Moving From "Base to Race"

As race season approaches, most MTB racers will be chomping at the bit to get between the tape and see where they stand. After a long winter of training, the transition from base to race is one that is exciting as you see your fitness sharpen. This time includes a focus on speed, power, and technical skills that are all important in this prep phase. You can use the analogy of transforming yourself from a big, broad butcher knife into a precise steak knife. 

While your traditional intervals and workouts are still essential to how this transition works, certain overlooked practices can make a huge difference to how well you apply your fitness on race day. Here are five ways we can make that leap from base to race.

​1. Simulation Workouts: Taking Your Intervals Off-Road

Why It Matters: Many riders train with structured intervals on the road or trainer, but real-world terrain introduces a whole host of other variables—traction, line choice, cadence changes, technical handling under fatigue. By replicating workouts or efforts on actual trails, you improve power delivery, efficiency, and decision-making. 

How to Do It: You don’t always need to do this, but it’s important to include it once or twice a week. Instead of a steady interval on pavement, find a section of singletrack or doubletrack with similar demands to your target race. Do your intervals on that section, trying to maintain the prescribed effort while navigating the terrain. It won’t be perfect, but it doesn’t need to be. 

*don’t look at the head unit, just lean into the effort and try to be smooth.

​Race-Day Benefit: Prepares you for the imperfect nature of racing, so you can apply power effectively without wasting energy on poor line choices, braking errors, traction loss..all of this leads to more speed for the effort put in.

2. Power Work: Moving from Strength to Speed

​Why It Matters: Base-season strength training focuses on building raw strength, but as race season nears, the goal should shift to speed and power. Faster, dynamic movements translate directly to sprinting, climbing, and handling. Power = Strength x Speed, after all.

How to Do It: Drop the weight and sets in the gym as you change your workouts to be more about power. Your main lifts can be box squats or quick deadlifts. Also some plyometrics like box jumps, jump squats, and similar. Reduce the volume as you increase the speed.

Race-Day Benefit: Improves explosive power, speed, and neuromuscular capability for accelerations, punchy climbs, and quick moves in technical terrain.

3. Less = More: Focusing on Quality Over Quantity

Why It Matters: As race day gets closer, the temptation to do “one more interval” or “just a few more hours” can be strong, but the reality is: the hay is in the barn. This is a saying we use often on Dirt Camp Racing. What it means is essentially, “the work has been done”. You won’t gain additional fitness in the final couple of weeks, but you can create unnecessary fatigue that limits your performance and ability to get the most out of yourself.

How to Do It: Most athletes will start tapering 7-14 days before race day depending on how important it is. In this time, we reduce training volume while maintaining intensity. Where this principal specifically applies is on making sure you focus on the QUALITY of workouts in this time period. Doing the workouts with the most intention (aka. purpose) and not trying to squeeze that sponge dry. 

​Race-Day Benefit: Arrive at the start line feeling fresh, not fried. You can be confident that the hay is in the barn, and now you can fully utilize all that work you put in.

4. Starts: Preparing for Push 

Why It Matters: The first few minutes of a race can be the hardest...and unfortunately often the most crucial. Start drills are a multi-beneficial workout. They can not only tap into some anaerobic power and prepare your body for that surge, but can also improve neuromuscular connection (think: mind tells body “GO”) and can also improve your starting process. From what gear to be in, where the seat should be, and how to clip in the fastest.

How to Do It: Perform start sprints from a stopped position. Practice about 10-15 seconds at max effort. Play with different gearing and positions that allow you to get clipped in and get the leg speed up FIRST. You want to prioritize getting your foot in the pedal, then speed, then power. Call some friends and do it together if you want!

Race-Day Benefit: Helps you stay with the pace and either a) gain spots or b) not lose them. Either is a win. The starts aren’t everything, but being effective at them will only benefit you going forward.

5. Technical Training: Reap What You Sow

Why It Matters: Riding technical terrain is a key component of how we perform as mountain bikers. Not being able to use all that hard work because you lack the ability to efficiently ride technical features or lose a lot of time on downhills is an unfortunate situation. Doing it while fresh is easy — doing it under fatigue is what separates top riders from the rest. 

How to Do It: Specifically work on skills pertaining to your races. Flat corners, rocky features, drops, etc. Anything you struggle with do while fresh. This is important – skill acquisition happens best when your body and brain are not tired. 
Now, if you are confident in your abilities, start doing some of that technical riding in a workout. After a hard interval, immediately drop into a technical downhill or section. Repeat multiple times and get used to the difference. 

Race-Day Benefit: Helps you stay smooth and efficient on features, limit losses or even gain time on your competitors, and (again) stay efficient so you can go your fastest. 

​Incorporating these workouts into your final race build will sharpen your ability to perform under real life conditions. The key isn’t just training harder—it’s training smarter, making sure your fitness directly translates to race-day performance.