PRE-RACE RITUALS

THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUPERSTITION AND PREPARATION.  Today I did one of my pre-race rituals, it's the kind of thing I can't convince anybody to do with me...

... so it makes me question is it superstition or preparation?

What I do is go out and ride a course as similar as possible to the upcoming race and only work on my head.

In this case, the upcoming race is the Cactus Cup.  An MTB race.  In the desert.  With a lot of turns.  Carrying speed is going to be critical.

So, I went and rode some of the twistiest trails around.  

Didn't pound the climbs too much, just rode 'em at tempo.  But those downhills were all about being relaxed and going fast.

Results:  I'm getting super confident on the new MTB and snagged a number of PRs on challenging descents I've hit many times.

This is headwork, giving myself sensations of feeling fast.

I'll do that all week.  Not ride hard per se.  Just doing things that are confidence building...

... and all of it will be on my race bike...

... to further cement the good feelings and be hyper aware of any mechanical issues that need to be take care of.

I know other racer will ride hard right up to the end.  Others will take a bunch of time off.

Are we all preparing?
All superstitious?

Probably a little of both.

And I'm cool with that, because in the end it's just a bike race... and more than half the fun is figuring out what works.

One thing that works for sure is the KASK Protone helmet.

https://pedalindustries.com/collections/helmets/products/kask-protone?variant=33302071869572 

I really like this helmet.  It's light.  Fits great.  Has good ventilation.

And since it's Italian and the Giro is going on as I write this... well, there's a special promo code to save 20%.

The code is SUPERSTITIOUS.

It can be used on any helmet.

https://pedalindustries.com/collections/helmets

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160.2 lbs
StretchNRoll
7 hours sleep 
https://www.strava.com/activities/4177477050