Like most Saturdays, I have a long bike ride scheduled for tomorrow.  I will be riding for about four hours, so obviously I will need to make sure I have adequate fuel and hydration.

Foy hydration, I take water and I take as much as I can carry.  I will have two full regular bottles and also the bottle, that is between my arms on my bike.  I will also throw another bottle of water into the back pocket of my kit.  That should be enough liquid but what about fuel?

The photo shows the nutrition I will have with me tomorrow:

• One bottle of concentrated, custom blended Infinit Sport Fuel  ( 560 Calories)
• One sleeve of Honey Stinger Chews (155 Calories)
• Two slices of cinnamon swirl, raisin bread (300 Calories) – real food is good for a change.

That’s a total 1,015 calories.  That might sound like a lot, but it’s only about 250 calories per hour.  In races, I try to take in about 300 calories per hour on the bike.

As you train for long course races, it is not only important to train your muscles, you need to train your gut.  It’s important to figure out how your body will handle taking in calories, while working hard.  No two people are the same, so it’s a fair bit of trial and error.  Long rides are perfect for figuring things out.

For me, the cinnamon swirl bread is new.  Tomorrow will tell me how my body deals with it.  If it doesn’t go well, then it’s just one ride, and I can move on.  If it works, then it just gives me more options for the future.

One final thing, there is post-workout fuel too.  For that, I have my favorite recovery drink, Cocoa Elite. I wrote a blog about that here.