How to Finish Your First Ultra Bike Race

This spring I coached Elizabeth Wicks who set a women's age 65-69 12-hour record of 172.5 miles! Here's how we did it. This is the third in a three-part series about how we did it (Part 1 and Part 2).

You've trained hard as recommended in the first article and you've dialed in your nutrition as recommended in the second one. Now you "just do it," right? You could try that approach, but you will have a much more enjoyable and successful ride if you think about how to approach the event and how to ride on race day.

More: 12 Training Tips for Ultra Distance Rides

Showstoppers

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A showstopper is something that forces you to quit before the ride is over. Almost any showstopper can be eliminated through thorough preparation and proper ride management.

• Test everything. Try nothing new on an important ride.
• Don't give up. It's not a showstopper unless you decide it's a showstopper.

This article explains how to eliminate potential showstoppers for your first ultra event. A successful ride starts several weeks before the event itself.

More: 8 Ulta-distance Events

Pre-Event

Rehearsal Rides

As recommended in the first article after laying your endurance base and building your power on top of that foundation, peak by training specifically for your event. If you live near your event, you can break the event into smaller pieces and pre-ride each section of the course. If you don't live near the event, you can still practice in similar terrain and conditions. If you live in flat terrain and are preparing for a hilly event, use the wind. Ride for several hours into a headwind to develop the pacing and mental focus for long climbs. Simulate endless rolling hills by doing training rides that alternate headwind and cross- or tailwind sections.

You can refine your practice rides by using them to simulate the event experience itself. Suppose you are preparing for a 200-km or double century. You could do a similar 100-km or 100-mile ride that has climbs and valleys (or headwinds and tailwinds) in places similar to the event. During the ride imagine that you are riding the full double century. Where would you be during the event? What time of day would it be? How would you feel? What problems might you encounter? How would you solve them?

More: How to Train for a Week Long Ride

Despite the weather, persevere in these practice rides. You hope for sunshine and favorable winds, but the event will be held whatever the weather. By doing these rides you will be confident that you can ride in the terrain, with your gear and in any weather.

Wicks did a 129-mile rehearsal ride in 9:15 two weeks before her 12-hour race.

Race Plans

Before your race create three scenarios that include everything that you learned in your rehearsal rides and anything else that might be important for your specific event:

• Great ride. You have great legs, you're in a good group to ride with, favorable winds, you're eating and drinking well, and you're having a great time.
• Expected ride. You feel like you do on your long training rides: legs are okay, nutrition is working, decent weather and you've found folks to ride with part of the time.
• Slow ride. Your legs feel tired earlier than you expect, perhaps you have an upset stomach, you have several flats and are dropped by groups and the last half of the ride is into a strong headwind.

More: 3 Survival Tips for Rookie Randonneurs

If your event has a finishing time cutoff, then your slowest scenario has to get you to the finish with time to spare. If there are intermediate controls with opening and closing times, then your scenarios need to fit within those time windows. If you are riding an event for a personal best, then your scenarios need to bracket your hoped-for finishing time. The scenarios give you a sense of what to expect and what equipment you might need, for example, if you might have to finish in the dark.

The scenarios can be as elaborate as detailed spreadsheets or as simple as notes on the cue sheets.

Test Everything

Whether you train on the event course or practice on similar terrain, ride with all of the gear that you will carry during the event and test your bike for comfort, your clothing and your planned nutrition.

More: 6 Reasons Cyclists Should Start Strength Training

Taper

You can't get any fitter in the final week(s) before an event. Training is over! The two weeks before the event you taper, you recover fully from all the hard training while just maintaining your fitness:

• Final rehearsal ride: Two weekends before the event do your final rehearsal ride.
• Intensity: Two weeks before the event ride the same number of hard workouts per week that you've been doing in training, but make the workouts only half as long. One week before the event ride just one short intensity ride.
• Endurance: The weekend before the event go out for just 2 to 3 hours and concentrate on riding your race pace, not as hard as you can on a short ride.
• Active recovery: Each week do several active recovery rides.
• Rest: Although you have a lot to do, get a full nights sleep every night. You may not sleep well the night before the event, but if you are well rested that won't matter.
• Eat carbs: The last 3 to 4 days before the race, increase the proportion of carbs in your diet while reducing the amounts of protein and fat. You may gain a little water weight as you store additional glycogen from the carbs--don't worry; you'll use the water during the event.

More: 7 Recovery Strategies Used by Pro Cyclists

The Event

Ride Your Own Ride

You want to ride the event at a speed that you know you can sustain to the finish. Start the event at the pace you expect to be riding during the second half. For example, for a double metric (200-km or 125 mile) event, ride the first 100 km (62.5 miles) at the pace you expect to be riding after lunch. On the event if you feel fresh after lunch then ride faster and do a negative split. Here are some ways to gauge your level of effort:

• Talk test: You should be able to talk in complete sentences the entire ride. You may not be verbose climbing a hill, but you shouldn't be out of breath.
• Heart rate: With a heart rate monitor stay below 95% of your lactate threshold.
• Power: With a power meter, stay below 90% of your functional threshold power.
• Hydrate: During an event, heart rate can be affected by dehydration, excitement and other factors, so one of the other gauges may be more useful.
• Bottom line: You know the speed at which you rode your training rides—stay there. If you have trouble with this, set an alarm or tape a note to your handlebars to remind you.

More: How to Prepare for an Ultra-distance Event

Maintain Your Momentum

The longer the event, the more important time management becomes so that you finish before the cut-off time, or before dark or maybe just to set a personal best. Time management doesn't mean minimizing off-the-bike time. It means making conscious decisions about how best to use your time.

You can maintain your momentum by managing your time at aid stations and by learning to do more on the bike.

• Resupply: don't rest. Aid stations are places to take care of necessary business and grab more nutrition, not places to rest.
• Multi-task: As you move through your checklist at an aid station, multi-task. Eat while changing your layers. Put on sunscreen while waiting in line.
• Eat while riding: Eat some of what you grabbed at the aid station as you pedal away. You may need to pedal slowly for a while, but you're making more progress than if you were sitting at the aid station.
• On the bike: As long as you keep one hand on the bars and both eyes on the road, you can take off arm and leg warmers as well as a windbreaker using one hand and your teeth, if necessary. Once you've removed your warmers, you can put on sunscreen. Since these maneuvers require riding a straight line with just one hand on the bars, practice them alone in a parking lot before trying them on the road. When riding in a group, always drop to the back before doing any of these.

More: Your First 100-mile Mountain Bike Race

Wicks did a terrific job of time management—she was only off the bike 23 minutes despite racing without a crew.

Group Riding

Many ultra events allow group riding, which has several advantages. You can work together and save energy. You have people to talk with and may make new friends. During hard or boring sections you can talk with each other to keep your spirits up. If you have a mechanical or other problem you can get some help from another rider.

However group riding also has some disadvantages. You may be tempted to ride faster than you should instead of riding your own ride. You may not manage your time efficiently. The group riding your optimal pace may be behind you! Riding with unfamiliar riders increases the risk of an accident. For these reasons, Wicks chose to ride solo although the 12-hour race allowed drafting.

More: Preparation is Key in Ultra-Distance Mountain Biking

Nutrition

In the second article in this series Nutrition during Training and Your First Ultra, I recommended how many calories you should eat per hour based on your weight.

• Eat most of the calories on the bike. You can make up the balance at aid stations.
• Eat primarily carbs. As explained in the previous article, you burn both glycogen and fat for energy while riding. Even a lean rider has enough body fat to fuel an ultra event, while glycogen stores are limited. Most of your calories should come from carbohydrates.
• Eat every hour. To keep your blood sugar stable and energy level high, try to eat most of those carbs every hour.
• Ride slowly when necessary. How much your stomach can process depends on how hard you ride.
• Drink to satisfy thirst. Not drinking enough can cause dehydration. On the other hand, drinking too much can dilute your blood sodium, causing hyponatremia, a potentially dangerous condition. Drink enough so that you are never thirsty, but don't try to drink a fixed amount or at every opportunity.

We're each an experiment of one, so you need to test in training what works for you. If you are training for a 200-km or 200-mile event, over several 100-km or 100-mile or longer training rides, experiment with different food types and quantities until you find what you like, sits well in your stomach. Once you have figured out your nutrition, don't change anything, no matter how good that fresh baked chocolate brownie looks at the aid station!

More: Eating to Win: What We Can Learn From Pro Cyclists

Mental Aspects

Most riders feel discouraged with tired legs and a long way to the finish a some point during an ultra ride. What to do?

• Eat carbs! Your brain can only use glycogen for energy, and if you've burned through all of your glycogen, your mood will definitely suffer.
• Remember your scenarios. Even if you feel discouraged, are you on pace with one of your scenarios? At Wicks' 12-hour race the wind was so strong that the flags were flying straight out. Rather than worrying, she just shifted mentally to a less optimistic scenario.
• Focus on short-term goals. The finish line may seem a long way away. Focus on a short-term goal, whether it's to the top of the next hill or the 15 miles to the aid station, and forget about how long the ride is.
• Distract yourself. When you aren't enjoying the ride, you might ruminate about it and spin down into a negative mental hole. Distract yourself by talking to others
• Remember why. You decided to do this ride for a reason. Remember why you are doing it and reaffirm your goals.

More: 12 Common Century Ride Mistakes

Elizabeth Wicks set her 12-hour record because she trained properly, figured out her nutrition, prepared thoroughly and executed her race plan. Read more about her preparation and ride here.

By reading and applying the information from this article, you will eliminate many of the potential showstoppers on your first ultra. For more information including choosing the optimal equipment, learning skills to keep you upright and moving forward, coping with environmental problems and dealing with ailments and injuries see my 65 page eBook Stop Cycling's Showstoppers.

I've ridden hundreds of endurance events, and as a coach I review hundreds more each year in conversations with clients. Some people drop out. Some people finish events on guts, because they tough it out. Some people finish events with finesse, based on skills they've learned and applied. I hope these tips help you enjoy a successful first ultra!

More: Preparing for a Hilly Century

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