In this week’s Training Guide, GFNY Coach Christian talks about the benefits of planning hydration and nutrition to minimize or eliminate stops.

All GFNY events offer fully-stocked aid stations, where you can refill water bottles, grab food, and take a moment to recharge.

However, if you’re battling for the front group and racing hard, you may find your competition isn’t going to stop at many or any aid stations, and instead will speed by. If you aren’t prepared to last the entire race, you’ll be put in a tough dilemma: stop and refuel, yet lose the lead peloton (you won’t make it back!). Or, continue on, risking a bonk or dehydration because you don’t have enough fuel to last the entire race.

Either way, things aren’t going to end well. This is a perfect example of why preparation is key. Let’s take a look at how easy it can be to make it through the whole race with no or minimal stops, and how to prepare for this crucial part of staying with the leaders.

Consider the Course

The most important factor when you consider stopping vs not stopping is the course. First, the topography. During hilly events the peloton will break up and you’ll be riding solo or in small groups. Here, stopping isn’t as damaging, because you aren’t losing the draft of the peloton.

On the other hand, during flat races, with fast-moving and large pelotons, stopping can end your day in the leading group. If the peloton is moving at 25 mph or higher, even a quick stop will make it impossible for you to get back on.

If you’re targeting a top result at flat, fast races like GFNY Sebring or GFNY Cozumel, we strongly suggest being prepared for the full distance.

Even if the event you’re planning for is too long or too hot to complete without stopping, cutting down on your total number of stops can make a big difference in your overall time. You can follow the same guidelines below, and choose to stop once at the most strategic point on the course.

Plan Your Nutrition

Hopefully, you’ve already read our on-the-bike nutrition guide. If not, please do, as understanding the basics of sport nutrition is key for your performance.

As a refresher, remember that we’re aiming to target between 60-100 grams of carbohydrate per hour during long races. Larger or more powerful riders should be in the higher half of this range, so if you’re aiming to make the front group of a GFNY race, you are definitely a candidate for the 80-100 grams per hour range.

This should be divided between calories consumed in your sports drink (which for a variety of reasons is better than just drinking water) as well as through gels, bars, and other food.

Carry Enough Fluid

In-race nutrition typically divides into two categories: the first being fluid, the second being food (which includes gels, bars, and all other food).

In mild-to-moderate conditions, shooting for around 500-750 ml ml of fluid per hour is a good goal. By using large 1000 and 750 ml water bottles, you should be able to handle 3 hour efforts without stopping.

If the weather is warmer or you’re a heavy sweater, you can also consider using a hydration pack to carry extra fluid. There are plenty of sleek, aerodynamic and lightweight hydration packs on the market that will let you easily carry plenty of extra fluid. The extra weight will make almost no difference in a flatter event, and you’ll easily have enough fluid to survive warm temperatures.

More simply, you can start with a third bottle tucked in your jersey. The extra weight is a small penalty.

Carefully Plan Your Food

On top of fluid, you’ll want to carry enough food to last through the race. This is easier to manage than fluid, since food takes up less space and weighs less. However, it still requires some good planning.

As we mentioned above and in our on-bike nutrition guide, you’ll want to be targeting 80-100 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Pre-race, you’ll want to have done the math and sorted out what food you’ll be taking, being sure to also count the calories you’re carrying in your water bottles.

However, it always pays to carry a bit extra. You don’t want a dropped gel or bar to be the reason you bonk in the final of the race. So be sure to pack an extra bar and a few extra gels just in case.

Wrapping Up

Planning to be able to get through events without stopping is key if you hope to make the front group and compete for the win. That’s especially true during shorter, flatter and faster events, where others will be prepared to not stop, and where the high speeds and large pelotons make catching up impossible. With just a bit of planning, you’ll be prepared to make it through the entire race without bonking or becoming dehydrated.

In-race nutrition is a key aspect of performance, so if you still aren’t confident in what you need, be sure to check out or in-race nutrition guide here, and all of our other articles on training here.

Racing in windy conditions is one of the best tests of a cyclist’s ability that there is. To race strongly in the wind takes a complete cyclist. Physically, it requires a bit of everything: sustaining high power outputs for long periods, explosive efforts to close gaps or follow attacks, endurance to repeat those efforts over and over again until the finish of the race.

But wind racing isn’t just physical, it’s extraordinarily technical too. It requires knowledge of how to react depending on what direction the wind is coming from, how to ride in pacelines and echelons, and how to gain or maintain position in the peloton.

Finally, it’s a real mental challenge, too. Racing in the wind requires an athlete to be ‘switched-on’ at all times, ready for the next corner, crosswind section, or split in the peloton. One moment of relaxation can see you dropped or left with a hard effort to catch back on.

GFNY has plenty of events on the calendar where wind can make the difference in the race. Oceanside events in Cozumel and Mazatlan, races across the plains of Uruguay, and many other GFNY competitions will tax your mental and physical fortitude through hard, windy racing. To be successful at these races, it’s important to understand how to race in the wind.

Racing in the wind can take some experience, and you can’t learn it all simply from reading an article. But knowledge is the first step, so today you’re going to take a big step towards understanding how to race in the wind.

Wind Direction

First, it’s important to understand the differences between headwinds, crosswinds, and tailwinds.

It’s also important you understand that the way wind impacts you on a solo ride isn’t the same way it will impact a peloton during a race.

Finally, we want you to understand the different drafting formations, and which are ideal to use in different scenarios.

Headwinds

Headwinds may be the bane of many cyclists when they’re riding solo, but in windy races, they’re actually the easiest part of the race. Headwinds mean that the riders sitting on the wheels get a huge benefit from drafting, and therefore they have the effect of canceling out attacks. If you’re in the group in a headwind, it’s not wise to attack or to try to split the group.

In a rotating paceline, each rider only touches the front of the group for a few seconds before peeling off to one side. This creates a constant flow, with one line being the advancing line and the other the retreating line. Every rider contributes to the pace, but only has to be in the wind for a short time before an extended period of recovery.

In this picture, the left side is the advancing line, while the riders on the right are going backwards before rejoining the advancing line when they arrive to the back.

The best drafting formation to use in headwinds is a rotating paceline. This is because the riders in front are doing much more work than the riders resting on the wheel. Therefore, the best use of your energy is very short, fast pulls at the front before pulling off to let the next rider through. The constantly rotating nature of the double paceline means that the only time you’re in the wind is during the 10 or so seconds you’re on the front. This lets your group conserve energy and maximize speed.

Tailwinds

Tailwinds speed the group up, but they also cancel out some of the effect of the draft. This means tailwinds in a race situation are actually harder than headwinds. They can be a good place to attack and split the group, but it’s still fairly difficult to do so.

In a single paceline, one rider spends an extended period of time on the front before pulling off and retreating to the back. The principal advantage of a single paceline over a double is that riders can adjust the speed and length of their pulls, letting the stronger riders contribute more.

In a tailwind you can use either a single paceline or a double paceline. Since the difference in effort between those pulling and those sitting on is less than in a headwind, a single paceline can be a viable strategy. This lets stronger riders take longer pulls and keep the speed high. However, in the case of an evenly-matched group or a large one, a double paceline can still be an excellent strategy.

Crosswinds

Ah, crosswinds! Crosswinds are to flat races what climbs are to mountainous races: the decisive points that will split the group and let the strongest show their legs. They also require a lot of technique, and if you haven’t mastered riding in echelons, you will struggle.

An echelon is a paceline, typically a double paceline, angled to one side to provide riders shelter from crosswinds. The sheltered riders ride both slightly behind and to the side of the rider in front, instead of directly behind him.

An echelon always points the direction of the wind, so in this case the echelon aims to the right to manage a crosswind coming from the right side.

In a normal drafting situation, you’re trying to hide from the wind created by the speed of the group. When the wind comes from the side, the ideal place to sit in the draft actually moves to the side of the rider in front of you, where you have some shelter from the crosswind and some shelter from the wind speed generated by your riding speed.

As you see in the picture above, the echelon is a rotating paceline which is running at an angle. The goal is to shelter from the wind, so if the wind is coming from the right, the leading portion of the echelon should be on the right, and vice versa.

An echelon should almost always be a double-paceline. Without that, the retreating riders waste too much energy. The only exception is if you’re in a very small group, or if not many riders are working. In that case, the echelon can be set up as a single paceline.

Within the category of crosswinds, we have different levels. Cross-headwinds will allow riders who echelon correctly to drop riders not in the echelon, but in the echelon itself riders will be well sheltered. In strong direct crosswinds or cross-tailwinds, things become very difficult, and even using a correct echelon formation, your legs will feel it.

The two riders in yellow and black helmets that we can just barely see are doing a good job of drafting in a crosswind, assuming the wind is coming from the rider’s left: behind but slightly to the right of the lead rider.

Sheltered Areas

Even on windy days, certain features like buildings, forests and hills can provide shelter from the wind. These areas eliminate the possibility of crosswinds and even disrupt the force of head or tailwinds. During windy races, it’s key to look for these points. When you’re suffering in the wind, arriving in a sheltered area can provide the chance to move up or recover. And in a sheltered area before a windy section, it’s the literal calm before the storm: one last chance to prepare for what’s coming.

A thickly wooded section at GFNY Cozumel provides a respite from the wind. Sections like this are the perfect time to eat, drink, recover, and then get positioned for the next windy section.

Positioning

Positioning is absolutely key during windy racing, especially during crosswind sections. If you get stuck behind an echelon, you’re what we call ‘in the gutter’-riding all the way at the edge of the ride, struggling to find some draft that isn’t there. Usually you’ll be dropped, if the pace stays high, and you’ll be forced to find another group to ride with. So before crosswind sections, it’s key to find a position at the front of the group. Use headwind, crosswind, and sheltered sections to find this position before making a turn or emerging from shelter into a crosswind.

In competitive situations, you won’t be the only rider who knows they need to be at the front. You might find much of the group races hard to arrive at the crosswind section at the front, so you’ll need to be on your toes.

In these situations, it’s key to time your effort correctly. If you spend all your gas to move up 5 km before the crosswind, you may find fresher riders come over the top with 500 meters to go. On the other hand, if you get caught all the way at the back, you won’t have enough time to move up last-minute. It’s a good strategy to ride about 20 riders back from the front of the peloton, and then aim to move up into the top 5 or 10 riders just before the crosswind starts.

Lastly: Prepare Mentally and Physically

Windy races are taxing mentally and require your brain to be working all the time. It’s key that you are always thinking of your next move: move up for the crosswind, ride efficiently in the echelon, recover and eat and drink in the headwind or sheltered section. Each section of the course offers a different set of things to focus on.

In your preparation for racing in the wind, do your best to seek out training that challenges you mentally as well as physically. Group rides or training races are key for this; it’s not a good idea to head to a windy race off of purely solo training. Even if where you live doesn’t have much wind, large group rides will challenge your bunch-riding skills and exercise you mentally in similar ways. If you don’t have crosswinds, practice moving around the peloton efficiently and learn to move up just before hills, turns, or hard sections of the ride. These same skills will work in windy races.

Finally, remember that you’ll want to stress your body in training in similar ways to the race. That means plenty of workouts at a high cadence, and long stretches in an aerodynamic position. Group rides are great for this, as are long intervals on flat roads (or on the trainer if you lack extended flat roads where you live). Bump your cadence up 5-10 rpm as this is what you’ll probably feel most comfortable with in the high speeds of the peloton on race day.

In this week’s Training Guide, GFNY Coach Christian checks in on your training for GFNY NYC to help you track your progress and stay on track for May.

GFNY NYC is the Crown Jewel of GFNY: the championship race of the series, the first GFNY, and the most coveted finisher’s medal for GFNY competitors.

This month, we’re starting a countdown to GFNY NYC with a 5-part series titled “The Road to the GFNY World Championship.” This series will be a monthly guide to where you should be in your preparation for race day, no matter if you’re looking to finish, better your time from a previous edition, or get on the podium in your age category.

Much of the advice in this series will be taken from Training Guides and Podcasts that are already available, but here we will synthesize that information and break down month-by-month how you should be using that advice.

Consider this series a check-in for you, a way to see if you’re on track and get ideas on how you can continue to dial in your preparation.

Endurance

GFNY is a test of endurance: 100 miles of hard, hilly racing with little chance for respite. Any serious preparation should be focused on building your endurance to handle the distance.

Depending on your level and goals, this prep might differ. All our riders should be doing frequent training sessions at an endurance pace (Zone 2 power, below 75% of max HR). In addition to several endurance training sessions per week, at least one ride should be a long ride. However, how long that weekly test is depends on your level and goals, which we cover below:

Finishers (Those looking to get to the finish): Riders who are hoping to finish strong should be slowly building their endurance during a weekly long ride. We suggest you build up to rides of at least half the distance of GFNY NYC by the end of January or beginning of February (so 50 miles/80 km). Keep in mind this is a rough estimation, if you’re riding on terrain far hillier or flatter than the GFNY NYC course, you may need to adjust this mileage slightly.

#Breaking6 (Those looking for a strong finish time, roughly 6 hours or less): If you’re hoping to finish under the 6 hour limit, you need to have a strong base in order to push the final 2 hours, when many riders fall apart.

You should be looking at working up to rides of around 70 miles/115 km by early February.

#Breaking5 (Those looking to go under 5 hours): If you’re a rider at the level of hoping to break 5 hours, endurance in itself is less of a concern for you. That means we’re confident you can ride 100 miles, instead, we’re looking to preserve your strength and speed into the latter ⅓ of the race.

Therefore, we have a bit more flexibility with your weekly long ride. Endurance is still key, but you can take a few different tactics here. One might be a weekly long ride of around 5 hours, the same length of time you plan to race. Another might be to stack back-to-back long rides on the weekend, shooting for 8 hours or more of training in 2 days.

Conquering the 100 miles of GFNY NYC takes a serious dedication to endurance training.

Strength

As we’ve discussed before in the Training Center, winter is a good time to focus on strength, as well as low-cadence work on the bike (which isn’t the same thing, but we’re grouping them together here).

Where you are in your strength work doesn’t depend on your level as a rider, but more where you are in your season. If you started strength and low-cadence work back in November, now you should be preparing to taper off. That could mean one day a week of strength work as maintenance, and transitioning from low-cadence work into higher intensity intervals.

If you got started later, you should be at the peak of your strength work right now: perhaps spending two days a week on strength work, and one day a week doing low-cadence work.

Intensity

As we covered above: if you’re transitioning out of strength work because you started early, you can start to incorporate higher-intensity intervals one day a week.

If you started your strength and base work late, you’ll do the same in another few weeks.

For intensity work, we don’t recommend short, high-intensity efforts. Instead, focus on longer efforts at or just above your threshold power (or around 85-90% of max HR for those training with HR).

Example sessions might be 2×10 minutes/3 minutes rest to begin, gradually working out to 4×10 minutes or 3×15 minutes. Ideally, your power output or speed will go up a tick each week, and you’ll slowly add time to your sessions too.

Strength and intensity work will prepare you to fly up the hills of GFNY NYC.

Equipment

This time of year you may not want to be using your race-day equipment, if you live in a cold climate the weather and dirty roads can wreak havoc on race-day equipment.

However, changing position while training hard can be a great way to get hurt. We suggest you use the bike you’ll race on for the majority of your training, even if you have it outfitted with training wheels and tires.

If you are spending time on a winter bike that you won’t use on race day, do your best to make sure the bike’s position is set up identically to your race bike.

Wrapping Up

That concludes our first installment of this series. We’ll be back next month to check-in on your training, give you more suggestions for where you should be in your preparation, and share tips and tricks to help get ready for race day.

In the meantime, be sure to check out all the Training Guides on GFNY Coaching, as well as the Training Center Podcast.