Staying loose during racing?

First, train like youre racing. Meaning when getting into race form do whole full out runs for a seizable part of your training regimen. Its hard to be relaxed while riding race pace, because it is quite the opposite. So a part is getting used to race pace.

Second, race moar. It takes a couple of years, 6-8 according to my anecdotal experience and expertise, to become a good racer.

Smile in your helmet and hum a fun song. Really.

There is no loose during a DH race IMO. Its a stressful event. You're going 100%, adrenaline pumping, using almost every muscle in your body. Quite opposite of relaxed.
I try to talk to myself thru my race to encourage myself to stand up, pedal, calm down some, etc.
The biggest thing that has helped my hands is making sure my levers are set up correctly, not using a death grip, and having good diameter grips that fit your hand well. Some of that arm pump goes away as your body conditions to it. But making sure you are well hydrated (not caffiene drinks, they hurt you severely) and eating GOOD whole foods helps your body assimilate nutrients, water, and oxygen thus creating better output.
Its not as easy as everyone thinks. DH has truly become a fitness required sport.
Good luck and have fun.

beer.

On the offtopic of arm pump and hand fatigue.

For me http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials/tutorials/50 does the trick. It feels amazing when you can do 15 minute descents without fatigue again.

StabprimoMonkee said:

On the offtopic of arm pump and hand fatigue.

For me http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials/tutorials/50 does the trick. It feels amazing when you can do 15 minute descents without fatigue again.

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So, removing calluses is all it took?

Is there a different tutorial you're talking about?

Ask Gary, JD, Myles, Missy, or that Canadian snowboarder.

Just don't win any big races and you should be okay.

Here are a couple of things I do before my race run.

Stretch. I stretch my hands, chest, back and shoulders, because if they tense up, I have unprecise steering. Forearms are a biggy, since it'll help preventing getting arm pump.

Warm Up. Jump up and down, jog a short distance and pedal on the bike at least 10 - 15 minutes before your run.

Visualize. Take a couple of minutes to relax, close your eyes and visualize the track, making sure your hitting all your brakeing points and your head and eyes are following through.

Calm down, take deep breathes.

and most of all, remember your there to have fun, its you against the clock, don't think about other riders, just think about have a good race down and having fun while your at it.

If you tense up during your run, try starting off easy and picking up the pace as you go through your run. Some ppl rush out and get hurt or tense up way to fast, if you cant deal with it, make sure you start going faster whilst your riding down, then you should be fine. Hope it helps!

StabprimoMonkee said:

On the offtopic of arm pump and hand fatigue.

For me http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials/tutorials/50 does the trick. It feels amazing when you can do 15 minute descents without fatigue again.

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i just use side cutters.

also, you need to do a lot more than remove callouses to beat arm pump.

Beer + play around on the bike before the race.

also, you need to do a lot more than remove callouses to beat arm pump.

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I said arm pump and hand fatigue. I had massive hand fatigue problems which led to arm pump. Now I remove calluses and there is no more hand fatigue leading to arm pump for me. So for me that was all it took.

What I'm hoping to get advice on is relaxing my body (or mind) so that I don't get that tense/locked up...then I can ride like I do in practice and have appropriate control.

I like the idea of going at race pace...I don't think I did that at all this weekend, just kind of rode sections piecemeal then put it together....hmmmm....

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Its not just this weekend. You need to start doing it pre-season. Downhill racing is one of the more demanding sports out there. A full out race run will put you into 90%+ heart rate regime for 4-6 minutes. Theres no tips for relaxation here - everything we can tell you is get prepared bitch. Because doing 400m sprint pace for 5 minutes will hurt. Maintaining perfect focus in this anaerobic hell is damn hard.

Of other sports of similar demands - figure skating comes to mind.

So for your problem there is no quick listen to some buddhistic chanting type solution. You need to build a good base and start doing some interval trainings - while also riding simulated race runs as a form of interval training.

And it will still hurt. It hurts Gee, it hurts Sam and it hurts Aaron. They are just trained to perform in body regime that is called anaerobic hell.

Edit: some actual advice http://www.sealfit.com/page/index.php?menu=homepage&page=articles&display=article&hide&id=1741

I start with a warm up ride around near the start gate. Then when I get in line, I talk to the people in line. When in the start gate, I talk to the timing guy. This is all to keep my mind from thinking about most difficult section.

While racing, make moto sounds.

As far as arm pump, you need to conciously not death grip the bar. Riding a lot or riding MX helps.

Refer to Cedric for the best tips on avoiding prerace nerves. He would be screwing with people up until 5 seconds before go time.

For whatever reason the closer I get to the gate the more relaxed I was. I would always be super nervous right when I woke up the day of a race. By the time I get in the gate I'm super loose and looking forward to the run. I just always remembered that we are just a bunch of weekend warriors having fun on our bikes.

do you do 1-2 practice laps then just sit around for a few hours? if so, spin a couple fun and mellow laps thru the day on a different run, just to stay fresh and loose.

Warm up completly before your run. In practice most people don't do top to bottom at 100%. Deep breathes to "attempt" to settle your head. Ive been racing for 10 years and still tweak out in the gate!

Warming up is crucial. Get a trainer, slap an old bike on it, and get in a proper, graduated warmup prior to the race run.

I've made the mistake of not warming up this year, and the results are legs of concrete halfway down the course.

Ok I have Two tips that come from personal experience
Don't put too much pressure on yourself to perform... just think of your race run as a normal run down the hill chasing your buddies (just with a few more sneaky pedal strokes etc here and there). I allways wondered why i was nervous as F**K at local races but at larger national races was relatively calm (and did relatively better too). I figured out that i was kinda expecting myself to be "on the box" at every local race (hence the self inflicted pressure) but at nationals I was just happy for a top 10 in my class (so no pressure = more relaxed = better results)
Right my second one may sound REALLY random but I found my riding much more relaxed and playful/flowy if i chewed gum before and sometimes during my run, I think this stopped me from clenching my jaw which relaxed my neck- shoulders-spine etc etc. (try it now try relaxing your neck while clenching your jaw). Random I know but it works for me

ChrisKring said:

While racing, make moto sounds.

Refer to Cedric for the best tips on avoiding prerace nerves. He would be screwing with people up until 5 seconds before go time.

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Bingo:
I've posted that before, but still worth posting again. I try to take it to a new level and screw with the crowd DURING my race run. Just don't take racing seriously until you are comfortable a feel loose. Play other competitive sports too. Years of pitching in baseball and doing musical performances help you get over your nerves.

Everything above is great advice. Preparation is definitely key...I come from a pretty flat part of the UK (near london) where tracks are no longer than like a minute and a half, and so when I moved to Scotland for university it was a pretty big shock to the system.

I was always told by friends when we sectioned that I looked rapid, but I'd always bottle it on a race run (or any full run for that matter). It sounds pretty obvious but I just needed to do more full runs, as no matter how physically fit/unfit you are, you need a mental fitness of a kind to be able to ride for that length of time at your top level of ability. The only way to achieve it is by repetition, repetition, repetition. When you're out at the weekend or whatever (please don't ever call them training rides), start the day with a full run (time yourself, get some kind of timing device if you don't have one), section a bit and have some fun, then do a couple of full runs at the end of the day and time yourself again. Sometimes when I time myself I like to visualise myself in the start gate and try and replicate it all of the nerves that come with it. If you can get your body and mind used to race conditions, it'll be exactly the same come raceday and you'll know what to do.

Coming back to the timing element, it is an invaluable tool for getting quicker. It's no use hitting a section a few times and thinking "Yeah that definitely felt smoother.", as it's irrelevant whether you thought it was quicker or not. Again this all sounds obvious, but it's made a huge difference to my racing putting it into practice.

The last thing I find that helps me come raceday is how you practice the track on the saturday and sunday morning. On the saturday (having walked the track and got an idea of your lines), have a super chilled out run from top to bottom, noting how your lines turned out. Spend the rest of the morning having more average paced runs and make sure everything works. Then by the afternoon, do at least 1 (preferrably 2) absolutely flat out runs. When I say flat out I mean 100%, as fast as you can go without binning it. Pedal out of every corner etc etc. Sunday morning, have another full run or two (as long as you don't tire yourself out) at like 95%, then as mentioned above keep yourself warmed up between practice and race time, and warm up before you're called to the gate. Keep visualising your practice runs in your head, picture yourself hitting all your lines at top speed, having the smoothest, cleanest and fastest run possible. When you're called to the gate, take some deep breaths, chat to people in the queue and let your mind go blank. Pedal out of the start gate and have some fun...don't distract yourself too much or you'll lose focus.

Hope that helped. Good luck at the races!

Practice like your racing and race how you practice.

Corny? Maybe, but as far as mantra's go I think this is the racers gospel. I say it to myself often, and its always the first advice I give anyone.

My best results I had (2 times 9th in Nationals in Elite class), when I didn't really wanted to race and just started to bring down my racerun to head home afterwards.

Was totally relaxed and didn't gave 100%, just flowing down the track staying smooth. Maybee the biggest difference was, that I didn't overshoot every single section as I normaly did in my raceruns.

As I always say to the young guns: "99% is faster then 110%!"