Wednesday 4 April 2012

Things I learnt in Malta about stage racing, by Sarah Brook

Just back from my first ever stage race in Malta so thought I would put together some MBG top tips for stage racing...



1. You can never eat enough, ideally you should try not to be more than 10 feet away from food, have it in your hand if you can

2. You always need more water than you think.

3. Always wear suncream, but don’t put it on your forehead if it’s hot and you are going to be wearing a TT helmet

4. Malta is quite hilly

5. Gels and oil will stain white kit

6. You can wash and dry anything overnight using Lou’s amazing towel trick.

7. Sram front mech’s just don’t really work very well under pressure, they work a bit better if you calm down and stop yelling about it.

8. Bring flip flops to races

9. Travelling with a bike bag is faintly traumatic, getting a trolley at Gatwick is practically impossible, getting a bus back from Clapham after 4 days racing with a bike bag that weighs nearly as much as you do is something you should avoid wherever possible

10. Compression tights are fantastic

11. Someone always cries; it has to be you sometimes

12. Someone will always do something really daft; this is often/usually me

13. I am too much of a geek to deal with a GC situation and retain any sense of perspective

14. However hard you are working in a race, twenty minutes after its over you will feel like you could have worked harder, you are wrong about that

15. Keep count of what lap you are on

16. Its better if you play fair

17. Where dinner is concerned, earlier is better

18. Where bedtime is concerned, earlier is better

19. Share a room with people you are not afraid to fart in front of, and don’t be surprised when people fart in front of you

20. Racing isn’t easy, and the harder you train, and the faster you get, the harder it gets, you only get stronger by going past what you can do, every time you find yourself out on your own – whether pushing from the front or chasing from the back – even if you finish last, you haven’t lost anything because you learn something from doing it

21. Attack Attack Attack, Rhythm.

Love, Sarah xxx

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