My pre-race ritual is a special prayer and blessing.  I look over the water. my bike and my running shoes.  I give a blessing asking that each will keep me safe and healthy.  I also ask that all other competitors will be kept safe and healthy as well.  This meidtative moment calms me and prepares me to move!

Jene' Popper Hong

Hubby & I shave our legs (yep he does.) We also clip our nails & I paint mine. As a soccer player I used to instead sharpen my nails vs. clipping them down. I also wore my long hair in a braided whip type style.

We have a pre-race CD we listen to before every race. It's nice to have traditions. It reminds you pre-race that "you've been in these moments before" and even at a new event, it'll be OK.

Sara

Probably not what you're looking for, but the following seem to be part of my routine actions before races...not sure how many times I'll have to go through them before it qualifies as a ritual.

1. Wind myself up so much that I get lost on the way to the race briefing (3 times this year).

2. Forget everything that I've been told in the briefing, find a volunteer to ask questions, usually one who's a first timer (twice this year).

3. Get up early on raceday, fall asleep, wake up again late and rush to transition (twice).

4. Halfway to transition go back to my room to get the things (usually goggles) I've forgotten or get lost on the way to the transition 5 minutes before it closes (once).

5. Drop all my kit in the transition area so that it's covered with grass, sand, dirt and probably chewing gum.

6. Find a non-essential, but useful piece of kit in my daybag after transition has closed.

7. Forget to get marked / chipped / register chip.

8. Forget sunscreen.

9. Walk around in daze wondering which wave I'm in.

I find that these hiccups have lead my actual racing to be relatively calm and stress-free...almost Zen-like. I've left out "tweak cycling computer so that it doesn't work over 25mph, display the wrong speed or shows it in Km/h"; this happens every time, but I haven't figured out when I'm doing it yet. I managed to work in "lose bike in transition area" and forget to put hat on bald head for sunny-hot-shadeless run (twice) but as these are not strictly pre-race I've left them out of the main list. I love racing though.