Can't stop eating? Wtf.

freehub

Well I did 120 miles yesterday, first ride longer than 70 miles for about 6 months, the fastest club ride for the same amount of time too. About half way I lost most of my power, any gradient was a crawl, 14mph was my max, on the flat I'd be lucky to get 16, anyway about 15 miles later I gained power, during the 14 miles of total loss I had 3 mars bars, anyway when I got the power back, I was going at like 20mph for the last 30 odd miles home, now I was really knackered, I ate well last night, the ride did knacker me more than even 140 miles hillier rides have in the past.

Now today I'm constantly feeling hungry, eating loads, must have ate about twice as much as normal, my legs are still abit achy but nothing bad, so anyone have any idea why I'm eating like a pig?

Anonymous

'cos you used up loads yesterday and the body needs re-stocking Will.

Team Banana Spokesman

it depends on what you are eating.

'first ride longer than 70 miles for about 6 months' & you are wondring why its a shock to the system? its obvious surely.

freehub

I did eat well on the ride though , I had fish and chips half way through and 1 energy gel.

rickhotrod

Eat plenty until you are fully fit. Only then start getting down to race weight.

amaferanga

freehub wrote:

I did eat well on the ride though , I had fish and chips half way through and 1 energy gel.

Did you loose all your power before or after the fish and chips?

Bronzie

freehub wrote:

I did eat well on the ride though , I had fish and chips half way through and 1 energy gel.

Sounds like you bonked big time - obviously not eating well enough.

Just curious, did you stop for the fish 'n' chips or just poured it into a jersey pocket to be consumed at your leisure?

freehub

Lol, I stopped , was a Cafe stop at brid. I noticed on the ride to the square in York (first 10 miles of the ride", I was struggling to get my HR up, I thought maybe it was just cause I had not fully woke up, so I kept on going, anyway I felt better about 25 miles in, 3 hills I did good on, my lactic build up was lower than normal, my legs siezed up about 183 with lactic, I thought wth, anyway 60 miles on the clock we got to the cafe stop.

After the cafe stop we set off, it was around 5% gradient for quite a while, It was my turn on the front, I felt okish, so I kept a decent pace, but about 25 miles from then my energy just totally dropped off, I wanted to stop really but they where so far into the distance I had to keep on chugging along, lukilly they stopped to wait for me about 5 miles later, around the time I lost all my power I was struggling to get my HR above 145, when I started to feel a little bit better I noticed my HR was able to get up to 150.

The last 25 miles home I was doing ok, my HR was at a stable 160.

Apparently I never bonked as I could keep going and recovered slightly.

tomb8555

Maybe it's something to do with having just eaten a large meal? You'll have an increase in blood to your gut to absorb all those lovely nutrients, and that has to come from somewhere - i.e. less in your legs.

Tempestas

You really did eat some cr4p on that ride, fish and chips and 3 mars bars.... :shock:

I guess you get carbs from the chips and a sugar rush from the mars bars, personally I would have looked for something different, maybe a pasta snack pot and some banana's?

It's rare I do over 50 miles in a ride now though so I just drink regularly and stick an energy bar down after an hour

shockedsoshocked

Instead of fish & chips next time try a few pork pies, some sausage rolls, and 5 pints of best bitter. You should feel much better.

oldwelshman

Tempestas wrote:

You really did eat some cr4p on that ride, fish and chips and 3 mars bars.... :shock:

I guess you get carbs from the chips and a sugar rush from the mars bars, personally I would have looked for something different, maybe a pasta snack pot and some banana's?

It's rare I do over 50 miles in a ride now though so I just drink regularly and stick an energy bar down after an hour

+1
Mars bars are not the easiest to digest.
Bananas marzipan and glucose drink would do also

Bhima

I know several people who claim that mars bars work for them on long rides because they release energy slowly. Maybe they're ok, but every time i've tried them on the bike, I want to throw up!

All the fat/protein in the fish and chips would have slowed down digestion big time though. Chips have a low GI anyway, so should not be used for a quick boost. Baked potoatoes are much better for that.

Bronzie

Bhima wrote:

Baked potoatoes are much better for that.

What a ridiculous suggestion - how the hell is Will going to get a whole baked potato in his jersey pocket?

freehub

Tempestas wrote:

You really did eat some cr4p on that ride, fish and chips and 3 mars bars.... :shock:

I guess you get carbs from the chips and a sugar rush from the mars bars, personally I would have looked for something different, maybe a pasta snack pot and some banana's?

It's rare I do over 50 miles in a ride now though so I just drink regularly and stick an energy bar down after an hour

I can usually get by perfectly fine on a 70 mile hilly with 1 or 2 mars bars, I'd hope that despite mars bars being bad for you, whilst cycling it'd just get totally used up into energy and burnt off or shat out.

I was going to have jacket potato and bakes beans rather than fish and chips but I got the impression from the group they wanted me to have the fish and chips and it did taste really nice!

Heckler1974

freehub wrote:

, whilst cycling it'd just get totally used up into energy and burnt off or shat out.

Urgh, remind me not to be behind you on a chain gang..... :shock:

Bronzie

freehub wrote:

I got the impression from the group they wanted me to have the fish and chips

I bet they did - let me guess.............the rest of them all had something like jacket potato instead

freehub

Bronzie wrote:

freehub wrote:

I got the impression from the group they wanted me to have the fish and chips

I bet they did - let me guess.............the rest of them all had something like jacket potato instead

No, they all had fish and chips.

shockedsoshocked

Away Will, you should be able to answer your own question really. You went longer and faster than you've done for months, bonked, ate crap (unfortunately fish and chips doesn't make great cycling food) and now your body needs to refuel/repair itself.

sandbag

Bronzie wrote:

Bhima wrote:

Baked potoatoes are much better for that.

What a ridiculous suggestion - how the hell is Will going to get a whole baked potato in his jersey pocket?

It quite easy! It is Winter, He puts it in his jacket not jersey. Depends on the size of the baked potato don't it. I can fit 3 small one's in my top pockets of jacket as well as a large sandwich plus all my other essentials. That way they dont get mashed into mulch if they were in lower pockets. Sweet potatoes are high in potassium and not as high carbs as your normal tata's. The small one's, taken 1 at a time, are just right size to produce energy and not dump too much insulin.

@freehub
if you ate the mars bars close together then you probably had a big sugar crash sometime after the energy boost. Too much insulin produced and your sugar levels dropping below normal. Should drink water at same time you eat, helps digestion.

The better way to do it, is to drip feed food and drink, little and often to keep it stoked. Not big meals. If you keep it topped up, then you won't feel as hungry afterwards.

Don't confuse bonk with being unfit knackered.

Do you carry drinks on the bike? These riders who don't carry drinks or don't call somewhere often are screwing up there health and training more.

crumbschief

I admire the distance you can travel Will but not your diet,i hope i can manage that distance one day,that type of food can cause all sorts of problems,nothing serious but it's hard on the system and can work against you with any activity like that,it would not work for me and cause me all sorts of upset while riding / high cardio activity etc.If it is just food wise then It's easily sorted with some planning.Your cravings afterwards sound like after the unhelpful food crash,your body now just wants to refuel with good stuff and rest.

freehub

So instead of mars bars what should I eat? I don't want to be spending lots of money on energy gel and special bars, something around equal expense, so for 9 mars bars it's £2.80, what can I get for that with about 9 pieces that's better?

Although tbh, I've never had a problem with mars bars before.

MikeWW

Will
Are you serious?
Whats wrong with bananas, dried fruit, flap jacks, malt loaf, energy bars?

Pokerface

MikeWW wrote:

Will
Are you serious?
Whats wrong with bananas, dried fruit, flap jacks, malt loaf, energy bars?

Nothing wrong with that. But WIll has a point - you can't beat 9 Mars Bars for £2.80!! That other stuff you mention - while MUCH better for you costs more. Except maybe bananas -but you can only carry so many with you, especially on a 100 mile ride!


But cycling ain't a cheap sport.

shockedsoshocked

Pokerface wrote:

MikeWW wrote:

Will
Are you serious?
Whats wrong with bananas, dried fruit, flap jacks, malt loaf, energy bars?

Nothing wrong with that. But WIll has a point - you can't beat 9 Mars Bars for £2.80!! That other stuff you mention - while MUCH better for you costs more. Except maybe bananas -but you can only carry so many with you, especially on a 100 mile ride!


But cycling ain't a cheap sport.

If you can afford to buy fish and chips I'd say you're doing alright!

crumbschief

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

Pokerface wrote:

MikeWW wrote:

Will
Are you serious?
Whats wrong with bananas, dried fruit, flap jacks, malt loaf, energy bars?

Nothing wrong with that. But WIll has a point - you can't beat 9 Mars Bars for £2.80!! That other stuff you mention - while MUCH better for you costs more. Except maybe bananas -but you can only carry so many with you, especially on a 100 mile ride!


But cycling ain't a cheap sport.

If you can afford to buy fish and chips I'd say you're doing alright!

True,and i never eat gel bars either,just choice and research,the more natural the better,but maybe that just works for me,it is choice.I sometimes use Fruitus and Village Bakery bars if i don't take out something homemade,but there are more choices.

robrauy

freehub wrote:

So instead of mars bars what should I eat? I don't want to be spending lots of money on energy gel and special bars, something around equal expense, so for 9 mars bars it's £2.80, what can I get for that with about 9 pieces that's better?

Although tbh, I've never had a problem with mars bars before.

Try home baking ? Can't beat homemade flapjack and it's cheap and easy to make...

sandbag

It no surprise you got knackered even if you used to the mileage. You didn't eat, drink enough. A good thing with sports drinks is they hydrate you at the same time.

43g of carbs in a mars. The fat content in a mars slows down the absorption of glucose. The timing was bad. If you stuck on mars, try taking 1/2 a mars every 30 mins, after the first hour. Water can do for the first hour, if you already eaten pre ride. You not mentioned what you eat pre ride which is important for your big rides.

0.5-1g of carbs can be absorbed(oxidation) per minute, that works out between 30-60g of carbs per hour needed. If you cycling fast or a big size then recommended to take the 60g or more.

There's 4 calories in 1g of carbs. 60g of carbs = 240 calories. 1 teaspoon of sugar = 4g of carbs.

A 37 year old man of 170lb cycling at 20mph burnt 1100 calories. So 240 calories is hardly enough.

What you can do is increase the uptake rate of carbs per minute to between 1.3g - 1.7g by taking a 2:1 ratio of glucose to fructose.

1.5g/min oxidation/hour = 90g of carbs x 4 = 360 calories.

Even 360 calories is a small dent in roughly 1000 calories burnt on average at 20mph.

Don't be scared to take in more carbs if you going fast and/or doing long rides. Of course on big rides the average speed will be less. Base your carb intake on the speed/power you plan to do for each hour.

Tempestas

freehub wrote:

So instead of mars bars what should I eat? I don't want to be spending lots of money on energy gel and special bars, something around equal expense, so for 9 mars bars it's £2.80, what can I get for that with about 9 pieces that's better?

Although tbh, I've never had a problem with mars bars before.

Quality over quantity, instead of looking at it like you can get 3 Mars bars to 1 energy bar, look at it like you can get 1 suitable product to do the right job.

Plus Mars bars are now like 44-50p and if you buy a box of energy bars you will be paying around a £1 each for them.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=18454

or my personal favourite but slightly dearer, Apple Strudel http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/MuleB ... 360040186/

freehub

Mars bars are 31P each (In multipack from Tesco)

I eat when I feel I want to eat, I feel if I was trying to eat something every 30mins I'd be forcing it down me.

I'd hope 1 mule bar would last me for ages, like the duration of a 70 mile hilly.

Before rides I usually have a cup of coffee and a bowl of porridge or maybe fruit and nut.

SBezza

Will if you only eat when you feel like it, you will unlikely eat on the bike, as your appetite will be suppressed when riding. Doing so will likely lead to you bonking, and then having a raging appetite the following day, as your body craves food to help it recover itself.

There is plenty of cheap foods you can take on the bike for a 120 mile ride that are not specialist sports products. I generally use Eat Natural bars, or Trek bars, and eat regularly (even though I don't really like eating on the bike). I will also have a banana or two, and possibly a gel as a backup. I only eat once an hour, and touch wood, I have never bonked on a ride yet.

Little and often is best for a long ride IMO.