# Would you expect to eat something during a 50 miler?



## User16625 (24 Feb 2016)

I done a 50 miler yesterday and was pretty tired by the end of it. I usually stop to eat at some point for this distance but didnt bother this time. Mostly coz I had a good breakfast before leaving but also because I couldnt be bothered. Just want to know how you guys go about riding these sorts of distances. So far this is about my limit or close enough to it.

I typically ride about 20mph on the flat but if I want to go further I guess I will have to go slower. I often hear how people do 70+ and occasionally 100 miles. At the moment this sort of distances seem beyond me and I wish to improve on this. Just to give me some sort of idea of level of effort, how fast would you be riding on a flat road in good conditions if doing such rides? How often would you stop to eat? Any other advice you feel relevant.


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## rugby bloke (24 Feb 2016)

If you can comfortably ride 50 miles at 20mph then 100 miles is easily in your range. Once you build up to 70 miles then the final 30 is as much in your head as in your legs. It is just a matter of pacing yourself through the whole distance.
When I did RideLondon last year I averaged around 16.6 mph for the trip, although this average was pushed up by the closed roads, I would normally be in the high 15s for a training ride through rolling countryside.
As for eating, most definitely yes. What you eat is down to personal choice - jelly babies, bananas, cheese sarnies, pork pies, flapjack ... although perhaps not all at the same time ! There is much to be said for the restorative powers of a pot of tea and a slice of cake.


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## oldroadman (24 Feb 2016)

Eat a good carbo feed about 2-3 hours before your ride. Porridge is good, eggs, pasta, maybe a small piece of chicken, plenty of fluids. Have a strong coffee 20 minutes before the off. During a longer ride (over 90 minutes) top up with fluids, and try to eat something about every 30 minutes. gels are OK but canupset your digestion, so care there. bananas are excellent, potassium, carbo, and all ready wrapped. You could try honey rolls (make crustless sandwich, cut in three, roll up, put in foil for the pocket), jelly babies are OK but empty calories. Most important, keep hydrated, if you feel thirsy it's too late. We all have our own levels, at race speed I would use about 500ml an hour (or more when it's hot). Keep steady speed, good quality shorts, big dollop of chamois cream (or Sudocrem works well and is cheap!). Lowish gears, climb within yourself, and long rides up to 200km are attainable. Just build up slowly to the distance - and enjoy.


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## vickster (24 Feb 2016)

I don't think eggs have much if any carbohydrate in them? They will bung you up to counteract the gels though!


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## screenman (24 Feb 2016)

I used to do that pre breakfast quite often, I am still here to tell the tale.


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## Erudin (24 Feb 2016)

If you are pushing hard you need to top up on carbs, if riding at a lower intensity you should be able to cope as you will be burning some fat. When I was dieting last year I was doing up to 90 mile rides without eating much (flat white coffees and a banana) staying within Heart rate Zones 1-3 and averaging around 12 mph.

From http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/how-target-your-heart-rate-get-into-the-fat-burning-zone/

In fact, when you hit higher level of intensity your body is most likely burning off the short-term stores of sugar and carbohydrates you took in during your last meal. (This explains why you’re so hungry after an intense workout!) To really target the long-term savings bank where your body stores fat, you need to opt for lower intensity activities that keep your heart rate in the fat-burning zone for longer.

Fat Burning Zone: Slow is the key word here. Keep your pace moderate enough to remain in your target heart-rate zone (60% to 70% of your max heart rate).


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## ayceejay (24 Feb 2016)

There is a tendency to over complicate issues, I blame the internet. Not all cyclists are potential TdF winners that's why Wiggins got the knighthood and you didn't. 
Go for a ride, if it is a long ride take some food that you can stop and eat and take some concentrated emergency food just in case (bring it back if you don't bonk) and enjoy yourself for Chrissake. 
If you think you are in with a chance, and 20 mph is pretty fast then that is different.


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## Citius (24 Feb 2016)

There isn't really a fat burning zone, unfortunately, regardless of what people might think. You body will always metabolize any or all of its energy sources in more or less equal measure. You might 'burn' slightly more fat at lower level intensities, but there's not really much in it.


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## Fab Foodie (25 Feb 2016)

Citius said:


> There isn't really a fat burning zone, unfortunately, regardless of what people might think. You body will always metabolize any or all of its energy sources in more or less equal measure. You might 'burn' slightly more fat at lower level intensities, but there's not really much in it.


Well yes and no.

Certainly at higher intensities the body will preferentially use glycogen as its primary energy source because it is much more efficient for musles to use. @Erudin has it about right. Depletion of glycogen leads to 'the bonk' and a the hunger response for sweet things.
At lower intensity levels the body uses a fuel mix where fat is a greater proportion of the overall fuel mix and the rate of glycogen usage is proportionally less.
As a result you can generally go further without refuelling at lower speeds than at higher speeds and much further before you experience 'the bonk'.

Where I'm not aligned with @Erudin is in the accuracy of the whole heart rate/zone thing. But I agree with the basic principles.


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## Fab Foodie (25 Feb 2016)

vickster said:


> I don't think eggs have much if any carbohydrate in them? They will bung you up to counteract the gels though!


I find neither is the case. I usually have 2 fried eggs for Brekkie before a ride (and most days) and don't lack for energy nor suffer any corkage!


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## steveindenmark (25 Feb 2016)

Why wouldnt you eat something on a 50 miler?

I like to snack when I am riding. It keeps my energy levels up and helps prevent bonking.


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## Tin Pot (25 Feb 2016)

RideLikeTheStig said:


> I done a 50 miler yesterday and was pretty tired by the end of it. I usually stop to eat at some point for this distance but didnt bother this time. Mostly coz I had a good breakfast before leaving but also because I couldnt be bothered. Just want to know how you guys go about riding these sorts of distances. So far this is about my limit or close enough to it.
> 
> I typically ride about 20mph on the flat but if I want to go further I guess I will have to go slower. I often hear how people do 70+ and occasionally 100 miles. At the moment this sort of distances seem beyond me and I wish to improve on this. Just to give me some sort of idea of level of effort, how fast would you be riding on a flat road in good conditions if doing such rides? How often would you stop to eat? Any other advice you feel relevant.



Is it a race, a training session or a leisure ride? 

On a leisure ride I'd take a banana for three or four hours. Stop for lunch if it's much longer than that.


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## Dogtrousers (25 Feb 2016)

If you can ride 50 then you can ride 100. Just have a rest after 50 then do it again. Making it interesting and enjoyable helps. Breaking the ride up into sections and celebrating each section with a carefully calibrated dose of sports nutrition such as a pork pie or an Eccles cake or both may be an idea. I don't want to get too technical, but it's a scientific fact that riding in the "Melton Mowbray zone" will get you further.

Having bailout points by riding parallel to a railway line can give you the confidence to go further. 

It kind of goes without saying that if you're thing to try a longer distance for the first time then do it over flatter terrain.

From your post you seem to be quite focused on speed. If you are aiming for longer distances, then maybe put less mental emphasis on this and more on distance.

I see from your avatar that you are experimenting with subtle hidden mechanical assistance. This too may help.


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## Citius (25 Feb 2016)

Fab Foodie said:


> Well yes and no.



Well, just no. Like I say, the notion of a 'fat burning zone' - ie a zone where you only 'burn' fat - is a total myth.


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## Fab Foodie (25 Feb 2016)

Citius said:


> Well, just no. Like I say, the notion of a 'fat burning zone' - ie a zone where you only 'burn' fat - is a total myth.


Agree .... where you *only* burn fat. BUT at low intensities you burn proportionally more fat and less glycogen which keeps you going further whereas at high intensities you run closer to 100% glycogen of which stores are pretty limited.


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## Tin Pot (25 Feb 2016)

Fab Foodie said:


> Agree .... where you *only* burn fat. BUT at low intensities you burn proportionally more fat and less glycogen which keeps you going further whereas at high intensities you run closer to 100% glycogen of which stores are pretty limited.



Umm...what?

Could you guys post a diagram of how you think the metabolic system works?


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## MichaelW2 (25 Feb 2016)

I would start off pre-fed and pre-hydrated and carry some snacks, nibbles, a sandwich, whatever.
On 70 milers+ I would eat the bar-tape if I don't carry food, or go all Ray Mears and find some berries or roadkill.

Prehydrating for me is drinking about 1 pint of something, usually weak tea, about 1hr before a ride, so I'm peeing clear at the start. I can't prehydrate on very cold drinks.


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## tyred (25 Feb 2016)

Eat if you feel hungry. Don't eat if don't feel hungry.

Drink if you'r thirsty, don't drink if you're not.

Stop and have a rest if you feel like it.

Why do we manage to make riding a bike so complicated?


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## Dogtrousers (25 Feb 2016)

Tin Pot said:


> Umm...what?
> 
> Could you guys post a diagram of how you think the metabolic system works?


Cyclist+Pies=Miles


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## jefmcg (25 Feb 2016)

tyred said:


> Eat if you feel hungry. Don't eat if don't feel hungry.
> 
> Drink if you'r thirsty, don't drink if you're not.
> 
> ...


Not every body behaves like this. After about 50 miles, my hunger and thirst disappear. I have to force myself to eat and drink; even when I am badly flagging, I don't feel any hunger.


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## Ian H (25 Feb 2016)

I rode 35 miles last night, out to the pub and back. Despite an intake of two pints of liquid carbohydrate at the halfway point, I was slower on the way home. So I conclude that sustenance during a ride doesn't work.


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## derrick (25 Feb 2016)

50 miles = 2 shedded wheat before the ride and a bottle of drink on the bike, Then a bit of grub when the ride is finished. Longer rides you may need more depends how you feel on the day. I have done many big rides on a breakfast alone. But as someone said earlier if you get hungry eat. We are all different, we have a guy rides with us who seems to spend the whole ride eating, then complains he is struggling when we are on the hills.


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## Fab Foodie (25 Feb 2016)

Tin Pot said:


> Umm...what?
> 
> Could you guys post a diagram of how you think the metabolic system works?


No way, suffer your way through a Biochemistry degree :-)


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## Katherine (25 Feb 2016)

vickster said:


> I don't think eggs have much if any carbohydrate in them? They will bung you up to counteract the gels though!


Eggs are useful because they have a low GI score. There's no evidence that they bung you up. Probably an old wives tale.


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## vickster (25 Feb 2016)

Katherine said:


> Eggs are useful because they have a low GI score. There's no evidence that they bung you up. Probably an old wives tale.


They do me


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## Doyleyburger (25 Feb 2016)

For a 50 miler I would take a banana and a handful of dates. Dates seem to work better for me than gels for example. I also mix 2-3 tbs of sugar into my water bottle. Sugar will keep you going for longer. That being said it should be compulsory for a cyclist to stop for coffee and a bite to eat when doing at least 50 miles


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## tyred (25 Feb 2016)

Doyleyburger said:


> For a 50 miler I would take a banana and a handful of dates. Dates seem to work better for me than gels for example. I also mix 2-3 tbs of sugar into my water bottle. Sugar will keep you going for longer. That being said it should be compulsory for a cyclist to stop for coffee and a bite to eat when doing at least 50 miles



If your main destination isn't a nice cafe/pub with some tasty substance then you're doing it wrong


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## Fab Foodie (25 Feb 2016)

Katherine said:


> Eggs are useful because they have a low GI score. There's no evidence that they bung you up. Probably an old wives tale.


http://www.eggnutritioncenter.org/content/uploads/2015/10/large-egg-panel.pdf

Correct about the old wives tale.


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## jefmcg (25 Feb 2016)

vickster said:


> They do me


This is becoming one of life's great mysteries: why does Vickster eat eggs?


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## Doyleyburger (25 Feb 2016)

tyred said:


> If your main destination isn't a nice cafe/pub with some tasty substance then you're doing it wrong


Yep agreed


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## iandg (25 Feb 2016)

I do now, as a racer in the 1970/80s I didn't -that was probably a mistake and the reason why my performance went downhill after an hour of competition.


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## uclown2002 (25 Feb 2016)

Nothing for me for a 50 miler; and I don't bother with a breakfast either.


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## nickyboy (26 Feb 2016)

50 miles @20mph is two and a half hours of fairly high intensity effort. I might just get away with that much time without a refuel but it's getting close to the bonk-zone for me

I'll do a 50 mile ride tomorrow but the difference is that it'll be hilly so it will take me three and a half hours at least. For that much time at fairly high effort I will definitely need to think about food. I'll take some flapjack and I might have a stop after 30 miles or so for a café if I feel like a break

I don't think miles is the key thing to think about. It's time spent at whatever intensity level that matters.


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## oldroadman (26 Feb 2016)

tyred said:


> Eat if you feel hungry. Don't eat if don't feel hungry.
> 
> Drink if you'r thirsty, don't drink if you're not.
> 
> ...


That's OK if you are happy with plenty of stops - and why not - but the original query concerned riding distances at a decent average speed, which implied non-stop. If you leave eating until hungry, and drinking until thirsty, it's too late and a longish break to refuel and rehydrate is needed, which the original poster did not seem so keen on.


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## Dave7 (28 Feb 2016)

vickster said:


> I don't think eggs have much if any carbohydrate in them? They will bung you up to counteract the gels though!


If the gels start taking "that" effect you can always shove the egg 'where the sun don't shine'...........that should work just fine.


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## HLaB (28 Feb 2016)

Depends on the intensity for me, although if others (like today are stopping for food) I'll chuck a banana down my throat.


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## Kajjal (28 Feb 2016)

I would especially if there is alot of height gain involved. I last at most two hours at a reasonable pace. Usually around a museli bar an hour or so.


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## Cuchilo (2 Mar 2016)

Might have a slice of toast if setting off early . If going later in the morning i'll have a fry up 
If i'm just on toast i may take a banana or cereal bar but if i'm out on my 50 route i'm doing 70 as i don't have a 50 route


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