John Borstelmann's scorecard
Cape Epic (8-day stage race)
Sunday 17th October, 2021
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
- 72gCarb per hour
- 960mgSodium per hour
- 827mlFluid per hour
- 1,160mg/LRelative sodium concentration
- 17.53mg/kgCaffeine per bodyweight
How John hit those numbers
Before race (>30mins)
500ml x PH 1500 (Tablet)
500ml x Plain water
500ml x Black coffee
250ml x Orange juice
1 x Slice of toast
1.5 x Eggs
1 x Slice of tomato
0.5 x Cup of yogurt
0.5 x Cup of granola
1 x Bran muffin
Pre-race (<30mins)
1 x Energy gel (25g carb)
Race - During
2.25L x PH 1000 (Drink Mix)
2L x PH 1000 (Tablets)
1 x PF 30 Gel
1 x Energy gel with caffeine (24g carb, 72mg caffeine)
1 x Energy gel with caffeine (22g carb, 40mg caffeine)
300ml x Cola
2 x Energy gel (25g carb)
1 x Energy gel (27g carb)
2 x Energy bar (21g carb)
1 x Energy bar (40g carb)
- After a great season of gravel riding including winning the Gravel World Champs in August John decided to switch things up and take part in the massive multi stage mountain bike race Cape Epic
- The Cape Epic is an 8-day race consisting of a prologue and 7 stages ranging from 70-100km. John raced with his teammate Todd and raced in conditions ranging from 7℃/45°F to 33℃/91°F over the week
- John kindly tracked what he ate and drank each day (a fair task over 8 days!) so that we could analyse not just his overall numbers but also compare his carb, sodium and fluid intake across the different days
- He used a similar hydration and fuelling strategy each day using PH 1000, a variety of energy gels and bars and some solid foods, which enabled him to hit very decent numbers
Hydration
- On average John drank ~827ml/hr (29oz/hr) of fluid. Considering the very hot temperatures reached in many of the stages, John would have been losing more fluid (higher sweat rate) so drinking a high volume of fluid will have replaced a good amount of his high losses
- John consumed over 900mg sodium per hour every stage and in relation to the fluid he took on board this meant the relative sodium concentration of his intake was ~1,160mg/L on average. Considering John has a sweat sodium concentration of ~1,310mg/L this will have replaced a good proportion of his losses over the race
- It is especially important to stay on top of sodium and fluid losses during multistage events to reduce and avoid a large deficit being accumulated over the days that will hinder performance
- John didn’t suffer any cramping and was happy with his hydration strategy, rating it a 10 out of 10, even on days where it was pushing towards 40℃/104°F. However, he also mentioned he was never pushing his limit because he was having to pace his teammate
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
- John prepared for each stage by consuming a solid carb-rich breakfast usually made up of toast, eggs, granola and yogurt. Alongside this he always had an energy gel or banana (~30g carb) in the last 30 minutes before the start, as our Quick Carb Calculator would recommend, to top off his fuel stores
- John managed impressive carb numbers, hitting ~72g/hr over the whole 34 hours and 19 minutes that he was riding. For each individual stage we would recommend between 60 and 90g of carb per hour so for John to reach this level and sustain it over the 8 days (while experiencing no GI issues) is great to see
- We have seen in previous races that John aims for 80g/hr and he was able to hit the high 70’s and 80 throughout. His highest carb intake was on day 5 where he consumed ~82g/hr
- John used a range of products and foods to reach these numbers which is ideal for avoid flavour fatigue over such a long event. He also chose to move towards more solid foods as the week went on and included some sandwiches (and even carrot cake!) on the last day
- In terms of caffeine, John took on small doses everyday mainly in the form of caffeinated energy gels. On day 4, John consumed 3.08mg per kilogram of bodyweight reaching the recommended dose of between 3-6mg/kg for endurance performance. In future multi-stage events, John may benefit from reaching the recommended caffeine dose on the last few days to keep his perceived energy levels high
Conclusions
- John enjoyed his first ever mountain bike race. Due to his race partner suffering some health issues and being less fit than him he was held back especially after day 3 but John still was happy with the race saying ‘I was happy to gain a lot of MTB skills and explore an incredibly beautiful region with amazing trails’
- In future multistage events it will be interesting to see if John can sustain such a high intake while racing 100% each day
Key info
John Borstelmann
* determined by our Sweat Test
Result
Event information
Race conditions
Athlete feedback
John's Thoughts
The first three days went very well for us, so I was very satisfied, especially since it was my first MTB race.
Data Confidence
There is an adequate level of accuracy in the data collected and the numbers reported. The athlete manages to recall what they ate and drank including most specifics (brands flavours quantities plausible estimations of volumes). However there are estimations made within the data which affect the overall confidence level in the data reported.