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It’s that time of year, when cooler air starts to slip into your hot summer day. You begin to wish you had brought arm warmers, as you head home from an evening spin.

Getting your nutrition dialed for cross race can be trickier than you might think. Races are relatively short, but they are also incredibly intense. The only thing I've encountered that comes close to their physical intensity are short-track mountain bike races, but even they are not quite as vomit inducing. Sprinting over barriers and up steep hills by foot as commonly encountered during cross races pushes the intensity level through the roof. You need glycogen stores to be at maximum to fuel these and other anaerobic efforts, but you also don't want much food in your stomach come race time. That is, unless you want to be distracted from going your fastest by burping up breakfast. It's not a pleasant feeling.

I used to fade super hard towards the end of a 1-hour cyclocross effort. Now, in my final laps I've been able to launch attacks and even sprint to the finish.

Since starts are crucial to cyclocross racing, take 1-2 servings of Beta Red 2 hours before your race, and then have another serving approximately 30 minutes before starting.

To top off your blood glucose for maximum performance, eat 1 to 2 Enduro Bites pieces 20 to 30 minutes prior to race start.