Why did Mikkel Bjerg ride the World’s time trial course for 10 days straight before his race? To know the course like the back of his hand.
Course Recon Part I:
Preparing for a race is easy, right? You just stick to the basics:
– Training: nail your 5×5-minute intervals on Wednesday
– Nutrition: lay out your oatmeal ingredients the night before, and have your favorite flavor of energy gel exactly 15 minutes before the start of your race
– Psychology: being prepared to dig deeper than you ever have before
– Superstitions: wear your lucky socks, tighten the rear skewer first, and the “Post-a-Potty turkey”…
You got this.
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What I’ve found over the past few seasons is that there is a HUGE component of race preparation that most people are missing: course recon. Course recon can be the key to your success, or it can be the reason for your failure.
The importance of course recon can largely depend on the type of event you are racing – your performance in a technical crit, hilly road race, cyclocross race, or time trial can be hugely impacted by your knowledge of the course. On the other hand, a flat, 4-corner crit needn’t more than a lap or two of pre-ride to figure out where the potholes and manhole covers are.
During pre-ride (i.e. course recon) – especially for technical crits and cyclocross races – you need to find, what I like to call, the critical points of the course: where is the peloton (field of riders) strung out? Where does it bunch up? Where do riders attack? Where are the best places to move up? And what are the best lines through each corner? (Hint: watch the best/most experienced riders in the corners).
Road races are different. A flat, 25-mile loop in the Midwest rarely necessitates course recon; pay attention to weather conditions instead (WIND!) – These are much more likely to affect the outcome of the race than a 20-foot roller. On the other hand, a road race on a 90-mile loop with three major climbs and 50+ mph descents necessitates course recon, especially if you want to win.
Part II discusses my experience at the 2018 Redlands Cycling Classic – a direct application of these principles of course recon. I was able to learn from my mistakes, use my newfound knowledge, and race with confidence.