Race Day Prep

[Guest Mike Dewing]

good morning all..

Ive been starting to think about my own 947 effort coming up as I am starting to train and spend more time on the bike.. as an amateur that is fairly serious about wanting to do a decent time this year.. i haven't entered in two years..

what im really wondering is what do all our race day mornings look like.? sleep, warmup, stretches nutrition or are we mostly rolling out of bed, into a car and onto a bicycle, spin the legs and hope for the best.? haha

my first experience was awful, I felt like I had the flu the night before, I woke up at 1;30 am feeling like **** and sat watching Seinfeld wondering if I could do this or not and taking medication.. I sucked it up and hit the road.. started at about 9:05 and did a 4:09.. 

I know what I want to do leading up but the weekend of, and especially the morning of, is were im not sure.. do I sleep, do I wake up early and do some sort of warmup, how much to eat etc..

what are we all doing on race day.? anyone with some good insight or resources they can share with me will be much appreciated..

* just to give myself the best chance.. are we expecting cooler weather this year as its in October.?

Edited July 17, 2025 by Mike Dewing

[Pandatron]

Are you down tapering ahead of the race? What's your training approach?

[Guest Mike Dewing]

3 minutes ago, Pandatron said:

Are you down tapering ahead of the race? What's your training approach?

I am following a garmin connect training plan up to the 26th of October.. it does look like it tapers off👍🏻

[W@nted]

I would advise you to practice your race prep and not try anything new on the morning of the race. 

 

Depending on your start time, have a good breakfast 2-3 hours before your start, with enough carbs. Oats with some honey works for me, with a lekker coffee. Then drive to the start and have your pre race dump at the start in one of the portaloos. The earlier you arrive, the cleaner the portaloo will be. Then have a gel/energy bar about an half hour before you start. Just spin the legs between the parking and the start chute, as the race start is not typically that wild.  Remember to sip on your hydration/carb mix between your breakfast and parking departure.

 

 

Edited July 17, 2025 by W@nted

[Bro Derek]

My main advice would be to make peace with where you are in terms of training/prep and realistically level your expectations there.

One will only race as well as they have trained, and often worse, as everyone has a bad day every now and then.

Being anxious, nervous or uncertain before the race absolutely smashes energy, eats into your serotonin, leads to adrenal spikes, low blood sugar, lack of sleep etc

Once you've worked that out, don't think about too much. You should know your optimal pre exercise routine, so just do that.

The 'race' part means very little to average joes in reality. It's a mass bike ride with more bodies than you're used to. 

You won't win, nobody cares how you go other than you, so remove the unrealistic expectation and give it beans! (In a controlled manner..... bonking is horrible)

[Ncayi]

2 hours ago, Mike Dewing said:

good morning all..

Ive been starting to think about my own 947 effort coming up as I am starting to train and spend more time on the bike.. as an amateur that is fairly serious about wanting to do a decent time this year.. i haven't entered in two years..

what im really wondering is what do all our race day mornings look like.? sleep, warmup, stretches nutrition or are we mostly rolling out of bed, into a car and onto a bicycle, spin the legs and hope for the best.? haha

my first experience was awful, I felt like I had the flu the night before, I woke up at 1;30 am feeling like **** and sat watching Seinfeld wondering if I could do this or not and taking medication.. I sucked it up and hit the road.. started at about 9:05 and did a 4:09.. 

I know what I want to do leading up but the weekend of, and especially the morning of, is were im not sure.. do I sleep, do I wake up early and do some sort of warmup, how much to eat etc..

what are we all doing on race day.? anyone with some good insight or resources they can share with me will be much appreciated..

* just to give myself the best chance.. are we expecting cooler weather this year as its in October.?

Dylan Johnson on YouTube has been a great source for most things training related for me so perhaps check out his content. Detailed below is my race prep routine starting from the morning before. I also simulate this during weekend group rides so its a habit now.

The morning before the race I religiously do my race openers for 40min to an hour.. My training load is usually low on race week so this essentially primes my legs for the pain that comes with racing. I see too many people doing 2hour -3hour "leg loosener" rides before races.

I have a proper breakfast and lunch prioritising carbs and protein and have plentybof water. I have a generous and balanced dinner and a homemade chicken alfredo is my go too meal. I make sure I get 8 hours of sleep which often means I am in bed by 19:30 and asleep by 20:00. I track my sleep and make sure that I get 8 hours or more consistently 4 days before the race.

I wake up 3hours before my race and the first activity is a bowel movement. Breakfast is always 150-200grams of carbs (32gi race porridge, banana, milk,honey,blueberries etc) and some coffee. I wake up this early to ensure that I have enough time to eat, process breakfast and move my bowels again before leaving the house.

On the way to the race I am pumping my favourite reggae  jams on blast. Its not just about nutrition and fitness, the mental prep is also key. My route tk the race always has a garage to ensure that (you guessed it) I mive my bowels again.

I try to never start a race without a proper warm up. Starting race on cold legs can toss all that prep out the window. Most races are full gass from the gun. I do a 10min easy spin, 4min Z3, 2min Z4, 1min Z5 with short recovery in bewteen. 

This has been my routine for 3 years now and it works for me. Sleep, carbs and bowel movements!

 

[Spinnekop]

Having done this for 30 years now I have a good rhythm wrt race day.
 

Very important.  Pack the night before.  Have a list that you check so that you dont forget something.

On the day:

• Wake up
• Poop
• Eat
• Make bottles
• Poop again depending how nervous you are about the race.
• Drive to start.
• At that start, get bike out and warm up for 10m.  Short 10s bursts about 5 of them

 

Edited July 17, 2025 by Spinnekop

[Guest Mike Dewing]

2 hours ago, Bro Derek said:

My main advice would be to make peace with where you are in terms of training/prep and realistically level your expectations there.

One will only race as well as they have trained, and often worse, as everyone has a bad day every now and then.

Being anxious, nervous or uncertain before the race absolutely smashes energy, eats into your serotonin, leads to adrenal spikes, low blood sugar, lack of sleep etc

Once you've worked that out, don't think about too much. You should know your optimal pre exercise routine, so just do that.

The 'race' part means very little to average joes in reality. It's a mass bike ride with more bodies than you're used to. 

You won't win, nobody cares how you go other than you, so remove the unrealistic expectation and give it beans! (In a controlled manner..... bonking is horrible)

I only cycle against myself.. unless I see a random in the distance.. then the MUST PASS HIM mode kicks in.. other than that I’m not competitive 🤣🤣

[Guest Mike Dewing]

53 minutes ago, Ncayi said:

Dylan Johnson on YouTube has been a great source for most things training related for me so perhaps check out his content. Detailed below is my race prep routine starting from the morning before. I also simulate this during weekend group rides so its a habit now.

The morning before the race I religiously do my race openers for 40min to an hour.. My training load is usually low on race week so this essentially primes my legs for the pain that comes with racing. I see too many people doing 2hour -3hour "leg loosener" rides before races.

I have a proper breakfast and lunch prioritising carbs and protein and have plentybof water. I have a generous and balanced dinner and a homemade chicken alfredo is my go too meal. I make sure I get 8 hours of sleep which often means I am in bed by 19:30 and asleep by 20:00. I track my sleep and make sure that I get 8 hours or more consistently 4 days before the race.

I wake up 3hours before my race and the first activity is a bowel movement. Breakfast is always 150-200grams of carbs (32gi race porridge, banana, milk,honey,blueberries etc) and some coffee. I wake up this early to ensure that I have enough time to eat, process breakfast and move my bowels again before leaving the house.

On the way to the race I am pumping my favourite reggae  jams on blast. Its not just about nutrition and fitness, the mental prep is also key. My route tk the race always has a garage to ensure that (you guessed it) I mive my bowels again.

I try to never start a race without a proper warm up. Starting race on cold legs can toss all that prep out the window. Most races are full gass from the gun. I do a 10min easy spin, 4min Z3, 2min Z4, 1min Z5 with short recovery in bewteen. 

This has been my routine for 3 years now and it works for me. Sleep, carbs and bowel movements!

 

“Sleep carbs and bowel movements” title of your autobiography..

cool thanks so much lads.! That’s much of what I needed to know.. don’t take it too seriously, sleep carbs and bowel movements, awake and eat 3 hours before start.. keep hydrated, but don’t over do it.. mentally get into the game on the way and if need be a pit stop.. 🤣🤣

 

Edited July 17, 2025 by Mike Dewing
Oh I do plan to do a test about a month before..

[Bro Derek]

4 minutes ago, Mike Dewing said:

I only cycle against myself.. unless I see a random in the distance.. then the MUST PASS HIM mode kicks in.. other than that I’m not competitive 🤣🤣

That is perfect then

It will go a long way to stilling the pre race nerves.

As others have said, pack, prepare and get as much ready as you can the day before. Again, being unable to find something or unable to do something is stressful, which will be hugely detrimental to the overall experience of the day.

Scar from the Lion King hit it out of the park though.... be prepared. 

The less you leave to chance, the better your experience and memories of the experience will be.

Enjoy!

[Guest Mike Dewing]

1 minute ago, Bro Derek said:

That is perfect then

It will go a long way to stilling the pre race nerves.

As others have said, pack, prepare and get as much ready as you can the day before. Again, being unable to find something or unable to do something is stressful, which will be hugely detrimental to the overall experience of the day.

Scar from the Lion King hit it out of the park though.... be prepared. 

The less you leave to chance, the better your experience and memories of the experience will be.

Enjoy!

100% 

my anxiety plays out the day before race prep, it’s all laid out on the dining table and checked and checked again the day before.. 🤘🏻

[Guest Mike Dewing]

Actually Does anybody use a sleeping aid the night before.? 

[El Duderino]

16 minutes ago, Mike Dewing said:

Actually Does anybody use a sleeping aid the night before.? 

I've used sleeping aids (sleeping pills) when doing stage races where you sleep in a race village, in a tent with lots of noise around you. Difficult to get sleep.

We're all different, but avoid using anti histamine as a sleeping aid. You will sleep, but you will feel tired the next day. And don't use anything you haven't tested before race day. I've used Zolpidem (Stillnox), taking half and you dont feel tired the next day. You get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling fresh. Might not work for youu though. You need script for Zolpidem. 

Edited July 17, 2025 by El Duderino
Spelling

[dave303e]

honestly, the biggest thing is experience... Do lots of racing, it gets easier.
You also learn you can still smash it on 2 hours of sleep with a hangover, but you send it a lot easier on 8 hours with perfect sleep and breakfast routine. You also then learn what works for you personally. You want to be hydrated, but you don't want to drink too much and have to wake to pee 3 times on race night.

For me the key things are getting good food in early and then top up at start line.

A lot also depends on the lead up to the race. Being relaxed at work so you have time to obsess and stress for a race is not helpful. But working late nights the whole race week and just throwing it together on the day also isn't ideal. But a balance of being busy enough that you are not over thinking but not too busy you are tired is ideal

Find a better way to sleep rather than a sleeping aid. You will wake up groggy.

We had a sleep consultant for our child when she was 6 months old(Best money a parent can spend). But if you apply some of those techniques it really makes a big difference. Main technique being a routine before bed, eventually that routine is like a light switch, boom you are down. Also helps if your natural life patterns align with race day. I wake at 3:45 most mornings and am passed out by 8pm most nights, means an early start for a race is just par for the course.
White noise machine is also a good sneak trick if it is a noisy environment.
Always give good time between dinner and bed as well.

[Underachiever]

1 hour ago, El Duderino said:

I've used sleeping aids (sleeping pills) when doing stage races where you sleep in a race village, in a tent with lots of noise around you. Difficult to get sleep.

We're all different, but avoid using anti histamine as a sleeping aid. You will sleep, but you will feel tired the next day. And don't use anything you haven't tested before race day. I've used Zolpidem (Stillnox), taking half and you dont feel tired the next day. You get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling fresh. Might not work for youu though. You need script for Zolpidem. 

Rhineton works well.  But suffering from allegies, I take it daily,  No drowsiness during race day.

[Underachiever]

In my early race days I suffered from a poor night sleep (schoolboy racing).

I've learnt that you need to have a good nights sleep 2 nights before. SO if race day is Sunday, FRIDAY night is super important.