Amstel Gold Sportive

For a 10-hour ride with 3,000m / 9845ft of climbing, Jonny built, practised and executed a consistent fueling strategy that got him close to his target of 90g of carb per hour. He managed to average ~82g/h across his elapsed time which is well in line with the guidelines for rides of this duration and intensity. To achieve this, he took one PF 90 Gel each hour, except for hours 3-4 and 7-8, where he swapped these for PF 60 Chew Bars. He stuck to his pre-planned gels and chews, and impressively had no stomach discomfort despite taking on more fuel than he has in past races. Looking ahead to Unbound Gravel in a couple months, Jonny plans to further refine his fueling. He reported some extended periods without fueling and then having to take larger doses of gel than he wanted. To help fuel more consistently, he could explore other carbohydrate setups particularly for a more technical course (likely with the help of PF 300 Flow Gel in Flow Flasks).

As a member of the PF&H Marketing Team, Jonny is well aware of his sweat sodium concentration (901mg/L) thanks to a Sweat Test. He matched the concentration of his intake to his losses to help maintain fluid and electrolyte balance by using PH 1000 across the first four hours of the ride before switching to plain water and Electrolyte Capsules (having 2 per every 500ml water bottle). He stuck to his plan of drinking ~500ml of fluid per hour, which he felt was sufficient for much of the ride and supported his performance. However, as temperatures rose, Jonny acknowledged he could’ve increased his fluid intake. He also didn’t pee during the 11 hours he was on the bike, which may indicate underdrinking and a bit of dehydration. Ahead of Unbound, Jonny should perform some sweat rate data collection, both in controlled conditions like in the Precision Performance Lab, and out in the real world, to get a picture of how his sweat rate varies in different environments and therefore how much he should be drinking under varying race conditions.

Jonny chose not to use caffeine during the event, as he hasn’t noticed a clear benefit from it in the past and was mindful of the potential negative side effects. That said, as a regular coffee drinker with a good caffeine tolerance, it’d be worth trialling a strategic caffeine dose through PF 30 Caffeine Gels in training ahead of future races. Caffeine is a well-researched ergogenic aid with a strong body of evidence showcasing its performance-enhancing effects for endurance exercise.