Jake Wells on recovery between back-to-back races

Jake Wells at the 2012 Boulder Cup

Jake Wells, who rides for Stan’s NoTubes Elite Cyclocross Team, knows a lot about recovery. Back in August he raced the six day Breck Epic at altitude, one of the many stage races he’s completed during his career. He’s also no stranger to large cyclocross events that feature racing over two or three consecutive days.

Wells shared his approach to recovery while he and his crew cleaned-up after racing the 2012 Colorado Cross Classic at Boulder Reservoir on a late October Saturday, the afternoon before he’d compete in the Boulder Cup the next day. His five year-old daughter scampered about as he spoke.

Q: When you have races on back-to-back days, what do you do to recover so you can perform optimally on both days?

“My main thing is trying to spin the legs out after the race, getting some fuel immediately after the race – a recovery drink, and then getting some food. And then trying to sleep well at night which is always a little bit of a challenge because we are racing kind of late in the afternoon, and everything is running hot…”

While Wells recovers better sleeping at Boulder’s altitude of 5,400 feet – he lives in Avon, Colorado at about 7,400 feet, he said it’s still hard to “get the systems to calm down and wind down” after racing.

Q: So when you go to sleep at night are you sometimes replaying the race over in your head?

Jake Wells after the Colorado Cross Classic

“Absolutely. Whether it’s a good race or a bad race you are playing it over and over again – what you could have done, what you should have done, what you’re going to do next time. So it’s kind of hard to wind down sometimes and keep that stuff out of your mind.

“But what’s great about the Colorado races for me is my family’s here, and they get to come down and spend time with me and that kind of takes my mind off of it. Mentally you just kind of shift gears.”