Useful - thank you.
I’ve had some success when I’ve had a ride or hard workout the day before a race (by chance rather than choice) but assumed it was down to luck! I’d always chose rest 24 hrs before as preference but I’ve had just as many races where I’ve been ‘flat’ despite rest which is where these Openers may have been a good idea. None of my races are steady state (currently).
I can experiment with this over the next few months 
it’s absolutely a factor. Everyone responds individually but typically the closer you are to the limit the less room for error you have to play with. As well, the closer you are operating to threshold the more stress is on your body and therefore the harder otherwise basic functions (such as digestion) become. All the more reason for consuming fluids/nutrition early and often when racing rather than trying to pile in all at once. That creates a compounding effect where blood rushes to your stomach and away from the muscles that need it to handle digestion and just further put you over your capabilities.
"Your anaerobic work capacity (“anaerobic engine”/AWC) is measured in kJs and once it’s gone, it’s gone, regardless of the size of your aerobic capacity. So say it’s 20kJ, then you can almost decide how to spend those kJs, e.g., 20 seconds at 800w, 10 seconds at 1100w, 36 seconds at 512w, etc. (examples, don’t do actual math there).
Your aerobic capacity has a big influence on how quickly your AWC replenishes though, and since anaerobic efforts are seldom one-and-done, it’s in any endurance athlete’s best interest to have a big aerobic motor if s/he plans to dole out a lot of anaerobic efforts.
Also, if you have a big AWC, you can last longer before (temporarily) emptying your anaerobic tank, and in the process a bigger aerobic capacity will eke more power out of the byproducts (pyruvate, namely) amounting to more power altogether. Which is to say, a big anaerobic engine means very little (in endurance sports) without a big aerobic motor to back it up."
– Coach Chad
Sorry for our delay in getting back to you! I do hope that helps clear things up a bit. 
Awesome, thank you for the in-depth response!
Thank you, Coach Chad, for the explanation of metabolism and the accompanying diagram: really clear, to a non-biologist…
However, one of the common terms thrown around in discussions of energy systems and human metabolism is lactate or lactic acid. Can you or someone please explain what is the relation between the processes described in this diagram and the production of lactate? And, can you or someone please explain where the rate of lactate production and rate of lactate consumption comes into it?
Thanks.
I can’t explain it to you but can recommend this series about metabolism:
Example pick:
Thanks a lot. Very helpful, if technical…
I’d love to hear more about the “fake Maurten” source as well.
Same, spill the beans, what’s the fake maurten? 
Did you ever find out what Jonathan was talking about with the fake Maurtens?
Thanks
Also still looking forward to learn about their recipe (even though other members provided good input on their own like Need to Supplement Maurten 360 or SiS Beta Fuel with Water? - #2 by samuri28)
hey @Tucker - are you still getting the how to get huge quads snippet on youtube? that would be great to share! 
Thanks for bringing this up!
Previously, we did not have plans to bring that out in it’s own video. Although, we gave it some discussion and decided that there are some great takeaways from that clip. So, I’ll put that together and release it soon. Look for it later this week!
I didn’t do it, I did San Rafael crit instead and got stopped by a crash in the last lap 
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