how many carbs for a sportif?

oldwelshman · June 2007

Well when I was racing many moons ago I just used to use water with glucose in it and either Kendal mint cake or some marzipan for food!!!
Now I take a carb drink and water, with bananas and marzipan and maybe a sis gel as back up.
Personally I think a lot of people on here probably over eat during sportive rides.
It is more difficult to eat during a race which id why I use carb drink and marziapn (easy to eat)and maybe gel, but for a sportive I see no reason for it to be difficult to eat normal food.
I am not convince about all the energy bars as I have not noticed any diference in them compared to nutragrain or cerial bars which are much cheaper.

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SteveR_100Milers · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by domtyler

Apologies, I didn't know you were all waiting for me!

Unfortunately most sports nutrition sites are blocked to me at work and there have been one or two supporting posts above anyway but my points are mainly that:

-Solid food is harder to digest than liquids or gels as the blood supply has been diverted away from the gut. This effect can suppress hunger too causing you to eat less than you should. Energy drinks make it far easier to consume the correct amount of carbos as it can be weighed out more precisely than real food Many people find plain water hard to drink in sufficient quantities, not a problem for sports drinks.
-Energy drinks made from sugar polymers can be palatable at very high concentrations unlike plain sugary drinks and foods.

***Am off home, will continue this post later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Porridge not Petrol
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

FWIW my two pence worth:

we are talking about still relatively low energy density solid foods, not a 3 course dinner here. If you can ride a sportive at your LT then I simply dont believe you, and the only situation you really NEED gels/drinks is at LT levels of effort. Otherwise stop kidding yourself it will make any difference, cake and flapjacks are more energy dense therefore are a more effective fuel source on a long ride such as a sportive, which lets be honest is no race for goodness sake - if you think so, then dont even think about proper road racing.
As for water being hard to drink...?? eh? This kind of contradicts your arguments against ingesting carbohydrates.

Time! Time! It's always too long and there's never enough!

oldwelshman · June 2007

grr just got back from a 50 mile race in the heat, came back with 1.5 bottles full and 2 gels!! Only managed to eat a banana and drink half a bottle, tooooo fast [:D]
Still did not bonk though so it goes to show you do not need as much as some people here state!!

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SteveR_100Milers · June 2007

[:I] I've just sat on my backside all afternoon, did a bit of swimming with kids this morning, but plans of a 2 hour ride went with the rain clouds that appeared at about 4-30..[:(!]

Time! Time! It's always too long and there's never enough!

oldwelshman · June 2007

You should have been up here Steve, 25 degrees all day [:D]
I am not racing sundays for 2 weeks, doing Cotswolds next week so as you know from my last sportives it is bound to rain !!!!

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SteveR_100Milers · June 2007

well break a leg! (so you cant wash out the Dragon)

Time! Time! It's always too long and there's never enough!

ut_o_cykla · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by domtyler

I disagree about using solid food which is not only a pain to eat when you are working really hard but is also digested very slowly. Water empties slowly from the gut too and makes you pee too much. Isotonic solutions are the answer, they are absorbed very quickly, replenishing fluids and getting fuel into the bloodstream fast and do not produce large amounts of urine.

If you don't want to pay for them then fine, but lets base our arguments on science and facts rather than emotion please.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Porridge not Petrol
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Err? isn't that pretty much what the general agreement is - riding hard - gels & carb liquids, riding more 'sedately' normal food.javascript:insertsmilie('[:)]')
Smile [:)]

And here's some science javascript:insertsmilie('[:I]')
Blush [:I]...there are 'different' foods eg White bread sarnies & jam will be digested quite quickly, greasy flapjack won't. Ripe bananas faster than greener ones.

Water take up is dependant on mix in stomach and small intestine and body's needs. True, plain water is slower than isotonics but water is water - your kidneys will excrete excess regardless of whether it comes from isotonics or plain water, any difference in urine production is more likely due to triggering water balance systems by drinking large quantities which sets off a cascade repsonse of hormones to correct blood volume balance etc.

Noone's trying to make you eat a certain food - we're all contributing our own advice based on our own experience in order that someone can try out things for themselves.

Keep smiling

[:)]

pousse moi s'il vous plait

bahzob · June 2007

Did Highclere 115 yesterday on fig newtons, maltloaf and bananas at stops, with Lucozade sport in bottles.

Was not pushing hard as helping a first timer but above kept me going fine for just under 7 hours (average 170W) and will be mixture of choice for future sportives.

One hint that I find helps me is to set timer to beep every 15 minutes. This reminds me to have a bite/drink. Its surprising how time can fly by on a long day and without this reminder I found I was simply forgetting to eat.

Toks · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by speedbump

If you were riding a 6hr sportif ride (putting in loads of effort), how many grams of carbs per hour should you consume?

I notice that the cereal bars I usually take only have 18grams which doesn't seem like much. I was hoping that one bar every half hour would be enough. How many grams do you get in an average banana?

Thanks
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I think generally the body can consume approximately 70-80grams of Carbohydrate each hour. You really need to go out and practise this to get it right. Don't simply follow anecdotal evidence from others. Someone who does a tough six hour ride on two bottles of sis and two energy bars will probably be a lot fitter, have a lot more experience and hence have a different physiological and chemical make up to yourself.

You don't have to complete a 6 hour ride but try doing some hard 3-4 hour rides consuming the recommended quantity of carbs in either food or energy bars and see. As others have mentioned keep nibbling, starting after 45minutes, especially in those first 3-4 hours. Usually when I bonk its around the 4-5 hour point. Good luck

The Merckx Diaries Ok, so what happens when you only do fairly short fast rides and very few mile crunching ones?

Toks · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Tom Butcher

You aren't really riding that hard that you can't digest food on a 6-7 hour sportif - it's not like a 50 mile TT where I would agree you don't want to be stuffing an apple pie and a flapjack into your mouth at half way.

Warning about well known bike shop removed at request of moderators.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Er how do you know? Not everyone treats a cyclosportiv as a club run jolly. A good percentage of the field will be trying to keep up with fast groups, form chaingangs or TT the whole thing in search of PB's or top end placings

The Merckx Diaries Ok, so what happens when you only do fairly short fast rides and very few mile crunching ones?

nickwill · June 2007

If you'd been on the White Rose Challenge yesterday, you would have seen a very large proportion of the riders who were right on their personal limits. That would apply almost equally to those who were chasing times, as to those who were struggling to get round.
I suspect a lot of the riders would have been struggling to consume enough food and liquid by the end of the ride. On a personal level, I was very glad to have a number of gels and a couple of bottles of carb drink with me by the last quarter of the ride. There is no way I would have contemplated eating anything solid.
It isn't just racing cyclists that push their own personal limits.

You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

NPH · June 2007

I did the Highclere yesterday. I was at my limit trying to hang on to groups and sometimes do my share of taking the front. I'd agree that for us sportif but not racer-riders, this is the point when trying to get energy and fluid in becomes a discipline rather than just being able to listen to your body, which is basically saying 'you stupid wally, just stop'. I ate the bar, I drank the electrolyte drink, I drank the energy drink, I topped up with water (it was hot and I was pouring sweat). I was gagging for some normal food and was pleased to take on board a peanut butter and jam roll at the last stop. I struggled the last 40 miles (and got gold) and I didn't pass urine for three hours after finishing despite a litre of recovery drink and two more litres of fluid after I finished. It is just hard to over-ride the 'need for speed' and the appetite going, and the horrible sweet taste, and the nausea, and get in what needs to go in. When I do the Dragon, I'm going to get the fluids in (hope its not pouring rain) and mix the energy stuff and 'normal' food, and hope I cane the last climb as if it's flat.

SteveR_100Milers · June 2007

Who said bike racing wasnt painful! Half the pain is struggling/coping with refuelling, and each of us is different. The smart people are the ones that find out what works for them and use that. What that system actually is, is ultimately unimportant to anyone else.

Time! Time! It's always too long and there's never enough!

oldwelshman · June 2007

To be honest as Toks said it will probably be different for all individuals.
personally I race and do sportives and my preferred food is solid,bananas and marzipan or energy bar but take a gel as reserve.
On the sportives I did, there were some riders who were clearly not fit enough to ride 100 or 125 miles and it does not matter how much food you stuff down after 50 or 75 miles, if your not prepared enough and fit enough, the food will not make your legs better!!
There is a difference between bonking from lack of food and not having the legs for a ride [:D]

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oldwelshman · June 2007

The Cotswolds will be fun for me Steve, I am riding with about 8 other guys from our club who are preparing for Gran Fondo Pinarello so this will be first sportive I have ridden in a group, yippe I can hide and draft [:D]
Trouble is I know they are lining me up to go on the front as my usual excuse not to is I have race the next day [:D]
For the Dragon will probably get in with 4 guys from Luton and another good rider from Harpendon but I think the dragon is a group start? So shouldbe some bigger groups making it easier for guys to find right level group hopefully.

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how many carbs for a sportif?

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