Fuelling

Ultra-distance fuelling planner

A personalised fuelling plan for your event: not just a calorie number, but a protocol you can follow when you're tired and your decision-making is compromised.

Takes about two minutes. You'll get a plan and a printable pocket card at the end.

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Step 1 — Your rider profile and energy method

Find this in your Garmin, Wahoo, or Strava summary. The ride must be at the same steady pace you'll hold on the event, not a harder training effort. If your event will be much longer than any ride you have on record, use average power or average speed instead, as those methods don't rely on intensity matching.
Easy, conversational pace over 3+ hours, not your FTP or race power.
Overall average including stops, not moving speed.
Sets your carbohydrate absorption ceiling, which is the maximum your intestine can take up per hour. This is the single biggest variable in your plan.

Step 2 — Event distance and duration

Clock time including control stops and rest, not moving time.
Only used when estimating from average speed; kJ and power inputs already capture terrain in the recorded data.
Multi-day unlocks protein targets and sleep strategy guidance in the results.
Adjusts fluid targets, as sweat rate increases substantially in heat.
Adding controls generates a section-by-section pack and restock plan in the results.

Distance from the start to each control (km):

Step 3 — Food and drink selection

Select everything you typically use. The plan will be built around your choices.

Drink

Drink carbs count against the same absorption ceiling as solid food, not on top of it. Your selection sets the headroom left for solid food.

Sets how many bottles to carry and scales the carbs-per-bottle figure for the drink you choose below.

What you carry

Select 2–4 foods you actually use. These become your shopping list and restock guide; the more realistic your selection, the more useful the plan.

Control stop food

What you typically eat at a café or control. The plan will recommend the best match from these at each of your control stops.

Roadside & petrol station

What you might pick up en route. For sections over 3 hours, the plan will suggest a roadside top-up from these options.

Add a custom food

Use the values from the packet.

FAQ

Cycling fuelling — common questions

Research suggests somewhere between 60 and 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour for sustained cycling efforts over 2.5 hours. When glucose and fructose are blended at approximately a 2:1 ratio, trained athletes can absorb up to 90g per hour. For untrained guts, 60g per hour is a more reliable ceiling. This planner sets your carbohydrate target based on your gut tolerance and the energy demand of your event.

Your small intestine absorbs carbohydrates through specific transport pathways. Glucose uses one pathway and fructose uses another, so combining both allows higher absorption rates than glucose alone. Taking on more than your personal ceiling does not provide more energy; it causes gut distress instead. The planner sets your ceiling based on whether your gut is sensitive (around 60g per hour), typical (around 75g per hour), or trained through deliberate gut training (up to 90g per hour).

Yes, the planner is specifically designed for audax and ultra-distance events. Enter your estimated total clock time including all control stops. For events with multiple controls, enter the distance to each one from the start and the planner will generate a section-by-section restock guide. The multi-day setting unlocks protein targets and sleep strategy guidance for longer brevets.

Control stops are your opportunity to take on food that is harder to eat on the bike, such as warm meals, sandwiches, soup, or more substantial snacks. The planner generates a control-stop recommendation based on your food selections and the energy demands of the section ahead. The key principle is not to overeat, because a large meal slows digestion and can cause gut distress on the road that follows.

All carbohydrates compete for the same intestinal transporters regardless of whether they come from solid food, gels, or drinks. Adding a high-carb drink on top of solid food pushes your total intake above your absorption ceiling. The planner subtracts your drink carbohydrates from available headroom before it calculates how much solid food to recommend per hour.
Free consultation

Want a coach to help you put this into practice?

A plan on paper and a plan under pressure at 3am are different things.

In a free consultation we'll look at your event-specific demands, discuss how to train your gut in the weeks before, and work through the scenarios where fuelling plans tend to fall apart: sustained climbs, overnight riding, nausea, and the long control stop that turns into two hours. You'll leave with a clearer picture of your preparation even if we never work together.

Book a free coaching consultation Or email hey.boundary@gmail.com directly.