The beauty of undertaking a recon ride is that it allows you to experiment with your pacing.

This doesn’t mean that you’re going to sprout wings and have the ability to fly up every ascent but it does mean that you can work out where you may have to dig a little deeper knowing that you may have a longer period of recovery to follow if you do so.

Throughout your training and preparation you’ll naturally establish a pace that you can sustain over certain distances.

Take the time to ask yourself the question ‘how am I feeling?’ at regular intervals along the way, adjusting your pace accordingly.

Knowing that often the start of an event can be a fast and somewhat nervous affair, try experimenting with working a little harder at the beginning of your recon ride to simulate this and see how long it takes for you to recover and settle into your own sustainable effort zone.

Whatever happens don’t get carried away at the start. It’s better to begin slightly slower and finish in good shape than the other way around.