How to Prepare Your Bike for Ultra-Cycling Training and Racing

Yes, I’m obsessed.

I admit it.

I’m obsessed with training and racing on a bike that has been prepared.

And when you race in ultra-cycling that means cleaning and preparing it a lot.

I don’t particularly enjoy cleaning my bike. But I abhor training, and god forbid racing, on a dirty, gritty bike even more.

Because there’s something about a clean, prepared bike that goes beyond the bike itself.

It’s about preparation.

Your bike translates all your effort into beautiful forward motion. But it can’t do that properly if it’s grinding, clunking, jumping or carrying unnecessary friction.

And neither can you.

Preparation removes friction

My very first sponsor, the late, great John Beattie, Managing Director of Raleigh Ireland, only asked one thing of me.

He asked me to take his bikes to the start line as if I had brought them straight from the showroom.

I’ve never broken that commitment.

Over the years, I’ve learned that looking after the bike is part of looking after the performance.

Check every moving part. 

Every bolt.

Clean the chain.

Check the brakes.

Inspect the tyres.

Listen for anything that doesn’t sound right.

Deal with the small things before they become big things.

None of this is particularly exciting.

That’s rather the point.

Ultra-endurance cycling is full of things that aren’t exciting.

Preparation rarely looks dramatic from the outside.

It looks like maintenance, like checking something for the third time, and like doing the boring job today, so you don’t have to deal with the consequences tomorrow.

My bike. My mind

There’s also something mental about it for me.

No-one cleans my bike but me.

When I clean it, I know exactly what condition it’s in. I notice things. I hear things. I feel things. 

Checking in with my bike is the same as checking in with myself… am I ready?

And when train or race, I’m confident the bike is ready.

For me, that creates an uncluttered mind.

I’m not wondering whether that noise will get worse.

I’m not thinking about the grit in the drivetrain.

I’m not worrying about something I should have dealt with yesterday.

My bike. My mind.

Ready to train and race.

You can’t remove every problem

Of course, you can’t prepare for everything.

The road will throw things at you.

Weather will change and equipment can fail.

Your body will have difficult days.

You will have moments in an ultra-race when nothing goes according to plan.

Preparation doesn’t eliminate those things.

But it does give you fewer unnecessary problems to deal with when they arrive.

And that matters.

Because when you’re riding for days, sometimes the difference between solving a problem calmly and fighting a problem unnecessarily is simply what you did before you ever reached the start line.

The only grit you need

There’s a practical reason for all this too.

Moving components perform better when they are clean, properly maintained and free from unnecessary friction.

The same principle applies to the rider.

You want your energy going into the things that matter.

Training.

Recovery.

Fuelling.

The road ahead.

Not into problems you could have prevented.

So yes, I’ll keep cleaning my bike.

Probably more often than most people think is necessary.

Because I’ve learned that the only grit I really want in my cycling is the grit in my own resolve to get the work done.

Everything else can be washed away.

And bottom line, life simply moves better when the daily grind is taken care of.

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Ready to prepare for what’s ahead?

Ultra-endurance cycling rewards preparation.

The right training, the right equipment, the right strategy, and the confidence that comes from knowing you’ve done the work before you reach the start line.

If you’re preparing for your next ultra, I can help you build the training and preparation around the demands of the race, your experience and the life you have outside cycling.

Find out more about training with Joe and start preparing for what’s ahead.