- In riding a sportive or a Gran Fondo
like the Maratona dles Dolomites for example,
you're gonna be pushing your body to its very limits.
So, riding blindly into it without so much as a plan
isn't a very good idea.
- Conversely, just having some simple strategies in place
is going to help ensure you get the most out of yourself
and make the whole day a lot more memorable
for all the right reasons.
- Definitely.
- Getting your pacing right is absolutely crucial
if you don't want to run out of energy,
hit the wall or bonk towards the end
or even worse still not make it to the finish line at all.
So, don't get drawn into racing,
particularly early on in the event
or even making sure that you stick with a group
that's actually going slightly too fast
for your own comfort.
And actually that's quite easy to do
when you're riding around with loads of other people.
- It certainly is and it will actually require
a fair degree of self-discipline to do this
because it may actually feel that you're backing off
just a little bit too much
but stick with it,
and for the first half or two thirds of the event
ride well within yourself,
and then when you're feeling good
pick up the pace towards the end.
- By all means though go in with a group
that is of a similar ability to you.
Sharing the workload on the front
will help you to save energy
when you're sitting behind the wheels.
Just make sure you're not too enthusiastic
by doing too much on the front.
- Most sportives will have some degree of climbing,
and if you're attempting the Maratona for example,
there'll be 4,230 metres of vertical ascent
in the long events.
- So, as you can see measuring your efforts
on the climbs is going to be crucial,
so you should start each and every one steadily
and well within your own capabilities.
Also, make sure that you use your gears
until you're at the point
where you're at a reasonably comfortable cadence,
and at a tempo that is sustainable in the long term.
And finally, as we said before,
make sure that you're not tempted
to try and follow faster riders.
All this is going to do is lead you
to going into the red and into oxygen debt
which is really hard to recover from.
You might want to drop back a bit there.
- Sorry, mate.
Now, a good tip to help break the climb down mentally
is to focus on a point up the road
about three or 400 metres,
say a landmark, a tree or a sign or something,
and work within yourself to that point
before refocusing on another point
further up the climb.
It really does work.
You're not going to be able to execute your other strategies
if you don't get your fueling right.
So, first up, especially if you're using energy products
never use something new on the day of your sportive.
Make sure that your digestive system is comfortable
well before your event.
- Yeah, so onto the strategy itself.
It is quite a good idea to increase
your intake of carbohydrates in the last couple of days
leading up to your event.
That way you'll ensure that you maximise
your glycogen stores which are gonna give you
a bit of extra endurance on the day.
And in terms of the breakfast on the morning of the event
you want to keep it fairly light if possible.
No fat and a good example of this is cereals,
porridge, toast and fruit.
- The aim of the day is try and keep hold
of as much fuel as possible,
a tough call as we burn fuel when riding, quicker
than we can take it in and process it.
So, little and often is the key.
A carbohydrate electrolyte mix in your bottle
is a good idea
as you'll be hydrating at the same time
as taking in fuel.
A rough guide, temperature dependent of course,
is to consume one 750ml bottle of carbohydrate mix
and one piece of food per hour.
This will give you around 90g of carbohydrates
which is about as much as your digestive system can process.
- It can be very easy to get overawed
at the rather challenging task at hand,
especially if it's one of your first-ever events,
and even more so if it's particularly hilly
or mountainous, so rather than think of the entire event,
which can be very daunting,
try and break it down in your mind
into bite-sized chunks.
- Yeah, great way to do this
is to study in detail the entire route
before you actually start the event,
and you can even make a handy little map
with small parts at set distances
that you can tick off in your mind as you go,
so they could be feed zones,
or maybe the tops of climbs etc.
That way each one of those points
is going to feel like a mini achievement
as you gradually wind your way to the finish.
- Well, good luck putting those strategies into action,
and let us know how you got on in your event
in the comments section down below.
And if you haven't already,
you can click on the globe
and that way you won't miss another video.
- Now, as well as getting your strategy right
on the day of the event and two days previous,
you also want to make sure
that you're preparing yourself well on the lead up,
so in the bottom corner in that direction
are five killer training sessions for sportives,
or if you want a step-by-step plan
for the Maratona dles Dolomites
you can find that video just down here.
- And don't forget to give this video a thumbs up too.