Marginal (and not-so-marginal) gains for marathon MTB

Equipment
21

I’ve contemplated buying a second bladder and filling it with ice or freezing it and having it available at one of the aid/drop stations to swap out rather than just refilling the bladder with water. I did something similar with bottles when I did a hot Ironman a few years back. Froze the the bottles and wrapped them in tinfoil.

I’ll probably still refill the bladder at some point. I had 3.5 Liters of fluid on my practice ride of the course and ran out maybe around hour 4 or 4.5. So I am think I am going to aim for 10 Liters. So 3 fills of the 2L USWE. Then that would leave me me with going through 5-6 750 mL bottles. I’ll carry two at a time on the bike so I will stop twice to either swap out or refill. I’m thinking I’ll do 40 g of carbs in the bottles (via Gatorade) and just do water in the hydration back. Then get 40-60 grams per hour via solids. But maybe I should have carbs in the hydration pack as well. Just seems messy and I figure at some point I might want just water

22

Think it depends on the course. If there is lots of double track extended climbs it’s easy to drink out of bottles, where as if it’s lots of single track bottles can be a bit tougher.

I did our 4 hr state endurance race the other year and knew bottles were going to be a no go for hydration. I think you’ve preridden so can tell what will work best for you.

Our course was a lap course and shedding my pack on the final lap for a single bottle gave me a boost of energy and speed just from the extra cooling off my back and ditching the heat.

I think if you could partially freeze that 2nd pack that would be crucial. Or same deal with bottles