What to eat on a long ride

[RichMc]

So far I've been taking banannas, Promax energy bars and fig newtons on rides of 50 miles or longer. Those fig newtons are OK but they make me more thirsty and I'm getting a little tired of them. What do you folks take with you to eat on long rides? This assumes that you are not stopping off someplace to eat like Dunkin Donuts or Taco Bell.

[Andreu]

and dried fruit play havoc with my guts and there is usually a wind assisted effect after about 2 hours.
I would take it easy on the dried fruit and buy a good energy drink and use sports/energy bars. You need a combination of complex and simple sugars (plus water) which these specialised products give. Also they tend to sit in the stomach alot better then "real" food when you are putting efforts in on the bike.

I have tried all sorts of combinations and types of drinks and bars ...my advice would be to go to a good cycling shop and try a few products out (and talk to a few guys out on the road).

For really long rides (like 100 miles plus) there is nothing quite like sitting in a cafe and having proper food...meat, vegetables etc.
A

[shaq-d]

a sandwich with high quality meat and cheese really hits the spot. i don't particularly like proscuitto, so i get the spicy italian meats.. with some extra strong cheddar..yum. but i like to eat real food, not a fan of the bars and whatnot.

sd

[Kevan]

a solid foundation. Have a good greasy spoon type chow-down. Otherwise, I'm liking GU's big time. Also try two outmeal raisin cookies with peanut butter sandwiched in between.

[93legendti]

Fruit bars, Balance Go Mix and Cliff (Gel/Goo) Shots. If I am riding over 1 1/2 hours, I eat a little every 1/2, especially in the 1rst hour.

[scottcw]

Detour and One-Way bars. Water and sports drink (1/3 diluted). Bagel w/crunchy peanut butter and granola. Water and sports drink.

and... water and sports drink.

[gasman]

Sports drinks, GU or clif shots and energy (Clif et. al.) bars. I find real food harder to carry and get down when riding hard.

[RichMc]

I take plenty of sports drink & water with me. Make no mistake about that. I also get a good base the night before and on the morning of the ride. I like that oatmeal cookie & peanut butter idea. How about peanut butter & jelly in some whole wheat bread squares (mini sandwiches)? No problem to stop and eat but I also want to narrow some food choices down when I eventually do a 100 mile race and have to eat on the go.

[M_A_Martin]

Ah, there's the question, race? Or not a race?

I don't race. And I have the complication of Celiac Sprue which means I can't have wheat, oats, barley, or rye or any derivative of same.

If I'm riding under 40 miles I take water and maybe a banana.

Over 40 miles I take a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (cut into quarters...there's your mini sandwich) or two and at least two pieces of fruit (usually bananas), some gatorade (although I ususally just stop at a gas station around 50 miles and chug that) and a couple clif shots if I'm riding with a fast group. I don't stomach more than four gels in a day though. I start eating in the parkinglot before we go, and nibble continually on the ride...hit a clif shot every 20-25 miles and drink lots of water.

I can do 70 miles on only three bananas and water, but then I run out of gas...I don't bonk, I just slow. The real food in addition (the protien in the peanut butter actually) seems to keep everything moving better.

Remember that if you're using gels, you need to drink at least 8oz of water with them to avoid muscle cramps.

Although I know one couple who powered a daisy daisy tandem on tours powered by skittles and m&ms....it worked for them. (as much as I love chocolate, I can't ride hard after eating it...ulf)

[93legendti]

The only grain I can eat is rice (if that is even a grain), that's why the Balance Go-Mix, fruit bars and Cliff Shots (made from rice) work great for me!

[Alan]

Eating is not as hard as everyone makes it out to be. Most experts recommend that you consume about 300 calories or so per hr. I eat a good meal before riding and begin fueling 1.5 hrs into a ride. I eat an energy bar each hour and try to drink at least 12 oz of a sports drink per hr. Make sure you wash down the bar with plenty of water. A better option is to cut the bars in sections and eat a quarter of a bar each 15 min. On hot days eat some pretzels with salt sometime during the ride.

I prefer Powerbars but most other bars work ok. My sports drink of choice is Accelerade. I highly recommend a Camelbak to wash down the energy bar. I carry the Accelerade in my two water bottles that each hold a liter. I can ride non-stop for at least the first 60 mi of a ride depending on the temp. If not using the Camelbak I put water in one water bottle and sports drink in the other. This requires more stops but works fine.

This has gotten me through 300K rides.

[CNY rider]

I''ve always had trouble tolerating the sports drinks, so I tend to go with real food, and keep water in my bottles.

My favorite is a mix I get in the bulk food bins at our local
Tops market. It's a mix of nuts and seeds all pressed together into squares (I think that honey is the "glue"). It's easy to carry and gives a nice mix of fat, protein and complex carbs. I like the taste too. It's also a lot cheaper than fancy energy bars.

I'm alos psyched to try the oatmeal cookie/PB idea :)

[vaxn8r]

Whatever you eat, I definitely don't recommend the bran muffins.

[Kevin]

Sports drink and energy bars. I like the Power Bars.

Kevin

[christian]

Today, I rode about 65 miles on my fixie. I ate:

1 bottle of Darjeeling
1 banana
1 egg (hardboiled)
1 small bottle apple juice
1/2 hummus/veggie wrap
1 PB&J
2 small bottles of Gatorade
1 bottle of water

All in all, a very successful ride. Yum!

- Christian

[SGP]

is great. The refillable flask cuts down on litter. Sandwiches tend to get squished in my pocket.

[Too Tall]

Sustained Energy or H.E.E.D. in the bottles and flask(s) of Hammergel in the pocket :) (E-Caps products).

If I stop at a store I tend to reach for: cheese crackers, beef jerkey, SALT Peanuts.

[Kevan]

and especially their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on raisin bread. The fuel of the gods... :D

[davep]

I find that eating 300 cals an hour can be difficult, but on a century yesterday I tried to do just that. In the past I haven't eaten enough on long rides (>70 miles) and have been weak and famished at the end of the ride. So, using this ride as preparation for an upcoming brevet series I determined to try to eat more. I started off with:

1 bottle Sustained Energy 700 cals
3 Power Bars - 750 cals
2 Hammer Gels - 180 cals
1 bottle HEED - 200 cals

Total - 1830 cals

I was planning on a riding time of approx. 6 hours. Due to getting in a couple of good pacelines and then a small group of folks really busting our legs (at least for me) we ended up with a riding time of a little over 5 hours, and I ate everything except for one PowerBar. But I also ate a couple bananas a rest stop. Even though it was the fastest century I've done, I felt pretty good at the end, and wasn't very hungry. But I'm glad I had a mix of foods. Just eating a Power Bar every hour would make me sick, mentally if not physically.

[jeffg]

Sustained Energy or H.E.E.D. in the bottles and flask(s) of Hammergel in the pocket :) (E-Caps products).

If I stop at a store I tend to reach for: cheese crackers, beef jerkey, SALT Peanuts.


It will depend on the ride and what your system can manage. I can survive on Sustained Energy and the e-caps for a very long time. If the ride is particularly hot (Terrible Two in Santa Rosa comes to mind), then I rely more on the Extran boxes (peach). But after about 150 miles (sometimes less) it is all about solid food (sandwiches, chips, etc.). The chili at the last rest stop at Sunol at Devil Mountain is just awesome to fuel up for the last 20 miles and 2500 feet of vertical. :banana: :banana: :banana:

[RichMc]

I don't know about that 300 calories per hour rate. Maybe that's what you burn at a moderate pace over fairly flat land. I have one route that I can try that out on but the other routes have lots of hills & usually some wind too. Gets that calorie rate up to 500 or 600 calories per hour. I can't eat that amount during a ride but I try to stave off the power loss as best I can. Yesterday it was two bannanas, the energy bar, a bottle of powerade and a tuna sandwich on wheat (thank you Seven-Eleven). That worked enough to get back to home base and the Murphy's Stout, some poke' sashimi and a couple of pizzas. Sometimes knowing what's waiting for you also helps with some energy. :beer:

[Dr. Doofus]

Dear Famished Ones:

Your Doctor would recommend that you consume 40-50g of carbohydrate per hour for any ride over 2.5 hours. However you get that into your tummy is up to you. Your Doctor prefers Clif Bars.

Your body can store up to 2500 cal worth of glycogen in the liver and the muscles. For an average endurance ride, where you're putting out an average of 200-250 watts (depending on your fitness), you'll burn 2000-2500 calories if you ride for 2.5 hours. No need to feed, in other words.

However, once you go past that 2500cal barrier, you need about 40-50g of CHO per hour (200-300cal). Liquid food gets into the blood stream the fastest, but it is resolutely awful, *and* you'll feel like a tanker truck with all the bottles (a glucose polymer requires water along with it, so if you have two bottles of "lunch," you'll need a team car or a full jersey). Solid food is fine for most of us.

The important thing, however, is the amount of calories you have "in the bank" (stored as muscle/liver glycogen) and not as "cash" (food bars, gels, old bar tape jerky, road kill). It takes approximately 3 hours for the CHO (pasta, oats, or other medium-glycemic sources) in a meal to get from mouth to muscle. Therefore, what you eat during the 12 hours before a long ride has a lot more to do with how you perform than whether you eat M n M's or the latest long-chain medium glycemic glucose ploymer used-by-that-guy-who-dopes-no-not-*that*-guy-but-the-other-guy-wait-every-guy-in-the-peloton-is-that-guy-just-like-that-guy-on-t.v.-is-every-guy-on-t.v..

In other words, just like you mother and Teun Van Vliet said, eat your pasta the night before, your oat museli the morning of, and make sure you have in 2500cal in the tank before you roll out the door. Every day....

As you were....


Dr. D. Doofus, Esq.

[vaxn8r]

Well said doctor....I could not agreee more.

[Ozz]

I'll second the Doc on Clif Bars....good texture and lots of different flavors.

However, I'll still 'top off the tank" on rides of 2 to 2.5 hours. On my "usual" ride this is a Clif Bar and a some coffee (Chocolate Almond Fudge with nonfat latte). Tasty.

I hate running the tank dry with 5 miles to go....I live at the top of a hill, so there is no coasting home.

[Spinner]

Those little packs of honey that are available at some restaurants and Starbucks are still one of my favorites. They are cheap, tasty and they work.

[CalfeeFly]

I call Chili Dogs from a convenience store Pittsburgh Panini. I also like pizza, ice cream sandwiches and McDonalds Double Cheese Burgers for $1.00.

I carry all the regular "power" foods as well and prefer Clif Shot for gel and whatever I can get at a good price for a solid. However given my iron stomach on a sunny gorgeous weekend or vacation day it is fun to sit, relax, watch the world go by for a few minutes and enjoy some "real" food.

P.S. Could this have anything to do with my difficulty in losing weight? http://forums.thepaceline.net/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=56889#
Smilie

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . take one bottle of water, one of Gatorade (diluted a bit) and a Clif Bar or two. I used to use Power Bars, but they get gooey when it’s hot and hard as a rock when it’s cold. Then I went with Power Gell for a while and while I liked the pronounced kick of the caffeinated ones, the little packets were sticky and hard to open while on the move and the plastic refillable bottles were not much better.

I love the Clif bars because they remain chewy no matter what the temps, they come in lots of flavors, and they are easy to eat on the move, especially if you rip open the end of he wrapper before you ride so it’s all ready when you whip out of the jersey pocket.

I have seen people who can stop and snarf those aforementioned chili dogs, Krispy Kremes, or even a quick beer, but I just cannot do that stuff without totally grinding to a semi-halt.

BBDave

[M_A_Martin]

Mmmmm Legs Inn Power food:
Sauerkraut, kilbasa, and a Jack and Coke for lunch.

If that wasn't enough to turn your stomach...

[gdw]

Hit a convenience store before the ride and pick up a couple of their frozen microwavable burritos. Stuff them in your jersey pocket and hit the road or trails. They'll keep you cool while your body heat defrosts them and should be ready to consume after a couple hours of hard effort. Some riders believe that the beef and cheese ones are best but I prefer the bean version. They seem to give me extra power on steep climbs. :D