4th
Danni Shrosbree's scorecard
Unbound Gravel 200 miler
Saturday 3rd June, 2023
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
78g
Carb per hour
787mg
Sodium per hour
880ml
Fluid per hour
894mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
377mg
Total caffeine
How Danni hit those numbers
How Danni's hydration and fueling went...
- Danni is a professional cyclist for team DAS-Handsling and competed at Unbound Gravel 200 for the first time in her career
- An event famous for its extreme, high temperatures, the 2023 edition of Unbound saw freak storms the day before and during the race, which turned parts of the race course into a mud-bath just hours before the start
- Temperatures still remained high (~25℃ / 77°F), and Danni’s fuel and hydration plan was robust even in the most challenging of conditions, as she battled her way to fourth place overall
Hydration
- As temperatures have played a major role in previous editions of the race, Danni knew that starting optimally hydrated was going to be essential. She therefore preloaded her sodium levels using PH 1500 the morning before the race, thus maximising her temperature regulating potential, and increasing the volume of her blood plasma to reduce the strain on her cardiovascular system
- Danni prefers to consume most of her nutrition in liquid form, so her fluid supply formed an integral part of her fuel and hydration strategy. Like most riders at Unbound, Danni carried a pack at all times which had a ~1.5L (48oz) fluid bladder, and she drew most of her fluid from this. Her support crew also gave her two top-ups of this bladder at the aid stations, thus helping her execute her strategy
- In total, these packs provided her with ~3.6L (121oz) of PF 60 Drink Mix, which she mixed to 1.5 times the normal strength to give her ~90g per litre, and ~1,500mg of sodium per litre (32 oz). She also picked up ~3.15L (106 oz) of PH 1000 (Drink Mix) and ~900ml (30oz) of PH 1000 (Tablets) from her crew
- There were also water stations along the route, and Danni managed to pick up ~3L (96oz) of plain water from these by refilling the water bottles on her bike frame, but had to squirt ~500ml (16oz) of this onto her cassette to clear the mud at one point! She also grabbed some Coca Cola to satisfy a craving, which helped boost her caffeine intake slightly
- In all, Danni stuck to her word and relied largely on fluids to meet her nutritional needs, averaging ~880ml (29oz) of fluid per hour across the 12 hour race. These drinks had a relative sodium concentration of ~894mg per litre (mg/32oz)
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- Danni prepared for her longest gravel ride ever by making sure her stored energy was maximised, increasing the carbohydrate content of her diet and limiting fibre and fatty foods for a couple of days ahead of the race
- Then, soon after her 03:30am alarm went off, she had a bowl of oatmeal with some honey, banana and peanut butter to top off her glycogen stores. She also had a mug of coffee to begin circulating some caffeine into her bloodstream and reap the associated benefits from this
- During the race itself, Danni’s ~3.6L (121oz) of PF 60 Drink Mix provided most of her calories, but she also topped this up with four PF 30 Chews, two PF 90 Gels and one PF 30 Gel
- To maintain her caffeine levels throughout the day, Danni also took a PF 30 Caffeine Gel at three, five and eight hours into the race. As caffeine has a half-life of ~3-4 hours, this will have maintained peak levels of caffeine in her bloodstream throughout the race
- Danni experienced a couple of energy dips, mainly around the section of thick mud where she had to get off her bike and run/walk with it. During this time she wasn’t able to eat but was still working hard, so subsequently her energy levels took a dive
- Thankfully Danni’s experience and composure meant she endeavoured to catch up, and ended up averaging ~78g of carbohydrates per hour across the 12 hour race, which is similar to what our Fuel & Hydration Planner would recommend for a race of this length and intensity
- With this, Danni reported no gastrointestinal issues all day, rating her GI comfort a perfect 10 (out of 10). This is a testament to the gut training she’s undertaken over the years to increase her tolerance to carbohydrates during hard racing, and still felt if she’d taken more with her during the technical sections, she would have eaten that too
Conclusions
- Danni’s debut at the ”world's toughest gravel race” was superb, and she said the only thing that could have gone better was if she’d been victorious in the 3rd place sprint, where she was pipped by Sarah Sturm
- Compared to the last Case Study we crunched for Danni at the Tour of Britain, her carb intake has nearly doubled, and her fluid intake has tripled. This shows the progress Danni’s making with training her gut to absorb both more carb and more fluid, and it’s now helping facilitate her stronger performances. Check out Danni’s race data from her Strava profile too if you’re interested
Key info
Danni Shrosbree
Female
Result
Position
4th
Overall Time
12:08:20
Event information
Sport
Cycling
Discipline
Gravel
Event
Unbound Gravel 200 miler
Location
Kansas, US
Date
3rd June, 2023
Website
Total Distance
330.3km / 205.2mi
Total Elevation
3,084m / 10,118ft
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Hot and Humid
Precipitation
Rain
Min Temp
19°C / 66°F
Max Temp
29°C / 84°F
Avg Temp
25°C / 77°F
Humidity
75%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
9/10
Toilet stops
No
GI comfort
10/10
No GI distress at all
Cramping
No cramping
Danni's full stats
Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | |||||
Total intake | 948 | 9,547 | 10,681 | 377 | 894 |
Per hour | 78 | 787 | 880 | 31 |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
There is some confidence in the quantities and brands of products consumed but the data may lack specifics (e.g. volumes specific flavours). A high number of estimations have been made and the room for error is moderate-high. There may also be the possibility that some intake has been grossly over- or under-estimated.