'right' nutrition for long rides/events

[JohnRedcoRn]

ie; 50 mile rides etc;


bananas and cereal bars and jelly babies + 2 bottles of water + refills if needed - this is what i've used so far, will this do or should i really get some 'proper' energy bars. (i sometimes keep a couple of those little urine sample pots full of orange juice as a quick boost too)

do i really need energy bars, glucose tablets etc

and is a peanut butter sandwich a GOOD or a NOT SO GOOD food ??

this stuff could make all the diference to me as i'm fairly new to cycling but doing long rides

thanks

 

[fossyant]

50 miles - just two bottles of energy drink - e.g. PSP, Isostar Long Energy.

Maybe a banana or two and or flapjack or oat type bars. Eat well before riding.

Malt loaf is good, as is fruit cake loaded with dried fruit. Dried fruit also good as are fig rolls (but you might not find any - seem to still be in short supply - mate at work couldn't find any recently in Tesco).

I would really not recommend touching anything with simple sugars, certainly not till the last few miles, if at all - jelly beans are full of sugar - you'll get a rush, insulin will kick in and you'll be back down lower than you were - might be OK for last 10, but if you've fueled correctly, then you won't need them - you'll feel fine.

I did 60 miles a couple of weeks ago on 2 energy drinks, and 3 small oat / flapjack bars - and in under 3 hours. Felt fine all the way round - still going at a good pace at 58 miles - needed to do two more before I went home so did another local climb before returning.

Some folk swear by mars bars etc, coke, red bull, but it's only useful if you've blown up and are near to home. If you've blown up, you've cocked up your fueling anyway. Energy bars aren't needed - waste of cash.

The 100 I'm doing on the 7th will be (120 including riding to/from the start) two energy drinks for first 50, with 2/3 malt loaf/flapjack portions, followed by a 2 x refills of energy drink (water plus carry my powder), and maybe some more flap/jack malt loaf. We have a 30 mins imposed stop at the halfway point, so a quick snack/babana as well.

 

[Blue]

I do regular 40-50 milers on nothing more than 750ml of home made energy drink.

Where do you guys put it all?

 

[HLaB]

I do regular 40-50 milers on nothing more than 750ml of home made energy drink.

Where do you guys put it all?

I carry similar but I usually have a couple of cereal bars in my pocket or the the seat post bag for emergencies but I've never used them for the distance. Occasionally on longer rides I have a Banana in the pocket too.

 

[srw]

On a 50 miler I'd want a proper lunch stop - bread and protein - plus dilute OJ or similar to drink.

 

[wafflycat]

50 miler I can do on isontonics and gels and feel fine at the end. It is, however, all the more plesaurable to have a decent tea stop midway for a cuppa.

 

[JohnRedcoRn]

On a 50 miler I'd want a proper lunch stop - bread and protein - plus dilute OJ or similar to drink.

THAT'LL BE MY PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH THEN !

 

[srw]

Yup - but I think the moral of the replies is that different people have different requirements. We were out touring last week doing 65-mile days and worked on the basis of eating and drinking more than we thought we would possibly need.

Personally I hate the idea of "designer" food and drink and wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. It might be worth it for professionals (but judging by the Phelps diet I doubt it); for the rest of us ordinary food and drink is perfectly adequate. Your body isn't going to be able to magically absorb nutrients just because they come in some expensive gunk any better than it can in the form of ordinary food.

Edit - having done just a modicum of research: http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=18371 I'm now convinced that the only reason the pros drink this stuff is because they get given it for free by the manufacturers.