Eating on the trail.

fungus_the_muffin_man

Thought I'd ask how you guys go about it whilst out on a ride.

When I'm out on the road bike I eat little and often. Due to being on easy smooth terrain I find it really easy to just reach round the back grab something out of my pockets and have a munch whilst keeping up with who I'm with.

Out mtbing is completely different. My mates are much more experienced and stronger riders than me in every area. As such I tend to not get much stopping time and find I have real problems getting stuff in my mouth. I find myself getting tired so much quicker as I'm utilising so many more muscle groups than I'm used to.
Some of the problems are cos all my food is stuffed in my back pack so not easy accessible, I can't risk taking hands off the bars to grab somethiing or I'm either to knackered to eat at the top of the climb or buzzing to much after screaming ( or more crawling at my speed) down the hill.

Any tips on how to make life easier for me?

u05harrisb

wear a set of baggies and pop them in a front pocket or mabye lightly tape a bar or somthing to the toptube so you can pull it off eat it then pocket/bin it. i eat when riding but i only ride XC stuff, i pre-plan when im gonna eat because i know my routes well.

Mooose

I had a similar problem when biking with others who were stronger riders and didnt seem to need to eat a gram on a 4+ hour ride. I just had to keep letting them know I needed a minute to eat. One trick is to try and get them to get caught up in a bit of chit chat while you secretly guzzle down some snap.

Now I'm the stronger rider and find I also dont need to eat so much while out on a ride. Also find it helps to have eaten well beforehand (not immediately before or you're body struggles to digest!!).

tsenior

if your matres cant wait 2 mins for you to have a banana then they're not very good mates are they?

fungus_the_muffin_man

It's not that they don't wait. It's more to do with me working out when and how's best to eat when on the mountain bike.

tony620

Someone showed me a good way of keeping food at easy access. basically put a small sandwich bag in your back jersey pocket. fill it with broken down bits of flap jack, dried fruit and nuts. and have a small handful when you fell the need to.

quick and easy to grab a handfull of food when riding on a flat bit.

tsenior

depends on your route and how you ride really. i generally ride up a hill and back down again, i'm either alone or with folk who like to stop and take it all in rather than head down pumping away...

have something decent to eat an hour or more before you star:t cereal and a banana, toast and coffee do for me.

after that little and often, sip some energy drinks regularly, keep some sweets in a jacket pocket so they're easily accesible, share with your riding mates, who could refuse a jelly baby at the top of a steep climb?

i like to stop for a pint on the home stretch as well though so maybe am the wrong person to give advice .

bennett_346

How about: asking them to stop because you need to eat?

I can't imagine mates wanting to stop you from eating :?

Nachimir

^ A good suggestion.

Also, carb load the night before a ride. Won't help you deal with the hunger psychologically, but will help your energy levels.

cooldad

What Bennett said. Smoke breaks, food breaks, chat breaks, rest breaks, pee breaks are all vital.
Sometimes we even get some riding in as well.

.blitz

cooldad wrote:

...food breaks, chat breaks, rest breaks, pee breaks are all vital.

^^ this

miss notax

I can't imagine actually trying to eat WHILST mountain biking :shock: I think I would do myself an injury!!

If i'm riding for a few hours I tend not to have anythng, but on longer rides i'll just grab something when everyone stops

welshkev

everyone i ride with is fster than me, just let them now you need a quick stop. i'm sure they won't mind, i know my friends don't (at least they say they don't )

Ginjafro

Sometimes we forget what we are doing in the great outdoors....enjoying it !
We should all take some time to stop, have a look at what you just might whizz by and have a bite to eat and a chat to your mates.

welshkev

Ginjafro wrote:

Sometimes we forget what we are doing in the great outdoors....enjoying it !
We should all take some time to stop, have a look at what you just might whizz by and have a bite to eat and a chat to your mates.

^ this aswell

jairaj

Fungus The Muffin Man wrote:

It's not that they don't wait. It's more to do with me working out when and how's best to eat when on the mountain bike.

everyone is slightly different but usually you can do about 2 hours of exercise without needing extra food. If you're doing more then usually you will need extra food. The amount you need varies with the person the exercise and the effort level. You'll need to experiment a bit you find the correct balance for you. Its all about taking in little and often so your body is not trying hard to digest massive amounts of food and so you don't get spikes in the sugar levels.

Try putting some energy tablets in your drink and taking a sip every so often. This will keep you well hydrated and put energy back in your system at a constant rate. Or take a few energy bars or flapjack etc and have a little bite every now then.

jairaj

It might also be worth checking out the profile of the ride. eg if you know there is a monster climb at the start then easy downhill for the rest of the ride. Then it might make sense to carbo load before the ride so you have lots of energy reserve for the climb then take it a bit easier on the energy drinks for the downhill stretch?

tsenior

my mate ate 2 pies immedietly before starting one of the long climbs at CYB, I would reccomend not doing this :roll:

thecremeegg

I'm glad I don't ride with you then, I'd be finished off! When we go out riding we stop regularly for food and a piss, surely thats easier?

MrChuck

One of the main reasons I wear baggies over my lycra is so I can keep snacks in the pockets to squeeze in some food even at a very quick stop- holding a gate or waiting at a junction or whatever, it's pretty rare IME that there are absolutely no stops at all.

If you don't like baggies there are those top-box things that triathletes like as mentioned above I think.

Failing that some SIS or similar in your water will keep you topped up with carbs.

Preparation is also important but what people need varies massively. A while ago I regularly drove up to the Peak from Birmingham with a mate. By the time we got there it might be 2 or 3 hours after breakfast and I'd often need to get some food in me before I'd even think about turning a pedal, whereas he just didn't seem to need anything.

Thewaylander

Ok my advice,

Eat earlier than you think, if your feeling tired or hungry this is to late to eat. i would say on a long ride (3-4hours min) you can go a good hour to start with then you need a reasonable peice of food, then a snack about every 30 min after or so(i normally have some nuts and fruit for this).

blister pus

if i'm out for most of the day then it's a large bowl of porridge and honey an hour or so before you set off (gives you time to dump). I then take small snacks (whatever is in the house; crisps, chocolate, boiled sweets, nut bars, etc) and always take a large egg sandwich and a large peanut butter and jam sandwich

that does me for near enough an entire days riding in the hills with few breaks.