Pre-Race Strategies in Cyclocross Racing

Video Transcript

"MICKEY DENONCOURT: So cyclocross races, like I keep saying over and over again, are really short and really intense. Usually, they're not, like, seven in the morning, eight. Usually, they're in the afternoons because it's the winter or the fall, and you want to get a little bit warmer. So you need to make sure that you eat, get all your food in, you know, three hours before the race would be preferable. You know, eat a nice, good, solid meal that's easily digestible. But, you know, then keep, you know, snacking and, you know, keep hydrated and stuff heading up to the event. When you're warming up on the course or, you know, just out on some roads around the venue, you know, make sure that you have water and, you know, energy food and stuff with you, because, you know, just little bits of energy that you take in before the start of the race are really going to help. The races are so intense and so short that, you know, people don't race with a water bottle on their bikes. They don't have, you know, energy gel in their pockets or anything like that. They have to be focused and on top of it the whole time to do well. So it's super important in your preparation to make sure that you're eating and drinking. I, you know, people warn about coffee all the time and say, you know, it's a diuretic and stuff like that. You know, it's going to make you dehydrated. But, you know, especially for a race like a cross race, you know, if you don't drink a lot of coffee and you have that nice, good, strong cup of coffee an hour and a half, you know, before the race, you know, it's gonna--you're going to feel a little bit more excited. You're going to feel a little more on top of it. So, you know, maybe, you know, a cup of coffee, some nice sugary sweets and, you know, lots of water before the event, you know, get it in, get excited, get prepared and have a good event."