Looked with horror at my training log to find that the longest ride I've done in the last 6 months is HotW (almost 6 months to the day, come the weekend). My 2nd longest is about 1h42, although quite a few are in the 1h30-1h40 range.
So if I hope to hold a decent pace for around 2 hours, I'm going to need fuel. I only normally take a bit of fluid (electrolytes only) on a 25, but will have to up this - so either 500 or 750ml bottle, probably full (which will help nicely with the first 8 miles which are downhill). I'll stick with Nuun only as I've not used a carb drink in years, so don't know how my stomach will take it. I road tested a gel mid long interval this week which went fine, so that will be the fuelling source, on top of my normal caffeine gel 20-25 mins before the start. But that still leaves a few questions:
1. How many gels? I know I can do an hour race and (usually) an 90 minute intervals session without any, but this is going to be twice as long as my longest race this year. 2 gels? Take a 3rd as backup?
2. When to take them? If I go with 2, I'm thinking 1 at 45 minutes (probably one without caffeine), and 1 at about 75 minutes (with caffeine). Should be enough time to get into my system, plus the caffeine, to hopefully give me a strong finish, especially as the last 20 minutes or so of the course are hardest.
3. Where to put them? Skin suit has no pockets. Taping to the top tube is what I've done previously in middle distance tri, but is there a better option?
I appreciate that this is something I can only truly know by experimenting, but I was always going to be having to wing a 50 when I did one, so common sense advice as a starter is appreciated.