Nutrition is essential to achieve optimum performance
Nutrition is essential to give you the power to perform at your best on race day and to give you the energy to enjoy your ride whether it is a training ride, a day in the bush with your friends or a full scale endurance event.

Pre Race Preparation:

On the morning of your event do not try out any new foods stick to foods that you know that you can digest well. Pre-event carbohydrates boost depleted early morning liver glycogen stores, helping to keep blood glucose steady and prevent hunger in the hours leading to the start.
It is common practice to leave at least two to three hours digestion time following breakfast whilst continuing to fuel up lightly to the start. For every hour of digestion time, aim for 1 gram of carbohydrate per kg of body weight. Liquid carbohydrate choices are an option as are easy to digest starchy foods. Protein can also be added in if your body can tolerate it and try to keep fat levels to a minimum. For riders with very early morning starts you may need to eat a smaller pre-event meal to compensate for the decreased digestion time. If you have a later start time, plan out your meal and snack times. You can eat a large breakfast that morning, and then a light meal or snack several hours later and two to three hours before the race start.

The table below outlines some race and ride preparation strategies.

Event	Pre Race	Event Day
2 to 3 hour road race or cross-country race	Rest and feed muscles for 1 to 2 days prior with 6.5 to 10 grams of carbohydrate per kg Hydrate so that urine is clear. Do not over hydrate. You can include sodium in your pre-race day foods and fluids. Do not eat a heavy meal close to bedtime and choose easily digested and well-tolerated foods.	Have a high carbohydrate pre-race meal 3 hours prior. Consume a sports drink up to the start to maintain hydration. Add a gel to the pre-race mix if tolerated. Start optimal fluid replacement (in relation to your sweat rate) with a sports drink early in the race. Aim for 40 to 70 grams of carbohydrate per hour. You can add in gels for additional fuel as needed and as tolerated.

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Staying hydrated is essential for maximum performance

Recent studies have revealed that losing as little as 2% of your body weight as sweat can impair your performance. This means that if you weigh around 75 kgs, losing just 1.5 kgs (about 1.5L) of water and electrolytes will cause your performance to suffer. In general, it’s quite easy for sports people to lose 1L of fluid during each training hour. So you could very easily be losing more than 2% of your body weight through sweat every time you train or compete. Obviously the exact amount of sweat lost will vary depending on the type, duration and intensity of exercise. Hydration status is a critical determinant of your capacity to train, compete, and recover successfully; the more dehydrated you become, the more your performance will suffer. Unfortunately thirst is a poor indicator of dehydration – thirst tends to lag about one hour behind your body, so by the time you feel thirsty, your body is likely to already be dehydrated and your energy, work capacity and power output will have already begun to suffer. The key to maintaining your hydration levels and optimising your performance is to drink 1 to 1½L of water and electrolytes for every hour of exercise you do. Whilst drinking plain water helps to replace lost fluid, it is not the best solution for rehydration – you need to replace your electrolytes as well. Lack of electrolytes like sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium and chloride in the proper ratios may contribute to muscle dehydration. Dehydration will cause a build-up of lactic acid in muscles and will cause muscles to become fatigued and damaged, impairing your performance and recovery.
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Looking after your bicycle

Looking after your bicycle is essential to maintain optimum performance and to ensure that you get the most enjoyment out of your bike. All bikes should be serviced at least once a year by an experienced mechanic this will increase your bikes performance, safety and reliability and will prolong the life of your bicycle. In between services there is routinely maintenance that you can do yourself on your bike.

Daily Maintenance
Before heading out on a ride you should always :

• Check your tyres to ensure that they are inflated to the recommended pressure as marked on your tyres sidewall.
• Check your brakes to ensure that they are stopping efficiently
• Check your quick releases both front and rear to make sure they are in the closed position and tight enough to eliminate movement

• The brakes do not stop the wheel from spinning freely
• That the chain is lubricated and there are no squeaking sounds coming from the bicycle
• Lubricate moving parts such as the cables, levers, pedals if need be

• Inspect for damage
• Ensure that the seat post is still in the correct position and check that the seat post bolt is tight
• Clean the frame to reduce the chance of rust and corrosion

• Check the ends of the handlebars are plugged and the grip or tape doesn't move
• Inspect the head stem and ensure it is still tight
• Ensure your handlebars are tight by holding the front wheel with your knees and trying to turn them, tighten if need be

• Check the chain moves smoothly without sticking or jumping. If it is not running smoothly it may be damaged or worn if that is the case come in and see us and we will check the chain for you and recommend the best course of action

• Check that the gears are changing accurately and the cables are operating smoothly. If this is not the case then come in and see us and we asses the problem and recommend the best solution to get you back on your bike
• Clean the chain and rear cogs with a biodegradable degreaser
• Ensure the chain is totally dry before re-oiling

• Check the condition of the tyre - make sure there are no cuts and look for embedded glass or gravel. The valves should be 90 degrees to the rim
• Spin each wheel to check it is turning straight and true. If this isn't the case then bring it in to us and we will re-true the wheel for you.
• Check the wheels are affixed tightly and the hub cones aren't loose ( you can check this by seeing if the wheel is able to move from side to side)

• Check the brake pads for wear. Make sure that they are making good contact with the rim and are not touching the tyre
• Check the brake cables are not frayed

Keeping your drive train happy:

If you ride your bike, then your drive train is going to get dirty, even the cleanest of roads still have dust floating around that loves to stick to oiled chains. Keeping your drive train clean and in good condition will not only make you and your bike more efficient but it will also allow you to enjoy the ride more with silence and lack of mechanical issues.

Always ride with a well oiled chain; this will greatly reduce drag on your bike which will make your bicycle more efficient. A non lubed chain is going to wear out faster then a lubed chain as there is more metal to metal friction. If you ride your bike off-road, then consider buying yourself a chain cleaning kit such as those made by ‘Pedro’s’ and ‘Park’. These will make the job of cleaning your chain easy and quick. Also consider using a clean running lube, something such as ‘Rock N Roll’ actually cleans your chain while you ride by bringing the dirt away from the metal and brings it to the surface. A standard chain lube will also make your drive train run a little smoother and quieter as the oil creates a better lubricant; sadly the thicker oils are much more likely to attract dirt and will be higher maintenance to keep clean. When using a chain lube, a little goes a long way, aim to put about one drop of oil on each pin of the chain, using too much will just be a waste and will attract excess dirt and grit. Always wipe the outside of your chain clean after lubing.

There are two main types of lubes on the market – wet lube and a dry lube. The wet lube is for use in wet conditions where the lubricant is thicker and stickier to resist being wiped off from the wet environment. A dry lube is made for dry condition where it is generally dusty, a dry lube will not last very long in wet condition as they are usually very thin so as not to attract as much dust and dirt.

WD40 is not a lube! It’s extremely light oil that will just disappear quickly with use; very quickly you will be riding on a dry chain.

Getting your chain and sprockets checked for wear is also a good idea, a worn chain will cause wear to the rest of the drive train. A worn drive train will not shift as well, will likely ‘skip’, be noisy and very possibly break (such as a snapped chain).

Another tip to keeping your drive train happy is to try to avoid cross gears, cross gears are the extremes of your drive train, so the smallest cog at the back and the smallest cog at the front or the biggest cog at the back along with the biggest at the front, both these gear combinations put unneeded strain and wear on your drive train and should be avoided.
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