Bikepacking is a different beast.
Whether you do it for racing or for leisure, it typically involves riding on dirt roads, single tracks, over mountain passes under any weather condition. More importantly, your bike loaded will typically weigh 50 to 60 lbs.
It would be great to have training programs tailored to that growing sport of off-road bikepacking, it would work only with smart trainers of course to be able to simulate the extra effort required due to the weight, who’s with me?
You can always add this 50-60 lbs to yours weight in settings and ride like that and use normal training programs.
There is only 1 constant in your life.
Improve your VO2Max or higher the turning point of O2/CO2.
Raise your FTP.
Raising your FTP can be done under/upper your FTP in other words aerob and anaerob.
Anaerobic Training plans are tough but with minimum time management will raise your O2 utilisation/economy even for aerobic rides. BUT chances are high you will brake your body/mind and stop it.
In the end Ride, ride and even more ride in the saddle!
Ah, so I should probably concentrate on aerobic training plans. What I want to train for is slower pace (10-12 mph) but very long distances over several days on with a heavy bike and lots of wind drag. Intensity will not be coming from riding really fast for short rides but slowly climbing for hours.
If you are aiming for continous efforts i would just train these. you don’t even need to eat much because on low level you burn fat at most of course some carbohydrates but mostly fat.
your organism is always trying to increase benefits/economy so if everything is playing in your card the amount of fat you are able to burn per time span x will increase and therefore your muscle (mostly) and liver (less) glycogen will decrease less.
just do some test rides with low or high carboyhydrate intake.
maltodextrine combined with apple juice works very well. 50-60 g maltodextrine (glucose) per hour + 20-30 g apple juice (fructose) per hour.
you can burn around 1 litre of water per hour to much is counterproductive.
the point is how much is enough power for a given distance?
you have various way to limit yourself. either by hearing to your bodylanguage, by using a powermeter or by using heart rate monitor. its up to you but better ride slowly if its not a race and enjoy the moment.
Thanks for the tips, it makes sense to me, I’m more or less eating keto 5 to 6 days a week so easing on exercise carbs works out for my diet. It’s a race I need to train for but an ultra endurance race so 10 to 16 hours a day on the bike, slowly grinding most of the time not a high pace race, can’t go really fast anyway with a 50 lbs load and 2.3" mountain tires. However I don’t have time to train for that long so I need a little higher intensity on the training plan, I may try the gravel grinder or Fondo plans.
Ketogen Diet is junk. You can only get around 10 g carbs per hour out of keto. Your body build keto by himself as a self defence mechanism in order to maintain energy for your brain and liver. no need for supplementation its marketing bogus.
I agree, no need for supplements, I have never taken any, that 's not what keto is about at all.
I’ve been doing it for 2 and a half years and lost 20 lbs without starving myself. Yes it is a starving defense mechanism, it does not mean you are starving however but it is the same mechanism that is engaged.
Last year I tried returning to a standard carbs heavy diet, I gained 10 lbs in 1 month so I got back to my keto / paleo routine. It has been used successfully by ultra endurance athletes for decades. 10 gr of carbs is incorrect, 30 grams is more the norm pushing 50-60 gr on the paleo side of it and I have never counted carbs on that diet. Keto is about ditching fast carbs and upping fat to compensate but when I’m racing I’ll get carbs for it, so not only I’ll burn that energy but I won’t bonk when it’s depleted.