Womens Bicycle Racing

Here are some tips for being a Pro even if it’s your first race.

Have a good dinner the night before.

Pack your race kit the night before.

In your race kit you should have:  jersey, shorts, shoes, socks, sports bra, gloves, helmet, glasses, HR monitor if you wear one.  Sometimes I visualize myself getting dressed from bottom to top to make sure I have it all - socks & shoes; shorts; bra & Jersey; gloves; helmet; glasses.  Plan on wearing regular clothes and changing at the race unless you really like being in chamois for hours and hours.  Some say that “chamois time” is “training time” but hanging out in your shorts for hours  is a good way to get a nasty yeast infection.  So, pack a towel or blanket that you can use to put around yourself if you need some privacy.  You should plan on sunday being chilly - so leg warmers or tights, long sleeve jersey if you have it, windvest or jacket, whatever works best for you to not be chilled.  Check the weather the night before to get a sense of whether it will be winter or spring.  www.noaa.nws.gov.

Water bottles and whatever food you like - GU, clif blox, pb&j, whatever.

Warm clothes to wear after the race.

Don’t forget your USCF license and $$ for race entry. (The flyer will tell you what your race fee is if you didn’t pre register).  I also have a small cache of safety pins that I carry with me to races to make sure I have pins for my number.

Eat a good breakfast - oatmeal !   Or go to the Square Cafe around 11 and have some pancakes.

Plan on getting to the venue at least 1 hour before the race is set to start.

When you get there, take a moment to check out the Start/Finish  (S/F) - just to see what it looks like.  There will at least be a line marked on the pavement, a couple of officials, some kind of lap card set up.  THis is a good time to check to see if the races are on time.  The women’s race is set to start at 2:30, but is at the end of a long day of races and I would not be surprised if it actually starts closer to 3pm.  This will be important for planning your warmup.

Go to registration - You will need to fill out a USCF waiver - you’ll need to remember your home address, email, and put down your USCF license number.  Then go to sign up where someone takes your $$, checks your USCF license, adds you to the start list, and gives you a number.  ASK which side you pin your number on your jersey.

Your next step is to pin your number on your jersey - or whatever will be your outside layer of clothing.  Then get dressed, get your bike set - race wheels if you have them, whatever wheels you have, pump up the tires to 100 psi or so (unless it is wet in which case you want the tire pressure a bit lower to increase tire contact on the pavement).  You’ll probably hear guys saying their tires are at 120 or 130, but ignore them.  You know how guys are.  Water bottles.

It’s important to get in a good warm up - which can be a challenge if there are no quiet roads available.  If there is a large parking lot that doesn’t have too much glass and junk, then big loops around the lot will help.  Otherwise, bring a trainer.  I am sure Suzanne has a favorite warm up to suggest, but the idea is to start by spinning in an easy gear for 10 minutes or so to get your muscles warmed and loose, then increase the intensity until your HR is close to your race effort or you are breathing hard and sweating a little.  Then cool down for 5 minutes or so.  The thing you don’t want to do is just pedal around for 5 or 10 minutes and then expect to start racing.  You also don’t want to sit around for 15 minutes after you’ve warmed up - that will just undo your warm up.

Make sure you drink.  Plan on using the Port-o-Joan before you head over to the start.

Keep an eye out for the race going on before the women’s race - check the lap cards - watch long enough to get a sense of how long each lap is taking.  Then, when there are about 2-3 laps to go, migrate over to the S/F, ready to race, and hang out, cheer, smile, etc.  You almost always have a chance to ride around on the course before your race starts - so once the finishers from the race before are all done, get on the course and start riding.  This is when you can take note of any potholes, sewer covers, the approaches to the turns, and how far it is from the last corner to the S/F.  Practice the corners, resist the urge to squeeze your brakes, if you must brake, do it before the turn, not once you are in the turn.  The officials will ring a bell or blow a whistle or something to call riders to the line.  LINE UP ON THE LINE — for some reason new women riders tend to lurk 4 or 5 feet back from the line.  Be on the line, and then listen.  The officials will tell you all you need to know - how long the race, where the lap cards are located, any racing rules.  The official will tell you how they will handle lapped riders if there are any.  They will tell you that you cannot ride with or work with riders from another race that is on the course at the same time.  As Lee-Ann said - the race is by time, so the officials will keep an eye on how long each lap is taking and as the race gets close to 35 minutes, will tell you (i.e. lap card) how laps are left in the race.  There will be a ‘last lap’ bell.

After the race:  be a good sport and congratulate the top finishers.  Congratulate yourself for trying your first race.  Ride around the course once or twice (unless the next race is starting) in an easy gear, small ring, spinning your legs out as a cool down.  Cool down some more in the lot unless you are cold and wet.  Change out of that chamois and get into warm and dry clothes.  Check the results and make sure the placings are correct.  If you placed well enough to get $$ - stick around, but don’t bug the officials.

It’s March, so don’t try to measure yourself against where you will be in mid season.  In fact, don’t measure yourself against any body.  These early season races are about gauging where you are now, how it feels to ride with some intensity, getting re acquainted with riding close to others, getting into race groove.  It’s a training race, not the state road race.

I have a couple of mantras I try to keep in my head before and doing a race:  “No whining, no quitting, have fun”  and “I think I can, I think I can.”  And to borrow a page from John Fite  “Wow, it’s cold, it’s windy, my legs feel like crap, I feel like crap, it doesn’t get any better”

Barb