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I never took multivitamins until my son was born. I thought they were bull shit because I eat pretty healthy and workout, but I was always sore especially after a hare scramble. After my son was born my wife stopped taking her prenatal multivitamin because it messed with her stomach. I'm kinda frugal and didn't want to throw them out because the bottle was 3/4 full, so I said fuck it and started taking them. Fast forward several days and I wasn't sore for the first time since I was a teenager. I hadn't realized how bad it was until it was gone. I now take a huge multivitamin ever day and no longer run into soreness issues.
As for the hands, if you're a side sleeper try wrist braces at night.
Lots of really good advice in here guys. Really appreciate all of them!
Good news is, I recently ordered a mountain bike and it will be here in a couple weeks. So I’ll be able to start doing that 2-3 days a week, cardio should improve just due to that.
Going to stop hitting the weights as hard in the gym, and sub some of that time towards the rowing machine to get my cardio better. 1.5 mile run 3 days a week is better than nothing, but if I’m serious about fixing my cardio, then I need to spend longer than 13-15 minutes on a treadmill. Then again, I’m sure mountain biking will help address all of this.
Gonna chill out on the energy drinks/sodas. I drink way too many of them. Gonna cut back to 1 monster a day (I typically drink a sugar free monster in the morning as my coffee, and then a Red Bull or OG monster during lunch, but I’m done with lunch time energy drinks.)
Gonna drink way more water, especially for the week leading up to the race.
How much water should I shoot for a day?
I’m going to make sure I drink from my camelbak, during the race; and make sure it’s easy for me to drink during the race. Or at least just find a spot for 10-15 seconds to put some fluids down.
Gonna shoot for longer motos at the moto track. I usually do 15min but I need to be shooting for a 30 minute moto.
And last but not least, ima look into some vitamins, or something to put along with my Liquid IV during the race to help with endurance. Can’t do the pickle juice, I hate pickles. 😂
Sounds like you got it figured, most important thing man is just have fun don't stress so much about how you do you'll ride tight and shitty. I have buddies like that and I feel like they are forgetting that the point of all this is to have fun.
After all most of us are mid pack 30+ guys and if you are spending all this money racing and not having fun what's the point? We sure as hell aren't impressing anyone with our results at the local hare scrambles to land a factory GNCC ride.
Work on riding body position for your hand numbness. A lot of people get fatigued and end up sitting down and having their arms yanked around by the bike, causing the numbness. Stand as much as possible and hold the bike with your lower body to help relieve the stress on your arms. Think about how much more muscle mass your legs have.
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You gota start hydrating at least 4/5 days before, and caffeine dehydrates you,
Everyone has really pushed the hydration and magnesium. I agree and won’t hit that again.
Work on diet as well. It’s been said but not pushed hard. You don’t really say what you’re eating but that can play a huge role in bonking in a longer race. A solid diet gives you the fuel you need. Don’t forget clean carbs, the brain needs them for good performance.
Yeah I hear you on that man! I’m completely with you, I always say “I ride moto for fun, I don’t get paid to do this shit!”
But also, part of the fun in this sport is getting pissed at yourself for your performance/mistakes, working to improve them, and then seeing those improvements on the track/during a race!
I had the EXACT same problems when I got back into GNCC racing. Things that helped me were:
2 Bananas the day of racing. One in morning and one at lunch. (Its more a family tradition for me to bring bananas now.)
Gripping bike more with legs to save my upper body.
Wiggle fingers on straightaways to relax your hands and keep blood flowing. I even had a sticker on my bar pad to remind me.
Practicing riding more on whooped out loops. There is no replacement for practice and stressing your arms to race pace.
Good luck.
Also Hammer perpetuem in a camel pack...best stuff I've found
Agreed. On the bike prep is the key. Last year I had myself convinced I wanted to try the 30+ B (3 hour) class at Ironman. Hadn’t ridden even a two hour hare scramble in years at the time just motocross and quite a bit of mountain biking. I have no woods for a dirt bike any where close to me to train so I thought I’d just train on the MTB and ride motocross. Did a 3 hour ride on the Mtb trails and felt pretty good coming into the race.
I have never been as exhausted and dehydrated in my life as I was at the end of that 3 hour GNCC. Riding a mountain bike on actual trails for 3 hours seemed like a walk in the park in comparison. I ended up doing well in the gncc but don’t feel like I was fully recovered after it for over a week lol. If I ever do one again I will spend most of my prep time on the bike riding extra long motos or stringing together a couple weeks of two hour races coming into it.
What class do you race? If it isn’t A or faster….then improving your technique will help you be more efficient on the bike, and therefore use less energy so you’ll feel better towards the end of the race. Take as many riding schools as you can afford. And practice proper technique more often than you just try and go fast…
Hydrate the week before…it’s probably overkill, but I’ll drink a gallon of water per day the week before the race…then I’ll hit the pedialite the day before and the day of the race.
Your body has to learn how to function at that level for that long. The more you do the long races the easier they will become because your body will get used to it.
Focus on leg and core strength. This is imporant for proper technique, but you should also be standing most of the race and so you need your legs.
Possibly running out of electrolytes, give it a shot. It really helped me in the last 3rd of my long offroad rides! Put in a pack or 2 of LMNT in your hydration system..
Great tip on technique which leads me to another one that will help a bunch. Your line selection can drastically affect the amount of energy you exert. In our Hare Scramble series we will get 1000 entries. the edge of the trail will be far smoother than the center. smooth is fast and smooth is way easier on you than getting yourself hammered.
I'm not adding anything new but off bike fitness, whist very important is not going to do anywhere near as much compared to bike time.
I've not been able to ride for two months but I've been training like crazy, even ran a half marathon two weeks ago that I decided to do the night before. I'm by far the fittest I've ever been in my life, yet when I finally got out on the bike a couple of days ago ready to race this weekend thinking I'd feel super fit I was completely done in about 10 minutes of rocky hill climbs and decents. There's nothing quite like riding.
I've defintely made massive steps with nutrition and hydration this year which helps a ton, the trouble is that everyone is different and so what makes one person feel great will not work for someone else. Its all about experimenting with your body and seeing what works for you.
Something else to consider is to just get a few races under your belt. Once you do your 3rd or 4th in the season, they start getting easier and your body really starts adapting. Race every chance you get.
Two things, nutrition and fitness. Understand how hydration and types of food interact with one another. For example, make sure you are eating a lot of carbs leading up to the event and especially before. Carbs help store water in your body and also help fuel you. So much to learn on nutrition, I am constantly learning new things.
Fitness - run a shit load. 1-2 miles is nothing, especially on a treadmill. I'm talking 5+ miles minimum each session. Someone said it, but run as long as your races are. It helps soooo much!! I know its boring sometimes, but running is one the easiest and best ways to boost cardio. I personally like to run trails, I find it more fun and I think it helps your brain read trail better. Also, the uneven surface helps balance and strengthens muscles in ways pavement and certainly a treadmill cannot.
MTB Really helps, but you gotta hit it really hard. Usually zone 4 or zone 5 cardio to match your HR on what it would be on the bike.
Yeah I’ve got 4 more races this season so hopefully I’ll be feeling better for the last one. It had been about 2 months since I had ridden when I raced so my on the bike fitness was definitely going to be worse than usual.
Ima fix my hydration issues, but what’s some good easy “clean carbs” I can eat the day before and the morning before the race? I’m really bad about the “clean” carbs aspect because I’ll be honest I just kind of eat what I want, weather it’s good for me or not. Trying to fix that. It’s funny because I look to be in way better shape than I am lol.
I’m gonna have to buckle up and start grinding out some runs then. As much as it sucks, it’s just something I’m going to have to man up and do. I was just starting to feel accomplished about my 1-2 mile runs too hahaha.
Thanks for the advice. You and everyone else. 😎
Oh yeah, you will be feeling better once you get a few more races under your belt. Yeah running sucks at first, but it gets way easier the more you do it. I actually kind of like it now, used to hate it. For me and many others, it helps so much for racing/riding.
Clean carbs - pasta, rice, fruits, nuts, whole grain bread, sweet/normal potatoes, oatmeal/granola - pair this stuff with good meats and fish. Also don't forget vegies and salads. Eat this kind of stuff always, shop perimeter of the grocery store, don't go to inside isles, that's where the fatties hang out.
Day of event - eggs, avocado, oatmeal or sweet potato, banana, whole grain bread or bagel with peanut butter or cream cheese. I also eat a sandwich like an hour or so before the race, maybe an apple as well. Sandwich is whole grain bread with meat of choice and spinach, cucumber and pickles.
Also hydrating with waters and electrolyte mix. I drink a coffee or two in the morning, no shitty energy drinks. Those are for the hunting season.
Pit Row
I mostly grew up racing moto. So when I decided to do some Score racing, I remember hearing Mouse say the best thing he did was just ride. Hours and hours...of course you can't do that without proper nutrition but that's what I did. Just rode. Stayed hydrated and ate healthy and just put hours on the bike. Like 6 hours at a time and thousands of miles of just prepping. For not being a off road guy I started getting good results pretty quick. I chalk it up to the hours on the bike more than anything else.
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