I have done a few 200 km brevets and I’m going for back to back century rides on Friday and Saturday (travelling from Madrid to the Mediterranean coast of Spain). I’ll be carrying some bikepacking bags, and there are about 2000 meters of climbing the first day, and 1500 on the second day.
I tend to eat too little “bike food” and stop regularly in cafes (like, every couple of hours or thereabouts). I tend not to check the maps beforehand for good spots for stops, I just go by feel.
I tend to pace myself a tiny bit too hard and have some miserable 10-15 miles at the end. I go low tempo on the flats and sweet-spot on the climbs , there aren’t terribly long climbs on the route.
I’ll try a maltodextrin, table sugar and electrolite mix concoction I’ve been experimenting with during training rides. I am learning to sip a bottle with 80 grams of sugars at the right rate , that should last me for about a couple of hours.
I think that since I fuel with this mix, which is more gradual than having a gel, I sustain about 10-15 more watts in 2-3 hour rides (I might be seeing things that aren’t there…)