Carbo loading before a race?
Anyone here do this? What exactly do you eat, and when??

Having read the first 7 replies to this post, I must say I'm a little surprised
that this subject isn't better known among cyclists, as it is well known among
distance runners. If you posted this inquiry on rec.running, for example, you
would get an earful of valuable replies. Perhaps you should do that.

The length of your race is the first determiner of your answer. Runners
wouldn't really consider the topic worthy of much discussion for distances less
than 5k (13-30 minutes), but once you get up over 10k (27-60 minutes), and to
half-marathon (60-100 minutes) and marathon (2-4 hours) or ultras (30k to 100
miles, etc.), carbo loading becomes of genuine value. Use equivalent expected
cycling event times to estimate the significance of loading.

The original theory was that you needed a carbo-depletion phase during your
pre-race taper, but that seems to be largely discredited now, and the
generally-accepted view is simply to do your carbo-load the last day or two
before the event, and perhaps top it off the morning of the race.

As to how to load, you need not be very scientific. For shorter events of
higher intensity, I personally favor a mix of complex carbohydrates (starches)
and simple carbohydrates (sugars). For example, toss down a couple glazed
donuts and some strong coffee the morning before you race.

For longer events (century, double century, etc.) where true carbo-loading is
desired, eat what you know from experience your system can handle well, but
emphasize things like bread, rice, pasta (the best-known carbo-loader), and so
on. Have a good sweet dessert (but not a particularly fatty one), e.g., cake
or cookies. This will stock you well with glycogen for your event. During a
longer event, it is also common to intake enough carbs on the fly to maintain
your levels, using sport drinks, gels, bananas, fruit, honey, etc. I once
recovered from a bonk on the road by chugging most of a jar of honey. Don't
let that happen to you!