Less than three days ago, I was standing in my closet in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, trying to remember everything on my list. “T-shirts, pants, socks, cycling kit, shoes, pedals, plane snacks …” and much more.
I was packing for a trip to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to race my bike on the other side of the world.
MyWhoosh is the host of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships for the next three years, and I was lucky enough to visit their headquarters in January. That was my first time in the Middle East, and now I’m back not as a writer, but as a racer.
I am representing Team USA at the 2024 UCI Esports worlds alongside Hayden Pucker, Neal Fryett, Kristen Kulchinsky, Jacquie Godbe, and Ellexi Snover. We received a kit from USA Cycling to race in, but the rest of the worlds preparation was largely on our own.
Needless to say, the worlds semi-final went well in September as Team USA earned six out of 40 spots at the world championships.
Now we’re here in Abu Dhabi, many of us meeting for the first time ever, on the other side of the world. It wasn’t an easy journey to get here – the shortest flight from the U.S. is around 13 hours from the east coast – but we made it.
MyWhoosh has organized a massive event from top to bottom.
Already, we’ve done photoshoots, interviews, and B-rolls; and as I write this, we are heading to the official pre-race meeting. We’ve only seen snapshots of the venue on social media, and it is even bigger than I expected.
Navigating the pre-race stress
There has been a lot to think about in the past few days, especially when you are jet lagged and waking up at 3 a.m. like me.
For one, there is the pre-race training.
Most of the riders arrived on Tuesday or Wednesday this week, but the Esports world championships are not until Saturday evening. That gave us a lot of time to sit around and think, but also a few days to sharpen our fitness with pre-race openers.
It’s always interesting to look around and see what everyone else is doing.
We are 40 of the world’s best Esports cyclists, a niche sport with a fairly small racing community compared to the whole of road cycling.
All of us prepare for the same types of races and efforts, yet our pre-race preparation is so different.
Some riders were doing high-intensity intervals on Wednesday, whereas I took the day off. A good chunk of riders went outside on Thursday to explore Abu Dhabi (the daily temperature here is 90-100°F), while I opted for the trainer and air conditioning.
Some riders track every single calorie, whereas I go to the local supermarket and pick out a few items that look good.
A few riders are extremely concerned with their sodium intake before the pre-race weigh-in, but I couldn’t care less. Having dealt with disordered eating in the past, I’ve learned to control a few things and let go of the others.
Over-obsession with food and training drove me to a very bad place, and it’s fascinating to see other riders exhibiting the same behaviors that drove me crazy. Perhaps it works for them, but these are the things that you forget about when you race virtually from home.
In terms of training, MyWhoosh set each rider up with a smart trainer in their hotel room.
It’s great to have this available so that we can train on our own bikes at any time of day – we don’t have to rely on the gym’s spin bikes or rent a beach cruiser.
Another part of the trip that has been far easier than expected is finding food.
Our hotel serves a breakfast buffet every day, and there is a small grocery store directly next to the hotel.
Surprisingly, this store is cheaper than anything I’ve found in America. For dinner one night, I bought a falafel wrap, a chicken curry rice bowl, and two chocolate cupcakes for a total of $6.13.
The last point that has stuck in my head is the amount of people – friends, family, coaches, and partners – that have joined the riders. At least half of the worlds finalists brought someone with them, and a few people brought a handful of supporters to Abu Dhabi.
Of course, each supporter must pay their own way, but for many, this is the trip of a lifetime.
View this post on Instagram
Bracing for race day: Weigh-ins, warm ups, hunting a worlds win
Proceedings kick off tomorrow, Saturday, with an early weigh-in for each rider.
The women go first at 8:00 am, while the men have a bit more time and will weigh in at 8:30 a.m. Some riders will be losing as much water weight as possible by jumping in the sauna before the weigh-in.
It’s a risky strategy, but one that has become commonplace in Esports cycling.
Most pro-level Esports racing uses a two-hour weigh-in window, meaning that the riders must weigh in two hours before the start of their race.
Tomorrow, the women have about 10 hours between their weigh-in and the race, whereas the men have nearly 12 hours in between.
This is a really unique situation in Esports cycling where all the competitors are weighing in at the same place and time. Typically, you would have riders weighing in from around the world – say, Australians weighing in at 11 p.m., Americans weighing in at 4 a.m., and Europeans weighing in at 11 a.m. But this time, we are all together for the biggest event in the world.
Today’s pre-race meeting told us everything we need to know about the 2024 UCI Esports world championships.
We know exactly where to be and when, how much time we’ll have to warm up, what we’re allowed to wear, and more. Racing late in the evening (the men’s race starts at 8:30 p.m. GST) makes it the perfect time for my family and friends to tune in from the US.
I’m not sure who will win, but I am 100 percent certain that we will have thrilling races from start to finish.