Okay, so what do we eat on the day of the race? That is a personal choice of course - I will supply you with a few suggestions, but make sure that you do what you're comfortable with and have done before.

The Morning of the Race – the Last Meal

•       The race is long and you will start steadily, so your breakfast should be decent

•       Do what you usually do and if you are going to change anything, do it weeks before!

•       Respect individual needs – some people will be best with a heavy B-fast and light snacks during the ride, others are the opposite!

•       Include protein in B-fast!

Here are a few example B-fasts – if you have a personal race favourite, please share it with us.

•       Muesli with milk and sliced banana and 1-3 tbsp natural yoghurt

•       Oats (cooked or raw) in milk with sprinkle of nuts and seeds and some fruit (honey to taste)

(In both cases, put some whey protein in to increase protein content, if tolerated)

•       Eggs (2-3) with 2-3 slices of bread (spread with butter) and a tomato or some berries

•       Light option – 2 slices toast with a good spread of hummus, tahini or PN butter

Race Nutrition

The race is over 200km and is broken into 5 possible segments - fuel-stops points are at:

•       34km – Tradouw Pass

•       63km – Op De Tradouw

•       105km – Montagu

•       163km – Bonnievale

If you are heading for a 6hr effort, this is an average of just over 1hr per stage and if you are heading for a 10hr effort, this would be just under 2hrs per stage. So, at most you will need to fuel yourself on the bike for 2 hours, which is not an excessive time.

How much fluid?

Depending on the heat and humidity on the day, how fast you are riding and how much you personally sweat, you may lose anywhere from ½l to 2-3l per hour. So, you probably can’t keep up with fluid loses – it may be realistic to take in 0.5-1l of fluid per hour. If you are riding slowly though and taking your time at fuel stops, please don’t drink excessively (over 1-2l per hour) because diluting your body fluids too much can in rare cases need medical treatment (if intrigued, Google ‘hyponatremia’).

Have on your bike 2 x 750ml bottles per segment, which should be plenty. Most of the fluid should be a sports drink so that you can maximise your fuel intake. With such a long race, though, it is best to include a reasonable amount of solid food, so perhaps dilute one of your bottles if you are eating a lot. Plain water is not the best option because it doesn’t provide salts or sugar for the body and won’t be absorbed as efficiently as a sports drink.

Which Sports Drinks?

These are sports drinks that I would rate for such an event:

•       Hammer: Sustained Energy & Prepetium

•       Cytosport: Cytosport and Pre-formance

•       PVM (Energy Dynamics): Octane

•       Cadence: Revolution

•       Reflex: The Edge

The cheap drinks like Energade, Powerade and Lucozade will make you glow in the dark with the amount of colours and flavours in them and are really just a blend of sugar and water (and good marketing).

It is very easy to do a DIY option – see my old blogs for grape and Rooibos drinks. The most important thing to say about sports drinks is, practice in training and find one you like.

Solid Snacks

•       ½ Bananas

•       Baby Potatoes

•       Fruit Loaf

•       Nougat

•       Rusks

•       Protein bars

•       Mule Bars

•       Jungle Oat Bars

•       AIM FOR 1 SOLID SNACK PER HOUR

Tomorrow, I'll talk about post-race recovery ....