@Baxter Oh - Absolutely. The longer and harder the ride, the more I eat. Easy short rides barely need any fuel. 1-2h with max efforts, keeping carbs high is important, so always 90g p/h+...but 1-2h easy might be 30-60g p/h. For a long Endurance ride, say 5h, I'd have maybe 60g first hour, and by the final hour be at 90g per hour if its zone 2 at 65% ftp. It's ideal to spread the carbs out well...so personally I eat at say 15 mins in, then have some carbs maybe every 10-15 mins. If I have a solid bar and it's 30g of carbs, and I'm only having 60 that hour, maybe I'll eat it at say 30 mins in, have some carb mix (sugar ;)) at 15 mins and 45 mins...and that's my 60 for that hour...I then keep it going like that throughout. For fueling and hydrating, it's always about getting the fuel in before you feel you need it. I drink to feel, but ahead of getting any level of dehydration of course. Obviously on warmer days you may run out or something occasionally, but then it's important when you stop to get on top of it and down what you've lost. I don't do that often, but it's an example. Hope that helps :)

Hi Mathis - Yeah I would for you as a beginner definitely say your 'mid' zone 2 will definitely be in the 75-83% range. If you sit somewhere in the middle there, say 78-80%, it's very likely you'll be getting a really solid stimulus. Like it's super unlikely you'll be above LT1 here, and assuming you're a little time crunched, you'll be getting more of an intense z2 stimulus rather than z1/2. Saying that, really polarized can be good in some phases for you. But I'd periodize it for you, and mostly stick to these %'s above if I were you for 9+ months a year. Assuming you're not crazy high volume.

Yo, sorry, was intending on pushing my community more, then I broke my collarbone :) Yeah, I think you’re looking at this the right way with focusing more on absolute power, especially if nearly all your racing is pan flat. I’d be focusing on building the engine and fuelling that properly, rather than always trying to get lighter. That doesn’t necessarily mean you need to deliberately put on loads of weight either. We can’t really tell from 72 kg alone whether gaining weight would help you. But if you’re constantly restricting food to bring your weight down, you could be making it harder to recover and get the improvements you’re training for. I’d definitely recommend bringing in some structured strength work over winter. A small calorie surplus can help support muscle growth alongside that, but you don’t need to go crazy with eating. You can also gain muscle around maintenance, especially if you’re fairly new to the gym. The main thing is eating enough to meet the demands of your training and give yourself room to adapt. Cycling itself can build muscle, but at your level I wouldn’t expect eating more and carrying on with the same sweetspot blocks to suddenly add loads of muscle or take you to 400 W. I’d combine the riding with progressive gym work, and make sure you adjust the overall training so you can actually recover from it. I also think on-bike work has a place here. Short, high-force efforts can help develop strength and power, while longer sustained efforts build your ability to keep producing power. Both can be useful towards your cycling goals. Creatine is worth considering while you’re doing that too. Around 3–5 g a day is enough, and you don’t need to load it. Just be aware that some initial weight gain can be water in the muscles, so it doesn’t mean you’re gaining fat. It can help with the strength work. I get why putting weight back on feels worrying after coming down from 85 kg. You don’t have to commit to a big bulk or force the scales upwards. Start by fuelling properly and look at how you’re recovering and performing.

Thanks Jesse, recovery is coming along good now! Yeah that's interesting. Honestly under fueling is the worst thing. You can't push good power, and as you'll know, recovery is bad. Being fueled on and off the bike is the biggest thing absolutely. Since high carb has been a thing, my recovery has been insane, it's super important to be getting correct.

@Christian Jüttner - Sorry I missed your message! I have been using MyFitnessPal without premium to be fair! I wouldn’t over complicate each meal too hard. The main change is carb quantity depending on each day, or timing it around meals for example. Carbs immediately after training are also the most important I’d say. Then the night after. Breakfast still matters, but most of the replenishment is post ride for the next day right! And thanks, working to make it very good! What exactly do you mean in your final question sorry? In terms of liking and customising? Thanks :)

@Christian Jüttner sorry, again :,) Had some silly issues exporting my video so was stupidly locked into it ahahaha. Macrofactor for example I cannot add my calories burnt on the bike, so found that annoying, which then meant I'd have to properly track everything externally. Then other apps you're fixed with daily suggested weight loss such as 'deficit of 400 per day everyday' which isn't a good strategy. Silly things sometimes to be honest! With MyFitnessPal I to be honest save meals/batch cook them to save time, use barcode scan as all apps have really, and focus on being as accurate as possible on the big things like pastas, meats...I of course don't stress low calorie foods like salad where maybe I'm a few calories out. Stuff I'm sure you're already doing!

@Christian Jüttner I like it! I lived in the Vosges area for nearly 2 years, and I agree, it’s amazing. I think it’s pretty unknown in the cycling world as well, but absolutely somewhere people have to go! I really like Tenerife. Okay, you only have a few options to get to the top of the mountain, but the fact you’ll have 20 something degrees in December/January is a win for ‘Europe’👌