Distance cycling - good nutrition recommendations?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m off on a 30 mile bicycle jaunt next week over some pretty tough hilly terrain - and then coming back the same way the week after. I’m a fairly decent cyclist, been training for about a month or so doing shorter distances (10 miles over similar terrain). Last time I did the 30 miles I got a time of bang on 3 hours, which I was pretty happy with.

However, I’m not at all sure about what to take to consume on the journey. I’ve read about isotonic sports drinks which supposedly have the same balance of sugar/water as the body, do they live up to the hype? I’ve also read conflicting stuff that it’s better to alternate between an energy drink and just plain water. As for food; cereal bars, chocolate bars? How many would you take with you?

Any help much appreciated.

2

I’ve done rides up to 65 miles on just sport drinks and Powerbars. Bananas, fig bars, anything lowfat and high complex carbs will work well. There’s no secret formula. When I’m riding longer, I will have something like a small ham or turkey sandwich at about midway.

3

When I biked anywhere from 50-100 miles in a day (road riding), I ate anything I wanted and I drank about a quart of gatorade/water/sprite/orange juice/whatever every hour. The only problem I had was still being so dehydrated at the end it hurt to pee.

4

Blimey, hats off to your 65 miles and 100 mile runs! Thanks for your answers.

I’m a bit wary of taking bananas, no matter how careful I am they always seem to get bashed about in my backpack and bruised into an unappetising brown paste.

Any preferred brand of drink, or are they all pretty much the same?

5

Gatorade, Powerade, “generic sport drink”, are pretty much the same.

Bananas go into the pockets on the back of your official cycling jersey. (You do have an official cycling jersey, don’t you?;))

6

Take a fresh slightly green banana. Carry it in your jersey pocket It should last just fine.
As far as drinks go, I find most sugar added sports drinks to be too strong and leave a horrible aftertaste in my mouth. I either mix my own from power (at about 1/2 the recommended strength, or I have started carrying Gatoraid G2 which does not contain sugar.
for quick energy Power bars and the alike, or if you want to travel light carry some Hammer Gel
Above all make sure you drink lots of water.

7

The best advice I’ve gotten about long distance cycling is “if you start thinking about food, you’re probably hungry. Don’t wait until you bonk.” When I ride I try to eat a small snack (Banana, half a cliff bar, handful of nuts) every 90 minutes. I always make sure I’m carrying a snack more than I think I will need.

Drinking water is crucial. I try to do a water bottle an hour. I’ve never had a problem with drinking straight water on 30 mile rides, but for longer rides I like to have some sort of sports drink in one of my bottles. I use either gatorade or this calorie-free mix that Camelback makes called Elixer.

Enjoy your ride! I can’t wait until spring comes and I can get back on the road.

8

If you’re not drinking enough to pee either every hour or every 20 miles, you’re not drinking enough. On hot days, I try to drink a bottle every ten to fifteen miles. On very hot days, more. Sometimes much more. I’ve ridden a couple of centuries in Death Valley, and last time, I drank sixteen large bottles on the ride.

I find that the electrolytes and sugars in a sports drink mix helps the water get out of my stomach and into my system, but I usually find Gatorade or Powerade to be too strong. I like Propel, as it’s a little less sweet. They make a powdered mix in single-serving foil tube shaped pouches. Just fill your water bottle and dump in one pouch, and it’s easy to grab a handful of pouches on the way out the door. That way, I just need to find water fountains and hydrants, rather than stores.

For anything longer than a ride to the office, I always take a couple of gels with me (Gu vanilla flavor is my favorite). For anything longer than 20 miles, I keep a Power Bar Harvest or two handy. I also like Cliff Shot Blocks (Kind of like little gummy cubes).

On centuries, my rule of thumb is “If it’s not trying to run away, it’s lunch.” I’ve eaten everything from banannas to chilli dogs and Dove Bars on long rides. There’s a Sonic about 24 miles from my house. My personal rule is I can eat whatever I want, as long as I ride there.

A couple of years ago, I heard Alison Dunlap talk about what she eats on a long ride, and she offered a great bit of advice: She carries what she calls the “Armageddon Bar” in her jersey. That gets saved as a reserve, and only eaten in case of distress. If armageddon comes, and you eat the bar, you’d best be getting yourself somewhere that food is available fast.

9

Since this is IMHO, the idea that you need to be hammering tons and tons of water or other fluids so that you’re peeing every hour is a load of crap, but very popular in the lay fitness press.

As a former Cat. 2 racer, it just takes some time to figure out how much fluid you really need during a given ride, but if you are accustomed to being able to drink when your thirsty and can recognize when you actually are thirsty, just drink when you’re thirsty. On a cool day (60 degrees Fahrenheit), I’ll go through a single 20-ounce bottle in a 60 mile ride. On a hot day, I’ve gone through 20 bottles on the same length of ride.

Furthermore, overwhelmingly, the real health risk in endurance events related to water/electrolyte balance is water intoxication rather than true dehydration. Basically, this is due to too much water consumption relative to sodium intake.

As for food, many of the “performance” foods like gels and Clif bars (or Power bars, or Honey Stinger bars, etc.) are *convenient *and fine, but not necessary. Some professional cyclists live on Clif bars, some eat “real” food. The contents of musette (lunch-packs in the Tour de France) range from all energy-food that comes in foil to tuna-sandwiches on rye bread. What’s your personal preference? I started out with all of the “performance” foods but realized that I prefer and seemed to better GI-wise and otherwise with “real” foods. Unlike running, on a bicycle your insides aren’t constantly getting jostled so most people can tolerate solid or even fatty food, so a cheeseburger isn’t a bad way to go if that’s what you’re hungry for and feel like eating. It’s hard to predict caloric consumption without a power-meter although there are websites that will give you a rough estimate, but it you’re going for a really long ride the important thing is just to eat, eat, eat.

There’s a decent amount of new research indicating that you should mix carbohydrate and protein (about 15-25% of calories) energy sources rather than relying solely on carbohydrate energy sources. If you want to drink it, there are a few drinks including Accelerade that has both protein or carbohydrate, but so does a pastrami sandwich on rye.

Food should be joy, riding your bike should be a joy, now go enjoy both at the same time was my rule.

10

While I agree with you about mixing joys, I have to respectfully disagree with you about hydration.
Let me tell you a story…
It was 1998, and I was on day 2 of a 7 day bike tour. July IIRC, and we were scheduled to go from up in the foothills of the Sierras to Folsom. Anyway from about 10AM it was blisteringly hot. Easily over 100F and humidity of 0.nothin% I had started the day with a 100oz Camel back full of water and 2 large water bottles with sports drinks.
At lunch, we stopped at a Micky D’s along the route, and with my meal, I ordered a large soda. I recall using the bathroom, but I wasn’t thirsty and only drank a few sips of the soda. Most of it went into the trash.
Anyway by abut 4PM we got to the campsite in Folsom. As I rode down into the camping area (about 30’ of elevation change) I was so beat, I recall thinking “How am I ever going to get out of here in the morning?”
Anyway even after a shower, I still felt like warmed over shit. My rding partner and I walked down into town, and got a beer. It didn’t taste nearly as good as it should have. I mentioned to my partner that I really felt like shit. He looked at the skin on my hand,and asked when was the last time I had to take a pee. Lunch was the answer.
He called the waitress over, told her I was seriously dehydrated, gave her a $5 and told her to bring a large beer glass of ice water and keep them coming whenever she saw my glass empty.
After 6 or 7 of those and a good 45 minutes I felt like I might have the energy to walk back to the campsite. When i got back I had some sports drink to help.
The point here is that I never felt thirsty. I was sweating out water like there was no tomorrow, but I was not replacing it. I had finished that day with one full water bottle of sports drink, one partial, and an almost full camel back.
So for a weekend warrior, not a Cat whatever racer, you body may not give you the warnings you need about needing more fluids.
Since then I make it a rule on hot days to make sure I take a sip at least once every 15 minutes.
If I am going to make an error on my fluid intake, I want it to be on the too much, not the too little side.

11

Worth pointing out that it’ll be through cold windswept hills of northern England in mid January - although I’ll still lose fluid through exertion, no doubt. Based on the feedback, I’m thinking a couple of bottles of sports drink, a bottle of water to clear the palate if needs be (I too sometimes find sports drinks a bit sickly-sweet) a banana and a couple of cereal bars, with a rest stop roughly, er, whenever I get tired after huffing it up a hill - the natural enemy of the cyclist.

12

Make sure you eat regularly - I try to eat about every hour/25km or so, regardless of whether I’m feeling that hungry or not. I’ve bonked once or twice before when I first started cycling longer distances, and I wouldn’t recommend it.

13

Was that ACTC’s “Sierra to the Sea,” just out of curiosity?
–Unc, who had a bit of heat prostration after the Folsom to Winters leg in 2002 and was made to drink tons of salt-laden lemonade by an ER doc who was also doing the ride.

On topic: My drink has been Cytomax, which doesn’t make me fart like Gatorade. I like to carry apricot Clif Bars, cuz they aren’t as sweet as some, and Razz Clif Shots. And there are times when a PBJ is just the right thing for carbs, protein, and taste.

14

Whatever you decide to do, I’d recommend you try eating/drinking what you plan to eat/drink on your long ride beforehand during one of your shorter training jaunts. You don’t want to find out the hard way in the middle of your ride or toward the end that your nutrition didn’t agree with you. Plus, you’ll know how easy or not the food is to pack and access while you’re moving.

I haven’t done a bike ride over 15 miles in years, but I have run a marathon within the last five. What’s always worked best for me whatever I’m doing is to alternate between energy drinks and water, mostly because the energy drinks leave a funky taste in my mouth, which is worsened if I’m working hard and sucking air. For food, I usually rely on Gu and bananas, sometimes a half a bagel, maybe a little bit every hour. I have a jumpy stomach, so I’ll get sick if I have more.

15

Thanks for all the great responses - I’ll take my last practice run tomorrow and then do the 30 miles soon after, hopefully breaking my time (last time I was probably fitter, although this time I’ll be better hydrated, so who knows?).