How to warm up for an evening race

A planned nutrition / hydration strategy during the day will clearly help to stave off feeling lethargic and slow at the end of the day. Warming up will help get the blood flowing and get you into the right mental state to compete. It therefore goes without saying that it’s vital to build sufficient time into your pre-race schedule so that your planned arrival time at race HQ allows for a proper warm-up!

Racing at the end of the day, for most after a days work always feels a bit manic, but if you can allow enough time for a 30 mins warm up, you’re much more likely to arrive at the start line ready to go. If you’re able to warm-up by riding on the course, this will additionally provide an opportunity to assess drags, check out corners etc.

10 mins
Ride for 10 minutes at an easy club ride pace, spinning in a comfortable gear. Test your brakes and gears and make sure everything feels normal.

10 mins
Increase your gears in the big ring and increase your tempo. If you’re riding a time trial, slip into your aero position and stretch your back and neck. Ride at a moderate effort and hold your speed.

5mins
Ride for 5 minutes at a relatively hard pace, building to threshold by the end of the interval. This will get your body ready for the first hard effort so you won’t go straight into oxygen debt.

5mins
Take a final few minutes to spin out your legs and recover from the previous effort.

Try and time your warm up so you can pull up to the start just a few minutes before the start. Have a gel and /or a bit of your sports drink. Do a last check of tyres, brakes, clothing and number. Finally clear your mind to focus on the race ahead and get your bike into the right gear for the start…