by Rich Rothwell, 2009 Masters 24hr Solo Mountain Bike World ChampionAs a 24hr solo mountain bike racer, I need no distractions. My bikes need to work perfectly; dealing with any mechanical issues in the middle of the night and after sixteen hours riding is tough. I also need to be able to focus 100% on the technical aspects of riding. And I need to watch my competition. It’s a lot to think about! On top of this, nutrition has to be spot on. It’s hard to eat when you’ve been pushing yourself hour after hour. It’s even harder to eat when you can barely take a hand of the handlebars as you’re flying through singletrack! If you do get solid food down, it often sits like a dead weight on your stomach. Not nice! And I must admit that in the past I’ve never quite got my nutrition right.
I haven’t been using my Infinit mix for very long but I could tell pretty much right away that it has solved my nutritional issue in one go. Firstly, it’s thirst quenching, and I want to drink it. So my hydration is taken care of. I have exactly the right amount of carbs in the mix so I have not once ran out of energy in a training ride or a race – I have completed eight hour training rides, interspersed with heavy threshold sessions, using nothing but Infinit and felt very strong even in the final hour. The protein content helps with ongoing muscle repair but most revolutionary for me is that I just don’t get hungry or feel the need to eat solid food. There is so much less strain on my stomach and when I finish riding I feel comfortable and ready to eat a good recovery meal. Prep for races and big training rides is also so much simpler. I just fill my hydration pack or some bottles and go. This is also a great help for pit crew and support as they have less to think about. I was skeptical of going fully liquid but after using Infinit for some time now, there is no way I would revert to the inconvenience, discomfort and poor energy levels of solid food for endurance training and riding.
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