The science behind your plan
OnCourse Fueling's defaults come from peer-reviewed sports-nutrition research. Here's what they're based on — and why every number is a starting estimate to individualize, never a prescription.
One glucose carb caps at ~60 g/h — the gut's SGLT1 transporter saturates. Eating more of a single source won't raise it.
Add fructose (own GLUT5 transporter, ~2:1 glucose:fructose) and the ceiling lifts to ~75–105 g/h.
Scale to duration: ~1 h a rinse is enough · up to 2 h ~60 g/h · 2.5 h+ ~90 g/h (2:1).
Gut-trained athletes can push 120 g/h in long events — it out-oxidized 90 g/h in trained cyclists.
Emerging evidenceHearris et al., 2022"Train the gut": a sustained high-carb diet roughly doubles SGLT1 capacity over ~2 weeks.
Animal-data extrapolationJeukendrup, 2017
Sweat rate is typically 0.5–2.0 L/h (endurance avg ~1.28). Variation is huge — measure yours by body-mass change over a timed ride.
Over-drinking is the real danger: too much hypotonic fluid causes hyponatremia (blood Na < 135 mmol/L). Aim near sweat loss, not weight gain.
Sweat sodium averages ~0.8 g/L (range ~0.25–2) — roughly 1 g/h for endurance athletes. Replace more on long, hot days.
Heat acclimatization conserves salt, lowering sweat sodium — so your need tracks heat-adaptation, not just temperature.
An ergogenic dose is 3–6 mg/kg body mass (70 kg ≈ 210–420 mg), ~60 min pre-start — worth ~2–4% in endurance.
Benefit plateaus above ~6 mg/kg; ~9 mg/kg only adds side-effects. So 6 mg/kg is a sensible ceiling.
A late top-up works too: 100–200 mg (flat cola, a caffeine gel) in the final hour. Sensitivity varies a lot.
A power-balance model turns the route into time: your power fights air drag (½·ρ·CdA·v³), rolling resistance and gravity on each grade — so climbs stretch the clock, descents compress it.
Defaults are typical road values (CdA ≈ 0.32, Crr ≈ 0.005, air 1.225 kg/m³, drivetrain ≈ 97%), fully editable. A safe descent-speed cap keeps downhills realistic.
Five steps turn your route and a few inputs into a timed plan. Every number traces to the research above — these are starting estimates to individualize, not prescriptions.
- 01
Route becomes time
Your FTP and weight drive a power-balance model (drag, rolling resistance, gravity per grade), turning distance + elevation into a realistic finish time — climbs stretch the clock, descents compress it.
- 02
Per-hour targets
From the duration we set the hourly goals: carbs ~60→90 g/h, fluid ~78% of sweat rate, sodium ~0.8 g/L, caffeine 3–6 mg/kg.
- 03
Split into drink, food & gels
Your body only cares about total g/h and carb type — the form (drink, gel, solid) oxidizes the same. So the drink mix carries most carbs (kept to a tolerable ~6–8% / ≤60 g per 750 ml bottle), food fills more, and gels just top up. The split itself is practical preference, not physiology — adjust it freely.
- 04
Placed on the course
Each goal × your ride time, spread along the route: you carry your bottles and refill where they run out; food and gels every ~25–30 min, pulled earlier before long climbs and kept off descents; caffeine mostly early.
- 05
Checked against the targets
We sum it back up against every target — guarding gut-clustering, over-drinking (hyponatremia) and a 6 mg/kg caffeine ceiling. Override anything; gut-trained unlocks 120 g/h.
A recommendation, not medical advice
OnCourse Fueling gives educational estimates from population research — not individual medical or dietary advice. Everyone's gut, sweat and tolerance differ. Rehearse your plan in training, and consult a qualified sports dietitian or doctor before relying on it, especially with any health condition.
These are population averages with wide individual variation. Use them as a starting point and dial them in with your own testing (e.g. sweat rate by body-mass change).
References
- Jeukendrup, 2014 — A Step Towards Personalized Sports Nutrition: Carbohydrate Intake During Exercise
- Jentjens & Jeukendrup, 2005 — High rates of exogenous carbohydrate oxidation from glucose + fructose during cycling (Br J Nutr)
- GSSI SSE-108 — Multiple Transportable Carbohydrates and Their Benefits (Jeukendrup)
- Jeukendrup, 2017 — Training the Gut for Athletes
- Hearris et al., 2022 — Exogenous CHO oxidation at 120 vs 90 g/h during prolonged cycling
- Baker, 2017 — Sweating Rate and Sweat Sodium Concentration in Athletes (Sports Medicine)
- Baker et al., 2019 — Normative data for regional sweat rate and sweat sodium (J Sports Sci, n=1303)
- Hew-Butler et al., 2017 — Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia: 2017 Update (3rd Int'l Consensus)
- Br J Sports Med — Seasonal/acclimatization effect on sweat sodium concentration
- Guest et al., 2021 — ISSN Position Stand: Caffeine and Exercise Performance
- GSSI / Spriet — Caffeine and Exercise Performance — An Update (SSE-203)
- Talanian & Spriet, 2016 — Low and moderate caffeine doses late in exercise improve cycling TT
- Martin et al., 1998 — Validation of a Mathematical Model for Road Cycling Power (J Applied Biomechanics)
- Pfeiffer et al., 2010 — CHO oxidation from a carbohydrate gel compared with a drink during exercise (Med Sci Sports Exerc)
- ISSN, 2017 — International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: nutrient timing (Kerksick et al.)
- de Oliveira et al., 2014 — Gastrointestinal Complaints During Exercise: Prevalence, Etiology and Nutritional Recommendations (Sports Med)