Need advice for my first beginner race

[mandiepandie]

Im doing my first beginner xc race in one month.. its going to be 6.2 miles. Can anyone give me any pointers on training for it or what to expect? Thanks!!

[crazycanuck]

I don't know how races are run up in the US & again going by what we do down here in Perth..

If it's a local club race, do they have any discussion about it on thier board?

Are you able to get to the course & do a few laps before the race day? If so, go & check things out. If there's a wacky section that befuddles you, practice it. Is it only one lap or two?

Find out how each class is being run. For example, our Sport A, Novice, Sport Women, Masters Men/Women & Grandmasters go in the first race. An 1hr or so later, the Expert, Elite etc go.

Think about what you're going to drink on the lap & how you'll carry it.

Get organized the day before & have your stuff sitting by the door or on the counter. That way, you just have to have brekkie then venture off.

Main thing on the event day-have fun. Move to the side if someone says "rider". Be polite on the course.

[mandiepandie]

I don't know how races are run up in the US & again going by what we do down here in Perth..

If it's a local club race, do they have any discussion about it on thier board?

Are you able to get to the course & do a few laps before the race day? If so, go & check things out. If there's a wacky section that befuddles you, practice it. Is it only one lap or two?

Find out how each class is being run. For example, our Sport A, Novice, Sport Women, Masters Men/Women & Grandmasters go in the first race. An 1hr or so later, the Expert, Elite etc go.

Think about what you're going to drink on the lap & how you'll carry it.

Get organized the day before & have your stuff sitting by the door or on the counter. That way, you just have to have brekkie then venture off.

Main thing on the event day-have fun. Move to the side if someone says "rider". Be polite on the course.

Thanks for the advice!!
This is the first year that our town is having this race, so there is really no info to go off of and they havent put up a course yet. I live right by where they are putting on the race and have ridden out there a few times, so I think I have an idea of what the course may be. I am going to do the beginner race so that will only be one lap, but they havent said yet how each class will be ran.
Do you just drink water or is there something to add to it that may help for energy or to stay hydrated better?

[crazycanuck]

Um,what drink would you normally ride with doing that distance?

On any of our races, I just drink(yes, smaller amount) what i normally would when i venture out. Drinking whilst doing any XC race/enduro has always been an issue & it's just a way of keeping myself on track..

[TrekJeni]

Whatever you eat / drink on NON race day, do the same on race day. How long do you think it will take you to ride the 6.2 miles? If it's around a half an hour, you won't really need to eat during the ride and water should be fine. A nice bottle of recovery is nice for after the ride and I would probably hit a gel 15 minutes before getting to the start line.

Now that is just me, what you will find is EVERYONE is different and we can be downright psychotic about what we fuel with during races sometimes. (who me???? :-))

[crazycanuck]

Hey M, how did the race go?