Homebrew01

If you get someone to feed, do some practicing at speed beforehand.

procrit

If it were me, I would do about 300mg of caffeine at the start of the race and stick a couple expresso goos in your pocket for later. I would also carry a plain bottle of water along with one bottle of whatever the latest maltodextrin type energy / hydration mix is these days (hammer perpetuem comes to mind), not just a sugar/dextrose type mix. Mix it thick, I'd do at least 300-400 calories worth. Sip on the mix for energy, sip on the water for hydration. Not too difficult.

If you are fit that should be all you need.

If its hot out carry an extra bottle of water in your jersey pocket just in case. If you have a feed zone then maybe not.

Fat Boy

shovelhd

For an 80 mile road race I would carry three gels and a granola bar. One item per hour. Drink every five minutes or so, most importantly at the beginning. I don't take feeds, I carry my own fluids. I would take four bottles. Two with a G2 mix and two throwaway spring water. After those bottles are empty I crush them and stash them in my jersey.

procrit

Yes, yes you did. haha

cvall91

I blame my poor on-bike nutrition on my usual Saturday ride. The ride starts less than a mile from my house so I don't have to drive there. The efforts they do are good, but ~70% of the ride is just cruising around (at least for my current fitness level) and I'm at zone 1-2 for most of it. Thankfully Chantal decided to die out so this weekend, I will do a 60 mile hammer ride and try out some of your suggestions. Including breakfast (since I have to wake up earlier and drive) and a mixed drink along with some gels and possibly a sammich for the halfway stop.

300mg of caffeine is crazy. Around here, Cuban espresso is pretty popular and I think they don't even have 100mg. Coffee goes in and out for me so I try to avoid drinking it while riding. A glass of ice cold water right after waking up does a better job than coffee for me.

I am trying to avoid the feed zone refill all together so I like the plastic bottle idea. At the event I mentioned, they were handing out water mid ride, but I just kept seeing people try and grab these bottles from fake soigneur's and exploded in their hands. I know I've never tried to grab anything at 25mph+, so I'll be carrying extra bottles if anything.

shovelhd

If you're going 25mph through the feed zone you are doing it wrong.

cvall91

I've never been through a feed zone so I wouldn't know. We were going that speed when they were handing out water, but it wasn't really a proper feed zone. The group had no intention on slowing down so whoever decided to go out and try to grab some water was on their own.

Fat Boy

[TABLE="class: data"]
[TR]
[TD]Robusta coffee (drip brewed)
[/TD]
[TD]140 - 200 mg caffeine per 6 ounce average cup[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Arabica coffee (drip brewed) [/TD]
[TD]75 - 130 mg average 6 ounce cup[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Arabica/Excelsa blend coffee (drip brewed)[/TD]
[TD]40 - 60 mg average 6 ounce cup[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Espresso (typical serving)[/TD]
[TD]30 - 50 mg average 1 ounce shot[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Instant coffee[/TD]
[TD]40 - 100 mg average 6 ounce cup[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]97% decaf coffee [/TD]
[TD]3 - 6 mg caffeine per 6-7 ounces average cup[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]99.92% Euro decaf standard coffee [/TD]
[TD]8 - 16 mg caffeine per 6-7 ounce average cup[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Hot cocoa [/TD]
[TD]10 - 15 mg caffeine per 6-7 ounce cup[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dark chocolate candy bar [/TD]
[TD]50 - 100 mg caffeine per 6 ounce bar[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Milk chocolate candy bar[/TD]
[TD]30 - 50 mg caffeine per 6 ounce bar[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew soda[/TD]
[TD]20 - 26 mg caffeine per 6-7 ounce drink[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Green tea (brewed)[/TD]
[TD]12 - 30 mg per 6-7 ounce average cup[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Black tea (brewed)[/TD]
[TD]40 - 60 mg per 6-7 ounce average cup[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


300mg isn't _that_ crazy. It's definitely enough to keep you alert, though.

MDcatV

we have a couple around here that can be that fast, at least in that neighborhood. it can make it difficult to grab a bottle. for whatever reason, i decided one day that i'm good at grabbing feeds, and that's it. physically, i'm like the worst combo for grabbing bottles, but i get one just about every lap so i can hand them to teammates who are hamfisted.

cvall91

So here's an update for those of you who gave me some input.

I decided to try out GU Brew tablets as my LBS didn't have any heed and also bought cliff shot blocks. Filled both bottles with one and a half tablets in each. Brought along the shot blocks and a banana. Also had a cup of milk and coffee plus a slice of toast and jam for breakfast. First bottle down and was a bit gassy but nothing a few burps couldn't fix. Once we got to the racing section, I was feeling fine. I was towards the back and decided to grab a wheel of some rider moving up. He pulled from about 60 back and we ended up in first 5. Big effort and at this point I was pretty dead. So much that I felt the pasta from last night coming up and was about to hurl. I did a short 3 second pull and pulled off. Merged back into the group and just held on. Approaching the sprint zone, the pace got higher and I was behind a guy who was fatigued and formed a gap in front. Did a jump to try and get around, and 2 pedal strokes later, I was done. I got the BIGGEST cramp in my calf I've ever gotten. This was the first time I've ever cramped on the bike so I didn't know what to do. Luckily this was right before the resting point.

Anyways, I recovered and finished the ride perfectly fine. Filled my bottles with water for the second half and munched on the shot blocks slowly. Really, I can't believe the difference from how I used to ride to this ride. Maybe it was a good day, but it's been a while since I felt that fresh by the end of any ride, especially a ride like this one. I almost broke off and went with a group who was doing 100 miles, but I was out of water and had things to do. Going to do another 60 miles (bit slower paced) tomorrow and see if I was just having a good day or if all this hype about proper on bike nutrition is real.

Here's a link for the ride. https://app.strava.com/activities/66770598

therhodeo

So it wasn't a race?

merlinextraligh

Apparently not. The Veulta de Miami isn't until July 28.

Moreover, I'm thinking the OP is a junior, and is a Cat 5, if licensed at all. There's no Cat 5 or Juniors race in the Veulta de Maimi.

https://vueltaamiami.com/cm/wp-conten...V-2013-28L.pdf

cvall91

No that was just a Saturday ride they do every weekend. I talked to the organizers and I believe they are allowing cat 5 to race in the event. And I'm 21 so not a junior. Just saying my parents because none of my friends ride, and the only people who would actually stand on the side of the road, just to hand me a water bottle, would be my parents.

Creakyknees

Are you a cat 3 then? Because there is no cat 4 offered unless you are 35+

merlinextraligh

^^Not what the Flyer says. There's no Cat 5. The Masters is only Cat 1-4, and you can't race on a one day license.

All that says no Cat 5 to me.

Went to the online registration site, and there's no Cat registration.

An 80 mile road race through the streets of Miami sounds like a huge ordeal to maintain rolling closures. I could see why they wouldn't have a Cat 5 field.

cvall91

Race Day Report: https://app.strava.com/activities/70456406

So Cat 5 was able to register the day before and the race was a go for me. The morning of, I ate a peanut butter and honey sandwhich, and decided to eat some leftover pasta as well. I drank a cup of pedialyte (apparently a lot of racers do it?) and was off on my way. I brought along 3 gels and 2 packs of shot blocks, just in case. As for liquids, I brought one bottle of water and 2 bottles of gu brew.

60 miles in, I ran out of water. Fatigue and dehydration slowly started to creep up on me but I held on till the finish. 5 miles left, I started a little chase group to the breakaway, but I sat up and waited for the group as I was pretty tired. After that, the 200+ riders started getting pretty excited and it got really..... really... sketchy. I decided to drop back and just finish on my own. On the way to the line, there were 2 separate crashes so I was kinda happy I didn't bother trying to finish 50th.

Overall great race even though it was kinda scary at times. The police did a great job of escorting us and not a single car got in the way the entire time. Pretty happy with myself as I finished a lot fresher than I have on some regular training rides. I'm going to be taking on bike nutrition more seriously after seeing the difference it makes. Thanks for those who gave me some pointers.

AzTallRider

Congratulations on staying strong throughout. And you gotta love Strava, which shows you averaging 369 watts for 3 hours.

Ygduf

Good job finishing, and exercising the better part of valor if you weren't going to contest the sprint.

It'll get easier, and as you ride more you'll get more efficient and the nutrition parts will come naturally as well. c5 is for experience only, so good work getting out there.

cvall91

Yea Strava likes to exaggerate. I only use it for tracking my rides really. Looking over and the ride, from what I can tell, wasn't all that hard. I was only in zone 5 for less than 15 minutes and my heart rate didn't go over 200. I'm 21 so going over 200 during very hard efforts is normal. I guess my young legs plus very hard training paid off.

Yup I really saw no point in trying. About 20 miles in, we were going about 32 and there was a very hard stop for some reason. Someone wasn't paying attention and rammed into someone right next to me. I've never witnessed a crash of 5 plus guys going down at that speed so close to me. The sight and all the sounds that come from witnessing a cycling crash is intense. Just playing my cards right until it happens to me.

shovelhd

Don't think like that.

dpwhip

I've found that I drink water much better from a Camel Back than from bottles. I know, it's more efficient on the bike, but I tend to under drink, or over sweat. For 80 miles, I'd take the 2 liter Camel plus two water bottles. I'd put 8 scoops of Hammer Perpetuem in one bottle, and would consider the second bottle of water depending on the feed station. I actually don't like drinking that Hammer stuff, but have found that it adds both calories and electrolytes better than most drinks.

I also take a squeeze bottle (from Hammer) of Gel, about the same a GU. I hate those packets that get sticky and foul my pockets. I use a bento bag to carry this, plus some sort of energy bar.

I must admit I've never raced, just ridden, so time was never my goal. But, I've learned lots of indicators of how my body is holding up:

Have you pee'd since the start of the race? If not, add more water.

If the ride is over 2 hours, you will need nutrition and electrolytes. You need to find what works.

If your attitude starts to go downhill - "I wish this were over" type thoughts - you are low on sugar or water or both.

If you seem happy to ride 5 MPH slower than when you started, see attitude

Best of luck on this race.

cvall91

My thoughts are the only things holding me back in the sport. My friend, who I train with weekly, told me I'm a lot stronger than I think I am. I got dropped during my first two races that happened in February. Ever since then, I've trained harder and harder but never felt I was ready. So at least finishing this race and knowing how I did will give me some confidence. Although I wish I would've actually tried a bit harder during my solo attack towards the line. Being 5th out of 200 with the finish so close, I just gave up from lack of confidence rather than actual fatigue. But I know I'll gain that from races in the future. Cat 5 is all about learning as they say.

The race already happened but thanks dpwhip

Ygduf

What's the Henry Ford quote? Those who think they can and those who think they cannot are usually both right?

bryceman

Bringing up a slightly old thread, but have very similar questions. Racing the Hotter n Hell 100 as a Cat 4 this weekend which as you would expect, is 105 miles and 95+ degrees. There are three feed zones with neutral water only. I have heard that in the past the hand-ups are hard to get since most people are not that accustomed to doing this.

I personally am not a fan of carrying bottles in my pockets and have never tried riding with a camelback in a race. Heard that I could use a rear seat mounted bottle holder and then would have 4 spots total available. Is there anything against doing this or would you suggest using a camelbak or carrying extras only?? I know I need more than just water in this event.