutes for your warmup to allow wiggle room for a few extra efforts, a final restroom break, any tweaks you may need to make to your bike (like tire pressure or, brake or derailleur adjustment), and to navigate the venue itself (where is the staging area in relation to parking, to where you’re warming up, etc.).
Final Check - Race T-Minus 20 Minutes
Once you’ve completed your warm-up, you’ll need to swing back by your car (or staff member) one final time to pick up your race hydration bottles, drop your phone and saddle bag (unless it’s a gravel/ultra race), and complete any final tweaks to the bike. Double check that you have all the food you need in your pockets, your tire pressure, if you’re taking feeds that all of your feed material is together and/or with whoever it needs to be with, and that all of your stuff is back in your bag and not strewn about the vehicle.
Staging & Starting Position - Race T-Minus 10-20 Minutes
Your desired starting position will influence how early you need to stage. Broadly speaking, a favorable starting position is somewhere in the front 25% of the starting group. The only time starting in the back half of the group is (somewhat) acceptable is if you are a favorite to win the race, and even then it introduces unnecessary risks. It is those same risks that you want to mitigate by starting in the front 25%. In most cases, but not all, the actual staging process where everyone takes their place on the start line occurs about 10 minutes before the official start time; so aiming to stage about 15 minutes before your start time will enable you to “beat the rush” and secure a favorable starting position without negatively impacting your warm-up. Technically, your warm-up is optimally effective for up to 20 minutes, therefore, staging >20 minutes prior to the start will have a negative impact on your physical readiness. You will need to determine for yourself based upon your goals and your strategy the optimal balance between staging to secure a good position, and having an optimal warm-up. It is not uncommon for those priorities to be mutually exclusive. The bigger the event, the more starters, the more important it is to be toward the front for any reason- are all factors that will cause the staging time to creep up. In the scenario of a larger (perhaps mass start) regional or national caliber event, it would not be uncommon for more than 50% of the field to be in staging 20 minutes or more before the start of the event. Indeed, warming-up somewhere you can keep half an eye on the staging corral is wise. Once in staging, you should be mentally preparing yourself for what’s about to come next. At the same time, if you’re feeling pressure or nerves, introduce yourself and talk to the person next to you. You have a lot in common with them. You’ll probably make a friend, maybe even a valuable ally! We’ve been cautious about spending too much time and energy on social interaction thus far, but for the purpose of making it to this point with the least amount of stress and distraction as possible. Practically everyone is feeling nervous and anxious on the start line, and one of the best ways to mitigate that is by talking to those around you. It is friendly competition, after all, so don’t just let it happen- make it happen.
“Don’t let the race happen - MAKE the race happen.”
P.S. - Do not, under any circumstances, carry a side conversation while the Officials are making pre-race announcements to your field. Listen closely. Everything they are saying is extremely relevant to you, otherwise, they wouldn’t be saying it. Only idiots are rude to Officials.