Wholesome foods to eat one the bike?
Bikergroves
Posts: 18
I'm keen to hear peoples thoughts on what wholesome food they eat while out on a long ride ( 3 hours plus)
I've gone through everything including the followings;
Sweet-potato
Homemade oat bars ( or all varieties)
Dates
Honey in a bottle of water
Soreen
Gels
Jam Sandwiches
Commercial bars
Now, here's thing thing. I dont think any of the above ,when eaten to excess, is good for the gut or body. While few would argue against the healthy cardiovascular benefits of cycling , I sometimes wonder if the said benefits are negated by dumping a load of sugar in the gut during the process. You wouldn't sit down and eat 100g of honey in one sitting and assume it was healthy. Same with anything else on the list.
If I've ridden a couple of rides back to back over the weekend, and consumed a load of sugarary sweet stuff while riding my face by Tuesday or Wednesday I normally break out, and i'm 30!
I've read about becoming fat adapted but it seems like too much effort although, in the long run, its probably much healthier.
What are peoples thoughts?
I've gone through everything including the followings;
Sweet-potato
Homemade oat bars ( or all varieties)
Dates
Honey in a bottle of water
Soreen
Gels
Jam Sandwiches
Commercial bars
Now, here's thing thing. I dont think any of the above ,when eaten to excess, is good for the gut or body. While few would argue against the healthy cardiovascular benefits of cycling , I sometimes wonder if the said benefits are negated by dumping a load of sugar in the gut during the process. You wouldn't sit down and eat 100g of honey in one sitting and assume it was healthy. Same with anything else on the list.
If I've ridden a couple of rides back to back over the weekend, and consumed a load of sugarary sweet stuff while riding my face by Tuesday or Wednesday I normally break out, and i'm 30!
I've read about becoming fat adapted but it seems like too much effort although, in the long run, its probably much healthier.
What are peoples thoughts?
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Comments
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for 3 or 4 hour rides I tend to keep going and snack from my jersey pockets. I'm happy with a few fig rolls and some jelly babies, and just squash with a pinch of salt in the bottles. Nuts and dried fruit would probably work too.
For an all day ride I'd get sick of sweet stuff so I'd take a proper saddle bag with some savoury items too; ham sandwiches, cornish pasty, maybe the full picnic with a flask of tea. Oh, and probably some chocolate since it won't be melting in a jersey pocket.
You may deduce from the above that my cycling is towards the more leisurely end of the spectrum
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There are number of factors involved in energy replenishment strategies and everyone is different so it's difficult to really interpolate from what other people are doing in my opinion.
Length and intensity of the rides you are doing is obviously the starting point which basically defines your requirements. Also, taste and preferences play a big part so some people get by on sugar-based products whilst others will only employ whole food. At the end of the day it's basically a question of trial-and-error to find what works for you in any given situation.
At present I am riding three times a week with two 3-4 hour rides at a steady tempo where I usually eat a banana and a peanut butter sandwich and drink plain water. I usually don't bother with breakfast before a ride either. One ride a week is a higher intensity hill repeat session of around 2 hours where I don't eat anything at all.
When the warmer weather comes the mileage on the longer rides goes up and I put maltodextrin in my drinks bottle. I find that is the easiest way of carrying enough energy rather than having my pockets stuffed with solid food. I also carry an emergency gel just in case the ride turns out to be a higher intensity than I anticipated. On long sportives (100 mile plus) I usually have two bottles with my maltodextrin mix in and usually grab whatever solid food is available at the feed stations.
EDIT:
I just remembered that in the past I have also made up these rice cakes for longer rides as well which might be to your taste. They are quite savoury as well so are a nice break from the sugary intake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UiuqIWGe_s0 -
Who is talking about eating anything to excess? Add bananas to the items in bold above, have a bit of any of those you fancy (and/or savoury things too) at regular intervals when out on rides and get on with your training. Ensure you have a varied healthy diet at all other times.Sweet-potato
Homemade oat bars ( or all varieties)
Dates
Honey in a bottle of water
Soreen
Gels
Jam Sandwiches
Commercial bars
Now, here's thing thing. I dont think any of the above ,when eaten to excess...
It needn't be complicated!
Ruth0 -
Other than the specific energy bars etc, me and the missus have been know to carry :
Fig rolls
Nutella and banana sandwiches (my personal favourite)
Dried cranberries
Bananas0 -
If your body needs the sugar and the food you're eating is easy to digest I don't see what harm you'd be doing.
I can't imagine that sweet potato or dates would be causing you to break out in spots (I assume that's what you mean).0 -
Unless you have some kind of strange allergy, whatever is happening to your face on Tuesday or Wednesday is nothing to do with cycling snacks....0
