As a UGA grad…I had to use a picture of Uga 6. He passed away on Friday of heart failure and he will be missed. Uga 6 is the highest winning Uga to date. RIP Uga 6. I thought this picture of him hanging out on ice was perfect for today’s riding tips post.
BE SURE TO PACE YOURSELF when mountain biking
I was reminded yesterday how important it really is to pace yourself. Luckily, nothing bad happened, at least to me, and I got through the ride clean. When you don’t pace yourself over the course of the ride, there are several things that are bound to happen.
- You start to ride with your head down.
- You ride seated more often that you should.
- Your mind is not concentrating correctly.
- Reaction time goes down significantly.
- You get into that dreaded “red zone” of beats per minute.
When all of these things add together, bad things happen. Almost all of my bad wrecks are caused by one of two things…getting in over my head or stupid mistakes from overexerting myself. When you get tired on a ride, you make more mistakes than you ever will. This mistakes lead to wrecks that can keep you off the bike for an extended period of time and will probably “bleed” over into your personal life with work and family.
Here are some tips that will help you pace yourself during a ride.
- Stay properly hydrated. Water is your best friend in the summer and winter. As you sweat, you need to replenish your body with it’s natural nutrients to keep going.
- EAT! I am the worst about this one, and for no good reason. Food and nutrition will keep you going through rides that you thought you would never be able to finish. You need to bring bars, gels, blocks or anything else that you can comfortably eat while on the ride. I have some friends that bring a 4 course meal, which I think is crazy, but it works for them. Personally, I like using the blocks from Cliff. They are just enough to feel like you ate something, but they are light enough that they don’t weigh heavy on your stomach. For long rides, I bring along a honey and peanut butter sandwich.
- Don’t start too fast out of the gate. I have a bad tendency of wanting to blast off at the trail head. This gets your muscles working extremely hard before they are even warmed up. This can cause “blowing up” for the rest of the ride because of an improper warming up technique. Build up with the ride and you will end up being a lot happier at the end.
- Keep the ego at home. When a strong rider is in front, you have nothing to prove by trying to hang with them. Let the other ego riders have climbing contests, you want to enjoy the entire ride…not just one little portion of it. Everyone just needs to ride at their own pace. Even strong racers will tell you to race your race…not someone else’s. That is great advise.
Remember, we are all out there for the same reason…to enjoy the ride. How are you supposed to enjoy the ride if you get hurt or can’t keep your heart rate at an regular level? Pace yourself on your rides and you will be a lot better off.