mid-ride fuelling

skratchlabs

Hey! If you ever want to talk about fueling and hydrating plans we have a lot of great resources and are happy to talk and answer questions. info@skratchlabs.com or 18007358904.

webboo

skratchlabs wrote:

Hey! If you ever want to talk about fueling and hydrating plans we have a lot of great resources and are happy to talk and answer questions. info@skratchlabs.com or 18007358904.

If you want to advertise you should pay for the privilege.

neeb

To be fair it's relevant, very well targeted and potentially helpful. Makes a change.

simon_e

neeb wrote:

To be fair it's relevant, very well targeted and potentially helpful. Makes a change.

True, though they could have pasted in some info or link to a blog entry rather than merely dangle a carrot. Not quite in the spirit of the forum, more "I've got something you might like but I won't tell you what it is..."

photonic69

I use 1 bottle plain water. 1 bottle with 2.5 table spoons white sugar, squash and 2.5 grams salt. Both 750 ml bottles. Those and home made flapjacks with plenty of dried fruit (fruit contains fructose which is slow release sugar) sees me through most rides of 3-4.5 hours. Every one has different requirements for nutrition so find what works for you.

Wizzybit

As already mentioned porridge for breakfast is perfect, slow release carbs to set you up for the day.

Then ride nibbles, you cant beat good old peanut butter and jam sarnies, i'll usually take a banana and some little marzipan slices too.

DeVlaeminck

thecycleclinic wrote:

Forget this healthy eating lark. my diet is simple carbs from pasta, bread, cale, biscuits, crips, some fruit and veg, eggs and meat. I am 84kg and 6ft1 my weight is fairly stable. so if you ride alot just eat. Eating chicken and veg is low kcal and will leave you feeling flat. Its fine to loose weight but if you are riding and need fuel you wont find it in grilled chicken. Last night meal was a lovely turkish delight that involved a plate of meat, lovely grilled meat and some bread. I felt slow this morning. Tonight I will eat carbs lots of carbs and I hope my legs will help me shift in the morning.

The modern fad for less carbohydrates is fine for the inactive but if you are transfering 3500+kcal a day from food then you need carbs full stop.

On long rides you cant actually replace all the kcal you use up with what you eat. you have to burn fats and that gets released at a much slower rate so you have to lots of long rides on minimal/no food to improve your fat burning to raise you sustainable pace.

Kind of agree but I've been on a lower carb diet and found no problem doing long rides, I will take a banana and a muesli bar on a ride or have a cake stop so I am consuming carbs on the ride but I manage fine without pasta/rice/potatoes/porridge in my diet. No doubt a very low carb diet would be different but I don't think carbo loading is necessary unless maybe for multiday events.

stueys

I work on 60-80grm of carbs an hour for a reasonably punchy ride. If I’m club cruising it’s less and I assume I can run for 2 hours without food.

How to feed depends on what you’re doing. Drinks are great because you can neck them if intensity is high (and you need to carry liquid so why not combine the two) as are gels, chewy sweets, etc. On a normal club run i’ll have proper food (flap jack, banana, etc), tends to sit better than sugary stuff.

pblakeney

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Kind of agree but I've been on a lower carb diet and found no problem doing long rides, I will take a banana and a muesli bar on a ride or have a cake stop so I am consuming carbs on the ride but I manage fine without pasta/rice/potatoes/porridge in my diet. No doubt a very low carb diet would be different but I don't think carbo loading is necessary unless maybe for multiday events.

I've learned on multi day events that huge carbo dinners are a mistake that ruin sleep.
A huge breakfast though...

cycleclinic

a mix of fructose and glucose is needed. if all you eat is glusoce there is only so much of that you can absorb into your bloodstream every hour. add fructose and you and absorb more.

Caffine helps fat burning which is why on long rides full fat coke is simply perfect. Peanut M&M's were invented for cyclist. I can often be found at the side of the road munching them.

This weekend there will be apple juice in my bottles with a couple of tablesppoms of cider vinegar. Vinegar is meant to level out blood sugar and reduce that sickness feeling. one way to find out. I could just fill the bottles with cider, maybe I'll do that.

Coke in your bottles is good too. it tastes a bit crap but it keeps you going. I mostly just have water in my bottles though. I have stopped add powders and electrolytes to water. I dont seem to cramp and I get enough sugars from what I eat so plain water is quite nice.

stueys

Nutrition is really variable, it depends on the intensity you run at and how fat adapted you are.

Some people will just burn carbs, it takes a bit of effort to dial in more fat burning. I run for a couple of hours comfortably on just water, but if the intensity lift to sweet spot or above that comes down rapidly. This year I’ve made a very concious effort to eat more on the bike, it’s made a noticeable difference. I’m cranking out more power and feeling fresher at the end of rides. Rough rule of thumb I run to is 80grammes of carbs per hour, combination of drink and food. At the end of a ride I will eat a banana and some protein within the first 10 minutes of stopping and then eat normally rest of day.

It seems to be working well, my conclusion is I used to under eat whilst riding and it impacted me. Recovery definitely starts on the bike.

cycleclinic

A good breakfast as mentioned in the last page is wonderful. I can ride for 5hours of a ferries all you can eat breakfast and I literally did not hold back.

bobmcstuff

You don't think you're bonking- if you're bonking you know all about it. Being a bit hungry and tired is not the same.

Have plenty of carbs the night before and a decent breakfast.

I normally stick to proper food like soreen and bananas, like OP I try to stay off gels - but it's always good to carry one for emergencies and if you start feeling really tired and wobbly like that a gel is probably not the worst idea. One gel in a 4 hour ride should be fine.