Q: “Something I just heard from a friend — her coach has told her not to eat or drink any calories on her base riding miles this winter in order to train her body to use its glyco-whatever stores. Could that make sense? I can’t figure it out.“

A: Coach Patrick: Before I even get into answering this question (without going ape nuts on this coach), let me share something. I call it the common sense test. How often has starving your body actually taught it anything? Have you ever dieted by depriving yourself of food? Well, did your body learn to function without food?? The body - thankfully - is much smarter than our brains. They keep on ticking despite all the wacky stuff we cook up to change our bodies, torture them, etc.

To be truthful, winter riding doesn’t place the same caloric demands on your body as in-season tempo work…so you can get away with less food than usual. So it is important to learn not to eat too much on a ride, then eat again when you get home, thereby overcompensating for your exercise. But that’s about it. Starving your body of carbs, it’s first and preferred source of energy, will only teach it to look elsewhere for food…like the protein in your muscles. Needless to say, this is not good.

The only “learning” here is that your friend will have miserable winter rides, probably binge eating when she gets home (or in the middle of the night). She might even bonk in the middle of a ride when her body is working double-time to stay warm and move the bike. Hopefully that’s the worst that will happen. Hopefully she will also figure out that her coach is a knucklehead. Remember, when you hear crazy stuff like that, apply the common sense test and really evaluate it before you take action.

See you on the roads…I’ll be the one with all the food and drink on my bike.