Training for Long Distance

[TheSarge]

I've been trying to follow a keto diet just as an experiment.  Last week's LGT ride was ideal - I only had 2 ThinkThin bars for the whole thing (lowest carb bars I've found without getting into those weird meat sticks) and I got back to the parking lot feeling like I had a lot more in me.  Fast forward to this week, and I had my daughter's birthday party the night before and might have eaten enough carbs to throw me out of keto.  My LGT ride this week was a completely different experience.  Right around Crockett with the downed trees I started to bonk and never really got back on track.  Ended up spending the rest of the day on the couch.

For those of you with more keto experience, does this sound like a matter of messing myself up with too many carbs the day before or was it just a rough day on the bike?

 

[Kyle]

18 minutes ago, throet said:

Would you say that otherwise you were a well conditioned endurance athlete at the time? I'm only asking because there are other things that can wipe you out during an event like that, including inability to handle high volumes of waste (lactic acid) from too much anaerobic output over an extended period. In other words, if you're huffing and puffing to recover from every considerable climb, then you are probably doomed to feeling like shit regardless of the nutrition / hydration level. This stuff scares me a bit because for an untrained person like me and especially at my advanced age, it seems easy to get yourself into trouble by getting shit out of balance. I know others are stating that a big part of it is just being willing to do whatever it takes to finish, but I can say with certainty that if I start feeling like shit at 1.5 laps at DS, I'm done. I don't need to be that guy you see staggering across the finish line with muscles seizing up and eyes rolling back.     

I think I was in pretty good shape going in, but I had never done a ride that long so I didn't have a feel for nutrition.  I read that terrible hammer article and planned on 150 calories an hour, and basically started to bonk about 30 miles in, but realized it and started eating everything I could get my hands on and managed to recover enough to ride the remaining 40ish miles.  

I did the EB last year and planned on more like 225 calories/hour, and did OK but had some significant snacks at the aid stations and felt like I could've eaten more happily.  If I do the dragon slayer this year I'm going to plan on 300/hr and have an extra 1000+ at the car just in case.

[AustinBike]

21 hours ago, Anita Handle said:

ok, serious question (I have to preface since I make lots of jokes...), do you rely more on fat during easier efforts (think, sustainable pace, easy breathing, low-ish heart rate) and burn through carb stores during higher efforts (think, rapidly climbing heart rate, legs feeling the burn, can sustain for only 1-10 minutes)? I've read that but wondered what you people thought.

I'd guess that you need to avoid going into the "red" on a super long ride like the EB. 

As an experiment, I rode my mtb for 4 hrs on the road yesterday at a steady, easy pace. I brought a sandwich just in case I started to bonk but since I'd kept the pace pretty easy, I felt fine, calorically, with only 1 bottle of hydration drink, probably 200 calories. I did start to feel various aches and pains as I spun away for longer and longer, but didn't feel hungry per se.

I know if I'd been smashing myself on a hard trail for 4 hrs of pedalling, I'd have eaten a whole pizza.

Well, you know me and my diet. I am pretty much fat adapted, meaning my body gets its energy from fat and not carbs. I can do a 3-4 standard ride (15-20 miles) without touching anything other than water. On my 50 mile EB training rides I can usually get by without any nutrition either. 

When I did the EB last year I bonked because I had been in Portugal for 2+ weeks and was only back in Austin for a few days and my body was out of whack. I ran out of energy ~25 miles in and had only planned for fat/protein - and that takes too long to convert. Luckily I found some cliff shots in my pack and those carbs gave me enough power to get to the CP stop. There I carbo loaded and continued on.

With protein you can sustain longer periods of time and with carbs you can "jolt the system" with instant energy. It is best to understand the two and use them appropriately. The idea of carbo loading the day before is stupid because your body has consumed all of the carbs, used what it needed and converted the rest to fat. Your body will not store carbs, so a pizza the night before will not help you. Other than it is tasty. Especially if it is real pizza.

[ssorgs]

Rides over 3 hrs I try have some nutrition (clif shot or 2-3 blocks) every hour, especially when it's hot. 

For EB, though, I try for 500 cal/hr!  I use, er, Spiz for about half of those hours as 1 - 20 oz will provide 500 cal.  I think the key is to eat (and drink) before it's too late. Once your stomach gets too empty, nothing really seems to help. Otherwise, clif bars, blocks, shots work for me and they're portable.  I carry Spiz in single-serving ziplocks so I don't have to measure.

[Albert]

Wow, 500 calories per hour!  I tend to be more on the minimalist side of things, maybe consuming 100 calories an hour, if that.  I did a 7 hour, 50 mile ride last week (mostly single track, but road as well, with about 1,900 feet of climbing) and consumed two 100 calorie gels, about 200 calories of electrolyte powder in my 100oz bladder, and a Gatorade I purchased at a gas station.  Including the Gatorade, went through about 170 ounces of liquid.  Started ride at 7:30am.  The cooler temperatures were nice while they lasted.  For longer, tougher rides such as the EB I would certainly eat more.  

 ..Al

[FJsnoozer]

Treat EB as just a fun day and adventure on the bike.  Dont even think about the mileage and segment it.

1. Neutral rollout with a massive group to GB (this is like a warmup as you are still sleepy. Stay in the group and you will barely put out any effort to ride down there because of the draft. 

2.  GB ride - There is so much excitement and energy that carries you through to the top of HOL. Walk the HOL and Have a nice snack at the top with new friends. 

at this point you will probably establish a group of people that you may ride with to City Park.

3. Ride to CP. 360 is EASY. Keep your HR in a good place going up the climbs and coast down to Courtyard. Spin your way up and over the hills.  

4. Party at CP. The atmosphere here is great and most people are refueling and filling up with water at the Pavilion.  I'd recommend doing a quick water break and spending the time after you finish CP,  or both. 

5. Head up and over Jester and knock out the St Ed's loop.  I stop at Jester Subway for a sandwich. Make sure you know this route so you dont get completely lost at St eds like we did. (we lost an hour)

6. Climb Yaupon to Thumper, fuel, ride thumper, talk about riding thumper, eat some snacks and then head on for your Victory lap

7.  lick your wounds and cruise over to  Walnut for your victory lap.  Duval is mostly downhill and rewards a little bit of effort. I think we averaged 20+ MPH the whole way.  Endorphins can carry you into walnut because of what you have just accomplished.  Say high to the crew drinking beer and eating BBQ and head in for a nice steady lap of walnut.  Your sprinting legs will be long gone and you will probably ride at a pace that requires no braking anywhere.  Be efficient and you will be home free in a little over an hour.    

Training:

Tempo and sweet spot work.  You dont necessarily have to ride far to ride far.  In fact, if you find a group to work with you should really be focusing on your repeatable short power for the efforts.

Before my first and only EB, my longest ever trail ride was 35 miles of SATN and GB, and 50 miles on road South walnut bike path to manor.  I was just getting serious about XC racing, but was still a slower mid-pack Cat 2 racer. 

Lots of hard 1-2 hour race pace trail efforts.  Tempo-Sweet spot rides on South walnut trail on the MTB that look like 10 BPM below my race pace heart rate.  These rides equate to two 30 minute intervals at 95% of race pace. Longer intervals are great for building "all -day" power.

Sprinkle in some 3-4 hour MTB rides on the road, or better yet, do something specific to the EB and challenge yourself to ride your MTB to  a trail vs driving, ride it and ride home.  Its OK to not ride the trail as hard as you normally would, but you may be surprised.  I like to ride to Walnut and back when I go to Walnut vs driving. It adds an hour to the whole day or less when you calculate the time spent packing and unloading the truck 4 times. You could also ride Brushy - street- Walnut - Home.  I actually felt pretty safe on Parmer. Experiment with going hard on the street and cruising trails, or vice versa.  I find going hard on the street to be the right combo.  Wind and your lateness to get home may force you to do this at times, so its  a safer strategy.        

Nutrition:

Dont try anything new! figure out what you like to eat before hand.  You need water AND salts, or you will cramp just riding on water.  When in doubt, listen to your body and eat what you want at the two aid stations. 

Extremely high Carb and water intake in the evening. Basicly Potato Chips, some cinnamon roles, and what was available at a party.   

Oatmeal for breakfast. I ran a 50/50 gatorade/water mix in camelbak.  Cliff bar at HOL exit, Free Gu and Cliff stuff at CP, Subway 6 inch and salt and vinegar chips, probably some sweet junk food and pickles at Thumper and refilled with Gatorade. 

I felt great, moving time was 8 hours flat.  Actual time was quite a bit slower stopping for my group, getting lost and for lunch. 

Good Luck!

Edited August 27, 2018 by FJsnoozer

[FJsnoozer]

2 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Well, you know me and my diet. I am pretty much fat adapted, meaning my body gets its energy from fat and not carbs. I can do a 3-4 standard ride (15-20 miles) without touching anything other than water. On my 50 mile EB training rides I can usually get by without any nutrition either. 

When I did the EB last year I bonked because I had been in Portugal for 2+ weeks and was only back in Austin for a few days and my body was out of whack. I ran out of energy ~25 miles in and had only planned for fat/protein - and that takes too long to convert. Luckily I found some cliff shots in my pack and those carbs gave me enough power to get to the CP stop. There I carbo loaded and continued on.

With protein you can sustain longer periods of time and with carbs you can "jolt the system" with instant energy. It is best to understand the two and use them appropriately. The idea of carbo loading the day before is stupid because your body has consumed all of the carbs, used what it needed and converted the rest to fat. Your body will not store carbs, so a pizza the night before will not help you. Other than it is tasty. Especially if it is real pizza.

With much respect for you, your racing experience and your contribution to the austin biking...Everything you posted basically goes against the science of racing and your recent experience is probably a representation of a poor nutrition strategy.  I am also a traveler such as yourself and have to come back and race marathons in the fall after weeks of Hotel time. 

Even PRO cyclist on the Keto kick, are using sugar on the bike in hard effort formats.  The only piece of science that backs your strategy are the cherry picked studies supporting Keto and similar strategies.  If you ride a lot of zone 2-3, you can ride without being reliant upon carbs. 

Carb loading is a real thing,  Just not everyone truly understands how to do it.  Glycogen is stored in multiple places for multiple uses.  Depending upon the effort you are right about not "needing" nutrition.  I can ride very hard for 1-2 hours on nothing bout my normal diet, but my performance would be and is better if  timed with the right type of Carbs at the right time. 

For events like the EB, I would take in large quantities of specific carbs and water. I would also be ok mentally with getting on the scale at 3 pounds heavier that morning because your glycogen stores are on the very high end of around 7-800 grams and you are retaining water. 

Most people will not do well with protein in their gut during an event like this.  With that being said, I dont hear of many pro racers being able to handle 500 calories per hour. most of their nutrition is around 250-400 as its tough for the body to absorb much more than that while its under the duress caused by a race.  If you are just at a comfortable pace, and his body is capable of absorbing the 500 then more power to him. I bet he feels great on the bike  with keeping up with calories that well. 

Oh, and YES to pizza!

 

 

 

 

 

[Albert]

18 minutes ago, FJsnoozer said:

Treat EB as just a fun day and adventure on the bike.  Dont even think about the mileage and segment it.

Great post!  😄 

[CBaron]

Lots of good info in this thread.  I've got so much to say that I don't even know where to begin.

I will say this...if you are not acutely working towards becoming fat-adapted via a Ketogenic way of eating, then you should primarily be focused on eating/consuming/fueling yourself the traditional way via glucose/carbs/sugars.  Its simply how its done: your body needs it, requires it and wants to burn it.  Figuring out the exact combo for yourself can take time but the basic formulas can be followed and tweaked with good results.  I liked to go on super long rides and listen to my body's needs.  I found that after consuming gels & gu bloks for a long portion of the ride, I liked to actually have something solid.  It could be a PB&H(honey), or ideally a 7-11 personal size pecan pie.  Love those things!  Hydration-wise, I would run 1 bottle of water, and 1 bottle of overly saturated self-mixed gatoraid powder that I'd keep adding water to through the ride.  If I was going deep into pain cave then at some point I'd top the gatoraid off with mtn dew.  During races, I set my watch to do a 50 min countdown timer.  I then skip the 1st alarm (at 50 min) and beginning with the 2nd alarm, I use it as a reminder to eat a gel about every 50 min.  It took a good bit of experimentation to end up at this number.  Don't let yourself get to "feeling hungry".  If you end up there, you just went too long!

The information below is from the point of view of someone who has actively and aggressively been working towards being a fat-adapted athlete:

All that being said, I've been eating a Ketogenic style ever since January (with a  2 week break in July).  On a daily basis, I regularly consume about only 25-35 net carbs a day (of which about 12-15 grams of those are sugars).  On days before a big(ger) event, I do eat a small sweet potato the night before as a low-glycemic carb-up.  This was my method for these 2 laps out at LGT and I did a door-to-door time of 6hr flat. https://www.strava.com/activities/1449950329  All of this ride was done consuming no more than 400 calories, of which only 150 of them came from the Stinger Waffle.  The other 250 calories came from MCT oil.  Likewise, I used this same methodology 2 weeks later at the Ouachita Challenge with good results. https://www.strava.com/activities/1471935804  At the OC I only consumed about 600 calories total, but 3/4 of them came from Hammergel.  I've been doing this the first 1/2 of this year as a physiological experiment of sorts.  Just to see how it all works.  I REALLY like the day to day result of eating like this.

Now on to the downsides:

During my time as a Keto athlete (cyclist), I find that I regularly have a 'dead legs' sensation.  My legs feel a little bit flat.  But I can perform and get results even with this sensation.  I find myself having PB/PRs and occasional KOM's.  But I regularly don't feel fresh.  So the most recent time of my Keto experiment has been trying to add in some targeted carbs just prior to my rides to see if this could help.  Yes, yes it does.  I've found that 1 Hammergel about 30-45 min prior to a ride can pretty much completely remove by dead-leg syndrome.  Last week I did what amounted to a 2.4 mile 6 lap circuit race with a bunch of roadies. https://www.strava.com/activities/1788820876  I'm still experimenting with how to best harness this in combination with my endurance riding and events.  But as the experiment goes forward, I'm still trying to find out what can work best for me.  In closing, I will say that its not all be great either.  This weekend I attempted a to ride my concept of an EB LGT-Parmer-Deception Prologue and crashed & burned badly.  It was possibly one of the single worst days I've ever had on a bike.  https://www.strava.com/activities/1797161605  I'm still trying to analyze what happened.  But I can't deny that nutrition could have played a part in it of some sorts.  And the heat...and my fitness...and my pride...

In summary, I think you have to find what works best for you.  And in order to do that you have to put in the time (on the bike) to have successes and failures.  Most of my pre-Keto methodology had been pretty finely honed through much training/practice/racing.  And to be honest, I'm not sold-out to Keto.  I'm very willing to go back to that way of eating.  I somewhat foresee a possible combo where I race on a glucose source and then live day-to-day on a low-carb lifestyle.  But if I end up there, in retrospect it could have taken nearly a year to figure that out.

Later  -CJB

Edited August 28, 2018 by CBaron

[Teamsloan]

7 hours ago, throet said:

Would you say that otherwise you were a well conditioned endurance athlete at the time? I'm only asking because there are other things that can wipe you out during an event like that, including inability to handle high volumes of waste (lactic acid) from too much anaerobic output over an extended period. In other words, if you're huffing and puffing to recover from every considerable climb, then you are probably doomed to feeling like shit regardless of the nutrition / hydration level. This stuff scares me a bit because for an untrained person like me and especially at my advanced age, it seems easy to get yourself into trouble by getting shit out of balance. I know others are stating that a big part of it is just being willing to do whatever it takes to finish, but I can say with certainty that if I start feeling like shit at 1.5 laps at DS, I'm done. I don't need to be that guy you see staggering across the finish line with muscles seizing up and eyes rolling back.     

I've often wondered what was really happening to my body when I pushed myself that hard. It felt like my digestive system had shut down. I had no appetite, and could only drink a little at a time. I was seriously crampy, and had absolutely no energy. I wanted to puke so bad but I couldn't. The strange thing was I was totally fine the next day. I felt like I could go for another ride. It sounds like what you describe when talking about not being able to dispose of the lactic acid build up. It's the worst I've ever felt in my life.

[AntonioGG]

Doing endurance race pace rides you'll burn 600-800 calories/hour.  Anyone that can eat and process more than 300 calories/hour, wow!  That's awesome.  I've seen this before in person (Rocky Gingg was eating Freebird burritos on the bike and fistfuls of M&M Trail mix), but wondered even if you can handle it, if you're not pulling too much blood flow away from your muscles to digest all those calories?

The reality is that we have a few hundred calories worth of glycogen stored in our muscles, after that's gone, we (most of us) can process about 250-300 calories per hour of fast absorbing sugars (4% glucose, 4% Maltodextrin usually in sports drinks), the rest is going to come from fat if we're going slowly enough, or muscle breakdown if we're pushing things.

You can go fast or you can skimp on nutrition.  I don't think you can do both.

I highly recommend the book "What Comes First, Cardio or Weights?" by Alex Hutchinson if you're interested in any of this stuff.

And yeah, I second everyone saying "do what works for you and don't experiment on the ride with what you haven't tried in your normal rides".

For me, I have done 24 bottles of Inifinit for a 24 hour race without any real food and feeling pretty good.  Sometimes on long rides though, one of those gas station cheese peanut butter cracker packs and a coke (+water) will sub for one of my bottles and helps a bit mentally.  For 90 minute rides or less I can do water, but in the summer I can get behind very quickly on electrolytes, so at the very least I throw in some Lite Salt (50% KCl 50% NaCl) into the bottle, but I usually drink Infinit in the summer even for short rides.  I have too many side-effects of going without electrolytes otherwise.

[DesertNomad]

my clif-notes on what i've done to ride long distance:

Nutrition: When all else has failed, I go to the 4:1 carb:protein ratio along with electrolytes and 20-24 oz of water per hour.  How much carbs:protein depends on body weight and caloric burn per hour I need to recover.  I currently use one scoop of Accelerade per 24 ounces of water for this and supplement that with Hammer Nutrition Endurance Amino and Endurolytes.  I have also used Infinit GoFar as well as an Infinit custom blend but it's expensive.  Accelerade gives me 90% of what Infinit does for much less expense. I can ride zone 2/3 for 8-12 or more hours this way without cramping, gi, or other issues. I might throw caffeine via some pre-workout into the mix on the last 30 minutes of a marathon ride if I need a kick. I try to avoid solids when on the bike if at all possible.

Conditioning: it's down and dirty and should be dialed in over time based on where a rider is and does not include tapering or building, but adhering to a basic 80/20 ratio on zone 2/3 base-miles versus zone 3/4 intervals and only one or two very short visits per week to zone 5 is a good strategy.  Regardless of how many miles you can put in a week this is a winning ratio. If for example you can find the time for 100 miles a week, that's 80 miles of solid pedalling at a sustainable, nearly continuous cadence on trail and/or road spread out over several days with one or two days of 20 miles total mixing in structured intervals and sustained effort climbs of various intensities.  If you are riding 6 days a week across those 100 miles, your interval days should be one dedicated day, and one or two days blended in with base miles.  Always take one day off a week, preferably after a big endurance ride.

Get a heart rate meter, figure out your heart rate zones, and make the most of training by chasing heart rates. Screw wattage, FTP, power-to-weight, what bike your riding - doesn't matter. Train your cardio, work on your form, climb your hills, and the rest will follow.  When you get to the point where you are not getting faster or riding longer, talk to a coach for further guidance.

Recovery is also key and must begin no later than 30 minutes of completing your ride. It can be as simple as downing a pint of chocolate milk, but I drink a 20 oz mix of ice water and Ultragen from First Endurance.

[ssorgs]

7 hours ago, ssorgs said:

For EB, though, I try for 500 cal/hr!  

Shoulda clarified - “try” is the key! I’ve only done 2 EBs (both 11:30-12 hrs) and I carry close to that, consuming as much as I can. Probably get 80% there.

When it comes to consumption for me, it’s not cumulative, either. In other words, I aim for 400-500 each hour and if I do less, I don’t try to make it up next hour for example. 

More of a pragmatic approach, recognizing some hours may be a single goo and others may have a beer...

[crazyt]

4 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

Doing endurance race pace rides you'll burn 600-800 calories/hour.  Anyone that can eat and process more than 300 calories/hour, wow!  That's awesome.  I've seen this before in person (Rocky Gingg was eating Freebird burritos on the bike and fistfuls of M&M Trail mix), but wondered even if you can handle it, if you're not pulling too much blood flow away from your muscles to digest all those calories?

The reality is that we have a few hundred calories worth of glycogen stored in our muscles, after that's gone, we (most of us) can process about 250-300 calories per hour of fast absorbing sugars (4% glucose, 4% Maltodextrin usually in sports drinks), the rest is going to come from fat if we're going slowly enough, or muscle breakdown if we're pushing things.

You can go fast or you can skimp on nutrition.  I don't think you can do both.

I highly recommend the book "What Comes First, Cardio or Weights?" by Alex Hutchinson if you're interested in any of this stuff.

And yeah, I second everyone saying "do what works for you and don't experiment on the ride with what you haven't tried in your normal rides".

For me, I have done 24 bottles of Inifinit for a 24 hour race without any real food and feeling pretty good.  Sometimes on long rides though, one of those gas station cheese peanut butter cracker packs and a coke (+water) will sub for one of my bottles and helps a bit mentally.  For 90 minute rides or less I can do water, but in the summer I can get behind very quickly on electrolytes, so at the very least I throw in some Lite Salt (50% KCl 50% NaCl) into the bottle, but I usually drink Infinit in the summer even for short rides.  I have too many side-effects of going without electrolytes otherwise.

you actually have something like 1500 calories worth of glycogen in your  muscles and another 400 or so in your liver.

I personally like around 100-150 calories per every 50 minutes, with a couple of small meals with probably 400 calories all at once.  An hour is generally too long for some reason.

 

For electrolytes I like 50% gatorade/water, but for the really long rides the sugar is too much and there arent enough electrolytes. I keep tums with mg for cramp emergencies.  I can get hit the wall cramps and tums will clear them up in about 15 minutes.

 

Edited August 28, 2018 by crazyt

[Barry]

1 minute ago, crazyt said:

I personally like around 100-150 calories per every 50 minutes, with a couple of small meals with probably 400 calories all at once.  An hour is generally too long for some reason.

This is also my strategy from a caloric standpoint. 

[AntonioGG]

2 minutes ago, crazyt said:

I personally like around 100-150 calories per every 50 minutes, with a couple of small meals with probably 400 calories all at once.  An hour is generally too long for some reason.

I have to stay on schedule or I get in trouble.  Some people can do the larger meals every so often.  I can do 7oz and 70 calories every 15 minutes.  Some people have to drink less more often because that much at once when you're pushing hard can cause problems.  If I fall behind one hour, that's it.  I cannot go back and catch up.  I've learned that the hard way.

Edited August 28, 2018 by AntonioGG

[Anita Handle]

Which type of yoga is best for detoxing?

[St.Bernardo]

No substitute for saddle time.  Gotta make sure that you can be comfortable for the long haul.

[FJsnoozer]

For electrolytes I like 50% gatorade/water, but for the really long rides the sugar is too much and there arent enough electrolytes. I keep tums with mg for cramp emergencies.  I can get hit the wall cramps and tums will clear them up in about 15 minutes.
 

Same. I have added lite salt for this reason to my Marathon mix.

or a pack of the margarita flavored cliff blok which has 3x the salt. 210mg per 3 bloks.

I also need to start testing some caffeine added to the mixture.


BTW, for anyone who hates all this stuff, but loves sweet tea, check out the Summit Tea Gu Roctane mix.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AustinBike]

On 8/27/2018 at 12:51 PM, FJsnoozer said:

With much respect for you, your racing experience and your contribution to the austin biking...Everything you posted basically goes against the science of racing and your recent experience is probably a representation of a poor nutrition strategy.  I am also a traveler such as yourself and have to come back and race marathons in the fall after weeks of Hotel time. 

Even PRO cyclist on the Keto kick, are using sugar on the bike in hard effort formats.  The only piece of science that backs your strategy are the cherry picked studies supporting Keto and similar strategies.  If you ride a lot of zone 2-3, you can ride without being reliant upon carbs. 

Carb loading is a real thing,  Just not everyone truly understands how to do it. 

 

 

 

 

 

I am not a racer by any stretch and I don’t know jack about nutrition as it relates to biking or racing. 

What I do know is a ton of people that call beer and pizza “carb loading” and it is hurting more than helping. Most people don’t understand it and hunk just loading up on carbs the night before is the key. It isn’t. 

People should learn from the experts. Luckily that is not me. 

[Anita Handle]

34 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

I am not a racer by any stretch and I don’t know jack about nutrition as it relates to biking or racing. 

What I do know is a ton of people that call beer and pizza “carb loading” and it is hurting more than helping. Most people don’t understand it and hunk just loading up on carbs the night before is the key. It isn’t. 

People should learn from the experts. Luckily that is not me. 

skinny bitch. 

[AustinBike]

3 hours ago, Anita Handle said:

skinny bitch. 

You forgot bald

[Kyle]

Those of you that eat every X minutes, what do you use to time your highly specific interval?  

[AntonioGG]

I don't have any kind of alarm set.  On endurance rides I'm highly focused on keeping track of the ride, by hour, and by certain intervals, like 1/6 done, 1/4 done, 1/2 done.  So it's easy for me to remind myself.  But there are people that set reminders on their watches or bike computers.

[CBaron]

I use my Timex Wristwatch set to a 50 min repeating countdown.  I skip the 1st time if goes off and then begin consumption at the 2nd alarm.  1hr 20m is a good place for me to begin.  I found that with 40-45 min it was too quick and I had to FORCE the food down.  But with an hour, it was too long and depending on my efforts/pacing, I could begin to feel the hunger.  YMMV

-CJB