24 Hour Zwift Ride

Training
1

Hey everyone!

I’m not sure if this goes here, so if not, let me know.

I’m doing a full 24 hour ride on Zwift on July 3rd to raise money for a local Chicago organization: My Block, My Hood, My City. I’m going to be livestreaming it on Twitch as well! I’ll plug these links if you’re interested in watching or donating.

Enough of the self-promotion though; here are my questions/concerns/thoughts:

  1. Currently on a easy/moderate ride (think pettit) I’ll burn about 8-900cal/hour. Obviously the ride will be at an easier effort level than that, but I’m trying to figure out a fueling plan, so what amount of calories should I aim to consume per hour during this?

  2. I’m going to shoot to have a short break about every 6 hours using this time to change bibs, stretch a small bit, use the restroom, and eat some actual food. I plan to have ~7, 22oz bottles (water only, personal preference) that I will drink within each of these blocks. I’ll have a couple of Cokes to drink from time to time as well, but I figure that calculates into calories consumed, not hydration. Is this enough water? I have no idea how much I sweat.

  3. My longest ride eve (outdoors) was about 5.5 hours, longest indoor being about 4.5. I have no doubt that I’ll be able to complete the time as long as I fuel and hydrate, but I want any tips that any of you may have for completing something like this.

  4. My wife will be helping to aid me when I need it, bringing me food/water/etc… so that I don’t need to spend more time off the bike than needed. Any tips I can give her as an aid person?

Thanks for any advice and I hope to see you on the 3rd!

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Great idea, and good on you for taking the effort to help someone else.

I have done 6+hrs on Zwift for a fund raiser as well. What I learnt. The last hour was a killa for me, pedaling squares. it was fitness x time on a stationary trainer.

Something to consider, eat well the week of the event. Work out how many g of carbs you need, 2-3g per kg of body weight is about right per day.

The day of the event, a really good breakfast 2-4hrs before if you can. And hydrate a lot. I go through 2 x 750ml bottles we hour. I sweat a lot on the trainer. Plus you need to eat as well. Stay with solids as much as you can. Fruit cake is a good option. Hydrate some more. More than you think because yours losing a lot.

Get out of the saddle as often as you like. This is not a “training session” its a long endurance ride basically.

I changed bibs, every 1.5hrs. I don’t like to stay in sweat soaked bibs. Taker this time to replenish bottles and get some food into you. 10 min breaks. You will need to drink more than you think.

Try and make catch up points, on a route that friends and other people wanting to join in can. This will help with motivation as well. Especially if you post it in here you might get a few of us joining you. Ask people to put (MyCity) into the name so you know they are joining you. Something like Volcano Crit circuit so its 6min laps and easy to join up.

Make a discord channel.

Make a Youtube playlist, or Netflix to help pass the time.

Hope some of this helps with your effort. If it works out I will join in for a few laps.

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Yeah nice, looking forward to the Twitch stream :slight_smile:

I’ve done multiple 8h to 12h indoor rides. Like @robcumine already said, eat and drink well in the week and keep your training volume very low. Do carb loading the day before, it’ll be easier on the first hours. Here’s a good resource: How Many Calories Should I Consume Per Hour?

The best advice I can give you is to simply enjoy riding and most importantly: Listen to your body.

You can plan everything and be perfectly prepared but sometimes it just get’s very special :smiley: For example I had the need to eat a Snickers bar after the slice of pizza and somehow totally felt the need for a peanut butter sandwich. And trust me, I was carbed perfectly by numbers…I just wanted to eat junk very bad. After that short food adventure I was back on track. This is also a small tip for your wife: You’ll maybe become pregnant for a while :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

That’s it. Everything else was already covered perfectly by @robcumine :+1:

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