'24 Pre-Ultraskate Q&A with Adam - Pantheon Hoku + Supersonic Setup 

The titanium axles are a no go for sure.

I can do that!

Yes!

As magicians never reveal their secrets, world class winning LDP riders never reveal race winning pushing and riding technique 😂

That's awesome! I've been meaning to setup up an informal Madison distance skate cruise regularly this spring hopefully I can get that together!

Thanks! Love that ring haha.

Really depends on preference, but, IMO if you're more pump heavy ide recommend 90mm if you're more push heavy you can lean on the larger wheels ide wager! Haha a lighter 102mm wheel also pumps well but I'm biased.

Originally I started out just trying to show people you could skate long distance in the mountains, get more people to enjoy boards as transport. Which slowly transformed into me racing, I think racing and doing long distance events is super fun competing and challenging yourself. On a personal level I just want to see how well I can do. On another level I'de like to see more people get into skating and a lot of that revolves around doing this sorta thing, filming racing, pursuing goals and improving equipment, which can capture the imagination and get people curious to try it out.

1. Larger wheels with more momentum are a bit of a personal preference, generally the higher momentum does add a bit of work every push, since the board is being swung back and forth which is accelerational work. Weight in wheels becomes more work sprinting where you fling the board more, but is less noticeable with steady pushing. The larger diameter gives a better angle of attack on imperfections in the road, reducing rolling losses, amongst other benefits like urethane depth which can help with rolling efficiency as well. 2. The flex works out well in lowering your body to the ground, if you use it right you bounce down to push you while needing to bend your knee less which saves energy, while helping you push from higher up which gives you some more velocity in you push, meaning timing is important. Of course both your pushing style and preferences change with how you push, and that will impact whether flex and a heavier wheel is right for you, there are always tradeoffs!

Hi Erich, I'm using a maltodextrin and fructose ratio which is pH balanced with a little bit of sodium, (isotonic) in essence. All sugars, especially in gel form, are not ideal, which is why they balance a variety of them with these gels. Here's a bit of an in depth explanation. Essentially it's a balance of maintaining hydration without drawing it out with sugars, where and how these sugars impact absorption of water varies, expanded on a little more detail below. I do agree though generally I'm not a huge fan of pounding the sugar, it makes a lot of sense to eat solid foods or real carb sources from a gut and human health perspective. You just can't eat that much fiber or digest enough carbohydrates of solid food unfortunately in a 24 hour race at a higher pace. When fructose and glucose are ingested in combination (either as fructose plus glucose, or as sucrose) the mean oxidized amount of the mixed sugars is ~66%, as opposed to fructose at 29% (women) to 45% (men) and glucose at 58%. But the actual absorption rate of the sugars is the contention here: glucose is absorbed from the intestine into the plasma via more than one active glucose co-transporter protein; reducing the contact time with the gut lumen. Fructose, however, is less efficient and slower to be absorbed due to less active transport mechanisms; leading to increased contact time with the gut lumen. Why is contact time significant? With incomplete and slow absorption, fructose produces a hyperosmolar environment in the intestines. What this means is that there is more solute than water, causing an increased pressure, signaling fluid to be drawn into the intestines, producing the known feelings of bloating, gas, diarrhea, and general GI discomfort. Maltodextrin, a polysaccharide with the building blocks of glucose, is used in gels instead of straight glucose for several reasons. The primary rationale that maltodextrin does not affect osmolality as significantly as glucose, fructose or dextrose. Because maltodextrin is a long chain of glucose molecules, it doesn’t add as much to the number of solutes in a solution, thus a solution (gel or sports drink) can contain quite a bit of maltodextrin and still have a faster gastric emptying rate. From a carbohydrate availability standpoint, this is appealing as resultant glucose molecules are absorbed through the several glucose co-transporter proteins. Here is the caveat: because maltodextrin is a long chain of several glucose molecules, it is not completely hydrolyzed in the stomach; but continues in the small intestines where most of the hydrolysis takes place. In the small intestines, these multi-chain glucose molecules create the same hyperosmolar environment in the intestines as fructose. The sodium-glucose co-transport mechanism is critical for FLUID and glucose absorption across the cell membranes. Glucose is absorbed by the small intestine using an active process. Initially, the glucose and fluid exits the intestinal lumen via the sodium-glucose cotransporter protein, and is facilitated through an additional protein “gate”: GLUT-2. With the glucose, water and sodium also enter the blood; contributing to blood volume.

The excerpt I refer to as "below" beyond the summary paragraph is by Dr. Sarah B. Dean, Ph.D, FACSM Exercise Physiologist Nutrition Biochemist

You can also use some electrolytes in a bottle of water with a little bit of caffeine that works fine for me or just use a pre-workout and mix it in your bottle