Here...i've attempted to help the new people and give them a few tips for Sunday
http://epicmtbracing.blogspot.com/20...d-goobers.html
http://epicmtbracing.blogspot.com/20...d-goobers.html
Nationals Blog updated
I should actually put a kit list together for people..
as we used to say in The Defence Forces ..
" Don't ask her , her name and don't tell her yours !!"
No ...thats not it..
its " Fail to prepare ,Prepare to fail "
always bring your own zip ties to a race..some Organising Clubs hand you bits of string !
Bring two sets of gear..
one for the practice lap ( get some cheapo lidl gear )
and one for racing in..
not horrible dayglo Tour de Franwnce 1980s gear..something Modern and cool..look at yourself in the mirror..enjoy what you see !!
One big thing that a lot of riders miss out on is Hydration..
drink comfortably the day before and only water..
sip don't gulp
a lots been written about particular sports drinks and unless it contains serious enhancing properties ( a few do !!) plain water is your only man..trust me
Know how to replace a tube and use a powerlink..don't DNF..it will eat away at you!
go to woodies and buy one of those waffle style rubber mats to throw in the boot of your car to stand on when you are changing.
as we used to say in The Defence Forces ..
" Don't ask her , her name and don't tell her yours !!"
No ...thats not it..
its " Fail to prepare ,Prepare to fail "
always bring your own zip ties to a race..some Organising Clubs hand you bits of string !
Bring two sets of gear..
one for the practice lap ( get some cheapo lidl gear )
and one for racing in..
not horrible dayglo Tour de Franwnce 1980s gear..something Modern and cool..look at yourself in the mirror..enjoy what you see !!
One big thing that a lot of riders miss out on is Hydration..
drink comfortably the day before and only water..
sip don't gulp
a lots been written about particular sports drinks and unless it contains serious enhancing properties ( a few do !!) plain water is your only man..trust me
Know how to replace a tube and use a powerlink..don't DNF..it will eat away at you!
go to woodies and buy one of those waffle style rubber mats to throw in the boot of your car to stand on when you are changing.
Good blog, good advice, as a beginner having done a few sports races I feel this track is the most difficult so far, but then again I haven't been around Djouce that often either, reckon it's still a lot more technical and dangerous feeling than a lot of the other trails, going around it the other day I thought to myself...what madman made this track...Sunday's gonna be deadly...I have to check my bloods before a race like Ryan but I'm a diabetic these days, you might even catch me eating cakes half way around the course.
That's deadly Richie, I'm sure loads of people will get some good info out of that.
About the water thing, what should you be eating and drinking during the race? I've never bothered with any of the gels or any of that crap but is it any good? I'd usually just have water with me. So wha gels, bars or powders are the best to make me deadly on Sunday?
I'd usually have a pack of jellies before a downhill run but that wouldn't last me long enough for nearly 2 hours on sunday!
Thanks.
About the water thing, what should you be eating and drinking during the race? I've never bothered with any of the gels or any of that crap but is it any good? I'd usually just have water with me. So wha gels, bars or powders are the best to make me deadly on Sunday?
I'd usually have a pack of jellies before a downhill run but that wouldn't last me long enough for nearly 2 hours on sunday!
Thanks.
the thing about energy drinks ,gels etc..everybody reacts different to them, some savages take nothing on board except water..
its way more important to be hydrated up before the race..
a good tip to remember is that Racehorses are not allowed out on to the track until there urine is running Clear..
unless you have developed a ritual of using a particular drink or gel I wouldn't start now.
Just put water in your bottles or Mi Wadi or KiOra..
Sometimes I've found the gels to kick in if I get one inside me half way through the lap..but sometimes it didn't work at all..
you'll never get a banana into you or a bar of chocolate..
taking a gel onboard is a feckin tricky business as well..
I used to take a bottle of flat coke on my last lap and I think some of the old skool boys still do that..
some take a gel 15 minutes before the start of the race..
the only think I know for certain is, you cannot go wrong with water ( sports drinks can upset your stomach if you're not used to it )
and that what works for me at 48 years of age is not going to work for you at 17..
One of the strongest riders Ireland ever produced ,used to have a fryup the morning of the race.
There are volumes written about this and every second person is an expert..
What you do the night before is more important..a big feed of spuds and Chicken..
Something thats not going to take 2 days to digest !
If I were you greg I'd ride a couple of laps today and as you start the second one throw a hi 5 gel in to you..I don't think they are as potent as the Powergel ones..
I've taken those Powergel Jellies and by jaysus they give you a kick..
but trying to scoff a powerbar or a Hi5 bar in the middle of an XCO style race will distract .
you.
I'm a big fan of Maximuscle by the way..but I think people think its borderline legal..
some people think all these gels and powders are phony..
That doesn't mean anything..if you take it and you think it works..then it works in my opinion !!
and seriously greg..the pisspot is not a good idea..its like wearing a hat !! for a 2 hour XCO race, you wan't to stay cool..
And while I'm not a big fan of 3 litre camelbacks with 10 pockets for every concievable item..I am a fan of the smaller ones that just hold water..
Once again, without practice a bottle change can become a high speed wobble of stupidity and can cost you seconds even minutes if you get it wrong.
I would try the coke or Lucazade sport on the last lap..if you need it then it'll pull you up..if you don't then its just a refreshing drink !!
I will repeat this because its important, everybody is different..body shapes, age, Culture..
I have always drank a lot of beer and eaten a lot of red meat and I smoked for over 25 years
and I can still go like a train when I want to..
Alfie would be the same..most people are not made of that kind of stuff..
its way more important to be hydrated up before the race..
a good tip to remember is that Racehorses are not allowed out on to the track until there urine is running Clear..
unless you have developed a ritual of using a particular drink or gel I wouldn't start now.
Just put water in your bottles or Mi Wadi or KiOra..
Sometimes I've found the gels to kick in if I get one inside me half way through the lap..but sometimes it didn't work at all..
you'll never get a banana into you or a bar of chocolate..
taking a gel onboard is a feckin tricky business as well..
I used to take a bottle of flat coke on my last lap and I think some of the old skool boys still do that..
some take a gel 15 minutes before the start of the race..
the only think I know for certain is, you cannot go wrong with water ( sports drinks can upset your stomach if you're not used to it )
and that what works for me at 48 years of age is not going to work for you at 17..
One of the strongest riders Ireland ever produced ,used to have a fryup the morning of the race.
There are volumes written about this and every second person is an expert..
What you do the night before is more important..a big feed of spuds and Chicken..
Something thats not going to take 2 days to digest !
If I were you greg I'd ride a couple of laps today and as you start the second one throw a hi 5 gel in to you..I don't think they are as potent as the Powergel ones..
I've taken those Powergel Jellies and by jaysus they give you a kick..
but trying to scoff a powerbar or a Hi5 bar in the middle of an XCO style race will distract .
you.
I'm a big fan of Maximuscle by the way..but I think people think its borderline legal..
some people think all these gels and powders are phony..
That doesn't mean anything..if you take it and you think it works..then it works in my opinion !!
and seriously greg..the pisspot is not a good idea..its like wearing a hat !! for a 2 hour XCO race, you wan't to stay cool..
And while I'm not a big fan of 3 litre camelbacks with 10 pockets for every concievable item..I am a fan of the smaller ones that just hold water..
Once again, without practice a bottle change can become a high speed wobble of stupidity and can cost you seconds even minutes if you get it wrong.
I would try the coke or Lucazade sport on the last lap..if you need it then it'll pull you up..if you don't then its just a refreshing drink !!
I will repeat this because its important, everybody is different..body shapes, age, Culture..
I have always drank a lot of beer and eaten a lot of red meat and I smoked for over 25 years
and I can still go like a train when I want to..
Alfie would be the same..most people are not made of that kind of stuff..
What Richie said...
Energy drinks, gels etc... do work for most people, but you really have to use them before hand to know that your body can deal with them. (I remember the first race of the year a couple of years ago when I had a bunch of gels after a winter of not taking any, I was fine in the race, by my stomach was in bits for hours afterwards)
I wrote a little about what I do before: http://ryansherlock.blogspot.com/200...nutrition.html
Again, what works for me or Richie does not work for everyone and it is best not to experiment on the day of Nationals...
(But the pisspot helmet thing is right - get something a little cooler! [as in heat])
Energy drinks, gels etc... do work for most people, but you really have to use them before hand to know that your body can deal with them. (I remember the first race of the year a couple of years ago when I had a bunch of gels after a winter of not taking any, I was fine in the race, by my stomach was in bits for hours afterwards)
I wrote a little about what I do before: http://ryansherlock.blogspot.com/200...nutrition.html
Again, what works for me or Richie does not work for everyone and it is best not to experiment on the day of Nationals...
(But the pisspot helmet thing is right - get something a little cooler! [as in heat])
That's brilliant lads, thanks for the replies.
I'll leave the gels for this weekend then and stick to the water and have the odd jellie through the race like normal.
I planned to do two laps already Richie, one to pick lines and one flying lap. If I can get some gels or whatever between now and then I'll try them and see how it is.
That diet plan is exactly what I've been looking for Ryan and it's good to see alot of it would be similar to what I'd usually eat from day to day.
As for the pisspot, I'm getting a new lid but don't have it yet so I'll be grand once I get that so the pisspot is hanging around this weekend. But I'm used to it so it doesn't bother me too much, and besides... If I do well and wanna be able to say it was in baggies and a pisspot haha
Thanks again and see ya's later out in Djouce.
I'll leave the gels for this weekend then and stick to the water and have the odd jellie through the race like normal.
I planned to do two laps already Richie, one to pick lines and one flying lap. If I can get some gels or whatever between now and then I'll try them and see how it is.
That diet plan is exactly what I've been looking for Ryan and it's good to see alot of it would be similar to what I'd usually eat from day to day.
As for the pisspot, I'm getting a new lid but don't have it yet so I'll be grand once I get that so the pisspot is hanging around this weekend. But I'm used to it so it doesn't bother me too much, and besides... If I do well and wanna be able to say it was in baggies and a pisspot haha
Thanks again and see ya's later out in Djouce.
that's some great info there -
any gels/drinks I'd take during a race, I'd try out on the Thursday night races beforehand primarily to see if they make me feel unwell, I've taken some before that made me feel like my bowels were gonna evacuate on the last lap, not a pleasant sensation
for this type of race, it's not a good idea to try anything you have not tested/used before
gels have never make me feel like I have a bunch more energy, they mainly take the exhaustion-edge off - which is good too
I'd mostly use water in a race, I used to take just energy drinks in a race but found that they turn to syrup in your mouth which isn't nice
now for me it's a caffeine energy gel (I use the Zipvit ones on Ryan's recommendation and found them very easy to swallow) with water 30 mins before the race, then have 1 or 2 'plain' gels in the back pocket during the race
keeping things plain and simple is a good idea, especially breakfast that morning, nothing spicy or too sweet or out of the ordinary, porridge made with water and some apple juice is perfect for me, add a bit of maple syrup and you'd want to eat it all day
any gels/drinks I'd take during a race, I'd try out on the Thursday night races beforehand primarily to see if they make me feel unwell, I've taken some before that made me feel like my bowels were gonna evacuate on the last lap, not a pleasant sensation
for this type of race, it's not a good idea to try anything you have not tested/used before
gels have never make me feel like I have a bunch more energy, they mainly take the exhaustion-edge off - which is good too
I'd mostly use water in a race, I used to take just energy drinks in a race but found that they turn to syrup in your mouth which isn't nice
now for me it's a caffeine energy gel (I use the Zipvit ones on Ryan's recommendation and found them very easy to swallow) with water 30 mins before the race, then have 1 or 2 'plain' gels in the back pocket during the race
keeping things plain and simple is a good idea, especially breakfast that morning, nothing spicy or too sweet or out of the ordinary, porridge made with water and some apple juice is perfect for me, add a bit of maple syrup and you'd want to eat it all day
Originally posted by ryan
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Energy drinks, gels etc... do work for most people, but you really have to use them before hand to know that your body can deal with them. (I remember the first race of the year a couple of years ago when I had a bunch of gels after a winter of not taking any, I was fine in the race, by my stomach was in bits for hours afterwards)
Originally posted by Maxtar
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Yup, they do sometimes mess with you stomach but who cares what happens after the race as long as they help you win! Unless it is a multi stage race of course...
Greg - come grab me today/tomorrow, I'll give you a couple of gels.
after all that I didn't listen and used some powerbar drink because it was free. Drank it going onto the 3rd lap and it tore the stomach off me!! My mistake, I'll listen in future!
I could have done with this info before the race but I don't have internet at the weekend.
Sunday was my first race and I pulled out after one lap. I was really struggling on the 1st lap and needed to keep stopping. Afterwards I thought that it might have been down to dehydration as as I was out in the Funky Seomra sweating my @ss off the night before. Probably a bad idea in hindsight.
Next race I'll have a bit of pasta the night before and take it easy.
The other thing I was thinking about was that any of the spins I normally take around Leadmines or 3Rock or wherever, I normally stop quite often which gives my body lots of recovery time - where there's no option to be doing this during a race. My body is probably not used to the sustained strain put on it like in a race situation. Ah well, Sunday was a good learning experience anyway, most importantl lesson learned - get there early enough to register for your preferred category!
Sunday was my first race and I pulled out after one lap. I was really struggling on the 1st lap and needed to keep stopping. Afterwards I thought that it might have been down to dehydration as as I was out in the Funky Seomra sweating my @ss off the night before. Probably a bad idea in hindsight.
Next race I'll have a bit of pasta the night before and take it easy.
The other thing I was thinking about was that any of the spins I normally take around Leadmines or 3Rock or wherever, I normally stop quite often which gives my body lots of recovery time - where there's no option to be doing this during a race. My body is probably not used to the sustained strain put on it like in a race situation. Ah well, Sunday was a good learning experience anyway, most importantl lesson learned - get there early enough to register for your preferred category!
well kids, i will be doing some Coaching this week and from now on..so email me !