Quick Tips to Bear an Ultra
Hard-won lessons from the road, trail, and desert — practical wisdom for bikepacking and ultra cycling, distilled from thousands of kilometres of experience.
Start drinking electrolyte solution 2 hours before a hot stage begins, not just water. Aim for 500ml with sodium, potassium and magnesium before rolling out.
WHY IT WORKS
Your body needs electrolytes in the bloodstream before sweating starts. Playing catch-up during heat stress is nearly impossible — sodium depletion causes cramping and cognitive impairment far faster than dehydration alone.
Schedule sips every 10-15 minutes regardless of thirst. By the time you feel thirsty, you're already 1-2% dehydrated — enough to measurably degrade performance.
WHY IT WORKS
Thirst is a lagging indicator. In heat above 35°C, sweat rate can exceed 1.5L/hour. A drinking schedule overrides the unreliable thirst signal and prevents the compounding effect of progressive dehydration.
Carry a small microfibre towel. Wet it and drape over neck, or wrap wrists at water stops. Reapply every 20-30 minutes in peak heat.
WHY IT WORKS
The neck and wrists have large blood vessels close to the skin. Cooling these areas reduces core temperature faster than torso cooling. A 2°C drop in perceived temperature can extend safe riding time significantly.
Always ask for ice at checkpoints and fill bottles with ice first, then water. Cold water from the bottom stays cooler longer.
WHY IT WORKS
Cold fluid has a direct cooling effect on core temperature when consumed. Warm water provides hydration but no thermal benefit. In extreme heat events, the temperature of your drinks is nearly as important as the volume consumed.
Heavy sweating, weakness, cold/pale/clammy skin, weak pulse, nausea, possible fainting. Stop immediately, move to shade, remove excess clothing, apply cool wet cloths, sip water.
WHY IT WORKS
Heat exhaustion left untreated progresses to heat stroke — a life-threatening emergency where sweating stops and skin becomes hot and dry. Knowing the difference and acting early has saved lives on desert events.
Plan a 2-3 hour siesta during peak heat (11:00-14:00). Ride early morning and evening instead. You'll cover more ground in cooler hours than fighting heat at midday.
WHY IT WORKS
Solar radiation and ambient temperature compound. Effort at 40°C feels equivalent to 50% more effort at 20°C for the same power output. Riders who adapt to local rhythms consistently outperform those who maintain northern European schedules in hot countries.
If you're wet and it's cold, stop and change or add a windproof layer immediately. Wet kit in cold wind accelerates heat loss up to 25x compared to dry conditions.
WHY IT WORKS
Hypothermia can develop faster on a bike than standing still because wind chill compounds evaporative cooling. Many riders underestimate the risk because they feel warm from effort — until they stop.
Pack one complete dry base layer (top + bottom) in a sealed waterproof bag inside your drybag. This is your emergency thermal reserve — use it only when you're at risk of hypothermia.
WHY IT WORKS
A dry base layer against cold wet skin is the single highest-value emergency item in cold/wet conditions. Many ultra riders have ended DNFs because they had no dry layer left after getting soaked early in a stage.
Increase calorie intake by 20-30% in sustained cold. Your body burns significantly more fuel maintaining core temperature. Cold also suppresses appetite — force yourself to eat on a schedule.
WHY IT WORKS
Thermogenesis (heat generation) is energy-expensive. Riders in Alpine or Northern European events often hit the wall not from effort but from caloric deficit caused by cold-suppressed appetite combined with elevated metabolic demand.
Before attempting to fix a puncture or adjust gears in cold/wet, spend 2 minutes with hands inside jacket or under armpits. Cold fingers have 60% reduced dexterity.
WHY IT WORKS
Fine motor failure (dropping tools, inability to operate tire levers, fumbling with quick links) is a major cause of extended roadside stops that turn into dangerous cold exposure. Warm first, work second.
In an emergency, newspaper inside shoes provides surprising insulation. Change it every 2-3 hours as it absorbs moisture. Plastic bags between sock layers also reduce wind penetration.
WHY IT WORKS
Air trapped between paper layers is an effective insulator. This is a known survival technique — dead air space slows heat transfer. Not ideal but has saved riders from cold feet in emergencies when overshoes failed.
Eat within the first 20-30 minutes of riding regardless of how you feel. Your glycogen stores begin depleting immediately. Front-loading nutrition is far more effective than playing catch-up.
WHY IT WORKS
Glycogen depletion is catastrophic and essentially unrecoverable mid-event — the infamous 'bonk'. The first two hours set the nutrition trajectory for the entire day. Riders who skip early eating almost always suffer in the afternoon.
Calculate expected calorie needs, then add 50% buffer. Always carry enough for an extra 3-4 hours of riding beyond your target. Supply points close, weather adds hours, wrong turns happen.
WHY IT WORKS
The consequences of running out of food in the middle of nowhere are severe and irreversible within that stage. The cost of carrying extra food is minimal. This asymmetry makes over-provisioning always the right call.
Use checkpoint meals as your primary nutrition. Gels and bars are for between checkpoints. Real food (rice, pasta, soup, bread) provides complex carbs, protein and fat that sustain energy far longer.
WHY IT WORKS
Gels provide fast sugar that spikes and crashes. Real food delivers slower-release energy and essential micronutrients that prevent the cumulative depletion that hits around day 3 of a multi-day event.
Use the exact foods, gels and drink mixes you plan to race with in long training rides. Your GI tract needs adaptation. What works at 50km may cause problems at 200km.
WHY IT WORKS
Exercise redirects blood from the GI tract. Foods that digest fine at rest can cause severe GI distress during sustained high effort. Testing nutrition in similar conditions before the event prevents race-day disasters.
If drinking large volumes of water, ensure you're also consuming sodium. Crisps, salted nuts, pretzels, and electrolyte tabs prevent dangerous sodium dilution.
WHY IT WORKS
Hyponatremia (low blood sodium from overdrinking plain water) is as dangerous as dehydration and more common than many riders think. Symptoms mimic dehydration — causing some riders to drink more water, worsening the condition.
Before long remote stages, identify villages, petrol stations, and natural cover options on your route. Never assume you'll 'make it'.
WHY IT WORKS
GI distress is the #1 cause of DNF in ultra events. Riders who plan ahead cope; those who don't end up in humiliating or medically difficult situations. Know your route's infrastructure before you need it.
Reduce raw vegetables, legumes, bran, and high fibre foods in the 2 days before. Stick to white rice, white bread, bananas, and cooked vegetables.
WHY IT WORKS
Fibre slows gastric emptying and increases intestinal motility — neither desirable during high-effort exercise when blood flow is already diverted from the GI tract. Pre-event gut loading with low-residue foods reduces mid-event urgency.
Include Imodium, antacids (Gaviscon), and rehydration sachets in your medical kit. GI issues can be managed and ridden through — they don't have to mean a DNF.
WHY IT WORKS
The GI system under sustained exercise stress behaves differently to normal. Having pharmaceutical tools available transforms a potentially race-ending problem into a managed inconvenience. Most ultra riders carry these as standard.
After a major meal at a checkpoint, spend the first 15-20 minutes riding easy before pushing effort. This aids gastric emptying and prevents stitch.
WHY IT WORKS
High intensity exercise immediately after eating diverts blood from the digestive system, slowing gastric emptying and increasing the risk of reflux and GI distress. Easy pedaling stimulates digestion without competing for blood flow.
Apply a generous amount of chamois cream to your chamois AND skin contact points before every stage, not just when you feel soreness developing. Reapply every 4-6 hours on long days.
WHY IT WORKS
Saddle sores are an almost universal cause of DNF in ultra events longer than 3 days. They develop from microscopic abrasion that compounds over days. Prevention requires consistent application — there is no effective treatment while still riding.
Carry a spare pair of bib shorts. At overnight checkpoints, always change into dry shorts and thoroughly clean the chamois area with baby wipes before sleeping. Air dry when possible.
WHY IT WORKS
Moisture and bacteria from prolonged contact are the root cause of saddle sores. A single wet night in damp shorts can create a wound that ends your race. The weight penalty of a spare bib is one of the most worthwhile in the pack.
Remove socks and inspect feet every evening. Red spots and hot areas are pre-blisters. Apply Leukotape or moleskin immediately — before the blister forms is always better than after.
WHY IT WORKS
Foot blisters in events with varied terrain (gravel, hiking portages) are a common late-event DNF cause. Feet swell during the day making early inspection deceptive — check in the evening when swelling peaks.
Apply and reapply sunscreen to neck, ears, and backs of hands throughout the day. These areas are constantly exposed and commonly missed. Severe sunburn is debilitating and slow to heal.
WHY IT WORKS
Sunburn isn't just painful — it causes fluid loss through damaged skin, disrupts sleep, and accumulates over multi-day events. Some riders have DNF'd from sunburn-related dehydration and inability to maintain core temperature at night.
Apply Vaseline between toes before stages involving water crossings or prolonged rain. This prevents the maceration (softening) that makes skin tear.
WHY IT WORKS
Wet skin is up to 4x more vulnerable to friction damage than dry skin. Vaseline creates a moisture barrier that lets toes move against each other without tearing. A 5p solution that prevents potentially race-ending foot damage.
Carry a spare derailleur hanger for your exact bike. Know how to convert to single speed using a chain breaker, quick link, and tensioner if the derailleur is destroyed.
WHY IT WORKS
Derailleur damage is the most common race-ending mechanical in off-road ultra events. A snapped derailleur at kilometer 600 of 1200 doesn't have to end your race if you know the single-speed conversion and have the parts.
For tubeless setups: carry at least 6 plugs, a tube and levers, and 2 CO2 canisters or a pump. Some punctures can't be plugged and require tube conversion. Know how to do both quickly.
WHY IT WORKS
Sealant doesn't seal everything. Large cuts, sidewall tears, and burped tyres require tube backup. Riders with only plugs have been stranded for hours in remote locations waiting for help that may not come.
Carry a multi-tool with torque markings and check: stem bolts, handlebar clamps, bottle cage bolts, rack bolts, and mudguard fittings every evening. Vibration loosens everything over days of rough road.
WHY IT WORKS
Handlebar slippage at speed is dangerous. Rack failure dumps your luggage into your wheel. These failures develop slowly from loosening bolts — 5 minutes of checking prevents hours of roadside repair or worse.
In wet or dusty conditions, clean and lube your chain daily. Carry enough chain lube for the whole event. A worn chain skipping gears is miserable; a snapped chain is a potential DNF.
WHY IT WORKS
Chain wear in ultra events with varied conditions can be 5-10x normal. Desert dust is particularly abrasive. Chains that would last 3000km in normal use can be worn out in a week of sandy desert riding.
Carry 10 cable ties (mixed sizes) and 2m of duct tape wrapped around a water bottle or pump. These solve mudguard rattles, broken zip pullers, cracked frame bags, and a dozen other micro-problems.
WHY IT WORKS
The ability to temporarily fix things prevents small annoyances from becoming large distractions. Cable tie and duct tape repairs rarely fail catastrophically — they get you to the next proper fix point.
Carry two rear lights: one mounted on the bike, one on your bag or person. Check batteries at every checkpoint. A dead rear light at night is a serious safety hazard, not just an inconvenience.
WHY IT WORKS
Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of serious injury and death in ultra cycling events. Visibility at night is your primary defence. Two lights means redundancy — one failing doesn't create an emergency.
Plan sleep stops rather than riding until you can't. A 90-minute sleep cycle at a planned stop is more restorative than a forced 3-hour collapse. After 24-36 hours without sleep, micro-sleeps on the bike become dangerous.
WHY IT WORKS
Sleep deprivation at extreme levels causes hallucinations, dramatically impaired judgment, and involuntary microsleeps lasting 1-30 seconds. Riders have crashed into vehicles, off cliffs, and into ditches during unseen microsleeps. This is not an exaggeration.
Save caffeine for critical night sections and pre-dawn riding. Don't use caffeine in the first 12 hours. Taking caffeine too early means it has no effect when you actually need it at hour 30+.
WHY IT WORKS
Caffeine tolerance builds within 3-5 days of continuous use, rendering it ineffective. Using it strategically — after significant sleep deprivation and during the most dangerous night hours — maximises its impact on alertness and safety.
After sleeping (especially outdoors or in cold conditions), spend 5-10 minutes before mounting: jumping jacks, arm swings, leg swings. Cold joints and cold tyres need warming before any technical riding.
WHY IT WORKS
Core temperature drops during sleep. Cold muscles and connective tissue have reduced elasticity and are prone to tears. Cold tyres lose significant grip. The first kilometre after waking from a cold stop is statistically higher risk for crashes.
Cheap foam earplugs and a sleeping mask allow you to sleep in noisy, lit checkpoints. This dramatically improves sleep quality in 90-minute windows and is worth its negligible weight.
WHY IT WORKS
Light and noise are the two biggest disruptors of sleep onset. With limited sleep windows available, fast sleep onset is critical. Riders who sleep well in 90 minutes consistently outperform those who take 45 minutes to fall asleep in a 90-minute window.
Before the event, write down 2-3 short phrases that mean something to you. When the suffering peaks and doubt sets in, repeat them. 'Keep moving forward.' 'This is temporary.' 'You've done harder things.'
WHY IT WORKS
Pain and suffering in ultra events reach levels where rational motivation (race position, achievement) becomes inaccessible. A pre-loaded emotional anchor bypasses the need for rational thought and can pull riders through otherwise DNF-worthy moments.
When the full distance feels impossible, shrink your goal to the next checkpoint, town, hill, or kilometre marker. 'Just get to that tree.' Reassemble the big picture only when you're moving again.
WHY IT WORKS
The psychological weight of 1000km is crushing. The weight of '6km to the next town' is manageable. Ultra riding is a series of very small efforts, not one enormous one. The most successful ultra riders are expert goal miniaturisers.
Between 2:00-5:00am, almost every rider experiences a severe motivational and physical low regardless of how good the previous day was. Know it's coming, have a plan (warm food, short sleep, friend contact), don't make permanent decisions during it.
WHY IT WORKS
Circadian rhythm creates a predictable physiological and psychological trough in the pre-dawn hours. The number of DNFs logged between 2-5am is disproportionate. Most of these riders, had they made it to dawn, would have continued and finished.
Avoid anger, frustration spirals, and catastrophising. These are emotionally expensive. In multi-day events, emotional depletion compounds like physical fatigue. Stay neutral about problems — address them practically and move on.
WHY IT WORKS
Emotional and mental energy draw on the same reserves as physical performance. Riders who maintain emotional equilibrium consistently outperform those who fight their conditions. Acceptance doesn't mean defeat — it means efficient resource use.
When you feel genuinely terrible, record a voice memo or write a sentence about it. Review these notes later — almost always, you continued. This builds evidence that you can suffer through the worst.
WHY IT WORKS
Memory of suffering is notoriously unreliable — we forget how bad it was. Documented evidence that you have previously survived what felt unsurvivable is a powerful inoculation against future doubt. Many top ultra athletes keep this practice.
Before each stage, download the route segment to offline storage on your GPS device AND phone (separate app, separate device). Check you can see the route offline before leaving connectivity.
WHY IT WORKS
GPS devices fail, get wet, or run out of battery. Having the route on two separate devices means single-point failure doesn't leave you navigating blind. Remote sections of major events have no phone signal and no help.
Practice using a compass for basic directional navigation. Know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and roughly tracks south in the northern hemisphere. This is a last resort that has saved lost riders.
WHY IT WORKS
Electronics fail in extreme cold, heat, moisture, and impact. A rider with no navigational backup in a remote stage has no fallback when digital navigation fails. Basic orienteering skills are a genuine safety net.
Develop the habit of slowing or stopping at every significant junction to verify the correct turn. A 30-second check saves hours of backtracking. Most navigation errors happen at speed at junctions.
WHY IT WORKS
The most common navigation error is the missed turn at a junction while fatigued. Riders assume the road continues straight when it doesn't, or take the more obvious looking fork rather than the correct one. Stopping costs seconds; missing a turn costs hours.
As you ride, mentally bookmark distinctive features — 'yellow church', 'bridge over dry river', 'abandoned petrol station'. These help you confirm you're on course and spot if you've missed a turn.
WHY IT WORKS
Digital navigation gives continuous reassurance but fatigue-induced screen misreading is common. Cross-referencing against physical landmarks creates a secondary confirmation system that catches digital misreads before they become major detours.
The moment you arrive at a checkpoint, eat and drink. Before sorting kit, before calling home, before lying down. Your body needs calories to repair and prepare for the next stage.
WHY IT WORKS
The post-exercise window for nutrient absorption is approximately 30-45 minutes. Riders who delay eating to handle admin tasks miss this window, extending recovery time and reducing readiness for the next stage.
When taking a sleep stop at a checkpoint, set two separate alarms on two devices (phone and watch/GPS). Sleep inertia means you may hit snooze — two alarms on two devices makes oversleeping much less likely.
WHY IT WORKS
Missing a planned 90-minute sleep window by oversleeping 3 hours can move you from racing to recovery mode for the rest of the event. Sleep inertia impairs judgment — you may genuinely not hear one alarm. Two is insurance.
Write a small checklist on your top tube tape or on a card: 1. Eat/drink 2. Refill water 3. Check bike 4. Body check 5. Charge devices 6. Sleep? Brief written reminders prevent checkpoint amnesia when fatigued.
WHY IT WORKS
Extreme fatigue creates a specific cognitive state where systematic thinking becomes almost impossible. Riders regularly leave checkpoints without refilling water, with a flat they didn't notice, or without charging a dying GPS. A physical checklist bypasses cognitive fatigue.
At checkpoints, remove shoes and elevate feet for at least 10 minutes. This reduces foot swelling, allows skin to dry, and gives you a chance to spot and treat hot spots before they become blisters.
WHY IT WORKS
Feet swell progressively throughout the day. Elevation reverses this. Shoes that fitted at the start may be causing pressure damage by afternoon. Regular foot airing reduces fungal and bacterial buildup that causes skin breakdown.
The goal at every checkpoint is to leave in better condition than you arrived. Better fed, better hydrated, more rested, cleaner, better equipped. If you leave worse off, you didn't use the checkpoint properly.
WHY IT WORKS
Checkpoints are the only moments of relative comfort and resource abundance in an ultra event. Riders who treat them as throughpoints rather than restorative opportunities miss their primary function. Every checkpoint is a reset opportunity.
Take screenshots of the full route overview and key section details while you have connectivity. Even with offline maps, having visual reference screenshots is useful when route-finding in complex terrain.
WHY IT WORKS
Zoomed-in navigation gives great detail but poor context. A screenshot of the wider route picture helps you understand where you are in the stage and what major features are coming up, preventing surprise climbs and missed resupply towns.
Apply handlebar tape over existing tape to double thickness, or use gel padding under tape. After day 3, nerve compression in hands becomes acute. Extra padding is cheap insurance against hand numbness.
WHY IT WORKS
Ulnar and median nerve compression from sustained handlebar pressure causes numbness that can persist for weeks post-event and, in severe cases, permanently. The longer the event, the more critical handlebar ergonomics become.
Aim for pale straw-coloured urine. Dark yellow means dehydrated — drink more. Colourless means over-drinking plain water — add electrolytes. Check at every toilet stop.
WHY IT WORKS
Urine colour correlates reliably with hydration status and provides immediate feedback without needing to track fluid intake. It also catches early hyponatremia (colourless urine despite feeling thirsty) before it becomes dangerous.
A 200g packable down jacket worn over a wet base layer at stops prevents massive heat loss. Put it on the moment you stop — don't wait until you're cold.
WHY IT WORKS
The body loses heat fastest in the first minutes after stopping because sweat-soaked kit continues evaporative cooling. A down layer traps residual body heat immediately. Waiting until cold means 5-10 minutes of unnecessary core temperature drop.
When solid food becomes unappealing (common after 24h), switch to liquid calories: sports drink, Coke, broth, or meal replacement shakes. Getting calories in any form is better than eating nothing.
WHY IT WORKS
Nausea in ultra events frequently causes appetite suppression that leads to caloric deficit and eventual bonking. Liquids empty the stomach faster and are tolerated even when solids cause revulsion. This is not the time for nutritional idealism.
Don't start listening to music or podcasts until you need them. Save them for the hard sections, the 3am low, the grinding headwind. Using them in the first 6 hours means they're gone when you need them most.
WHY IT WORKS
Entertainment stimulus loses its effect with repetition but also through sheer duration. Riders who exhaust their podcast queue on easy daytime sections have no distraction left for the night section when they need it most.
Start a probiotic supplement 2 weeks before a major event. A healthy gut microbiome is significantly more resilient to the stress of endurance exercise and unfamiliar food.
WHY IT WORKS
Exercise stress and changed diet patterns during travel to events disrupt gut bacteria. A pre-loaded, diverse microbiome recovers faster from disruption. Several studies show reduced GI incidents in endurance athletes with regular probiotic supplementation.
If wearing shorts that expose inner thigh, apply anti-chafe stick (Body Glide or similar) to inner thighs. Thigh chafing in heat creates open wounds that worsen with every pedal stroke.
WHY IT WORKS
Thigh chafing is systematically underrated as a cause of suffering in summer events. Unlike saddle sores, it's not discussed in mainstream cycling literature. Riders who discover it on day 2 of a 7-day event have 5 days of worsening agony to endure.
Other riders are your best source of current intelligence: road conditions ahead, open shops, water sources, road closures, and how officials are treating specific route sections. Don't race past this resource.
WHY IT WORKS
In races without fixed course marking, rider experience diverges based on individual choices and timing. Information shared at checkpoints about conditions 50km ahead has helped riders avoid wasted hours on closed roads, flooded crossings, and dangerous night sections.
If you begin to feel early signs of cramping, excessive sweating, dizziness, or electrolyte depletion during a long ride, place a small pinch of salt under your tongue and let it dissolve before washing it down with water.
WHY IT WORKS
Sodium is the primary electrolyte lost through sweat. Taking salt sublingually (under the tongue) allows it to dissolve quickly and may speed up absorption compared to swallowing it immediately. Replacing sodium helps maintain fluid balance, supports nerve function, and assists muscle contractions. During ultra-endurance efforts, this can help reduce the risk of cramps, dehydration, and the performance decline associated with low sodium levels.
If a rider starts shivering, stop and get out of wind or wet conditions if possible. Swap into a dry layer before adding more insulation on top, then wrap the emergency blanket around the torso and core rather than just the shoulders. Drink something hot if available, and eat something with quick calories like a gel or bar. Gentle movement is fine, but avoid pushing into hard effort. If shivering stops but the rider is still cold, confused, fumbling, or unusually sleepy, treat it as an emergency and get help immediately rather than continuing to ride.
WHY IT WORKS
Shivering is the body's way of generating heat through rapid muscle contraction, so its presence actually means the body is still able to defend its core temperature — it's an early warning sign, not the danger point itself. Wet clothing pulls heat away from the body far faster than cold air alone, which is why dry layers come before extra insulation. Wrapping the core, rather than the extremities, matters because the body prioritizes protecting vital organs by restricting blood flow to the limbs, so heat retention is most effective at the torso. Quick-acting calories matter because shivering is energy-intensive and the body needs fuel to keep generating heat. The disappearance of shivering despite ongoing cold exposure is a critical red flag: it can indicate the body has begun to lose the ability to regulate its own temperature, a hallmark of worsening hypothermia that requires immediate intervention rather than field remedies.
When the route shifts from tarmac to gravel, sand, or loose trail, drop tire pressure by 5-10 psi rather than riding the same pressure throughout. Carry a pump with a gauge, not just CO2, so pressure can be fine-tuned repeatedly through a stage.
WHY IT WORKS
Lower pressure increases the tire's contact patch and lets it deform around obstacles instead of bouncing off them, which improves grip and comfort on loose surfaces. Running road pressure on rough terrain transmits more shock into the rider's hands and body over hours, accelerating fatigue and increasing puncture risk from sharp impacts. The tradeoff is increased rolling resistance, which is why pressure should go back up once the terrain smooths out again.
Peak UV intensity (typically late morning to mid-afternoon) doesn't always line up with peak air temperature, which usually arrives a few hours later. Apply sunscreen and cover exposed skin based on sun angle and time of day, not how hot it currently feels.
WHY IT WORKS
UV index peaks when the sun is most directly overhead, while air temperature continues rising afterward due to thermal lag in the ground and atmosphere. A rider who waits until it "feels hot" to reapply sunscreen has often already taken peak UV exposure unprotected. Treating sun protection and heat management as two separate schedules, rather than one, closes this gap.
If a wheel develops a wobble or you hear a spoke pinging, stop and check for one that's noticeably looser than the others by squeezing pairs of spokes together. A spoke wrench weighs almost nothing and can buy a true-enough wheel for hundreds of kilometres.
WHY IT WORKS
A single loose spoke shifts load onto its neighbours, accelerating their fatigue and risking a cascading failure that can destroy a wheel far from help. Catching and snugging one loose spoke early is a two-minute roadside fix; ignoring it can turn into a wheel that's unrideable.
Before any descent longer than a few kilometres, especially in wet or gritty conditions, glance at pad wear and listen for metal-on-metal grinding at the first light braking. Carry a spare set of pads for your exact brake model, not a generic size.
WHY IT WORKS
Wet and gritty conditions wear pads dramatically faster than dry tarmac, sometimes consuming a set in a single long descent. Pads that fail partway down a mountain pass leave a rider with reduced or no stopping power exactly when control matters most. A pre-descent check costs seconds; a brake failure mid-descent is one of the few mechanical issues that can end far worse than a DNF.
Forecasts get stale fast in mountain or desert terrain where local weather changes within hours. Learn to read basic visual cues: building cumulus towers signal afternoon storms, a sudden wind shift often precedes a front, and a ring around the sun or moon can signal incoming precipitation.
WHY IT WORKS
Forecasts are generated for regions, not for the specific valley or ridge a rider is on, and mountain weather in particular can diverge sharply from the regional prediction within a few hours. Visual sky-reading gives real-time, hyper-local information that a six-hour-old forecast can't. Riders who notice building storm cells early have time to adjust their route or find shelter before conditions turn dangerous.
Run a lower, wider-beam setting on technical singletrack and a higher-lumen focused beam on fast, open gravel or road sections. Switching modes as terrain changes saves battery for when output actually matters and improves depth perception on technical ground.
WHY IT WORKS
A narrow, high-lumen beam on tight, twisting trail actually reduces depth perception because it flattens the contrast between surface features, making roots and ruts harder to judge. A wider, lower beam spreads light across the rider's peripheral field, which is where the brain picks up terrain texture. Matching the beam to the terrain, rather than running maximum brightness everywhere, also stretches battery life across a long night section.
After 2-3 days of riding, seatpost clamps can creep, saddles can tilt from repeated mounting and dismounting, and a rider's own flexibility changes with fatigue. Recheck saddle height and angle against your known baseline measurement every few days, not just at the start.
WHY IT WORKS
Small saddle position changes that would be barely noticeable on a short ride compound into knee pain, hip discomfort, or numbness over multi-day distances. Vibration and repeated weight-shifting gradually loosen clamps even when properly torqued at the start. A quick comparison against a baseline measurement (marked with tape on the seatpost) catches drift before it becomes a riding-altering injury.
If traveling from a cooler climate to a hot-weather event, arrive at least 5-7 days early if possible and do some riding in the heat before race day. Riders who fly in the day before race in a body that hasn't adapted.
WHY IT WORKS
Heat acclimatization involves measurable physiological changes — increased plasma volume, earlier and heavier sweating, and reduced sodium loss in sweat — that take roughly a week of heat exposure to develop. A rider without this adaptation will sweat less efficiently and retain more heat at the same effort level, putting them at meaningfully higher risk of heat illness regardless of how fit they are. Fitness and heat acclimatization are separate adaptations, not the same thing.
Know your chain's speed (11-speed, 12-speed, etc.) and carry at least one matching quick link, not a generic one. A snapped chain with the wrong-size quick link is just as stuck as no quick link at all.
WHY IT WORKS
Quick links are not universal — they're sized to specific chain widths tied to drivetrain speed, and a mismatched link either won't fit or will fail under load. A snapped chain is one of the most common roadside mechanicals, and the fix takes under five minutes with the correct part but is unsolvable without it. Checking this detail before the event, not during a roadside repair, is what makes the difference.
Acknowledge milestones as you hit them — a tough climb cleared, a bad weather window survived, halfway point reached. Say it out loud or mark it somehow, rather than only saving celebration for the finish line.
WHY IT WORKS
Ultra events are long enough that waiting for a single end-point reward leaves a rider's motivation system running on empty for days at a time. Deliberately marking smaller wins gives the brain periodic motivational reinforcement along the way, which sustains effort better than a single distant goal. Riders who only focus on the finish often experience a much harder mid-event motivational trough than those who build in smaller checkpoints of satisfaction.
The urge to quit is extremely common and usually passes; it is not the same as an actual reason to stop. Before acting on it, ask whether there's a concrete medical, mechanical, or safety reason to stop — if not, commit to continuing to the next checkpoint before deciding anything.
WHY IT WORKS
The emotional desire to quit typically spikes during specific low points — fatigue, cold, the 3am trough — and fades once the immediate trigger passes, meaning a decision made in that moment is often a decision the rider would not make an hour later. Deferring the decision to the next checkpoint, rather than acting on it immediately, filters out the temporary emotional spikes and leaves only genuine, persistent reasons to stop.
A developing headache during hot-weather riding is often an early sign of dehydration or heat stress, not just general fatigue. Treat it as a prompt to immediately stop, find shade, and rehydrate with electrolytes rather than riding through it hoping it passes.
WHY IT WORKS
Headache is one of the earliest recognized symptoms in the progression toward heat exhaustion, appearing before more severe signs like confusion or fainting. Riders who push through an early headache, attributing it to general tiredness, often miss the window where a short stop and rehydration would have prevented escalation to a more serious heat illness requiring much longer recovery.
Before the event, study the route in detail and prepare a printed sheet with key info — checkpoint locations, resupply points, and shop or service opening hours — that can stick on your bike or be saved as a note on your phone. Don’t rely on figuring this out as you go.
WHY IT WORKS
Shops, petrol stations, and services in small towns along ultra routes often keep limited or unpredictable hours, and arriving to find a closed resupply point can turn a planned stop into a serious problem hours later. Pre-researching this information while still rested and with good connectivity means the rider isn’t trying to search for opening hours on a dying phone signal at 9pm when the shop is already shut. A physical cheat sheet on the bike also works when a phone dies or loses signal entirely, giving a backup that doesn’t depend on electronics.
When a shepherd dog charges, stop immediately and dismount. Place the bike between yourself and the dog as a physical barrier and face the animal calmly — never turn your back or sprint away. Talk to the dog in a low, steady voice, any language works, the tone is what matters. If you have food, you can offer it slowly, but never chocolate, which is toxic to dogs. Wait until the dog loses interest or backs off before remounting, and move away slowly rather than accelerating hard.
WHY IT WORKS
Shepherd dogs are bred to respond to fast-moving threats and the instinct to chase a cyclist is almost automatic — the moment you stop moving, you stop triggering that instinct. The bike as a barrier works on two levels: it physically blocks a lunge and it gives the dog something to sniff and investigate that isn’t your legs. Running or sprinting away is the worst possible response because it confirms the prey signal and almost always results in a chase. Calm, low speech signals non-aggression and gives the dog time to reassess the situation. Most shepherd dogs are doing their job — protecting territory — and once they establish you are not a threat, they disengage on their own.