What do you eat on a long ride?

[wyno70]

I've just started doing long rides (70 miles plus) and have been eating mostly nut bars (a bit like the breakfast bars but full of nuts and berries) and something I tried and seemed to cope with well was dried apricots - munched my way through a whole bag in 7 hours on Thursday, the after effects weren't great!!!

I'm not a fan of gels and was wondering what other mainly natural food people eat on rides to provide a much needed energy boost.

Energy drinks are sorted, I'm just looking for more alternatives to munch!!!

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

 

[yello]

No, I don't get on with dried apricots either! The sulphur methinks!!

What I eat tends to depend on what's in the kitchen and a liking for variety. Home made flapjack, jam sandwiches, banana, fruit cake (home made or shop bought). A couple of energy bars if I have some; or something similar from the super market (but I'm not so keen on most of them). I also carry a couple of gels as a kind of bail out option but I prefer to stop to get a cake or some such.

I bought myself a bag of Haribo sweets this morning for a ride next week (Monday hopefully) as they are 94% carb.... and 6% e-numbers no doubt! I like to experiment!

 

[jayce]

homemade flap jacks,bananas,chocolate bar,before i ride porrige

 

[Randochap]

Don't forget bananas!

I also use Hammer Perpetuem or Sustained Energy in one of my bottles, to keep the carbs topped up.

Then I pause for real food, like a muffin, or on really long rides (over 100 miles) I'll stop for a proper meal, later in the day.

Other on-bike foods: Dates, fig newtons, perogies. Use ziplock bags. Also a top tube pouch (Bento Box) will keep them handy.

See the "cornucopia" @ VeloWeb's Randotackle page

 

[bonj2]

In the short time i've been doing audaxes i've developed a liking for eating cakes with cream at caffs.

 

[numbnuts]

Frusli cereal bars

 

[mr-marty-martin]

i take with me a energy gel ( sis one )

two, peanut butter and choclate spread sandwedges ( both cut pritty small )

and if i no its going to be a hard ride one of those mini size cans of coke... and i usualy have that at the top of the biggest climb of the dat like they do in the tour...

sometimes take a banana out aswell....

 

[HLaB]

I'm pretty bad for not eating I carry a couple of cereal bars but hardly ever eat them and sometimes take a banana and don't like faffing about with jersey pockets, wrappers etc.. On longer leisure rides I have to set points where I stop to eat otherwise I'd forget I tend to sip away on a energy drink I use torq.

 

[Noodley]

Bananas and dried fruit on the bike. Soreen are now doing bars, which are quite nice.
And a cafe stop for beans on toast or a baked potato with beans. And some sugary drink and a cake.

 

[wyno70]

All sounds interesting, I like the sound of haribo, only problem is you know the whole packet is gonna get eaten!!!!

 

[Noodley]

Oh, and jelly babies and fruit gums.

 

[Joe24]

If i go non stop, i will have 4 cereal bars, Tracker bars or Chewee bars.
If i stop i will have beans on toast and a coke, and that will be it.
I drink Tesco's high juice, in the black current flavour aswell.
So i dont drink or eat anything special and it works for me.
When i did a very long ride(hilly 127miles) i had about 6 cereal bars, cakes, mars bar, haribo(very good, get some little packets and just open up and eat as you go along, gives you a good boost)
And to drink on that ride, i had 2 bottles of Tescos high juice, then had a bottle and half of water, then filled them back up. Think i had about 5 bottles in all, it was a hot day though, and very hilly.
Oh, and i had a coke.

 

[yello]

I like the sound of haribo, only problem is you know the whole packet is gonna get eaten!!!!

...and the problem is what exactly?

 

[Fixedwheelnut]

For rides up to 100 miles energy drinks and Jelly Babies will do.
100 mile + I carry plain water in one bottle and energy drink in the other, Jelly Babies, Maxim Energy bars and any food you would normally eat if you get the chance BLT's at petrol garages go down well.
200 miles+ The acidity of the above needs to be countered a bit so I start craving milk or yoghurt drinks and cheese sandwiches that seem to help settle the stomach a bit more.

It must be a bit like being pregnant your body starts craving stuff it does not normally get, I'm no lover of rice pudding but on anything over 200 miles I'll stuff it down like no tomorrow, on hot rides a packet of crisps might start calling my name to eat them

Best thing is to try it and see what works for you.

 

[SheilaH]

For a 200k ride, I'll eat a couple of bananas in the first 2 hours, maybe a flapjack thrown in too. Aim to eat a small meal, like beans on toast or a jacket spud at about 100-120k, then maybe another flapjacket 3/4 of the way through and some Jelly Babies to finish if need be. My one concession to the sports food industry is a recovery drink, as I find this helps stop aching. Can't abide those sticky acidic carb drinks though, and gels (although effective) are no better than 4 or 5 Jelly Babies.