Racing Warm ups, What do you do ?

[Pointydog]

Hi folks, What are your warm ups for road racing or criteriums ? I ask as I raced for the first time in a few years at Woodbridge Airfield on Saturday and absolutely broke my neck for the 1st few laps hanging on for grim bloody death. Me thinks I needed more time warming up. So what do you do ? Rollers, turbo, miles on the local roads, how long and at what intensity ? I only use a heart rate monitor and do not have access to a power mtr.

Thanks for any sugestions

 

[mr Mag00]

about half hour steady riding and 10 mins sprint 30 secs with recovery

 

[iLB]

nowhere near as much as mr.magoo

2 or 3 laps of the circuit, then hit the front in the first few laps to really get the blood flowing.

more important for me to do an hour or so the day before, steady with 2 or 3 race efforts/sprint, muscle memory etc...

the way i see it, everyone's in the same boat at the start warm up wise (especially if there was a race on the circuit right before yours starts) so everyone needs a while to get going, and it's unlikley that an attack from the off will stick

 

[Pointydog]

nowhere near as much as mr.magoo

2 or 3 laps of the circuit, then hit the front in the first few laps to really get the blood flowing.

more important for me to do an hour or so the day before, steady with 2 or 3 race efforts/sprint, muscle memory etc...

the way i see it, everyone's in the same boat at the start warm up wise (especially if there was a race on the circuit right before yours starts) so everyone needs a while to get going, and it's unlikley that an attack from the off will stick

 

[Pointydog]

Thanks for the replies guys. I am thinking about taking my turbo to the next meet and having half hour on that before kick off.
I appreciate that everyone is in the same boat at the start, but I am giving most if the field about 20 odd years ! And that is the difference between bolting off at the start and needing a few miles to get going.
I guess I am just getting on a bit at 45 to be writing about keeping up with bloody teenagers and their flash kit ;-)
Ahh, the joys of youth !

 

[montage]

Ride to the race if possible/not early in the morning
Otherwise, I need to be riding for around 30 mins with a short sharp sprint efforts and get my heart rate to at least 90% for a few seconds, just to get the system working. The few races I have been to however there is very little time to warm up, so I up the intensity of the warm up....especially if it is in the morning, as I find in the evenings, you have naturally warmed up more throughout the day. Still experimenting and might join you on the turbo option - but I always think those warming up on the turbo before a cat 3/4 race are under the same umbrella as those who wear livestrong bands .....might as well have "try hard w*nker" stamped accross their face

 

[montage]

Disclaimer: apologies to anybody who wears a livestrong band

 

[Pointydog]

Lol, I know what you mean. I may have to buy a van and put the turbo in the back then :-)

 

[Will1985]

If it's a static warm up, rollers for road racing, turbo for time trialling

Most riders in these parts will do about 4 laps of a 2km circuit, starting slowly and increasing the pace with a few sharp efforts on the main straight near the end.

 

[monnet]

I try to do a few miles on the local roads before the race - but in a 50+ mile road race the first 10 miles of the race are usually a good enough warm up for me. For crits I'll do a few laps, if possible. If not I'll go out on the nearby roads/ get on the turbo and do about 30-45 minutes with the aim to get the heart rate right up a couple of times.

I've lost count of the number of times I've turned up late, had no time to warm up for a crit and at 16 minutes (it's always 16 minutes!) my lungs feel like they're being riped through my mouth, my heart rate feels as if it's going at 20 bpm over the maximum (I don't wear an HRM in races) and I feel sick and think it's time to pack. What keeps me going is that I know I'll have recovered and found my rhythm by 25 mins in - pretty poor tactics though for an hour long race!

 

[cadseen]

I dont bother warming up for road races,

Some people are more effected than others though.

Maybe you need to also train at higher intensities as well so it wont be as much a shock.

 

[oldroadman]

Simple fact - the older you are the more warm up you need. Steady riding for 20 mins at a brisk pace - enough to get the blood/breathing going. Then a stop and some stretches (which no-one mentioned but are really essentila in preventing injury) and then a brisk 5 minutes followed by a set of flat out sprints, then easy 5 minites. All this for a crit, for a long road race you might cut back a little, but NEVER on the stretches. Some people like turbos, never bothered myself, but then, all the youngsters seem to have them, so times move on.