[Closed] one week to go before big event...what to do?

Everyone's different, some folk taper for a long period before an event, I don't really like to, as I reckon I lose my confidence a bit, prefer to have a few light sessions the week before, and mibbe 2 days off before the event, tops.

All the best.

Get the bike maintenance done then yes a couple of light bike rides during the week would be a good idea. You want to end up champing at the bit by Friday, so try hold back a bit. Personally I’d ride easy on Tues and Thurs for about 2 hrs.

Eat well, sleep well, stretch, do a couple of really easy 1-2 hour rides to keep legs moving.
Small steak, eggs and potatoes night before.
Pack kit early in week so have time to get anything you may not have.

The Etape du Tour? Good luck! This is my third year of doing it. First year I travelled the day before, was driving for 8 hours rushing to get to the village to 'check in', by the time I got to where we stayed it was late, I was knackered and I still had to put the bike together. I didn't eat right and didn't sleep right due to fretting about sleeping in. I strongly advise to NOT do any of that.

The fitness you already have will either get you to the end or it won't. Remember big events like the etape are 90 percent mental, the other half is physical. The secret is just don't stop. Yes, pause to eat and drink and refill pockets and bottles, even pause to get your breathe while kidding on you're taking a photo. But if you don't stop then you will get there in the end.

So now I suggest your focus should be on whatever helps you relax. Get your packing done (while remembering you can buy/hire anything forgotten when you're there). Know where you are going. Study the route - the feed stops vary from 15 km to 30 km apart so are good points to break the big ride down into more manageable chunks to help with the mental challenge (you can ride 30k, can't you? Of course you can!) Keep an eye on the weather forecast and prep your kit accordingly - at the moment the forecast is cloudy so Val Thorens will either be in or above the clouds so we might get very wet.

On the day it is very very easy to go off too fast so remember that and try to slow down. If you're faster then overtake on the left. On the climbs raise your head from staring at your stem every now and again and look around you as the scenery will be amazing and the public at the side of the road will be cheering you on. And enjoy it!

Which pen are you starting in? My mates and I are in pen 10.

I like to (or used to when I did such things) nothing until say Thursday then a 45 min spin out.

Thanks all for good advice...i think i'd prefer to do something this week even if it is only a couple of easy rides especially to get confidence in my last minute maintenance.

Svladcjelli - yes the Etape. Never done it before or anything like it so crapping myself - looking forward to it, but still crapping it. Fairly confident I've half decent amount of preparation so hopefully it's enough...hills around me are generally steeper but clearly nowhere as long, but I've got a good handle on my numbers so know when i'm getting into the red so can pace my effort on the day...My strategy is indeed to use the feed stops to break it up a bit into manageable chunks.

I'm driving down in the campervan on Thursday so if I can do it all in one go then have two days to recover and chill great, but if I need to take a break and bed down somewhere en-route and pick it up early on Friday and still have a good day and a half to recover from the drive then so be it.

I'm in starting pen 8. Was advised by someone to put in a better estimated time to give me more time on the day to do the event and they were too slow and was swept up by the broom wagon, so expecting to be left for dead at the start so will probably be taking the right hand side of the road. Good luck to you and your mates. If you're coming back for more it must be a cracking event.

Yes it is good advice to put in a much better time than you anticipate. That first year I had put in my time as 'just want to get around' and started, literally, due to dropped chain, last. That meant I started 2 hours after those at the front and had only 90 minutes to get to the first food stop 50 km away. Having waited around so long at the start I needed to pee, then while riding my saddle came loose, but I couldn't spare the time to stop. Got to the food stop with 2 minutes to spare to find all the food eaten/taken, peed and tightened saddle, set off to be told no, I'm out.

To quote Yoda, "The greatest teacher, failure is." I got taught a lot that first year. Had to come back and beat it.

Can't speak for the event stuff(haven't done one) but maintanemce tends to need a ride or two to work out the bugs(consistently have cable tension adjustments in the first few rides till its just perfect).. But stressing and anxiety wont help you..

Chill out get yourself ready with time and get your bike running right and you will smash it.. Good luck

Well bike maintenance done this evening and a quick round the block shakedown ride...a gentle 1-2 hour ride planned for tomorrow evening and that's all I'll probably have time for, maybe a gentle spin on the turbo on Wednesday evening then off bright and early Thursday. Thanks for tips.

Couple of short rides with enough effort to get muscles working but not fatigued, proper stretch afterwards and early nights plus good, healthy food.

Having done a fair few of these Etape, Marmot, Maratona etc. week before I normally do some 20 min interval sessions on the turbo, warm up then 20x 5s balls out hard and 55secs light spinning. I found they didn't seem to fatigue the legs when I had reasonable fitness but kept me feeling very fit. When I arrive at resort on the day before I always try to do one 5- 8km climb gently spinning up to a lunch spot.
I'm not sure this is necessarily advised but it gave me confidence that I could cycle up mountains again and tested my lowest gears on the way up and cornering and brakes on the way down.

Yeah I’ve done the etape. Nothing really prepared me for the July heat in France, so I would add hydrating well 2-3 days before event avoiding alcohol. Also getting out the day before as suggested above is a good idea. I got some good advice which was never to go more than 7/10 thereby saving something for the end climbs. Good luck!

No idea about big events like that.. but from XC / CX racing the big thing (for me) that cripples otherwise good preparation is stress. I can go from getting KOMs on my day before warm-up to DNFing in disgust purely based on a stressful morning. So get everything organised, try to minimise any stressfull activities this week and ensure the day goes as easily as possible. For me this includes full prep the night before: make up bottles, get garmin and HR strap ready, laying out your kit down to which socks you are going to wear etc etc.

Having done the last few etapes I would say if you've got some 100 mile rides in your legs comfortably, you should be more than OK on the Etape in my experience, as long as you pace it well. Starting from pen 6 is good, you'll be mixed in with some decent riders and there will be plenty of total jokers starting higher up where they don't belong, plus there were plenty of queue jumpers in the past too. This week I would throw in some shorter intervals than normal early in the week, no more than a 2 hour ride tues or wed, but keep some intensity as you would usually, then wind it down to a light ride with some short sprints on Friday and I would take the day off completely Saturday (or just ride down to the expo to stretch the legs). Take it easy Saturday and stay off your feet and out of the sun where you can.

Get to the start early Sunday morning, there will be so many people so head earlier to get a good place in pen and relax. Once in the pen there will likely be nowhere to pee, so be prepared to jump out and go in a plant or hedge 5 mins before you start. Don't take extra clothes to pen unless its cold - and be prepared to bin them. Once going, find a nice group and don't get tempted to race in the early stages, plenty will. I have skipped the first stop in the past, avoids time wasting early on. I took a coke bottle filled with water in back pocket and chucked it at the first stop, just to maximise my range. Generally keep steady and keep hydrated and eating, the heat will kick in as the day goes on and punish you on the last climb if you don't like the heat. The last climb has been total carnage with walking and people lying at the roadside - just try to keep spinning and avoid walking - the final 10km to the top of a climb can be very slow if you're pushing a bike! It's a great event and an amazing experience, so enjoy the day.

Thanks all for the advice. As ever this forum has come up trumps with some great knowledge. Lots of great hints and tips and benefits of experience. I managed to implement most of it, but inevitable the issue of logistics and other stuff gets in the way, but in the end I don’t think that affected me. Was a fantastic event and my goal was to complete rather than put in an anywhere near impressive time and in that end I was successful. The heat was a big issue especially on the last climb as it was so exposed with very little shade. The road was littered with bodies fighting cramp and huddling under whatever shade was available. I resisted the temptation to stop, though was gagging to stop and cool off a few times, but just focussed on keeping the crank turning. So thanks all again, can’t say it was easy and sometimes not all that enjoyable given the conditions, but on the whole a great day out.

Svladcjelli - how did you get on?

Well done mate 🙂 It can often come down purely to determination.

Well done, Wobbly.
Hat! 👏