Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
Really? 400 calories an hour and one bottle of water? You're better than a TdF pro! All a result of riding fasted, eh?
That comment is so far off, you either misinterpreted my comment or you don't know what you are talking about.
I am doing a hard ride for 1-2 hours burning between 800-1600 Cal, at most two days in a row. How in the world are you comparing that to the energy needs of people doing over 5000 Cal a day for 3 weeks?
And by the way 400 Cal per hour of carbs is right at the limit of what your body can absorb. So actually TdF riders will not consume much more per hour during a stage.
The big difference is that a TdF rider needs to eat a lot off the bike and struggles to absorb enough energy to be recovered for the next day. While I can just do some chocolate milk afterwards, eat slightly more for the next couple of meals and have plenty of time to recover for the next hard workout.
One bottle per hour is nothing crazy in a cool climate with not much sweating. If it is cold I might only drink half a bottle per hour. And for lower intensity rides in 0C-10C weather I might only take a few sips and come home with the bottle almost full after 1.5 hours. These are large bottles though, about 800 ml.