Hi @Christian, Really enjoyed your 5 things I wish I knew when I was a pro podcast (March 31, 2023).
I also believe in and follow the approach of taking on 80-100gs of carbs in a drink mix/hr/bottle with an added gel now and then. I mix malto to fructose at a ratio of 2:1 and add in Skratch (dextrose) to get up to that carb level and also get enough electrolytes.
But only being able to carry two bottles on a group ride or 3 max on a gravel ride, how do you deal with getting enough carbs on the second half of 4 or 6-hour rides? Do you carry extra packages of powdered drink mix, either your own mix or one of the branded mixes? If the later, which ones have the right 2:1 mix and the 80-100g carbs and enough electrolytes in a small package to fill a bottle? Thanks!
I just put extra mix in small ziploc bags. Then when it’s time to refill your bottles with that it’s easier to rip off a corner of the bag than to try to pour it into the bottle from the top of the bag.
Since you’re making your own mix, I think you could experiment with even more fructose, there’s some solid evidence for something like a 5/4 ratio being ideal and some nutrition companies are moving to that.
Great thread! I also have had great success in taking in around 90g of carbs per hour via mix in my bottles. Carrying extra mix in ziploc bags and supplementing with gels has worked well for me for long rides up to the six-ish hour mark.
But what about beyond that? My A-event this summer is a one day double century. My goal is to finish in under 12 hours but that’s still more than 10 hours in the saddle. It’s hard to imagine stuffing 10 ziploc bags in my jersey pockets. I will probably also use a top tube bag to carry nutrition so perhaps carrying all the mix I would need can be done.
Any other suggestions? There will be aid stations along the route but without knowing exactly what the offerings will be, I don’t want to rely on those as part of my nutrition plan for this long event.