So this past Saturday I took part of the 1st round of the Danish Enduro Championship, and if you want to see what that looked like, then here’s the 2 YouTube videos I made from the race:
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In retrospect there’s a lot of things I would have done different but I clearly didn’t think too much going into this race. So here’s my 3 lists of things I would have done differently / need to improve, for next race:
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The Obvious Rookie Mistakes:
- Salt & Magnesium tablets
- I normally take them 7 days before a hard day on the bike. I didn’t for this race and I had cramps in my shin muscles. Maybe I would’ve had cramps anyways, who knows. But next time: Take the supplements.
- My Camelbag sucked
- I gave away my good camelbag to a friend and used my “touring” camelbag for the race. It has a really nice mouth piece that seals with a click-cap and it’s fine for just cruising or casual riding. But for the race it was near impossible to open it with one hand. Also, due to my bulky chest&back protector, my backpack was too tight over the chest and made it so hard to get the tube out for drinking. I’d say I lost roughly 1-2 minutes during the whole 2h46m race from fiddling with the mouth piece and who knows how much time in lost time due to dehydration. Not sure about the dehydration thing, but I’m pretty sure I would have drinked more had I had easier access.
- Have an extra camelbag ready to go in the pits
- With that being said, I shouldn’t ride with a 3 liter bladder. Next race: ride with a 1 liter bladder and have another one ready to swap in the pits.
- Have a quick snack ready to go in the pits
- A bit over halfway in, I started feeling really hungry and I did actually eat a lot before the race. My friend, whom I lend my camelbag to, told me afterwards that I should add protein powder to my smoothie, so next time: protein powder in the smoothie.
- Fresh rubbers
- I preach it when I coach and should know better but I was on a borrowed bike and didn’t care much to change everything for one race. But for next time: fresh grips, tires and make sure the seat cover is grippy. Everything else robs you of energy.
- Better goggle setup
- I ended up using old scratches goggles because they were the only ones with tear off. That meant shit vision in the forest and reflections of the sun on the open fields. Plus the didn’t sit well in my helmet. So for next race: fresh goggles.
What My Body Told Me:
- Sore knees
- Both my knees started hurting like never before roughly 1,5 – 2 hours in. I guess I’m getting old and not used to so many ups and downs. The soreness wasn’t due to a crash or an old injury. So I guess I’m just weak and need to train my knees, somehow.
- Lower back pain afterwards
- As per since I was born, hard work like this kills my lower back. Not so much during the race, but afterwards I feel like a 100 year old man. Solution: Get a new back or make the one I have better.
- Cramps
- Like I already mentioned, I had a bit of cramps in my shin muscles and later at night at home, laying in bed editing video, I had massive thigh and calf cramps in the other leg as well as cramps in my 2 smallest toes in both feet.
- Blister
- Just 1 blister on my right hand. Could be much worse. I guess the fast and technically easy track made it easy on my hands.
- Groin soreness
- I already had problems with my groin and it didn’t feel better afterwards. Have to try to avoid overworking my groin in general.
And All The Other Stuff:
- I need a pit tent to give my tools and stuff shelter for bad weather.
- I should have brought my table to lay out my stuff so it’s ready and easy to get my hands on.
- I need an exercise that helps me prevent cramps when going up or down super deep ruts and holding my legs out in the air statically for a long time.
- I should have installed my Quick Fill thingy for the gas can.
- I should have mounted my GoPro on the handlebar, instead of the chest harness, and hooked it up to the battery of the bike. And a huge memory card.
- I need a wheelbarrel or similar to transport my stuff to the pits.
- I should have brought my yoga mattress for stretching
- I should have brought flip flops for my wet feet
- I should bring a mountainbike for warming up before the race
- I need a gimball for my Fuji
- I need a Gorilla tripod for my Fuji
- I need a flip screen camera for the vlogging
Those were my reflections after the race, I’ll check in after the next one and hopefully the list is full of more advanced reflections!
/ PB