Ride 4 24 Hour Race

[Pascale]

Every week, at 16:45 BST each Sunday, I take part in the We Are Invictus Soial Ride. Every week, at the end of the ride, Zwift Companion produces a list of riders under the heading Race Result. What has become abundantly clear is that these Race Results have absolutely no bearing on the position on the road of the riders who finish the race. The most bizarre example we have noted was two weeks ago when two of the riders in the last 5, were ranked joint 1st and joint 17th respectively. I, who finished around 30th on the road, was ranked last at 45th.

Now, Zwift exported all the correct data to Strava for the same 3 riders so the distance travelled over the hour of the ride correctly reflects the position of the riders on the road. So, that rather begs the question of what on earth do the Zwift Race Results show as it is clearly not the results of the race/ride?

I should also add that, regardless of when I and my friends are spawned in the ride which is bound to be different with often over 100 riders participating, week in and week out, the same individuals finish up at the front of the field and others consistently at the back, irrespective of how slow or fast they ride.

You are indeed missing something. The event is an hour long. It ends after precisely 60 minutes - 1 hour. So faster riders go further than slower ones, but all riders ride for 60 minutes - unless you join the ride late, when you can only ride for the remaining part of the hour.

So, if I line up at the tape alongside my mate, we ride for exactly an hour and after an hour, I have ridden 2-3km further than my mate, you would expect me to be ahead of him in the Race Results - after all, all Zwift Companion needs to do is put the person who rode furthest in 60 minute/ 1 hour in first position and the person who rode the shortest distance last. Nothing complex, not rocket science. As I noted in the OP, when the Zwift data is exported to Strava, Strava gets it right and shows the distance ridden in the hour. So my question remains, why are Zwift struggling to get this right?

It is hard to overstate the importance of glucose for endurance performance. The mitochondria use this simple sugar to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy source for each energy system used in cycling. All forms of carbohydrates you ingest are eventually converted to glucose and released into the bloodstream. However, when your body has more glucose than it needs, it is converted to glycogen and stored in the muscles and liver.

When glycogen stores are full, the liver converts the glucose to triglycerides, which are stored as fat. The good news is that you can increase the amount of glycogen your muscles can store through training. As you need more glucose to fuel your efforts, the body converts glycogen into glucose for ATP production. Peak endurance performance is all about managing these energy stores, highlighting the importance of the amount and timing of your nutrition.

Additionally, the number of carbs you can absorb, then store as glycogen, varies based on level of depletion, activity level, and the type of carbs consumed. During exercise, glycogen synthesis is nearly non-existent, which signifies that the body is not focused on storing energy for later use. Instead, the carbs you consume are being used almost immediately to fuel your working muscles.

Aside from fueling your ride, multiple benefits stem from eating hours, if not days, beforehand. There is less chance of GI distress because you are consuming the carbs incrementally. That is, you are getting them the usual way, with conventional foods. By utilizing regular meals to top off glycogen stores, you can emphasize nutritional content like minerals and vitamins. Additionally, you can carb load for a big training day or event.

Time of Absorption

Before your ride, carbohydrate absorption is mostly reliant on your level of glycogen depletion, rate of ingestion, and the type of carb. The lower your glycogen stores, the faster carbs will be absorbed.

Eating during your ride is all about fueling the muscles for the work you are doing. Because you need these carbohydrates to get to work quicker, a simple carbohydrate is best. These narrow timeframes reinforce the need for fast absorption. The simpler a carb is, the quicker it will get to work.

Time of Absorption

During the ride, the rate at which you absorb carbs depends on the intensity. The higher the intensity of the work, the slower the absorption. But generally, simple sugars like glucose and fructose are taken up in 15-20 minutes.

Glucose and fructose are interesting because they use different pathways in the body. In simple terms, glucose is sent directly into the bloodstream, and fructose is sent to the liver to be converted to glucose. Because these two simple sugars have different metabolic pathways, finding an optimal ratio has been at the center of seeing how many carbs per hour of cycling to consume.

The problem is that our GI system can only process a certain amount of carbohydrates at a given time. Once you exceed that limit, GI distress becomes an issue. For a long time, the standard advice has been 60-90 grams of carbs per hour using a 2:1 glucose to fructose ratio. However, research is emerging that shows that upwards of 140g/hr can be absorbed using a 1:1 ratio.

While it may be possible to take in more, a good starting place is 60-90 grams of carbs per hour of cycling. The primary reason for this starting point is that many athletes tolerate it well. Over time, you can work on taking in more, but it takes time. Below are three ways to get between 60-90 grams of carbs per hour.

What and When Should I Eat

Sports drinks and other products like gels are exceptionally effective for fueling during a ride. Try to ingest some carbs every 15 to 30 minutes. Before the start of your event or ride, you can consume a gel to get a great start on your nutrition. Just be careful to do this with less than 15 minutes of the start time, to avoid a hypoglycemic rebound.

A word of caution; what and when to eat is highly subjective and varies significantly between athletes. This is something that you need to train and experiment with during your training. Taking in more carbs than you can absorb leads to excessive gas and, eventually, diarrhea. Your tolerance for carbs during exercise is highly unique, so practice and take notes.

Time of Absorption

For about 30-40 minutes after, you can process carbohydrates and store glycogen at a high rate. This higher absorption rate trails off over time but stays elevated for about 48 hours. Additionally, the more glycogen depleted you are; the faster replenishment will occur. Adding some protein (4:1 carb to protein ratio) stimulates rapid glycogenesis as well as other recovery benefits like muscle repair.

On a recent MTB race I accidentally lost an entire pack of gels on the trail because I was fiddling around in my jersey pocket for some other food. I think part of the problem was wearing full-fingered gloves, and another reason was that I was trying to move quickly while the trail was relatively non-technical.

For my XC races I use liquid nutrition in bottle or pack (Camelbak Chase or Uswe), then tape 1 gel on top tube with electrical tape if needed. If you tape only the top part of the gel, you can rip it open and off the bike quickly and easily with one hand. After I eat it I then stow it in my jersey pocket. This whole process should take only a few seconds.

The longer the ride, the more would I opt for solid foods. For much longer rides, we usually stop at convenience stores here in Japan. Some people like rice balls (onigiri), but I just go for either gummy bears or chocolate bars. That is in addition to the gels I brought along.

Yup, bike races are back, and whoa, the 2024 Gravel and MTB Race and Ride Calendar is spectacular. Almost 50 days of races between April and October, 7 weekend bike festivals, 6 different weekly series, and 12 charity rides. Boom.

It depends on how fast you are riding and whether you are riding hard pack with little wheel spin or sand/mud with a lot of wheel spin. I emptied a tank in 1 hour, 15 minutes when I was practicing last week.

I would say it would be danger close if you did make it. I'm competeing in a cross country racing event this weekend and last year there were a few guys using stock 2.0 gallon tanks on CRF450Rs. These guys had to fill up to finish the race. The racing coordinator allowed the pit stop on but the delay added to their overall time. I would try to have at least 2.5 gallons or more. Running out on an event that does not allow a fill-up would be a sure way to log in a DNF.

I ran the Georgia General GNCC in the morning class with a stock tank. Two hours is a real stretch with the stock tank which I ran. I chose to pit at the two lap (approximately 1 hour mark) and my brother helped me refuel. The two hour morning race that is 2 hours does not absolutely mean only 2 hours. My race finished a little over 2 hours and 40 minutes due to the placement of my position in the field. While I might have made 2 hours, there is no way I would have made it to the end of that race on one stock tank. I recently raced a local SORCS race that wound up lasting a little less than two hours and I never refueled. I barely made it. I am looking at a bigger tank before my next go at HS. Good luck. Wear a hydration pack, it wll help. You probably already knew this. I thought I was tough and had to learn the hard way.

Here is what I did- drained the tank and filled with boiling water.Waited a minute and then popped the vent tube off the gas cap.Put air chuck on cap and blow up tank.I stretched mine to hold 2.5 gallons.Be sure to put foam under areas you do not wnat it to touch while stretchin and make sure you can still pull the tank off.It works and is the better than oversize tanks.Rodney smith's bike has the same thing done to it-as do others

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