So a little higher intensity than 'sandwich eating' levels?

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

You can open that Cliff bar before you start the race and leave it in the package.

But those bars blow. Make yourself these bite size mini sandwiches and pop them in as you go.

I like Nutella, Peanut butter/Nutella, strawberry preserves, 100% maple syrup, honey something like that...

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I finished pretty decently in a 120 mile pro 1/2 road race a few weeks ago. A small sandwich of white bread, thin nutella and jam in the first hour while the pace was moderate. Maybe 2 powerbars between 1:00 and 3:00 ride time. In the last 1:45 i probably downed 5 gels. All in all something around 250-300 calories an hour. The race had neutral water in the support car so I stuck to gels/bars instead of sports drinks. The morning of the race I had a giant bowl of cereal, nothing too crazy as I dont like to feel full and heavy on the start line. No cramps, no bonk, all good. Start with solid food, move to things easier to digest as the race goes on.

Careals in the morning of the race sound good, some riders of our club opt for a good plate of pasta or rice w/ bit oil added innit.

In structured team athletes role may play part a bit. 4-5hrs race w/ attacking hard first hour trying to get into escape group, compared final sprint oriented or leadout role situation. Early attackers need to be quite empty when flag goes down.

really, tabe? that would depend on the level of support that my team can provide, wouldnt you say?

If I'm my teams breakaway man , anticipating a long day in the saddle ahead, and I know that theres a possibility I won't be receiving much food support ( if my team vehicle is say, stuck with the peloton.) I'd want as much food as I could carry reasonably on board with me.

of course if food support was a given then of course leave it to the team vehicle.

Correct davidalone..thats possible and our choise for early breakaway men too. What I actually meant was *empty stomach and digestive system* for that team player role. Not empty pockets..

http://www.hammernutrition.com/knowledg ... knowledge/
has all the info you need. You can check out the "Endurance Athlete's Guide to Success" and also "The Top 10 - The biggest mistakes endurance athletes make"

Following the above advice totally turned my season around. I was struggling with bonking/cramping/dehydration before reading the above sources and now I'm doing really well, bunch of top tens and one win. I race cat 2 and typically do 100 mile races so if it worked for me it will work for you too!

This is great advice. Remember, it is IMPOSSIBLE to load ANY muscle glycogen the morning of the race. Whatever you eat before the race is only to get your blood glucose and liver glycogen topped off so don't stress about over eating the morning of the race.