Help with fueling mix

[mschullstrom]

After years of under-fueling have been doing a better job the last several months of increasing my carb intake for some upcoming races (70.3 and IM). When I did these races the previous year my numbers were about 60g/carbs an hour which is probably not enough.

After seeing a lot of hoopla around 1:0.8 ratio I had been testing with SIS Beta Fuel and Maurten gels of late. Been up to about 80g/carbs an hour with no real issues. SIS Beta Fuel is becoming hard to find lately so I have been exploring other products. To complicate things I am a heavy sweater (have had tests done) and I need to replace at least 1800mg of sodium per hour.

To the question…I have played around a little bit with maple syrup on training rides and I kinda like it. I have some upcoming test rides that I was thinking about trying it as my bike-only fueling and need some help. I have a 20oz XLab Aero TT bottle that I was going to put the maple syrup in and add some electrolytes (maybe break open some existing Salt Stick capsules I have or buy sodium citrate online).

I think I read that Maple Syrup doesn’t have that optimal fructose to glucose ratio so what would I need to add to it to get it there?

[FeltZ4]

It’s hard to say what the glucose to fructose ratio is in maple syrup, and I’m guessing it varies a little depending on the type of syrup. But as one example, this website (The chemical composition of 80 pure maple syrup samples produced in North America - ScienceDirect) says “The sucrose content was found to range from 51.7 to 75.6%; glucose and fructose contents ranged from 0.00 to 9.59% and 0.00 to 3.95%.” Seeing as sucrose is one glucose and one fructose molecule, and the rest is presumably a little more glucose than fructose, that doesn’t seem too far off from optimal to me.

I’ve been using straight maple syrup in a flask instead of doing gels, and it’s worked great for me! And have you heard of UnTapped? They sell maple syrup gels, and maple syrup energy drinks.

[Dr_Alex_Harrison]

@mschullstrom

I think I read that Maple Syrup doesn’t have that optimal fructose to glucose ratio so what would I need to add to it to get it there?

@FeltZ4

that doesn’t seem too far off from optimal to me.

@FeltZ4, you’re right.

[Dr_Alex_Harrison]

Have you read the other threads here? They address a lot of what you’ll run into.

I CARBS! (and so should you!)

Love your meal breakout.

How are people getting 100g+ carbs in a bottle?

Over the last few weeks/months of podcasts, the crew has been talking about training their gut to take on 100, 120, or even 140g of carbohydrate (1:1 glucose:fructose) per hour. They’ve also said they prefer it all in drink form. How does this add up? Maurten and Beta Fuel us a 2:1 ratio, so you could get 120g of carbs in a 24oz bottle, but in the wrong ratio. Curious how folks are managing to hit these numbers without eating something else.

There’s a start!

ETA: I don’t intend to say “don’t start another thread” at all. Just mentioning that you might like those as resources if you hadn’t seen them yet.

[JSampson]

@FeltZ4

And have you heard of UnTapped?

@FeltZ4 Untapped is great - much better than gels for my stomach. They also have waffles too. I use them for all mod my long races.

[mschullstrom]

Thank you Dr. Alex. I have been looking at as many threads as possible and watching your videos. I am learning a lot but there are parts of calculating ratios that I just can’t wrap my head around. Your app when it becomes available will likely be helpful for me.

[mschullstrom]

Thank you @FeltZ4 . I did some light duck going and was getting various answers so appreciate your clear response.