because its not an imperative to survival of the species is it? if you dont drink or eat on a 2-3hr ride, you still live dont you ? you can survive nearly 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food,
the point about maintaining drinking and eating whilst cycling before feeling thirsty or hungry, is you are fueling your body, which is your engine, to carry on riding at the energy expenditure level you are outputting, if you dont do that, then the engine runs low or out of fuel, and then you start to feel bad, which can mean headaches, can be various levels of bonk, which then makes rides gnarly and you can be literally crawling home, but you still get home dont you, you still survive, you just feel not very good at the end of it.
so by the time your brain starts sending thirsty or hungry signals you are already in deficit for those items, thats literally what its signalling, you are in deficit of these items please eat and drink something, but even if you eat or drink immediately, youre best part of 40-60mins away from getting back into a plus energy zone, which is bad if you want to carry on riding at the same watts output, because you wont be able to do it, youll just be stuck in granny gear.
but if you dont want to eat or drink on your rides be my guest
I just think youll find them more enjoyable if you do
