Nutrition question from my long ride this weekend

I am hoping some of the longer riders in here can give me a educated response to a problem that arose on my long ride on Saturday. Bear and Kim, please both feel free to contribute.

I am in training right now for a 1/2 IM distance race in mid July. I am averaging about 100 - 150 miles per week right now on my bike and that number should increase to 200+ miles per week in June. My schedule called for a 50 mile ride on Saturday -- a distance I am confortable with.

I decided to try something a little new with my nutrition on this ride. Normally, anything under 30 miles I drink straight water and suck a little gel for nutrition. On longer rides, I will take a couple of nutrition bottles and one water bottle with me. I will skip the gels on longer rides as I am getting all I need from my bottles.

I took a couple of Enduralytes about 30 minutes before my ride. I made two nutrition bottles with a mix of Cytomax, Gu20 and Gatoraide (I don't know why, but that is the mixture that feels good to my tongue, regarless of how strong or weak it is). Each bottle had about 480 - 500 calories in it. I also had a water bottle with me.

I thought I could absorb about 500 calories per hour, so the plan was to drink from the nutrition bottles every ten minutes and the water bottle on each half-hour.

About 90 minutes into my ride, my stomach just felt heavy. I could tell I wasn't processing my fuel. I kept my HR primarily in zone 2, but I did have to really push it on the hills as I was riding through some mountains. So, I don't think my HR was inhibiting my ability to absorb the calories. I din't get that tired aside from what is normal for me on a tough ride. I felt tired but okay after the ride.

So I stopped at a tiny convenience store on the rural road and bought a couple of bottles of water and took a couple more Enduralytes. I had one nutrition bottle left, so I poured half of it into the empty bottle and dilutted both with the water I bought. I got back on my bike and took off.

I then started on the same timing of drinking except I switched to just water until my bottle was empty. Within 30 minutes, my stomach quit feeling heavy and I switched to the nutrition bottles and I was fine until the end of my ride.

So these are my questions (I hope I gave you enough information to answer them):

1. Did I go too rich on the nutrition bottles? From what I have told you, did I try to get too many calories into me too quickly?
2. Did I do the right thing to clear out my stomach? I thought it through as i was riding and that just seemed like the most logical thing to do at the time.
3. Should I dial it down to about 400 calories per hour? I want to stay liquid on the bike, but should I try something small like Powerbites?
4. Do you think the Enduralytes helped or hurt? It was a warm day and I know my sweat rate was up. But with all the sodium and potassium in Cytomax, Gu20 and Gatoraide, were they really necessary?

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Mike



Edited by Rollin' Thunder 2005-05-23 1:39 PM