Ride Fueling — Protocol

Overview

This protocol explains the ride fueling system used across ESP × miki coaching.

The aim is to build simple, repeatable fueling habits that support session quality, adaptation, recovery, and long-term athlete health.

Ride fueling is not only about total daily energy intake. A healthy athlete also needs fuel available at the right time: before, during, and after training.

Most fueling mistakes happen when athletes choose products first instead of matching fueling to the session, conditions, and desired training outcome.

The sequence should always be:

Session purpose → Carb target
Conditions → Hydration + sodium
Carb system → Choose product type
Bottle mix → Set baseline fuel and fluid
Top-up fuels → Reach the target
Post-ride recovery → Adapt and prepare for the next session

Fuel the work. Drink for the conditions. Recover the athlete.

Who This Guide Is For

This is an athlete-facing protocol, supported by coaches, parents, support staff, and team environments where relevant.

Riders should understand the simple routine and why it matters. Coaches help individualise the details around session goals, training load, body size, gut tolerance, conditions, and recovery demands.

• The rider should know the basic before-during-after fueling sequence.
• The coach helps match fueling to session purpose, training phase, health, and adaptation goals.
• The detail sections provide the numbers and tools needed to individualise the plan when required.

Protocol Guidance

The values shown throughout this protocol — including carbohydrate intake, fluid intake, and sodium targets — are guiding ranges, not strict prescriptions.

These ranges are based on current endurance sport research, published sports nutrition guidance, and practical coaching experience across athletes and race environments.

Individual needs vary depending on body size, sweat rate, sodium loss, power output, environmental conditions, and race intensity.

The purpose of this protocol is to provide a clear starting framework that athletes can apply consistently and refine over time.

Why Fuel Timing Matters

Total daily energy intake matters, but timing also matters. The body adapts best when the athlete has enough energy and carbohydrate availability to complete the planned work and recover from it.

For key sessions, long rides, intensity, gym-plus-bike days, race simulations, and heavy training blocks, fuel should be planned before, during, and after the work.

Some sessions may intentionally use lower carbohydrate availability when guided by a coach, but this should not become accidental underfueling or chronic low energy availability.

• Before: arrive with enough fuel to complete the planned work.
• During: support the work, hydration, gut comfort, and session quality.
• After: replace energy, carbohydrate, fluid and protein so adaptation can occur.
• Across the day: maintain enough total energy for health, hormones, immune function, mood, and consistency.

Fueling Rules

• Fuel for the work.
• Drink for the conditions.
• Keep bottle concentration sensible.
• Use top-ups to reach carb targets.
• Practice race fueling in training.

Fueling Priorities in Training

Ride fueling is about matching intake to the purpose of the session. Not every ride needs race-level fueling, but key sessions should not be compromised by accidental underfueling.

How to Use This Guide

Follow the steps in order.

How to Use This Guide Table

Fueling Quick Start

Use this simple example to understand how the fueling framework works in practice.

The Fueling Plan Builder later in this protocol shows how to build your own ride fueling plan step by step.

The full protocol explains each step in more detail.

Before: start with enough fuel for the work.
During: match carbohydrate, fluid and sodium to session demand and conditions.
After: recover deliberately so the session can create adaptation.

Quick Start Fueling Table

Visual Quick Start

Start with the visuals. They give the field guide; the detailed tables below help individualise the plan.

Pre-Ride Fueling

Pre-ride fueling helps the athlete start the session with enough fuel available to complete the planned work well.

Not every ride needs a large pre-ride meal, but key rides, intensity sessions, long rides, race simulations, early rides, and heavy training blocks should not start from an empty tank unless that is a deliberate coach-led strategy.

Step 1: Fuel for the Work

Carbohydrate intake should reflect the work being done. Match fueling to the purpose and demands of the session, not simply the duration of the ride.

Carbohydrate Target Table

Real food during aerobic rides

During longer aerobic rides many athletes prefer combining bottle fueling with simple real foods. This often works well because aerobic intensity makes solid food easier to digest.

• Bananas
• Rice cakes
• Simple bars
• Sandwiches
• Simple baked foods

Applied coaching notes

• Larger riders and riders producing higher absolute power usually sit toward the upper end of the range.
• Harder and longer sessions require more carbohydrate; easier aerobic rides may require less.
• Waiting until fatigue appears usually means fueling too late.

Step 2: Drink for the Conditions

Hydration needs depend mainly on temperature, sweat rate, and exercise intensity. Sodium should be considered together with fluid intake, not in isolation.

Hydration by Conditions Table

Hydration notes

• Sweat rate varies significantly between athletes.
• Heavy sweaters often sit toward the upper end of the fluid range.
• Salty sweaters often sit toward the upper end of the sodium range.
• Humidity can increase sweat rate even when temperatures are only moderate.

A note on sodium during exercise

There is some debate within sports nutrition literature about how much sodium supplementation is required during exercise.

Sodium alone is not a guaranteed solution for cramping, and muscle cramps during exercise are influenced by many factors including fatigue, neuromuscular load, hydration status, and pacing.

However, in practical coaching and endurance racing environments, sodium still matters because it supports fluid absorption, fluid retention, thirst, and overall drink effectiveness.

For this reason, this protocol generally favours bottles that include electrolytes and a small amount of carbohydrate, rather than relying on plain water during longer rides.

Step 3: Choose Your Carb System

Choose the carbohydrate system based on how much carbohydrate you are trying to deliver per hour.

Carbohydrate System Table

How this fits with product labels

Practical notes

• Single carbohydrate systems work well up to roughly 60 g/hr.
• At higher intakes, dual carbohydrate systems improve absorption and tolerance.
• Most modern endurance products are already designed around these systems.
• Frequently switching products can reduce consistency and make race fueling more complex.

Step 4: Build Your Bottle Mix

Use bottles to provide baseline hydration, sodium, and carbohydrate. Bottle concentration should remain sensible, especially in the heat.

Basic bottle types

Bottle carbohydrate by conditions

Choosing drink mix products

Choose drink mixes that are targeted and simple for the task you need them to perform.

For most rides this means prioritising carbohydrate when fueling is required, sodium when hydration support is required, and minimal unnecessary additives.

Artificial sweeteners are not automatically a problem, but they are often not necessary in on-bike fueling products and some athletes find they reduce gut tolerance during longer rides.

Advanced low-osmolality systems

Maurten-style hydrogel systems can be useful for high-carbohydrate fueling, especially when athletes are chasing higher carb intakes with good gut tolerance.

However, Maurten drink mixes are built around a specific formulation and are not designed as high-sodium hydration products. Maurten also advises against adding extra electrolytes directly into the bottle, as this may interfere with how the hydrogel system is designed to work.

For heavy sweaters, salty sweaters, or hot conditions where sodium needs are higher, choose this type of product carefully. If an athlete is chasing 90+ g/hr in the heat, a cyclic dextrin / cluster dextrin system may be a better option for some riders, as it can offer a lower-osmolality way to push carbohydrate while allowing more flexibility with sodium strategy.

In these situations, it is usually better to think in terms of the whole fueling system — bottle concentration, sodium strategy, top-up fuels, and total fluid intake — rather than assuming one product solves everything.

• Maurten hydrogel technology
• Cyclic dextrin (cluster dextrin)

Step 5: Add Top-Up Fuels

Bottles provide baseline hydration and carbohydrate. Additional carbohydrates are often required to reach the target intake for the session.

Top-Up Fuel Guide

Heat effect

• Fluid intake increases
• Bottle carbohydrate concentration should decrease
• Gels and chews often provide the additional carbohydrates needed

High-carbohydrate strategies

When carbohydrate intake rises toward 90–120 g/hr, riders often use multiple gels or chews per hour.

What ~30 g of carbohydrate looks like

Fueling Plan Builder

Use this to quickly build a fueling plan.

Step 1 — Choose your carb target

Step 2 — Set your bottle baseline

Step 3 — Add ~30 g fuel units

Putting It Together

Hydration determines how many bottles you drink per hour. Bottles provide baseline carbohydrates and sodium. Foods, gels, or chews are used to reach the carbohydrate target for the session.

Baseline bottles + top-up requirements

Iso bottle option for aerobic rides

For many aerobic rides an iso-style bottle (~30 g carbohydrate per 500 ml) works very well. This keeps the drink lighter for hydration while most carbohydrate comes from real foods.

• Iso bottle + banana + small bar
• Iso bottle + rice cakes
• Iso bottle + sandwich

Heat strategy

When drinking around 1 L per hour or more, bottles should prioritise hydration. Keep carbohydrate per bottle lower and use gels or chews if you need to raise total carbohydrate intake.

Exercise in hot conditions places greater strain on the gastrointestinal system. Reduced blood flow to the gut during intense exercise and heat stress can make highly concentrated drinks harder to tolerate.

Post-Ride Recovery

Post-ride fueling helps turn the session into adaptation. The goal is to replace what was used, support muscle repair, restore carbohydrate availability, and reduce unnecessary stress before the next training demand.

The harder, longer, hotter, or more glycogen-depleting the session, the more important early recovery fueling becomes.

Example Fueling Setups

These examples show how the system works in practice.

Example Fueling Setups Table

Race Fueling Practice & Bottle Strategy

Racing adds logistics. Riders often have limited bottle choices from feed zones, so bottle selection becomes part of race strategy.

Race Bottle Types

Typical race setup

• Hydro bottle + fuel bottle
• Iso bottle + fuel bottle + gels as top-ups
• More hydro / iso bottles in hotter races

Team logistics

• Teams often mark bottles so riders can identify them quickly.
• Example: no mark → hydro bottle, X → fuel bottle, XX → higher carb bottle.
• Practice race bottle combinations in training.

Race bottle decision guide

How to Read Your Mix

Before using a mix, read the label properly.

What to check on the label

Typical example label

Common mixing mistakes

• Adding extra scoops to push carbs higher
• Ignoring sodium content
• Reducing water volume and accidentally over-concentrating the bottle

Advanced Fueling Techniques

Advanced fueling techniques are optional refinements. They are useful only after the basics are consistent: enough energy, appropriate carbohydrate, fluid, sodium, gut comfort, and recovery.

Use advanced strategies to support specific sessions or race preparation, not to replace the foundation.

These strategies refine the basic fueling system and are most useful for racing, long rides, high-carbohydrate fueling, heat management, and key efforts late in races.

Athlete Variation

The ranges in this guide exist because athletes differ.

• Higher fluid needs: athletes who sweat heavily, train in hot conditions, or produce higher absolute power often need to sit toward the upper end of the fluid ranges.
• Higher sodium needs: athletes with salt marks on kit, white residue on helmet straps, stinging sweat in the eyes, or cramping late in long rides often sit toward the upper end of the sodium ranges.
• Higher carbohydrate needs: larger riders and athletes producing higher power outputs usually sit toward the upper end of the carbohydrate ranges.
• Periodic sweat testing can help estimate sweat rate and sodium needs more accurately.

Estimating your sweat rate

Athletes can estimate their sweat rate during training using a simple test:

1) Weigh yourself before a ride
2) Record how much fluid you drink during the session
3) Record any toilet stops during the ride
4) Weigh yourself again immediately after the ride

The change in body weight provides an estimate of fluid lost through sweat.

• Add on any drink you had during the ride (1 ml ≈ 1 g).
• Subtract off any toilet stops during the ride.
• Example: 800 g weight loss + 500 ml drink − 0 toilet loss = ~1.3 L total sweat loss.
• Sweat rate is not fixed and will vary with temperature, humidity, intensity, clothing, and physiology.
• Repeat this test in different conditions and at different intensities to build a clearer picture of your hydration needs.
• Heat training and acclimation may increase sweat rate over time as the body becomes more efficient at cooling itself.

HEXIS Guidance

Many high performance athletes within ESP × miki use HEXIS to guide daily fueling.

HEXIS provides personalised carbohydrate recommendations based on the planned workout or race, duration and intensity, body mass and physiology, power output and training load, and glycogen availability and recovery needs.

This protocol provides a practical fueling framework, while HEXIS may refine the exact carbohydrate amount required for a specific session.

Common Mistakes

These are the most common fueling errors we see.

• Concentrating bottles to compensate for low drinking.
• Using plain water without sodium on longer rides.
• Ignoring drink mix instructions and adding extra scoops.
• Taking too many high-carb bottles early in hot races.
• Underfueling harder sessions.

Fueling Troubleshooting

Use this section to troubleshoot the most common fueling problems.

Fueling Troubleshooting Table

Review and Refine Your Fueling Strategy

Review fueling after key sessions, long rides, hot rides, and race simulations. The best fueling strategies are built over time through review, not guessed once in advance.

Fueling Glossary

Fueling Glossary Table

References

This protocol is based on current endurance fueling guidance and recent review literature on carbohydrate intake, multiple transportable carbohydrates, sodium and fluid balance, hydrogel comparisons, and gastrointestinal symptoms in endurance sport.

• AIS sports drink guidance and sports supplement framework
• Recent review work on sodium during exercise and fluid balance
• Review literature on exercise-induced gastrointestinal symptoms in endurance sport
• Hydrogel comparison research