By Eddie O'Dea - BURN Sponsored Rider

HAVING THE RIGHT SUPPORT SYSTEM - 4/13/05

Find a good support person who is incredibly anal, good at managing people, and can keep track of numbers. This person is in charge. Set up a rider rotation and write it down. Now think about what & how long it takes to get ready for a lap, taking into account: dressing, eating, peeing, warming up (very important), getting to the starting line, getting lights ready, etc.... Make sure you have time for all these things. It would be ideal to have a second or third support person to keep all this running smoothly. If your team has the details planned out in advance then you, as riders, can focus on your one and only task.... riding a lap as fast a possible. After each lap, don't forget to cool down, stretch, eat, stay warm, and prepare for the next lap.

Use as little energy as possible between laps. You have kinetic energy, which is what you use when you are moving about. You also have potential energy, which is what you are storing while you rest. You want to be storing energy when you are not warming up or on the course, and this is where having a good support person or two really helps.

Refuel. You will burn about 600 to 800 calories per hour. Don't worry about eating while you are riding. Instead, eat after each lap. Drink an energy drink or plain water during your laps. Drink an energy drink immediately after your lap and then eat something solid.  Make sure you put the 600-800 calories that you're burning each hour back in, mostly as carbs (simple carbs and sugar are fine).   Also plan to have some "real food" at some point. You will be burning these calories anyway and the sooner the fuel is into your muscles the better. 

Warm up for about 15 minutes before each lap: 8 minutes steady increase to 85% of max, then 30 seconds race pace, 1 minute easy spin, 30 seconds race pace, 1 minute easy, 30 seconds race pace, then easy spin for the remaining.

Do not miss a transition. Transitions should last seconds for teams, no longer. Have the incoming rider place the baton/bottle in the cage/pocket of the departing rider. Have a support person at the transition to take extra clothes, water bottles, etc. from the departing rider. That support person can then tend to the incoming rider - keeping him warm, feeding him (have a bottle of energy drink to hand him immediately), get him back to the pit to sit down, stretch, etc.

Concentrate on being smooth while you are riding. No one climb or flat or sprint will win this race, each person must be fast, smooth and consistent. If your opponents pull ahead do not panic. They are going to too fast and will blow up. It's like a boxing match, you will take a punch, but that won't stop you. You throw a punch back, you wear them down, and at the end you knock them out. Keep a fast, but maintainable pace throughout.... but in the end, leave everything you have on the course.

Plan to have a heat source. Regardless of the time of year, it tends to cool down quite a bit after dark. Wrap up in a few blankets in between laps. Bring lots of riding clothes so you have dry stuff for each lap. In between laps, wear something warm, comfortable and easy to change in and out of.

Make sure you have two lights for each night lap. You never know when they will fail. I use two HIDs all the time because they light the place up like it's 12 noon, and if one fails I still have one HID to ride with. You will have to recharge your lights during the race, so be sure to have a plan (chargers, power source, etc.). I've seen a lot of teams lose races because lights failed mid-lap.

I cannot stress enough about planning. The more prepared you are, the less stress your team will feel during the race. You will wear a support person out during a race. They should be working the whole time (actually even before and after). You will not see me setting up tents, moving stuff around or even standing before the race. I will have a support team doing as much as possible before, during & after each race. Saving energy for the proper time is key.

At the end of it all, you will owe your support team in a HUGE way. Make sure you repay them, and then some. You may want their help again some day.