Have a couple of early nights before hand, eat loads of pasta, stay off beer for a few days, then assuming you're relatively fit just make sure you're on top of nutrition and hydration. On longer rides I force myself to eat one "stick" of a Nature Valley cereal bar and a good swig of liquid every 10miles whether I think I need it or not. I know this works for me - you could well be different so just suss that out on practice rides. Agree with the 48:18 gearing above - that gets me over anything in Surrey and don't find myself spinning out too often. Oh, and get a good freewheel - recently converted to White from Shimano and it's like riding a different bike. Good luck :-)
Have a couple of early nights before hand, eat loads of pasta, stay off beer for a few days, then assuming you're relatively fit just make sure you're on top of nutrition and hydration. On longer rides I force myself to eat one "stick" of a Nature Valley cereal bar and a good swig of liquid every 10miles whether I think I need it or not. I know this works for me - you could well be different so just suss that out on practice rides. Agree with the 48:18 gearing above - that gets me over anything in Surrey and don't find myself spinning out too often. Oh, and get a good freewheel - recently converted to White from Shimano and it's like riding a different bike. Good luck :-)