Training & Nutrition - Easing up on the carbs for training?

For long, easy (zone 2) rides is it always a good idea to eat (or drink) some carbs during the ride? In other words, is there any training benefit to withold or delay carb ingestion during the ride to encourage the body's metabolic pathways to change in such a way that will increase endurance? I'm talking of rides over 1-2 hours. I know very little about metabolism and training, but the reading I have done doesn't seem to address this directly.

Thanks!

Boatman

i'd question the function of a 1 hour z2 ride in a racing programme but if your just riding i guess it has a role. ANyway on your q it really depends on how trained you are. I take water on anyhting 120 mins or less, over thant i'll start sipping a drink 180 mins or more and i break out the solid foods, seems to work for me. aftert about 2 hours you'll have tapped in to glycogen (although maybe not so much in z2) its good to do some fasted rides to stimulate fat bruning a 90 min pre breakfast easy ride once a week is a good way to achieve this. ALWAYS take a gel though you don't wanna be left crying in a ditch...... (i know)

For long, easy (zone 2) rides is it always a good idea to eat (or drink) some carbs during the ride? In other words, is there any training benefit to withold or delay carb ingestion during the ride to encourage the body's metabolic pathways to change in such a way that will increase endurance? I'm talking of rides over 1-2 hours. I know very little about metabolism and training, but the reading I have done doesn't seem to address this directly.

Boatman

From what I've read, the answer is "no", there is no benefit to deliberately depleting your carb stores more than you need to (with the exception of carb loading, which is something different). You can, however, get really hungry (so that you eat too much when you're done), deplete your glycogen over several days, or bonk (so that you want to die).

Having said that, I generally stay with water on rides of less than an hour, and use accelerade on longer rides.

I'm agreeing with jamesstout. I purposely ride for up to two hours without any fuel, sometimes without water also, though I carry both with me. If I start getting dizzy, I start eating. I notice the difference when I train that way. My blood sugar levels become less sensitive to eating and not eating on long or hard rides. Something changes, but I'm not sure what. Maybe one's body becomes more adept at extracting energy from fat.

there was a study done on it fasted rides increase glycogen resynthesis by 10% and promote burning of intramusculartriglycerdies (fats in the muscles) i got it on jbst.com which is a great website/podcast