PMC Tips #5: Pre-Ride
This week is the halfway point in my ten-part weekly series of hints, tips, pointers, and advice for other Pan-Mass Challenge charity riders. These are the things I've learned during more than a decade of participating in the PMC.
The full list of posts will be compiled and permanently available online at http://www.ornoth.com/bicycling/hints.php
Whether you're a first-timer or a longtime veteran, may you find these ideas useful, and I hope you have a wonderful PMC experience!
This week we look at the things you need to do leading up to the event: Pre-Ride Prep!
- Bring your bike into the shop for a tune-up 1-2 months before the ride. Not last minute.
- Avoid making any major changes to the bike or its fit in the final weeks before the ride.
- Taper your training the week before the ride. Do at most a couple *very* easy rides, just to keep your legs loose. It's nice to start the PMC well rested, with peak fitness and replenished desire to spend time in the saddle.
- Be sure to get plenty of sleep the days before the ride.
- Drink lots of water in the 48 hours before the ride, right up to the start. Start the ride a bit overhydrated.
- Clean and lube your bike and do a short, very easy shakedown cruise the day before the ride, just to make sure everything works and is ready to go.
- While you should eat well, you really don't need to overeat before the ride. Just be sure to eat something lowfat and low-fiber the morning of the ride, preferably an hour or two before the start.
- Some people make it a true pan-Massachusetts ride by riding from the NY border to Sturbridge on the Friday before the official ride. If you want to do this, do serious hill training, and contact one of those groups to ride with.
- When you check in to the event, immediately run to the restroom and try on your event jersey (and shorts, if applicable) to be sure they fit (sizing can change from year to year). If you need to exchange them, you can do so right there at registration.
- Catch the opening ceremonies Friday evening. Really. Usually Billy also gives a speech before the cameras go on-air. If you can't get into the (sweltering) auditorium, it's simulcast in an overflow tent behind the hotel, and on live television, as well.
Next week's topic: Packing.