When to carb up?

[thekarens]

I know people who wouldn't blink at 100. At my stage of endurance 62 is a challenge, and I'm working towards 100. My longest ride so far is 54 and I bonked at 51, almost didn't make it back.

[OakLeaf]

But my point is, it isn't the distance, it's the intensity. One of the great things about cycling is exactly that as long as you keep the pace something that's easy for YOU, you can literally ride all day and into the night. When you're doing that, you can stay abreast of nutrition by what you eat and drink along the way. It takes a higher intensity before you start depleting glycogen.

[shootingstar]

I'm sorry Oak, my heart is now thinking of my partner who is concocting his 1,500 km. trip across British Columbia and Alberta. He's 70. To be done within 2 wks. He's booked all his accommodation. There are 3 mtn. ranges in B.C. to cross.

You really truly need to understand what intensity means for each person. They feel it in their body..the exhaustion. (Day after day.)

When he was 59 he did 4,300 km. across Canada....every day except 3 days scattered about, 100 km. Every day. Intensity is on body and mind. Mountain ranges and flat, boring prairie with headwinds. We have to take into account wind velocity on headwind/crosswind that can affect performance and creates cycling intensity not anticipated at all for several hrs. Could he have cycled into the night for 8-10 hrs.? No. This is not racing but it is intense. Eating properly is critical. One doesn't want to carry a ton of food because the bike baggage is heavy already. (So one hopes in some vast empty stretches in Canada and U.S. there will be a corner store in a village, a farmers' fruit stand...)

There's a part of me worried more than I have in the past. (Maybe it's several cyclists who have killed by cars in Canada on long distance touring within the past 2 months.)

I make it sound like torture. It doesn't need to be, but there are some difficult hrs. on end, where your mind and body must focus hard to finish for the day.

There are times as cyclist also, I wish I didn't know certain things (the hard stuff about long distance cycling) even though it makes me an empathetic partner for him after he tells me his rides, eating at the end of each day.

[OakLeaf]

No, maybe you're not understanding what I'm saying. The OP was asking about super-charging her glycogen stores. That's literally not possible for a multi-day event. Recovery nutrition as well as on-bike nutrition will be super important for your DH, and for anyone doing an event of that nature. But he could eat an entire candy factory the night before he left and not make the slightest difference in the glycogen reserves he had on the third day. It just doesn't work that way.

[zoom-zoom]

It takes a higher intensity before you start depleting glycogen.

Bonus -- at lower intensity the body burns a relatively higher percentage of body fat...booyah!!!

[OakLeaf]

Bonus -- at lower intensity the body burns a relatively higher percentage of body fat...booyah!!!

Well, that's true that of the total calories you burn, a higher percentage of them is from fat. But at higher intensity you still burn more fat. You just have to burn glycogen and replenish glucose on top of it. And the higher intensities aren't sustainable, by definition. Anyone, whatever their level of fitness or deconditioning, can ride 5 miles a whole lot faster than they can ride 100. That's the fat-burning benefit of lower intensity - that you can do it all day. If you only have a fixed amount of time for your workouts, you still get more fat loss with higher intensity.

[jusdooit]

Interesting discussion. I only input is that if the OP bonked on a ride it probably has more to do with on the bike nutrition than foods eaten prior to the ride.

[Susan Otcenas]

But my point is, it isn't the distance, it's the intensity. One of the great things about cycling is exactly that as long as you keep the pace something that's easy for YOU, you can literally ride all day and into the night. When you're doing that, you can stay abreast of nutrition by what you eat and drink along the way. It takes a higher intensity before you start depleting glycogen.

This, exactly.

Our bodies don't actually store all that many calories as glycogen (what, 1500 or so?) and you don't actually want to deplete that, or you will bonk. Sooo, after a couple of hours on the bike, ALL your energy need to come from a combination of what you eat during the ride and stored fat.

Oak is exactly right. At low intensities, you can ride nearly forever. Randonneurs do it all the time. We ride ridiculously long distances over crazy long hours. What we ate the night before or the day before has very very little bearing on how well we ride. At anything more than a few hours, it's the intensity at which you ride, coupled with your fueling during the ride, that will determine your performance on the ride.

(I just finished an 881 mile brevet. I think I ate pizza the night before. I like pizza. Might have had some wine too. And a gin & tonic... Much more important was the 30,000+ calories I ate DURING the ride! )

Mostly, don't overthink it. Eat something you like, something that isn't too heavy or spicy, and don't overeat. Other than that, it doesn't really matter all that much. Really.

Susan

[Skippyak]

I really enjoyed the TDF glimpses into the feed bags of the riders, those Spanish guys had hardly anything in their feed bags, of course there may be misinformation and product placement here.
I monitor my calorie (estimated) out my 910 (imperfect science) but flat centuries don't even use 2000 calories for me, in a 6 hr century ride with an average HR of 140 (resting 55). So between liver and muscle glycogen and some calories in my bottle and breakfast, and my capacious fat stores. it is all good LOL.

[thekarens]

But my point is, it isn't the distance, it's the intensity. One of the great things about cycling is exactly that as long as you keep the pace something that's easy for YOU, you can literally ride all day and into the night. When you're doing that, you can stay abreast of nutrition by what you eat and drink along the way. It takes a higher intensity before you start depleting glycogen.

Gotcha, so I need to find the sweet spot regarding pace. That makes sense.

[Skippyak]

I am not sure that bonked is the same thing to all people (other than the obvious British bonk). I think some people think they have bonked when they have just not ridden enough, or were not ready or come out of the gate too fast etc etc.

[rebeccaC]

I am not sure that bonked is the same thing to all people (other than the obvious British bonk). I think some people think they have bonked when they have just not ridden enough, or were not ready or come out of the gate too fast etc etc.

I would call that muscular fatigue rather than a bonk. Hypoglycemia (bonking/hitting the wall) and even dehydration have different symptoms than muscular fatigue. With both of the later eventually the brain wants to protect itself by shutting some of the bodies systems down. Both also give emotional and cognitive warning signs, bonking more so. Irritability is one of my early signs. No one bonks without ignoring several warning signs that could have corrected the problem. I'd call it just needing to know our bodies

[Skippyak]

I would call that muscular fatigue rather than a bonk. Hypoglycemia (bonking/hitting the wall) and even dehydration have different symptoms than muscular fatigue. With both of the later eventually the brain wants to protect itself by shutting some of the bodies systems down. Both also give emotional and cognitive warning signs, bonking more so. Irritability is one of my early signs. No one bonks without ignoring several warning signs that could have corrected the problem. I'd call it just needing to know our bodies

Irritability is so subjective though. I did a 7K climb century a couple of weekends ago and I sure was not bonking and I was really irritable that despite having done all the advertised climbing (as per my garmin 910), I was still climbing for another 20 miles LOL.

[Catrin]

It really pays to pay attention to what your body is telling you. My coach tells me that there is research that shows women's bodies often are unable to take advantage of 'carb loading' the day before an event. I am sure that some women ARE able to take advantage of this but it pays to track things. Keep a journal of both what you eat and how you feel before/during/after a significant effort until you nail down what works for you.

[thekarens]

Interesting discussion. I only input is that if the OP bonked on a ride it probably has more to do with on the bike nutrition than foods eaten prior to the ride.

Can't argue with that. I've just been trying to get the whole thing together, both pre ride nutrition and during the ride.