eating and drinking when cycling

[Scotmitchy]

In the anticipation that one day soon I may actually have my bike, I fancy going on what is for me a big ride - a 20 miler. I have never even done half of that before.

I am now at the stage of planning what goes in my panniers.

I have been told that pasta is a good meal to have the night before, to load my body up in carbs I think, but what about on the day?

I am a devil for diluting blackcurrant, but should my water bottle hold something plainer (water) or something fancier (goodness knows what, some isotonic nonsense or whatever)?

And what do you eat while out for a road trip. Would cereal bars/fruit be fine, or is there some exercise guru rule on what you put into your body mid cycle?

Obviously if I was out on the road for hours I would probably eat lunch too lol.

I have just started a diet and the exercise will go hand in hand with that, so I want all of my snacks to be healthy ones until I reach my target weigh, then hopefully my cycling will let me eat what I want lol.


Oh, and my local BP garage was doing an offer last week for wee A5 size AA road maps of Scotland, but they had run out of stock. My daughter went in to pay for the petrol yesterday, so I ask her to pick one up - she came out with this enormous thing, too big to even sit on a car dashboard or glovebox - that's not going in the panniers!


Thanks

Mitchy

 

[rogersavery]

for 20 miles, i wouldn't be too worried about carb loading, but eating pasta the night before wont do any harm either

for the ride, just take some snacks that you like, and wont break or melt if you put it in your jersey pocket

I find I like a combination and sweet & savoury, so cereal bars, pepperarmis and / or marmite coated cashew nuts etc

 

[Scotmitchy]

for 20 miles, i wouldn't be too worried about carb loading, but eating pasta the night before wont do any harm either

for the ride, just take some snacks that you like, and wont break or melt if you put it in your jersey pocket

I find I like a combination and sweet & savoury, so cereal bars, pepperarmis and / or marmite coated cashew nuts etc

Thanks Roger ... and I take it for 20 miles diluting juice is enough re hydration?

 

[HLaB]

For 20 mile cycles I wouldn't bother about what you put in your bottle, as long as its a drinkable fluid If you like blackcurrant go for that, it'll stain the bottle a bit though so you might want to dilute it a fair bit. If you want to go longer/ further/ harder you might consider an energy drink like Torq but if what you have is working for you don't change it.

I like cereal bars and bananas for most rides; I eat them on the move (they are in my jersey) so I avoid anything with a topping that'll melt. Again if you want to go longer/ further/ harder you might consider energy bars/gels but again if cereal bars/ bananas are working for you don't change, it just unnecessary expense .

 

[kevcampbell]

i am no expert but i will pass on what i know, or what i think i know, but the other day when i cycled about 20 miles or more in a day, in my back pack i had 2 banana, about 30g of sunflower seeds and a bottle of spring water

when i go out on a ride today if i do i will be taking a banana, a flapjack, half a pack of fig rolls, mineral water and may take sunflower seeds

apparently all of that food is super food for cycling, well it worked for me, and obviously water is the best thing to drink and apparently mineral water is the best water so that is why i bought a massive bottle of mineral water yesterday, other things you could try is to use google, i have heard nutella is meant to be good too, not sure how

oh also, for breakfast eat muesli, i bought some from lidl yesterday, swiss style 99p, it tastes nice

 

[NormanD]

Drink wise well anything that takes your fancy really, if you like diluted blackcurrent then continue with that, maybe throw an energy drink in the pannier like lucozade sport and the like, as long as you drink plenty of fluids you'll be fine.

Fruit like bananas are good as well as some Nature Valley bars, nice slice of fruit cake too   all will give you a slow energy release to help you along.

Road maps! .. I use this Bikehike site, creat a route then, then print it off  , it's easy to use.

Hope this help you Mitchy .. have fun and enjoy (when your new bike arrives ...has it arrived yet?) 

Norm

 

[Scotmitchy]

thanks guys

 

[snorri]

then hopefully my cycling will let me eat what I want lol.

Wishful thinking.


Cycling keeps my weight down by distancing me from the kitchen and ready access to jammy pieces and biscuits, not by the calories I burn up whilst cycling.

 

[HJ]

I regard a good cake stop an essential part of any cycle ride, just look for a good cafe about half way round

You don't say which area you are planning to cycle in (Scotland is a big place), if you let us know, we probable suggest a few good cake stops and a route or two...

Oh and by the way, there are no stupid questions in Beginners, asking questions is how you learn.

 

[jimboalee]

20 miles.

A can of Coke.

 

[Paul_L]

20 miles.

A can of Coke.

that reminds me of a question i was going to ask during the Tour but never did.

There were a lot of riders drinking from a can of coke. I've never seen that before.

why coke as opposed to an isotonic energy drink for example?

 

[BrumJim]

20 miles is not really that far on a bike. A can of coke is a casual drink, and cheap. Anything more that this for 20 miles is overkill.

 

[mgarl10024]

Hi Mitchy,

We've (me and my gf) just got back from a 30 mile ride. As long as you take it steady you wont need all that much hydration - but obviously the harder you ride, the more you'll sweat and the more you need to drink. Hydration is something to try to keep on top of, as a dehydration headache will ruin a ride for sure.

For this ride, we had toast for breakfast, a "giant" pasty at the halfway point for 'fuel' , and our water bottles for drinks. My gf had a white magnum 3/4 way, and I had a bottle of Pepsi.

Finally, I've also found that a pint of Cheddar Valley cider on the way home tends to keep the joints lubricated nicely through those last few miles, but there again, we're not really athletes.

And 20 miles will fly by. I suggest a few smaller rides, then build up to it. Good luck!

MG

 

[jimboalee]

Hi Mitchy,

We've (me and my gf) just got back from a 30 mile ride. As long as you take it steady you wont need all that much hydration - but obviously the harder you ride, the more you'll sweat and the more you need to drink. Hydration is something to try to keep on top of, as a dehydration headache will ruin a ride for sure.

For this ride, we had toast for breakfast, a "giant" pasty at the halfway point for 'fuel' , and our water bottles for drinks. My gf had a white magnum 3/4 way, and I had a bottle of Pepsi.

Finally, I've also found that a pint of Cheddar Valley cider on the way home tends to keep the joints lubricated nicely through those last few miles, but there again, we're not really athletes.

And 20 miles will fly by. I suggest a few smaller rides, then build up to it. Good luck!

MG

If this is ALL you ate today, you have satisfied your Basal Metabolic Rate, and not eaten 'for the ride'.

IF when you got home you tucked into your normal Sunday nosh, don't be surprised if you put on weight today.

 

[NormanD]

that reminds me of a question i was going to ask during the Tour but never did.

There were a lot of riders drinking from a can of coke. I've never seen that before.

why coke as opposed to an isotonic energy drink for example?

A small can of coke is a welcome change from the water / isotonic drinks the riders take during the long stages, some riders drink it, some don't, you'll often see a small can of coke offered at the feed stations.