When is the correct time to eat on a ride ?

cheese_toastie

I generally do road cycling doing anything from 30 up to 100 miles, but what I wanted to know is when is the best times and how much to eat on a ride.
I use a Garmin 830 and chest heart rate monitor so hopefully the calories burned indicator on this computer is pretty accurate, normally I would have an energy bar, small snack or sandwich after every 1000 calories burned sometimes without stopping either. This seems to be every 32 to 35 miles and I would always have a light snack before setting off.
Would this sound reasonable because some people I cycle with need to stop a lot more often and have a lot more food to get the ride done. I have tried this as I'm with them but I just get lethargic and tired after all that food whereas they seem fine with it.

sungod

depends how hard you are riding and for how long

riding at an easy pace, your body can meet a larger proportion from stored fat, but riding harder relies more and more on glycogen reserves topped up by carbs, once that's gone you slow way down

garmin's calorie estimate can be wildly inaccurate

you can easily expend energy faster than you can replace it, i.e. if you don't eat early you can't catch up later, especially if you start under-fuelled

typical human carbohydrate absorption rate is 60-90 g/hour, c. 240-360 kcal, that's for an optimum mix of easy to digest sugars, 'real' food can be slower (but is much nicer, especially early on)

for a long/hard ride, start with reserves topped up (typical figure is humans have c. 2000kcal as glycogen reserve) and a decent carb-rich meal in the hours before riding, then aim to eat at the above rate to top-up, as well as keeping hydrated

on a short ride you can run on reserves, no need to eat on the ride if you can do it after

but on a long hard ride, if you wait until you burned 1000kcal you're probably 1-2 hours in (depending on effort) and already used half your body's glycogen reserve, you've missed the chance to take in 300-700 kcal top up, ensuring you'll run out of oomph sooner

if you eat less digestible food, you might reduce replenishment rate and feel tired even though you feel 'full'

cheese_toastie

Thanks, having lots of salad, veg, pasta and rice the day before a big ride suits my preparation well to get some stored energy.
I genuinely think having more food stops on a ride is a motivation for some people to get them through the next 30+ miles when actually not that necessary.

photonic69

Correct times for eating whether on a bike or not.

06:00-09:00 Breakfast
12:00-14:30 Lunch
15:00-17:00 Afternoon Tea
19:00-21:00 Dinner

Anything else is just anarchy.

Failing that eat little and often when your body requires it.

cheese_toastie

I've tried the first option, but don't feel like riding afterwards. A few snacks to top up energy levels like you say on second option is best

geoff_ss

I always carried a little tin-opener in my wallet and if I felt hungry on a long ride I'd buy a tin of rice pudding and eat it cold! That was some time ago - now I guess you don't need the tin opener with ring pulls These days my rides are so pathetically short feeding isn't a problem.

me-109

photonic69 said:

Correct times for eating whether on a bike or not.

06:00-09:00 Breakfast
12:00-14:30 Lunch
15:00-17:00 Afternoon Tea
19:00-21:00 Dinner

Anything else is just anarchy.

Failing that eat little and often when your body requires it.

You missed out ten o'clocks, elevenses, brunch and supper.

seanoconn

me-109 said:

photonic69 said:

Correct times for eating whether on a bike or not.

06:00-09:00 Breakfast
12:00-14:30 Lunch
15:00-17:00 Afternoon Tea
19:00-21:00 Dinner

Anything else is just anarchy.

Failing that eat little and often when your body requires it.

You missed out ten o'clocks, elevenses, brunch and supper.

A common mistake my good me-109. Brunch is a late morning meal eaten instead of breakfast and lunch 👍

me-109

seanoconn said:

me-109 said:

photonic69 said:

Correct times for eating whether on a bike or not.

06:00-09:00 Breakfast
12:00-14:30 Lunch
15:00-17:00 Afternoon Tea
19:00-21:00 Dinner

Anything else is just anarchy.

Failing that eat little and often when your body requires it.

You missed out ten o'clocks, elevenses, brunch and supper.

A common mistake my good me-109. Brunch is a late morning meal eaten instead of breakfast and lunch 👍

I don't disagree with that view, but nothing in either post suggested the options were all mutually exclusive.
My experience of brunch is of a long drawn out social affair starting between 10.30 and 11.00 and going though to about 1.30/2.00 pm, which is determined by the inability to cram anything else in.

gethinceri

Brunch should start at 11 a.m. in the pub, as a full fry with chips and a pint of cider.
It should then turn into a full-blown pi55up.

photonic69

gethinceri said:

Brunch should start at 11 a.m. in the pub, as a full fry with chips and a pint of cider.
It should then turn into a full-blown pi55up.

As long as you get to and from the pub by bike