2. Pre-race ritual, warm-up, food, etc.?
STEPHEN CUMMINGS: Amazing espresso from our hosts’ Super Automatic machine. Bagels with peanut butter and honey and raisins, a bit of dark chocolate before the start and a Hammer gel. I pre-rode the course for 3 laps and sat on a trainer to stay warm for about 20 minutes before the race.
MATTHEW PARSE: Food: Egg McMuffin from McDonalds. It is a gotta have for me. Warm-up: I keep it short. I like to spin for about 15-20 minutes than I get on the course and try to do one hard lap to figure out how fast I can take the corners.
KRISTOPHER AUER: Sunday, well Beer and Wine on Saturday night followed by a very late arrival 30 minutes before the start. I had a donut and a giant cup of coffee.
WESTON SCHEMPF: Get to race 2-3 hrs before to register, and help teammates in the pit if necessary. Get kitted up and do a couple laps on the course. Jump on the trainer about an hour or so before my race. Eat something significant 2 hrs before, drinking water or Gatorade up to the start and a gel 30 mins. before race time.
JOE LILLIBRIDGE: Pre Race Ritual-Kashi cereal, fruit cup, and raisins for breakfast 3 hours before the race. Power Bar 45 minutes before race. Warm Up every race by doing some easy intervals 35 minutes before the race and getting in a fast pre-ride of the course in if I have time.
PAUL RADES: Never got warm, despite my best efforts reconning the course.
IAN MATHIAS: I try to show up pretty early, mostly because I like hanging out and not feeling rushed. Nothing crazy though … just drinking lots of water, pre-riding the course, and some trainer time before the start. Usually the more I think or stress, the more I screw up.
GREG FABER: Not much of a ritual, but definitely hit the port-o-john to achieve race weight. Warm-up consisted of dropping wheel in the pit and riding the course once. Pre-race food was bagel with cream cheese a ton of coffee and Gatorade, then 2 power-gels and a red bull right before the race.
JIM CARLSON: Eat a good breakfast (oatmeal, protein bar, banana) 4 hours before race time. Then do a GU on the start line. Get to course at least 2 hours before start to get numbers on and everything sorted out so that you can get at least an hour of warm-up riding in. Try to do at least one or two laps on the actual course to check out all the lines, best tires to use, prepare mentally, etc. The best final warm-up is on a rear wheel trainer for the last half hour, with 2 or 3 hard 1-minute intervals to get your legs ready.
LINDSEY HILLESHEIM: My typical pre-race ritual was out the window as I was in charge of setting up and staffing registration on race day. I did get in my typical race breakfast (Greek yogurt, honey, granola and coffee) though.
