Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Part 10: Race day t ips for the winning edge How to be a MX Star By David Bailey with Thomas Scott 14 Over many success fu l years of m or ocross racing I've d evel oped a ro u tin e tha t I fo llow on ra ce dav, one which w ill g ive m e th e best edge possible. I I ~ke things 10 be as predictable as possi ble o n race day , and a ha phazard approach 10 ra cing wi ll neve r g ive yo u th e p ro p er atmosphere for a good performa nce . The fir st th in g 10 d o is to try 10 rernernber a b it a bou t th e track you 're going 10 - if yo u 've bee n th ere before - or talk to others who have raced th ere. Lea rn wher e the good p laces 10 eat a re ; ma ke sure you kn ow where 10 ge t br eak fast ea rly o n race da y, Fi nd OUI where th e bes t place 10 stay is n.ea resl. th e tra ck, a nd fin d a p lace 10 ri de pn or 10 th e race. Somet im es vo u ca n ride o n th e track befo re race Jay, so chec k th at out. T ry to be as prepared as possibl e th e week o f th e race. Whl'lher I'm ra cin~ a Nat ional or a supercross, I a l,,:ap tr y 10 duplicale m y re~u l ar s leep ll1~ pattern th at I use a t home, especia lly wh en I travel 10 differ enl tim e zones . At supercrosses, I 've seen many o f the riders mah' lh e mi slake o f ~oin~ 10 bed ea r ly the n i~ht before the ra ce. Th e main l've nt so metim es d oesn 't run until 10:30 or II :00 p.m., and th at's when the rid ers wh o went to bed early are ready for a nap! Th e ni ght before a s u percross, I like to sta y up late. pl a y a few vidro ~ames at th e hale! , a nd slee p in lal er in th e morn in~. That way I'm fresh a nd ready to go al m a in-event lime. At National s, th ere a ren ' t alwa ys accom m odatio ns cl ose 10 the race track , so you mi gh t end u p ge tti ng u p a 15:30 th e morn in g of the ra ce, Swi tch yo u r hou rs d uring th e week so th at yo u 're getti ng u p ear ly, so th at yo u' ll bl'.able to gel yo ur h ead in gear a nd ~ Iu n~ o n ra ce day . Keep a resta ura n t III mind th at opens ea rl y, because I' ve m ade th e mistake o f showing u p at a p la ce fo r breakfast that wasn ' t ope n . I end ed u p going wi th ou t breakfa st, a nd then yo ur nut rit io na l bal a nce isn ' t r! ~ h l fo r ra cing. Eat in g hab its are very importa n t. Don 't change your diet o n race day , ea t the same type of foods yo u 've bee n eati ng a ll week. One li me I all' poorly a ll week for br eakfast , Sluff lik e Inter nat ional H o use o f Pancakes stra w~erry wa ffles with wh ipped crea m . ~hen on race day. I d ecid ed 10 eiu n /-;hl: O atmeal w n h ba nanas, dry lOaSl, fresh s(!Ul'ezlod ora n/-;e j u ice a nd a g lass of Il1llk . You ' re bett er o ff 10 Slay wilh Whale\'er il is vo u' ve ea len a ll week, o r yo ur slo madi w ill Il'l \'OU kn ow aboul iI, like m in e did iha l m ~rnin g ! Your bod y ca n 'l la ke a qUi ck cha nge of fo od, bl' il bad 10 /-;ood or good 10 bad, so Sl ick wil h a rl'l~ul ar diel . hopefully o ne Ih al' s bl'lll'fi ci a l. When I'm in lawn l~lrl y, I Iikl' to l'a l my m eal s al lhe sa m l' n'Slaural1l, DIll' Ih al ha s m eals Ihal a g n 'l' wilh m e, ~f I ftol'l ~ood a fll'r ea li n~ 'a l a n 'rtalll place on Salu nla y, I know I won 'l han' an y p roblems in Ih at a rea o n Sunda y. Foll ow th e weath er fo recasts a few d ay s before th e ran', R id ers who d on't foll ow the weather wake up o n ran' day a nd lo o k OUI at the rain . and Ihey aren't prepared. More important tha n th at is vo ur a ni rude. If vo u wake up Su nday m o rning a nd ha~ln o idea it was ga in/-; 10 ra in , yo ur d a y is preuv much ruined righ t from th e start. It 's im porta n t 10 have a posilin' ou tlook, so if iI 'S going 10 be b u rn in/-; hal or wet a nd m uddy, you ca n prepare for th ose CO n(~i l i o n s . If ir's goi ng 10 be muddy , du nk abou t so me fu n lim es you've had in the m ud , and vo uT l find yo urself in a be tt er fr~lIill' of mi nd w hen th e rain h its, Bef ore yo u ' re a t t h e ra ce s , run thro ugh the rra rk la vo ut in vo ur m ind . Rem em ber o r as k others h o w th e track was prepared fo r practice. So m et imes promoters w ill ha ve the track spri n klers ~oi n/-; p rett y hea vy, a l.ld th ere w ill be big mud p uddles a t d ifferent SpOlS. It d oesn 't do vo u r a u irude m uch good 10 h it Olll: o f these p ud dl es in pra ctice a nd so a k yo ur hi ke a nd r idi ng gea r, so rrv 10 rem em ber wh ere th ese tro u ble spot s exist. F!freell or 20 minut es a fter p ra cri r tbeg in s, /-;0 ou t a nd take a lo ok at th e track . Lines. w ill s ta r~ setti ng u p by then , SO)'OU II ge t an idea of h ow th e tra ck will best he uuacked . You ca n he a step a head o f everyo ne else hy rem emberi ng wh ich lin es were bes t in th e seco nd m orn the last ti m e vo u were ,!t th e truck. If you G lII p ick' u p o n things IWO or th ree laps soo ner th an o thers. yo u ' ll hav e a n edge. If yo u ha ven't been 10 the trac k be fore , ge t a few d ifferen t opinions o n wh at th e tra ck is like. Sometimes, so m eo ne will tell m e a track is so lid sa nd , a nd wl;;:n I ~e t th er e it's ro ck ha r~1. T hi n k a bo u t th e sus pensio n setungs yo u' ll be needing. and sta rt o rga n izing you r tho ugh ts. G el 10 th e tra c k ea r ly so that vou gel a g ood parki ng space. Ge l Iairl v close 10 th e starti ng lin e, so th at yo u don 't 1 ve 10 r un through th e p i ts .la ever y li me you wa nt 10 see th e ra ci ng s~hl'(l ull' or w hen th ey post the qua li Iier fin ish es. T ry 10 pa rk fairl y close 10 th e rest rooms . You don ' I need 10 he h lking' th rough th e p it s 10 USl' th e bathrooms, a nd if vo u're l ike I a m yo u ne ed to /-;0 o nce o r tw ice r ig h ; before each ra ce. If yo u ca n pa rk wher e yo u ca n see a portion o f th e track , that 's good. Afte r your ra ce yo u ca n sit d own and rel ax a n d keep a n eye o n the tra ck 10 watch for ch anging co ndi tions a nd lin es. From th e sta'n o f p ractice o n, th e track will be ch a ngi ng. so pay a uenuon . Alwa ys wa tch o ther r id ers for th eir lin es, especia lly in practi ce. So me times I'll pu ll o ff the tra ck a nd wa tch , a nd I'll try 10 h ide myself a bit so th ey can' t see m e as easil y. Someti mes a nother top r ide r will take a n inside lin e o r jump some thi ng, a nd it will look so simp le yo u ca n' t be lieve you di d n't figure it o ut. If yo u hav e a section di al ed in fro m the sta rt o f th e m ot o , yo u' ll ha ve a def inite edge. Wal ch the gat e before th e ' first m ot o , so that yo u ' ll kno w ho w long th ey hold th e g<,te after th e turn the « Ird side ways . See if till' ~atl' man is co ns iste nt with hi s timin/-;, so IIlat .yo u ' ll kn ow how lo ng yo u' ll have to h ~) lu yo ur clu tch a fter yo u put yo u r 11Ike III gea r. Mah' sure yo u kn ow where yo u walll 10 sia n from' on Ihl' gall', so that you 'll han' the b('sl chance possibll' of m ak in/-; it to th e ' first turn in thl' Il'ad , I take all o f Ihl 'Sl' approadll's 10 ran' day pl'l'paration anu sort lhem o u t into a likst yk lha l Sl'l'ms co g ive ml' an advantagl' onT m ost of the co m pe titi o n , T h i. king a heau to yo u r n da r at lhe "In's WIll hdp you focus o n dOlllg th e besl yo u ca n Whl'Ill'\'('r vou m OIO

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