Originally Posted by
koala logs
"Carbo loading" is basically taking big meals with lots of carbs the night before you ride (up to a few days prior if going for a big ride) and also at least few hours before the ride itself.
It's not eating a huge meal right before the ride itself. Closer to the ride, you can take in easily absorbed carbs like sugar.
Originally Posted by
Iride01
I don't put much into carb loading. At least not for a person that isn't riding a bike for a living and has a dietician, chef or someone that manages their complete dietary plan and coordinating that with a coach.
If you are going to ride the entire ride in HR zone 2, then likely no carbs are needed. Probably not even during the ride. However if most of your time is going to be HR zone 3 and 4 with some 5 mixed in, you'll be good if you just supplement with carbs while on the ride, either in your bottles or with gels, candy bars or such.
To me the more important thing when not riding is the 45 - 60 minutes after the ride when it's good to continue hydrating and also get carbohydrates along with some protein and that can also be in what you drink or eat.
yeah, i don't eat a huge meal before riding, ever. but for a 4+ hour ride i do try and eat something quickly digestible with a mix of carbs and sugars (e.g. pancakes or pastries.) i never really think about or do anything special the night before, but my diet is pretty carb-heavy (i'm a vegetarian.) on the ride, i bring fruit bars, gatorade, and at a refuel stop will typically grab more of the same, maybe fruit or a cookie or something. however optimal or sub-optimal this may be, none of it has changed in the last year or so. i started out not bringing anything or eating anything but discovered that became very unpleasant around 50 miles in.
my heart rate "zones" are probably not super precise given an arbitrarily low max - which is still higher than my HR has been in sinus rhythm in 10 years:
here's zone summary data for a long, relatively mellow ride - 90% in zones 1-3. average 96bpm. this is a morning ride, i would have taken a half dose of meds, and eaten some pancakes or something an hour before.
and a summary for a harder, all-out effort with few or no stops, 96% in zones 3-4, average 110bpm. this was an evening ride, so 12 hours since taking meds, and probably 6 hours after lunch.
it would be interesting to make a scatter plot of average heart rate for the strongest one hour of every ride to the average power for that same hour. not sure what the easiest way to grab that would be, lots of work clicking around strava. i have the strongest hour power in a spreadsheet, but not the average HR for that same hour.