Snacks for longer rides.

iwilldoit

On the flap jack front why not make your own then you can have what you want in them, I went for a ride on Sunday and came across a load of raspberry's (now I know what was ripping me to bits on this ride ) so we picked them and made raspberry and apple flap jacks, the only prob is I can't stop eating them

apreading

Qui3tman wrote:

Their main point is that they are no "added" sugar. The amount of unnecessary sugar that gets added to stupid things is ridiculous. Sugar in itself isn't bad, but having 12 tons of it in everything you eat is! :P

But adding dates is adding sugar. OK their added sugar (in natural form) may still yield a lower overall sugar content, but that is not how they are trying to market it.

and if you are eating for carb intake during rides then you need sugars.

JodyP

CitizenLee wrote:

Water, chocolate and a few spliffs usually sorts me out .

Reminds me of my younger days. All day riding in the peaks with only a bit of cash, a full camelback and a bag of tweed

felix.london

Raw Bite bars for me. Just fruits, nuts and spices, nothing else. Can easily bang out a 60km/5-6hr all mountain alpine ride with a superfood protein shake before I leave, one of these bars mid-ride, water during ride and a couple of High Five tabs when I get home

http://rawbite.eu/

Giraffoto

Water to drink, add your favourite snake oil for the flavour but it won't make much difference unless it includes caffeine. Flapjack is a good snack because it's pretty tough and doesn't melt easily. Cup of tea or drink of water after the ride. It's possible to overthink nutrition.

drlodge

Giraffoto wrote:

Water to drink, add your favourite snake oil for the flavour but it won't make much difference unless it includes caffeine. Flapjack is a good snack because it's pretty tough and doesn't melt easily. Cup of tea or drink of water after the ride. It's possible to overthink nutrition.

I've read articles demonstrating that caffeine has no affect either.

CitizenLee

JodyP wrote:

CitizenLee wrote:

Water, chocolate and a few spliffs usually sorts me out .

Reminds me of my younger days. All day riding in the peaks with only a bit of cash, a full camelback and a bag of tweed

I'm trying to make my younger days last forever... 34 in a few weeks and not doing too bad at it

In all seriousness, for a longer / all day rides I would go better prepared but not when only going out for a few hours after work, which is what 80-90% of my riding consists of at the moment.

njee20

felix.london wrote:

Raw Bite bars for me. Just fruits, nuts and spices, nothing else. Can easily bang out a 60km/5-6hr all mountain alpine ride with a superfood protein shake before I leave, one of these bars mid-ride, water during ride and a couple of High Five tabs when I get home

http://rawbite.eu/

That doesn't stack up - you don't really need protein before a ride, you're consuming nothing during the ride but a 390 calorie bar with 44g of carbohydrate, and yet you're sustained for 6 hours? You can't store anywhere like that sort of glycogen. High 5 tabs will achieve nothing when you get home either.

felix.london

njee20 wrote:

felix.london wrote:

Raw Bite bars for me. Just fruits, nuts and spices, nothing else. Can easily bang out a 60km/5-6hr all mountain alpine ride with a superfood protein shake before I leave, one of these bars mid-ride, water during ride and a couple of High Five tabs when I get home

http://rawbite.eu/

That doesn't stack up - you don't really need protein before a ride, you're consuming nothing during the ride but a 390 calorie bar with 44g of carbohydrate, and yet you're sustained for 6 hours? You can't store anywhere like that sort of glycogen. High 5 tabs will achieve nothing when you get home either.

Have the shake every morning whether I ride or not It's packed with seeds, nuts, fruit, coconut oil, oat milk and vegan protein powder. Can do about 3hrs of pretty serious climbing before I need a top up which is one of those bars and that will last for the next 3hrs - which is normally traversing and descending with some smaller climbs so need less fuel.

"you don't really need protein before a ride" - so you never eat eggs in the morning?

WindyG

njee20 wrote:

WindyG wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Torq and Clif are definitely the nicest bars, but I find them all a bit rank frankly!

Torq bars are nice but the gels are vile like battery acid.

I can't now take anything you say seriously. The raspberry ripple and the strawberry yoghurt Torq gels are incredible.

Lol, I know some that love them, I was just glad I didn't pay for them, same goes for powerbars, they made me feel ill.

To the OP as others have said try to stick to the natural stuff like fig rolls, flapjacks and malt loaf, for a quick hit I have Jelly babies at hand. Drink wise I just use High 5 tabs or just plain water with a little bit of squash, I havn't really experimented with drinks as I've not felt the need to, I normally manage rides on or off road of around 2 - 4 without too much worry.

njee20

Anything PowerBar or SIS is rank.

Torq food stuff is good (gels included), drink isn't.

I don't bother with anything under about 3 hours (but actually don't tend to do rides that are between 90 mins and 3 hours), stick some High 5 in at that point, easy energy, works out cheaper than most of the 'real' solutions too, particularly at trade prices.

felix.london

njee20 wrote:

High 5 tabs will achieve nothing when you get home either.

yes it does, it replaces sodium, potassium, magnesium etc - all lost during 5-6hrs of sweating

njee20

felix.london wrote:

njee20 wrote:

felix.london wrote:

Raw Bite bars for me. Just fruits, nuts and spices, nothing else. Can easily bang out a 60km/5-6hr all mountain alpine ride with a superfood protein shake before I leave, one of these bars mid-ride, water during ride and a couple of High Five tabs when I get home

http://rawbite.eu/

That doesn't stack up - you don't really need protein before a ride, you're consuming nothing during the ride but a 390 calorie bar with 44g of carbohydrate, and yet you're sustained for 6 hours? You can't store anywhere like that sort of glycogen. High 5 tabs will achieve nothing when you get home either.

Have the shake every morning whether I ride or not It's packed with seeds, nuts, fruit, coconut oil, oat milk and vegan protein powder. Can do about 3hrs of pretty serious climbing before I need a top up which is one of those bars and that will last for the next 3hrs - which is normally traversing and descending with some smaller climbs so need less fuel.

"you don't really need protein before a ride" - so you never eat eggs in the morning?

No, I don't like eggs, but personally I never have a protein rich breakfast. I didn't ask what's in the shake (nor state that protein isn't beneficial), but it isn't what you need before a long ride, and if you can do a 6 hour hard ride on a smoothie and a single bar then you are a physiological anomaly.

felix.london

...then my friend you need to be enlightened on the benefits of a chia seeds, goji berries, bananas, coconut oil and oat milk (especially the coconut oil and chia seeds - these things are amazing) cos I'm pretty sure I'm not a physiological anomaly. Anyway - mainly depends on what you've eaten the night before in my experience

If you're training hard, protein in the morning is the most important time to take it...your muscles have been starved all night. Makes a big difference to me anyway. Just full of energy always and never get aching muscles, cramp or any of that

njee20

felix.london wrote:

...then my friend you need to be enlightened on the benefits of a chia seeds, goji berries, bananas, coconut oil and oat milk (especially the coconut oil and chia seeds - these things are amazing) cos I'm pretty sure I'm not a physiological anomaly. Anyway - mainly depends on what you've eaten the night before in my experience

You want to tell every pro-cyclist that as well, they're wasting their time, just need a chia seed shake and a single energy bar!

Agree good nutrition the night before is crucial to ensure glycogen stores are topped up, but you can't store more than about 90 minutes of glycogen, so if you're riding hard you will need something to top them up whilst you're on the go. Perhaps our definitions of a hard ride differ.

felix.london

njee20 wrote:

felix.london wrote:

...then my friend you need to be enlightened on the benefits of a chia seeds, goji berries, bananas, coconut oil and oat milk (especially the coconut oil and chia seeds - these things are amazing) cos I'm pretty sure I'm not a physiological anomaly. Anyway - mainly depends on what you've eaten the night before in my experience

You want to tell every pro-cyclist that as well, they're wasting their time, just need a chia seed shake and a single energy bar!

Agree good nutrition the night before is crucial to ensure glycogen stores are topped up, but you can't store more than about 90 minutes of glycogen, so if you're riding hard you will need something to top them up whilst you're on the go. Perhaps our definitions of a hard ride differ.

ha! I'm no pro-cyclist (or scientist or nutritionist) and I wouldn't even begin to tell them anything but this works for me and getting fitter, faster and stronger every week so doing something right.

http://www.linwoodshealthfoods.com/eu/shop/milled-flaxseed-almonds-brazil-nuts-walnuts-and-co-enzyme-q10.html

http://www.evolutionorganics.co.uk/sunwarrior-raw-vegan-protein-and-superfoods/sunwarrior-blend-raw-protein-natural-1kg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Biona-Organic-Raw-Virgin-Coconut/dp/B005GUU680/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405518279&sr=8-1&keywords=coconut+oil

These are all great products ^^

As for definition of a hard ride? I guess 2,000m of climbing in a ride I find pretty hard, legs are feeling it by the end of one of those. Did a 60km with 1,700m of climbing in about 5hrs in the alpine sun last week, that was borderline 'hard' - i.e. I was looking forward to getting home for the last 5-6km (I'd also run out of water which didn't help)

Oh plenty of salad with raw onions and sprouting lentils for lunch too

njee20

It's more about effort though isn't it, which whilst related to things like elevation, isn't directly correlated. You could spin up every single climb and not need to refuel as much as if you're riding hard.

Did a 60km with 1,700m of climbing in about 5hrs in the alpine sun last week, that was borderline 'hard' - i.e. I was looking forward to getting home for the last 5-6km (I'd also run out of water which didn't help)

I did a similar ride in the Surrey Hills a few weeks ago - 42 miles, 5650ft of climbing, 4 hours. You're clearly fitter than me, no fecking way I'd do that on a bit of water and an energy bar. For me that's two bottles of High 5, bottle of Mountain Dew (because it tastes nice, really hate the 'energy drink' moniker), some Haribo or similar, and a sandwich!

mcnultycop

cooldad wrote:

Cake, pies, beer.
The main food groups.

You missed out burnt crispy bits.

ilovedirt

I often take pasta with me if I'm going for a long ride, snickers are good too - lots of sugar and fat.

19dm82

Well went today and done 58 mile. Had my usual bowl of porridge and protein shake for breakfast , then 2 bananas and some jelly babies while out. Seemed to work fine. Will invest in some high 5 aswell.

BloggingFit

A good point to wade in I feel...

Felix makes good points on his food sources. Coconut is such an underrated superfood - milk, water, oil, flesh. All good.

Fir a long ride with concerted effort I would load up this lot.

Camelbak with plain water and an electrolyte source. Pink salt is adequate as is diluted down coconut water. Staying well.hydrated is key to keep muscles and digestive system functioning at optimum levels.

A bottle containing easily digested car and protein sources. The "easy" carbs will give a fairly.instsnt energy source and importantly keep glycogen levels topped up. The protein is there to help limit breakdown of muscle tissue which will be inevitable on longer rides. We don't want to be in a prolonged catsbolic state.

Solid food sources as already mentioned such as bananas, flapjacks, dried fruit and nut bars etc that will give you a slower release fuel source.

Post ride get good carb, protein and fat sources as soon as you can.

Angus Young

WindyG wrote:

same goes for powerbars, they made me feel ill.

njee20 wrote:

Anything PowerBar or SIS is rank.

You're both mad, PowerBars are fantastic. I'd eat them just for fun.

WindyG

Angus Young wrote:

WindyG wrote:

same goes for powerbars, they made me feel ill.

njee20 wrote:

Anything PowerBar or SIS is rank.

You're both mad, PowerBars are fantastic. I'd eat them just for fun.

I'm happy to be mad than eat that crap again, I had a Powerbar before my last race and it gave me stomach cramps after the first lap. This is why I would rather stick to the home made flapjacks etc as at least I know what is in them.

njee20

Solid food when racing?! Recipe for feeling ill IMO!

WindyG

njee20 wrote:

Solid food when racing?! Recipe for feeling ill IMO!

nah way before it.

bartimaeus

This evening I passed on the all-you-can-eat Indian buffet at the Barley Mow in Walderton - curry and a pint makes the climb back up Kingley Vale pretty hard work. On the plus side I discovered that the Woodmancote does cream teas at all hours, so today's snacks amounted to two fangtastics, a square of home-made flapjack, scone with cream and jam and a pint of Tribute. But that was only 36k. For a longer ride I would be looking out for a bacon roll, and possibly ice-cream.

Giraffoto

Bartimaeus wrote:

This evening I passed on the all-you-can-eat Indian buffet at the Barley Mow in Walderton - curry and a pint makes the climb back up Kingley Vale pretty hard work. On the plus side I discovered that the Woodmancote does cream teas at all hours, so today's snacks amounted to two fangtastics, a square of home-made flapjack, scone with cream and jam and a pint of Tribute. But that was only 36k. For a longer ride I would be looking out for a bacon roll, and possibly ice-cream.

You couldn't be accused of overthinking your nutrition, but you still seem to have got it right!

Unless you're racing full speed, full effort, all day, you're not likely to be expending as much energy as say, a lumberjack or farmhand of a hundred years ago. Ordinary food before, water during, ordinary food after will get the job done

njee20

What an irrelevant comparison. Slaves also worked the plantations all day on a bowl of gruel in searing heat, and minimal water, and they got beaten. Why aren't we self flagellating mid-ride? :roll:

Most mountain bikers aren't riding all that hard, and a "4 hour" ride actually includes at least 2 hours standing around discussing every descent in minute detail, saying "awesome roost braw" and high fiving. This uses minimal energy. That said, and as I've said previously you can't store more than about 90 minutes of glycogen, and the body just doesn't work very well when it runs out of glycogen. Ergo, for ideal performance, you need to keep your glycogen stores replete, that's all there is to it. I'd suggest plenty of mountain bikers don't do 90 minutes of hard riding without eating/drinking something, so it's not much of an issue!

cooldad

njee20 wrote:

What an irrelevant comparison. Slaves also worked the plantations all day on a bowl of gruel in searing heat, and minimal water, and they got beaten. Why aren't we self flagellating mid-ride? :roll:

Most mountain bikers aren't riding all that hard, and a "4 hour" ride actually includes at least 2 hours standing around discussing every descent in minute detail, saying "awesome roost braw" and high fiving. This uses minimal energy. That said, and as I've said previously you can't store more than about 90 minutes of glycogen, and the body just doesn't work very well when it runs out of glycogen. Ergo, for ideal performance, you need to keep your glycogen stores replete, that's all there is to it. I'd suggest plenty of mountain bikers don't do 90 minutes of hard riding without eating/drinking something, so it's not much of an issue!

Nothing like a bit of self flagellating whilst you walk.

steelo

I take a few energy gels, although I don't think they do much, banana after 10 miles, water in the CB and a mars bar. It's the same mars bar that I've had in my bag for nearly a year now, it's been through a lot with me, it's like a friend really, which is probably why I can't bring myself to eat the damn thing. I used to use energy powder in the CB but you need to clean it out regularly or it gets mouldy pretty quickly so I just tend to use water now. Sometimes eating some salted peanuts can help to reduce the chance of getting leg cramps.

I always tend to favour a pint of Stowford Press at the end of a long ride, helps to replace the lost electrolytes etc.