Cup of Joe?

[andygarner]

Hi Steve,
I have a 200k cycling event coming up next month. It begins at 7am, so I plan to begin fueling with Perpetuem about 10 minutes in to the ride. I'll be using Perpetuem and Endurolytes as my fuel source for the entire event.

Here's my question: I typically have a cup of coffee first thing every morning. I'm planning to awaken around 5:30am or so for the 7am ride. If I have a cup of coffee when I awaken, will that potentially deplete glycogen stores? If so, do you think it'd be ok to have some caffeine a few minutes just prior to the 7am ride? I don't want to develop a "caffeine headache" by skipping my normal morning cup of joe. But neither do I want to deplete my glycogen stores. Any suggestions?

THANKS!
Andy

[SquidBuzz]

I do believe Steve has stated in the past, a cup of coffee in the morning without milk or sugar is not as bad as one would think.

And yes, the headaches suck, so I'd have at least one to fight that.

[andygarner]

Thanks Todd!

Andy

[steve-born]

Hi Andy -

Todd is correct in that coffee, in and of itself, will not cause any noticeable (if any whatsoever) effect of glycogen utilization rates. If you were to add calories - in the form of cream, milk, sugar, etc - then yes, your body would deplete its glycogen stores at more accelerated rates.

Bottom line: It's absolutely OK to have coffee prior to the event but make it black!

Sincerely -

Steve

[andygarner]

Thanks Steve!