I know there will be a lot of suggestions BUT if you are going to us Infinit (I like their products especially of you have a custom mix dialed correctly)
* NOTE: i'm advising not knowing how many bottles cages you have available

** If you have 2 cages:
- 1 240oz Bottle with 600 calories Infinit / 1 bottle Water / Make up difference of calories with ??? (Fig Newtons?)
+ Process: Eat a Fig Newton washed down with water only --- 1 "Gulp" water followed by equal part Infinit

** IF you have 3 Cages
- 1 bottle water / 2 Bottles of Infinit with one @ 300 Calories and one @ 600 ... Consume regular strength bottle first THEN transition to the 600cal bottle using same process as above

Best of Luck

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com

I have a dual bottle cage BTS with 2x concentrated infinit in each bottle. That is 520 calories per bottle=1,040 calories. I then supplement with gels and water off the aid stations.

There is a blog on the infinit web site that says people have successfully concentrated up to 3x, so you could fit 1500+ calories in 2 bottles. You would have to try and see if that would work for you.

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Strava

My plan for Gulf Coast is to have a BTA bottle and two BTS bottles, and just fill the BTA bottle as I empty it with the BTS bottles. I'm targeting around a 2.5 hour bike.

3 replies, and no "live off the course", yet.

Dave,
happy you replied, as I view you as the resident SR expert. This will be my third time for the 70.3 there, but first time on the new course. I wish I could join your weekly training, but it's bit far (live in Manteca).
Cage #? I'll solve that once I decide on a fueling strategy. Currently, I have an older style Profile BTA that hangs down, and I really don't like it. I have 2 frame cages, but again, I'll remove or modify. I don't think it's necessary to have 3 cages, but I'm not comfortable with behind the seat options. I'll likely purchase either a Xlab or Profile new BTA, and keep the fuel in there. Then I could use the lower cage for the bottles I grab from the aid station, and keep some chews/bars in the bento?

Michael

Seems like a solid plan ...

See you in July!

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com

I do not know Infinit, but I use the gels from Powerbar: there are similar gels.
One gel has 100 calories, I put 17 gels in one bottle for an IM and fill it up with a little water such that it runs out of the bottle when you take it.
I do not understand why you need 2 bottles for 1000 calories where I put 1700 in one bottle.
In an IM I carry two cages BTA and one on the frame. In the frame cage I have my gels, in one BTA cage I have plain water which I take at aid stations to drink with the gels and in the third I carry electrolytes if the plain water is not enough when it is hot.

For my IM, I have two BTS cages and one BTA. Water in the BTA system refilled at aid stations. One backup water in the BTS. One Infinit concentrated bottle with 900 calories. One Infinit bottle in special needs with another 900 calories. Gels as a backup in case a bottle launches.

For my one 70.3, I planned same as above but only one BTS cage. When temps were in the low 40's I put on a frame cage for an extra water bottle on the frame as I was wearing gloves and afraid I'd drop something or take a lot of time in aid stations refilling. In the end it was unnecessary, but a good safety net for the conditions.

I always opt for live off the course simply because it's one less thing to worry about preparing on the day, and makes it easier to cope with any unforeseen problems (losing/forgetting some nutrition, dropping a bottle, etc).

Downside is if you're getting liquid calories it's hard to be precise about how many calories you're taking on as there must be some variation in how they mix the drinks, and not knowing how your stomach will react to different products if you're not used to what they're offering. I'm lucky in that my stomach seems to be pretty resilient and I've always got away with just consuming what I feel like and being fairly approximate with the calorie calculations. I find that the 70.3 distance is short enough that you can afford to be a bit conservative on calorie intake, conversely at IM distance the lower intensity means the body tends to be a bit more forgiving if you take on a few too many calories in one go.

There you go, you said you hadn't had anybody suggesting off the course yet! Seriously, either will be fine, just whatever you opt for make sure you don't overthink it so much that you can't adapt on the day if things go wrong or it's not working.

+1 on a gel bottle (try it in trading first so you get the flow and sense of calories right).

Also, have a live off the course plan in case the bottle ejects or something else goes wrong. You don’t want to be thinking that up mid race.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Solid points. One thing I fair to really visualize is HOW to live off the course, as you suggest. I’m going to watch part of IM Santa Rosa in a few weeks specifically to check out the bike aid stations. I need, collectively, to get 300 calories, and 2 bottles of water. I haven’t even started thinking about salt yet. Both “A” races this year will be hot (SR 70.3 and IM Coz). I think I will either need to transfer the liquid into something, like a BTA, or have cages that can accept the water/Gatoraide in the bottles they hand out. I just don’t want to be fully stopping every 10 miles to make sure I’m grabbing enough of what I want.
I did see on Amazon a very clever quick fill option, the Speedfil F2? I keep it in the frame cage, and have a second straw up to the deck. I can dump stuff in the side of it. I think it’s made for mountain bikes. But since I’ve NEVER seen one of those in the race photos, I suspect it’s not really a good idea. (Or more people would adopt it).
Would you walk me through a typical 70.3 how you get 900 calories and 6 water bottles over the 56 miles by living off the course?

I use a single torhans 20oz aerobottle for my bike nutrition and a bta for water. Food bottle has about 1500 calories of 50/50 maltodextrin/dextrose with base salt added.

I blend it in a vitamax until it almost boils the night before and it stays homogenous. Just dont drop it or leave it at the shuttle stop... I am around 5 hours for the bike, so one ounce every 15min for 300cal/hour. Super easy.

For the run i have a handheld with a little over 600 cal of the above mix, aiming for 200 an hour. Take a sip every half mile.

It's pretty simple, I've done both the options you suggest - having an easily refillable reservoir between the arms and just squirting in a bottle from the aid station, or having standard bottle cages and just replacing an empty bottle with a full one. Latter option means losing the bottles you start the race with, but we all have some old bottles we don't mind sacrificing! It's really down to choice and what's going to work on your bike. As you say, you will need 2 separate bottles/reservoirs if you want water and energy drink separately.

So you leave your bike in transition with a bottle /reservoir of water and another of energy drink. Out of the swim the first thing you want to do is get some calories in, so the energy drink goes first. Approaching the first aid station you jettison the empty bottle if that's what you were using, grab an energy bottle and either stick it in your cage or top up your reservoir and then dump the empty. Same thing on the next aid station but with water. Assuming there are at least 4 aid stations during the bike, then that's 6 bottles including the 2 you started with. If the aid stations are too infrequent or badly spaced then you need to consider either starting with more fluid on the bike (e.g. A BTA option plus 2 bottles on the frame or behind the seat) or taking 2 bottles at one station. This may involve slowing down a bit more.

Be aware that most races don't allow littering more than ~50m before and after the aid station so any bottle jettisoning needs to happen inside that window. If it's a hot race then the first aid station in particular can be pretty hectic, so if you can accommodate some spare fluid on your bike it may be worth it for giving you the option to skip a station if necessary. I've never had to come to a complete stop at an IM branded event - they tend to have very well stocked stations and very good volunteers handing out bottles. Helps if you can get yourself some space as you approach the station.

For 70.3 I use two 300 cal bottles of Infinite, one on frame and other up front. I get more calories with a couple of gels and then whatever the product on course is. Mixing more calories of infinite in a bottle works good but the flavour and taste is pretty heavy, if you go this route you need to have tested this in training on a hot day a couple of times. The concentrate can be hard to get down, you also need to carefully manage water intake with this. For IM I use 1 - 300 cal bottle of Infinite up front with 2 bottles on the frame at 450 - 600 cal (depends on projected heat for race day). Then I supplement with First Endurance EFS gel in flasks plus water. If required I will use the product on the course as extra or for a change of flavour. CAUTION: If you are going to concentrate calories into one bottle you need a plan B for nutrition you could lose the bottle either on a rough patch of road or accidentally drop it. Rule of thumb 'shit happens', if has happened to me!! Good luck and practice, practice, practice in training.

I use a custom Infinit blend for all nutritiono, ~275 cal/hr. For a HIM, it's all in one aero bottle on the downtube. For an IM, the 2nd bottle is in special needs. I then have a single BTA bottle (XLAB Torpedo) for water. When I need a refill, I'll have the top cap of the Torpedo open as I come to the aid station, grab one and get as much in as I coast through transition, then toss the bottle at the "last chance trash". I can usually get most of the bottle in there. I keep a single BTS cage in case I want to stash an extra water bottle there, but rarely do.

I've never had an issue with a pre-mixed Infinit bottle at special needs of an IM, and this includes IMChoo 2016 with record temps. I know some people who freeze the bottle the night before.

Good luck.

Sounds perfect to try. Getting my first Infinit this week to see if I like it.
For IM special needs, I was planning to keep the powder only in the bottle but have a few 500ml of bottled water and make it quick when I stop.
Side note: do you get your special needs bag back at the end of the day? I would plan to put my Podium Chill bottle empty in there when I grab the second. Or, if I won’t get it back, I could have the powder in a ziplock and use the same bottle.
From the responses, it seems like I can pick a plan, create a backup and just go for it. Plenty of people faster than me that have various strategies. I’m keeping Fig Newton’s in the Bento though. I love me some Newton’s when I ride!

You do not get SN bags back.