Looking at these bottles, they are pretty sweet. I’ve never used them in quite honestly make fun of people that use them in gravel races, but now you have me considering them. I can’t figure out if they come with a bottle cage or not through aliexpress if anybody knows the answer paste a link. Another aero tip for hydration purposes is the use of hydration packs, I use the USWE pack, I also cut the straw about 8 inches so that it doesn’t have the big loop, and then I get the magnet on my right shoulder instead of the left.

Weekly win was that I got to train and that I got to ride my bike. Don’t ever want to overlook the fact that we get to do that.

@Rob Hall Yeah, this one’s tough for me because training your weakness is humbling. I’ve avoided it plenty. Matthew can back this up. My big weakness is sub-one-minute power, so that’s exactly what we’re working on right now. My general take is this: if you’ve hit a plateau with your strengths, that’s usually the signal to work on the weakness. Your strength might dip a bit, but you can always come back to it. For a stage race like you’re describing, with steep and undulating trails, I’d actually focus a lot on efficiency. Don’t be overly punchy. Try to carry power over the top, stay on it on the backside, and let momentum take you into the next climb. Honestly, it works really well, and it usually frustrates the super punchy riders behind you enough that they burn matches trying to come around you

@Wesley Hinkle Dude, if you’re running a mullet setup, you could probably throw a 52t chainring on there and be totally fine. You’re still basically at a 1:1 gear ratio. Personally, I don’t love mullet setups for most gravel. I find it harder to get cadence just right, especially when you’re riding steady for long stretches. But if you’re not super cadence-sensitive, it can work really well. Where mullet makes a ton of sense is races like Rule of Three or Core 4, where you’re mixing real off-road trails into gravel. If you are set on mullet, then yes, run the 46t chain ring. Decision made!!!

I struggle with Zwift more for the fact that I don’t believe it’s good for training. Though I am a part of a race team and I do have a lot of fun with them, they are detrimental to my plan. Group rides can be motivating, but again the spikes or coasting out of particular training zone are real. For me the best time to zwift is after my structured intervals and then the race is just what it is.

@Anthony Walsh yes, I have been doing structured workouts on Swift as of late, I do appreciate them. I have not figured out a way to see my previous laps (like, what was my average power for that previous interval? ). I would also like to be able to click the lap button like I can’t on my head unit.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to be on the call, but I do have a question regarding Hexis. If I do my workouts at 6 AM and have a meal scheduled for 5:15 AM. Should it be a pre-workout snack or a breakfast? Recognizing that my workout might be 3+ hours so a pre-workout seems too light in calories, but yet breakfast seems too heavy on the fats and proteins. I may be one of those rare cases that can eat 1000 cal of pancakes minutes before getting on the bike