Originally Posted by
genejockey
That's what I'm thinking, at least carb-wise, for the long rides. The 1 1/2 hr weekday rides will probably still be done with water only. Yesterday's long ride, I ate two Clif bars, which were about 1/4 of my calories, but I couldn't tell if it made a difference because what had been a 5 mph tailwind on the trip out became a 14 mph headwind on the way back.
I prefer to ride with both HR and power. If my HR stays stable at a given power, I'm fine. If HR drops, I'm low on carbs. If it goes up, I'm a bit dehydrated. I never look at my speed, because that metric is basically useless if I have the other two. This works for me no matter how long the ride. Of course as I tire, my power and HR will both drop, but I try to minimize that with training and nutrition. If I do it right, I can make the last 30 miles of a double my strongest because I'll have no reason to hold back.