OK I've just got back from a 80 km (50 mile) ride in 3 hours and 18 minutes so it wasn't super fast but not that bad for my beater bike. Breakfast was my usual dandelion tea followed by sour milk and cream and a little chicken liver pate. Heaps of fat! I took some dates and cashews with me just in case but I intended to go for as long as I could without eating to see how far I got.

2 hours into the ride I started feeling a little tired and unhappy. Heck, 2 hours isn't bad for a fat fuelled ride and I was going at a reasonable pace. Not super fast but as usual faster than I intended to go. So I started with a couple of dates to see what happened. 10 minutes later I started to feel a little more energy so I gradually ate on the way home and by the time I got home I wasn't feeling that bad and I was pulling along nicely.

So a little carbs helped but I wasn't carbo-loading. Starting the day in my usual high fat way worked for me and ONLY consuming the carbs while I was working was a good stratergy for me too. Natural foods only for me as well. No proccessed sugars. If I'm racing it would be a good idea to start eating carbs a little earlier.

So anyway. How many of you carbo-loaders could have got past 2 hours anyway before needing to eat and how well would you have recovered if you let it get to that point.

Regards, Anthony