Fueling the Long Ride: A Practical Carb Strategy

Fueling is a trainable skill. The gut adapts the same way muscles do — with progressive, specific exposure. If you've ever bonked at hour three of a long ride, the problem isn't usually willpower. It's that you tried to ingest more than your gut had been trained to absorb.

Start with a baseline

For any session over 90 minutes, default to 60 g of carbohydrate per hour. Most athletes tolerate this immediately. The mistake is starting at 90+ g/hr without progressive exposure — your gut hasn't built the transporters yet, and you end up bloated and nauseous instead of fueled.

The progression that works

1. 01Weeks 1–3: 60 g/hour on every ride over 90 minutes
2. 02Weeks 4–6: 75 g/hour on long rides; keep 60 g on shorter sessions
3. 03Weeks 7–9: 90 g/hour on race-pace long rides
4. 04Weeks 10–12: 100–120 g/hour on race-simulation efforts only

Mix your sugars

Use a 2:1 ratio of glucose (or maltodextrin) to fructose. Glucose maxes out at about 60 g/hr through the SGLT1 transporter. Adding fructose recruits GLUT5 — a second pathway — and lets you absorb up to 120 g/hr without overwhelming either system.

Begin fueling within the first 30 minutes — not when you start to feel tired. By the time you feel depleted, you're already two hours behind catching up.

When the gut shuts down

Mid-session GI distress is almost always solvable in real time if you act fast. Back off the intensity by 15–20% for ten minutes, sip plain water, and pause solid food. Once symptoms ease, restart fueling with a small amount of liquid carb. Most athletes can recover the session if they catch it early.

Race-day mistakes to avoid

• Trying a new brand or gel flavor on race day
• Skipping early fuel because you 'feel fine'
• Caffeine with no caffeine training in the prior block
• Hydration without sodium on hot days