Mountain Bike Stage Race Checklist

Being a bit of a forgetful sort, and with the biggest stage race of my life looming, I thought that I had better get down to making a checklist that I can work from.

In little over a week I am going to be starting my first ever joberg2C stage race. It is a 9-day marathon that takes us 'down the hill', from the outskirts of Johannesburg, to the seaside; the fine holiday destination of Scottburgh.

Several months of training and preparation are now behind me and I would be horrified to find, on the day of the start (or any time else during my 9 days of adventure) that I was missing something vital.

The Checklist

To prevent this I have drawn up a mountain bike stage race checklist. My checklist consists of the following:

Personal Kit List: a list of all the personal items you will need, from you casual cloths to your toothbrush;

Ride Kit: all the clothing items that are important for all-out ride enjoyment, no matter what the weather;

Ride Hardware: all the things that are important during your ride, especially shoes, helmet and gloves. (I have actually forgotten my shoes once before!);

First Aid: Most stage races require riders to carry some first aid items. I have also included medication that can, in the opinion of mountain bikers I know, address all the aches and pains that one accumulates after days of riding;

Consumables: Stuff that you are going to need a lot of, depending on the conditions. Includes chain lube, CO₂ bombs and so forth;

Bike Spares: Parts for your bike that, should something go wrong, you will need. Think brake pads, tires and the like;

Nutrition: Your race drinks, recovery drinks and more;

Nice-to-have’s: Other things that sometimes make a difference.

That puts together the items that I must have in order to, barring fitness problems, get to the end successfully.

However, another crucial aspect of completing a stage race is making sure that you eat enough of the right stuff at the right time. As such, I have also included a section on how to manage your nutrition during the race, and how to carbo-load in the run up to the race. I used ideas provided by a great local supplier of nutrition of all kinds, Pace and Power.

Follow this link to download the Mountain Bike Stage Race Checklist.

I would appreciate feedback. Let me know if I have missed anything important or obvious.