Unbound Gravel 100

Lindsey hit an impressive ~115g/h of carbohydrate, comfortably exceeding the 90g/h benchmark shown to enhance endurance performance. His fueling strategy relied primarily on semi-solid sources, including PF 300 Flow Gel, and a PF 30 Caffeine Gel, with the only solid carbs coming from a PF 60 Chew Bar consumed at the start line. He began the ride planning to finish the first PF 300 Flow Gel and a PF 60 Chew Bar, along with all his fluids, by the aid station, which was initially expected to be around three and a half hours in. However, with the race running roughly an hour faster than anticipated, Lindsey had to adapt on the fly, ultimately skipping the PF 60 Chew Bar and arriving at the aid stop with a full 1L bottle of PH 1000, plus some PH 1000 still remaining in his starting bladder and hold back on his planned carb intake, to account for the faster than expected race conditions.

Despite the warm conditions, Lindsey rated his hydration strategy highly, likely helped by detailed forecasting of his sweat losses, which ensured he started with the right amount of fluid for both the conditions and his expected race duration. He followed a decoupled fueling and hydration approach, with all fluids containing only sodium via PH 1000 Tablets, while carbohydrates came separately through PF 300 Flow Gel. Over the course of the race, Lindsey consumed ~5L of fluid, slightly below his estimated ~6.9L sweat loss, but this shortfall was manageable, equating to an estimated ~2.3% of body mass loss, thanks to effective pre-loading. In preparation for the heat, he also completed 6 heat training sessions in the Precision Performance Lab. Across those sessions, Lindsey saw a modest ~13% performance improvement in his internal-to-external load ratio (Watts/bpm), contributing to him feeling thermally comfortable despite the warm race-day conditions.

Lindsey’s total caffeine intake was relatively low, delivered through a single PF 30 Caffeine Gel taken strategically for a mid-race boost. For a 6-hour event, this put his intake below the 3-6mg/kg bodyweight range recommended in the literature. He chose to limit caffeine on the day to better manage pre-race nerves and to avoid any potential negative impact on thermoregulation, given emerging evidence on caffeine’s effects in hot conditions. For future races of similar duration, especially in cooler conditions, experimenting with slightly higher doses (e.g. ~200mg total) could offer additional performance benefits, especially in the final third of the race where fatigue sets in.