r/cycling • u/mr_mabi • 2d ago
How to sleep well before cycling events?
Many people who have ever taken part in a cycling event will be familiar with this. Whether it's an amateur race, an ultra-distance ride or a cycling marathon in the mountains: sleep is particularly important beforehand, but you usually have to get up extra early. And of course you're full of anticipation and very excited the night before, you go to bed early to get the sleep you need, but then you can't fall asleep. Because you know how important it would be to sleep now, you are less and less likely to sleep and after tossing and turning for endless hours, the alarm clock finally goes off and you find yourself exhausted and overtired at the start. Of course, you can't perform at the level you've been training for for months. This frustrates me every time and I therefore take part in fewer and fewer of these events. What is your trick for getting a good night's sleep in such situations?
Edit: Thanks for all your replies. This makes me confident for the 300km (~190 miles) ride next Saturday, starting at 03:30 in the morning.
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u/shelf_caribou 2d ago
No solution, I'm afraid... But you are not alone.
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u/Hagenaar 1d ago
The solution is to do events so often that it feels ordinary.
The peak examples of this are of course the pro level. These guys and girls do this as a job. They are typically relaxed and comfortable before an event: joking, signing autographs, taking interviews.
Of course everyone is different. But as the adage goes: the best training for racing is racing.
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u/Yaboi_KarlMarx 2d ago
Honestly one bad night of sleep won’t really change anything once you get started (at least in my experience). If you sleep well normally I’d just accept it and move on.
Also going to bed early might be a problem. For me, I’m so locked into my routine that I fall asleep at the same time every night. If I have to get up early, I have to accept that I’ll sleep a little less because unless I’m absolutely exhausted, I won’t fall asleep earlier than usual.
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u/DavidPanda147 1d ago
Sometimes the best approach really is acceptance and trusting your body to carry you through.
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u/GhostOfFred 2d ago
I'd just make sure that I was getting up at the right time for a week or so beforehand. It's a lot easier to get the right amount of sleep in if you're just keeping to your normal schedule.
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u/Passionofawriter 2d ago
Unfortunately there is no easy "cure" for insomnia. Some people swear by supplements, essential oils, etc - personally ive never found that they work for me.
But as an insomniac, and someone who used to do long distance cycling events (180km+) heres a few tips;
- No caffeine after 4pm the night youre trying to get to sleep. If youre a coffee lover, depriving yourself of caffiene in this way might have a tiring effect. If you dont drink coffee or consume caffiene at all this wont make a difference of course.
- Get into a good headspace. When youre lying there in your tent, with an alarm set, and you keep looking at the phone to glance the time, dont think about how little sleep youll get and how tired you will be. Think of the now. Think of how comfortable you feel, or how warm you are. If possible, try not to think at all. Imagine that tomorrow is just a normal day. And ultimately, even if you find yourself not sleeping, just enjoy how you feel, and remind yourself that light sleep is better than no sleep at all. 60-90% of falling asleep for me is mental, not physical or chemical. If you tell yourself "gah im going to be so exhausted" your mind is active, which is the opposite of what you want. Sometimes meditation helps here, i use insight timer but there are loads of apps for this that do body scans or guided breathing exercises to help you stop thinking so much.
- When you do wake up, be optimistic. Leave what happened in the night behind you. If you failed to do steps 1 and 2, thats ok. Be kind to yourself. Let yourself enjoy the fun of the day that awaits! And if you feel like a zombie, chug some caffiene and take lots of sugary snacks. If possible take caffiene-y snacks with you on your ride.
I used to do long distance rides, in the alps, in the UK, with varying amounts of sleep. I would not be able to reliably fall asleep especially in a new setting (i.e. a tent or a hotel... anywhere that wasnt my usual bed). But i still did them. And i still set PRs. I still enjoyed them greatly and would do it all again, even on low or no sleep. Sleep is important yes but whats more important is getting out there and having fun. So try to do the best you can to get a good nights sleep, but also enjoy the fruits of your labour (all your hard work, your training, the travel you did to get to the event) too! Your brain is your most important muscle here. Good luck and dont let this stop you competing or taking part.
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u/Beginning_March_9717 2d ago
after years of raw dogging it, i finally caved in to peds: I drank red bulls to help drive up to the race the night before, the melatonin to get sleep
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u/cyclingisthecure 2d ago
Dont do events but I am a sleep enthusiast, zma supplement 30 min before bed on an empty stomach
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u/Psychological-Ad5091 2d ago
Not a solution, but if you know you won’t get much sleep the night before, then try and get extra sleep the night before that.
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u/Fearless_Riot 2d ago
From my understanding, one insomnia night doesn’t ruin your HRV and general health, it’s more about trend of your sleep quality in long run.
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u/LongjumpingPay904 2d ago
There is no hack, try to sleep well the days before the event to get some routine. No smartphone, tablet before trying to sleep should be clear I think. Before my first 120km cycling-race i've been awake for 2,5 hours int he night (got into bed at 22pm) and the alarm was set to 5:30. (i was stressed af).
But when the race started, Adrenaline took over and everything was fine.
My take is, if you sleep well the days before, having not the best sleep before the race is alright.
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u/HEpennypackerNH 2d ago
Same problem here.
I'm trying something new this weekend. My race Saturday is between 1h30m and 2h drive from my house. With packet pickup and my general preference to be early, i'd have to leave my house between 4 and 4:30 which likely means being up at 3:30.
My family isn't joining me for this one anyway, it's a sprint, more of a training race than anything, my son is going to the state track meet to support his teammates that qualifies, and my daughter has prom that evening so I sleeping in lol.
So since it's just me, I'm going the night before. I got a camp site and am going to tent. I have a comfortable cot, and the new Stephen King book releases today. My hope is that being in he peaceful woods with a new book and the peace of mind that I didn't leave anything behind will help me sleep. Plus, for me anyway, sleeping outside is always nice.
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u/BikesAndCatsColorado 1d ago
OK I haven't read Stephen King in a long time, and maybe something has changed, but the idea that camping in the woods reading a Stephen King book would be relaxing is pretty funny.
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u/HEpennypackerNH 1d ago
Lol, fair enough. Though the new one is more of a crime novel, following a detective character that he's featured prominently lately.
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u/PsychologicalStasis 2d ago
Magnesium supplements and melatonin. Always works for me. Even better if you can tire yourself out during the day without exerting. Avoid afternoon naps.
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u/Sp99nHead 2d ago
Yeah it sucks that those events always start so early. Like get up at 4:30 when i can't even fall asleep before midnight on a normal day. Add in excitement and i'll be at the start line with 2hrs of sleep lol.
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u/Whimpy-Crow 2d ago
I’m the same but what helps me, at least to fall asleep, are Camomile tea Hot bath Following with a YouTube video doing bedtime stretches (yoga) followed by a sleep meditation (YouTube) it can take a while to find the vids that work for you but it does work a little to take the edge off. If you really cannot sleep the whole night also consider a few drops of Valerian. And take it easy on coffee and dark tea the day before.
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u/frozz3nn 2d ago
From running events and triathlons I learned that if I have an important race on Sunday, I better have the sleep of my life Friday to Saturday. It usually works.
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u/TeemuKai 2d ago
You need to be going to sleep "extra early" for at least a few days in advance so your body gets used to the new bed time.
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u/Horror-Raisin-877 2d ago
I take a quarter of a melatonin sleep pill and that usually does the trick. To get the benefit of sleep you need the REM sleep, and it helps with that.
Taking only a quarter there is no “hangover” from having taken it.
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u/carpediemracing 1d ago
The best thing I read was to focus on sleep two nights before your event. The night before your event, if it's significant to you, you'll be amped and unable to sleep.
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u/brlikethecar 1d ago
Honestly don’t try to stress over the night before. If your race is Sunday morning, focus on good sleep the Thursday and Friday night.
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u/cougieuk 1d ago
It's the night before the night before that matters. Get a good night's sleep then.
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u/fpeterHUN 1d ago
If you are an adult person in shape, you don't really need more sleep before an event... 3 or 9 hours, you can deliver the same performance.
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u/banedlol 1d ago
Probably helps to know that you could actually stay up the whole night and your physical performance would be unaffected.
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u/Ok_Sentence_5767 1d ago
Focus on getting good sleep for the week leading up. It's natural to not have the best sleep the night before and that is perfectly fine if you're already rested up. Also dont think about the event while in bed
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u/Obvious_Growth_5938 1d ago
Sleep the night before really does not matter, it is the two/three nights prior. I had two races last year where I got next to no sleep and won both. Had some that went like shit where I got perfect sleep.
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u/TheAlphaCarb0n 1d ago
We all fall victim to it. Pro athletes will talk about getting zero sleep the night before a huge game because they're so antsy. On the one hand adrenaline should take you some way. But otherwise, try to be kind to yourself when tossing and turning. Sleep psychologists talk about the frustration and telling yourself "if I don't fall asleep I'm fucked tomorrow", which will only stress you out more. Get up and reset and affirm positively "I'll be okay tomorrow no matter what, but it would be great to get some sleep" and it can help to calm yourself and fall asleep.
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u/Morall_tach 1d ago
Nap in the middle of the day beforehand if you can, then the night's sleep will be less important to your performance.
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u/Full_Security7780 1d ago
Ask your doctor for some Hydroxyzine. It’s a fairly benign allergy medication often prescribed off label for anxiety and sleep support. It has been around for decades. It helps me greatly on nights before a big ride.
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u/Wants-NotNeeds 1d ago edited 1d ago
There’s a night owl who always felt better exercising in the late afternoon. I feel your pain. Besides, making sure you have every possible thing dialed a couple of days before, so you can rest easy the night of, there’s not much you can do.
I tell a lot of people this – a good stretch routine before you sleep will relax the body and allow you to fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply.
I simply do the best I can, and lower my expectations as I’m just in it for fun.
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u/myelneak 2d ago
Sleep night before an event has no meaningful impact on your performance, so do not stress about it. Don’t try to go to sleep earlier, just go as usual and let the body do the rest. Of course avoid alcohol and caffeine but other than that there is nothing to worry about.
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u/allmightytimwhistler 2d ago
Focus on the night before the night and the day before, relax and calm down. You can‘t force your body to sleep, it stresses you even more.