Do you fuel during Zwift races?

I'm trying some Zwift racing and curious if people bother fueling during races?
Or just stick to water? Water with electrolytes? Sports drinks?

I guess any advice for criterium racing would be applicable in this case too, which generally seems to mean:

1. You don't need to eat during a race that's under an hour
2. Pre-hydrate and stay hydrated (the in-game avatars drinking are a great reminder)
3. Eat beforehand, but don't overdo it. You don't want an upset stomach when the hammer drops.

Of course, it's taking me longer than an hour to finish these races at my current pace, and today I definitely noticed I hit a wall around the hour mark - as you can see in my chart below, where my power kept dropping the longer I rode. Next time I'll keep a fruit bar or something very easily digestible on hand for that 3rd lap, or mix up a sports drink and sip on that. At least on the turbo, carrying two bottles isn't any disadvantage!

For the last ZTR training race, since it was an even longer 4 lap race that I knew would be well over an hour, I tried adding a second bottle of my home-made energy drink to my bike. It made a BIG difference, especially after the hour mark, as I didn't bonk and rode the entire race at a pretty steady pace just below my 1-hour FTP.

So, I would say that the general advice that you don't need fuel for racing under an hour probably holds true, but over an hour, a sports drink or energy gel might be a good idea.

[strava]https://www.strava.com/activities/455839316[/strava]

Hammer gel for me.

I have done a couple of 3-5 hour rides in Zwift and during thoose i take a few Gelshots

https://www.powerbar.eu/en/products/powergel-shots-orange

I find them great and use them IRL long distanses, easy to digest and easy on stomach.

Rides up to 90 min I only use water.

//Michael

Edit
(Sorry, missed that the question was about during Zwift races, I have not done any Zwift race)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2015 01:44PM by MLorentsson.

Interesting, I've never tried the Powergel Shots before. I'll have to give that a try.

I'm not particularly fond of the regular gels, I find them unpleasantly sweet, although some flavours/brands are definitely better than others.

Give the Hammer Nutrition gels a shot. Montana Huckleberry and Nocciola are great.

http://www.hammernutrition.com/products/hammer-gel.hg.html

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2015 02:43PM by Bikegeek.