This is an interesting one and top of mind for me, I am currently in prep for a big ultra bikepacking event.
A big thing is consistency in training, you need to ride that bike week in and week out. It is pointless going big one weekend and spending the following week sick or recovering.You need to show up. Every. Single. Day.
Also the reason preparation races need to be treated like that. You need to test yourself, but you need to plan that you don't sacrifice the week or 2 training before and after that prep race. So box clever and don't kill yourself on prep races.
Event selection has always been a very unique thing. What is your WHY? If that is not there then you will fail. Doesn't matter why you want to do it, but they WHY must be real and applicable to you..
Also don't just stick to local... Local is lekker, but local is also starting to tear the ring and there are some incredible races our there. You will also be surprised at costing. For a 2000km bikepacking race halfway round the world, flights and entry cost less than flights and entry to the local versions. In 2018 the math for a 100mile trail run on Reunion island worked out R500 more than doing a local 100Miler. You pay 4x on travel but 1/4 on entry fee which makes it an easy decision for me. Go see the world.
Race nutrition depends on the race. Is it a true ultra or is it just barely an ultra. Distance determines intensity which determines fuel and fuel strategy.
Sub 24 hour 100 mile trail run with resupply every 20km can be done on powders, gels, mini potatoes and bars. So you better be destroying carb drinks and gels all the time so your stomach handles them with ease on race day. You will be amazed how you can get your stomach to handle carbs.
But for a 2000km bikepacking race means you going to be racing on whatever you can find en route. So you better train your stomach accordingly. My 150km ride on friday had a stop at a spaza for bread and tinned pilchards and another stop for some garage pies and crisps and other than that all I ate was a few left over slices of pizza. But that is me prepping for planned conditions. The intensity is also no where near as high.
Time in the saddle/on foot is everything.
You learn and test your kit.
You also build the other fitness that is required. neck, shoulders, lower back and other things need to be prepared. This is also a big one on the strength work. You need to be strong, not just pedal strong, you need core and everything else to match. Cross training can be really useful actually in my opinion.
Weight is also a big one. Lean is good, it is great for the sub 24 hour events or stage races where you can feed and recover and sleep in a warm bed... But a little bit of body fat will go a long way in handling the cold. So if it is a cold race or a non stop multi day, consider going in a little bit well fed. I learned this the hard way too many times going in at 'race weight' for non stop multiday events in cold places.
Coaching is also a big one. A good coach can go a long way. Having the plan laid out in front of you means you can get more out of less training time. They are also bold enough to say you need to do X many hours or you are not going to enjoy the event. I have raced with a coach and now racing without one, but the reality is that nearly a decade of being coached I have a fairly good frame of reference to self train. But even still I have to set out the blocks and weeks in order to get the periodisation and polarisation correct.
But ya what I can say, experience makes everything easier
