Can I get by on powder (cytomax drink mix) or is there a reason I need to eat on longer rides? Also, should I try to consume as much as I'm burning? Also, how can I estimate how much I'm burning?
If I am pushing hard I will eat about 200 calories per hour - just to keep my stomach occupied. You really need to eat before you ride - complex carbs and a bit of protein.
I second Midget. I usually eat something on those longer rides. I can get by for 2-3 hours on just Smart Fuel (Cytomax seems too sugary for me), but longer than that and I eat a bar.
Question: I don't have a problem with energy on my
90-minute weekday rides. But I bonk badly when going
75-100 miles on weekends. What should I eat for longer
distances? -- Pete T.
Coach Fred Replies: It's amazing how many calories
we burn on long rides. A century can incinerate more than
4,000. Riders tend to underestimate how much food this
represents.
With the help of a calorie chart, put 4,000 calories
worth of bagels, sandwiches, fruit and cookies on your
kitchen table. Hint: It's equivalent to about 17 energy
bars.
They don't make jersey pockets big enough for so much
grub. And, of course, you don't need to replace every
calorie burned. The trick is to start long rides with a
full tank and then begin steady in-flight refueling.
---Eat 2-3 hours before the start. If you scarf down a
quick slice of toast and cup of coffee, you'll soon be
toast, too. Get up early if necessary.
---Mix protein and fat with carbs. Most nutritionists
suggest a pre-ride meal that includes all three food
components, not just carbohydrate. I like a bowl of
cereal with skim milk, a banana, juice and a bagel with
cream cheese. Ed likes a cheese-and-tomato omelet with
home fries and a couple of biscuits.
Carbohydrate is essential to endurance performance but
fat and protein "stick to the ribs" better and make the
meal last longer. Find what agrees with you and doesn't
let your stomach feel hollow an hour into the ride.
Of course, an ample breakfast means it's uncomfortable
to start fast, but that's a good thing when you're
touring or riding for fun. It holds you to a reasonable
early pace, the key to lasting the distance. You can
always ride harder in the second half.
---Keep re-fueling. Even after a fairly hefty pre-ride
meal, you need to begin eating and drinking no later
than an hour into the ride. At a burn rate of
approximately 40 calories per mile, it's amazing how
quickly cereal or an omelet gets converted to energy.
The rule of thumb for long rides is to consume 300-350
calories per hour. That's not as much as you burn, but
it's about all you can digest. It's the equivalent of a
typical energy bar and bottle or two of sports drink.
These calories, plus the muscle fuel already stored in
your body, should give you the energy you need to stay
ahead of the bonk all the way to the finish.
wooglin, that article was very helpful. I started thinking about how much I need to eat for a long ride and realized I couldn't carry it all! But as y'all pointed out, I don't need to eat what I burn, just about half of it.
A six hour ride needs 1500-2000 calories consumed during it... that's 6-8 energy bars and ~200oz of water. it looks like I'd have to get a handlebar bag to carry enough supplies for a long self-supported day.
I'm fortunate that there are so many supported rides around here. Granted, they cost $30-$100 each.
Good deal. A lot of it is bs, a lot is ads for their books (which are probably good -- I've been reading these guys in various forms for years), but there's also good info in there. And its free so who can complain?
Originally posted by I Are Baboon OK, so how the heck do you carry all that food on long rides? With all the stuff in my saddlebag, I can fit two Gu's in there and that's about it.
that was one of my concerns. We ran into a couple guys on our ride last weekend and one of them had a "banto box" (sp?). It was this three velcro strap texile box that connected to the top tube with two straps and stem with the other. It looked like it could hold 3-5 energy bars. So that was pretty cool.
We rode the second 25 miles with 'em and they apparently have a routine where they hit a gas station around mile 35 on this particular ride to refuel.
Since I don't wanna carry my camelbak on road rides -- it's more comfortable not having it -- I wanna get a double water bottle holder that connects to the back of the seatpost. That'd make four bottles for ~120 oz + banto (sp?) box and I should be good for ~4 hours. Guess stopping to at least get more water is inevitable?
Originally posted by LordOpie that was one of my concerns. We ran into a couple guys on our ride last weekend and one of them had a "banto box" (sp?). It was this three velcro strap texile box that connected to the top tube with two straps and stem with the other. It looked like it could hold 3-5 energy bars. So that was pretty cool.
You can cram a lot into jersey pockets. Fluids are the real problem and the tri-geek bottle mounts behind the saddle are about the best solution short of a camel back. Or you can carry pre-measured powder in baggies and stop at stores for H20 when you run out.
I try to get the amount he recommended about 3/400 cals an hour on the longer mtb races. 2 Gu's a muffin or cereal bar, fig newtowns and a bottle of cytomax during the ride seem's to work but i'm still working that out. Every 6 hours or so i try to eat 'real' food with lot's of carb, cals and fat but it still has to be easy on the stomach. i have found that Campbells beef and potato stew or ham chowder do pretty good.
for each of the events i do i try to catalog consumption and try to remember what did best overall.
But of course I can do this because I dont have to carry all the food with me. On the 22nd Im going to race a 12 hour and Im going to try to eat beagle and peanut butter sandwiches every 3 to 4 hours and see how that does. The hard carbs last longer than the simple ones so you dont need to take them in as often and of course their harder to digest. So interesting recommendations I read earlier from CTS said to eat white bread instead of wheat because it is easier to digest also.
Be sure to drink plenty of water when you eat the complex carbs because it will help break it down quicker.
Originally posted by wooglin You can cram a lot into jersey pockets. Fluids are the real problem and the tri-geek bottle mounts behind the saddle are about the best solution short of a camel back. Or you can carry pre-measured powder in baggies and stop at stores for H20 when you run out.
i did a 100 mile mtb race where we had to have all of our food on us so i made up little snack packs to keep it simple and efficient.
1 big baggie with 2 gu's, 1 cereal bar and a baggie with a single serving of cytomax in each pack. When you finish with everything you also now have a convenient little baggie left over to put all the trash in.
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