Nutrition for 100 mile bike ride

Vally7

Hi,

I am about to do a 100 mile bike ride for charity (4th Sept). Has anyone got any advice about what I should do nutrition wise to be as kind to my body as possible and help me get to the finish line.

e.g. what to eat the day before, what to eat during the ride and how often etc


Thanks

Vally

noiseboyfeetman

A couple of good articles below on what to eat a few days beforehand, before the event and during the event.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/361587-what-to-eat-before-a-long-bike-ride/
http://www.vulpine.cc/2011/nutrition-for-long-rides/

And good luck.

Mark Bom

Sort of dpends on your level of fitness and how many miles you normally do.

I normally eat a normal carb based meal the night before. Bowl of porridge in the morning and take a couple of bars and a bag of Jelly Babies with the probability of a coffee break or visit to a garage at some point.

Also two 500ml bidons of squash/water with a top up halfway round.

I'm normally hungry by the end, but the energy isn't a problem.

popularname

I did 110 last weekend just out on my own and ate normal carbs the day before, a bowl of muesli and some baguette and nutella for breakfast and on the ride: 1 banana, 2 flapjacks, 1 gel and a handful of jelly babies. I drank 1.5 litres of water, less than 0.5 litre electrolyte. I also stopped for lunch (coke, chicken pannini, double espresso). I find the trick is to be disciplined about eating: I drink regularly and try to eat something (one third flapjack for example) every 30 minutes, even if I feel I don't need it.

Probably ate slightly more than I needed TBH, but hadn't eaten very well in the few days running up to it (skipped a few meals) and didn't want to bonk.

Good luck for the ride.

rafletcher

I've done a couple of longer rides this year. generally a pasta or rice meal the night before, porrage with a banana for breakfast. I usually have to drive for 1hr plus to the start, so take a flask of tea and some flapjack with me, plus another banana.

On the ride I use High 5 Zero+ tablets in my water (electrolytes only) at arate of 500ml per hour consumption approx. I take Torq energy bars and eat 1 per hour. I don't usually stop for tea/cake etc. I also take a couple of energy gels (again Torq - their stuff tastes the least bad!) for the last hour or 2, and have one every 30 mins.

Drink plenty beforehand too - be hydrated!

Good luck :-)

PeeDee

Assuming that you are going to be riding at a reasonably brisk pace, you want to be aiming to eat 50-60g of carbohydrate every hour. One energy bar usually has about 60g, so thats about 8-10 bars altogether over the ride.

It doesn't have to be energy bars: bread, dried fruit, bananas, oat cakes,... anything with lots of carbohydrate will do.

Eating fatty foods won't help, you will have ample fat stored in your body already(even thin people), so taking on more won't help at all. To burn your fat you need to burn some carbohydrate too, so no matter how much fat you have, no carbohydrate=no enegy.

Most people's bodies can only store enough carbohydrate for 1-2 hours of cycling, after that you need to eat the carbohydrates instead.

Don't wait until you have run out of carbs before eating more, start eating 20 mins before you think you will need them.

Finally, you can't digest the carbohydrate if you are dehydrated, so that means you have to drink water and take on electrolytes (salts). Hi-5 Zero is a good electrolyte additive for your water bottles.

Good luck with your ride!

Vally7

Great posts

thanks Guys

Vally7

Great posts

thanks Guys

KulaBen

Is it the Manchester 100miler? Thinking of doing the same, so also very glad of the advice.

KulaBen

I'm also tickled that the livestrong article has EPO for sale as a sponsored link!

KulaBen

I'm also tickled that the livestrong article has EPO for sale as a sponsored link!

ollieg

Good advice! I am doing the ride with him so I will make sure he eats correctly :twisted: :twisted: