Food? Gels? Supplements? What do you use?

[Milzy]

Cliff products are great, Oliver From the GCN show rates them.

 

[tom73]

Cliff products are great, Oliver From the GCN show rates them.

They also do lots of big bite sized tasters at the bike show too.

 

[Shortandcrisp]

High 5 tablets in my water bottles. Porridge for breakfast, normal food when I’m out on the bike, mainly bananas, and a cafe stop on longer rides - latte and possibly a sandwich.
Don’t bother with all that protein shake stuff post ride. Heard Peter Crouch say that he was always told to eat within an hour of vigorous exercise, but that it didn’t really matter what it was you ate - just get something down yer lad!

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

High 5 tablets in my water bottles. Porridge for breakfast, normal food when I’m out on the bike, mainly bananas, and a cafe stop on longer rides - latte and possibly a sandwich.
Don’t bother with all that protein shake stuff post ride. Heard Peter Crouch say that he was always told to eat within an hour of vigorous exercise, but that it didn’t really matter what it was you ate - just get something down yer lad!

I read somewhere to eat within 30 minutes, which I do usually fruit and yoghurt, as your body will absorb the food much more efficiently to replenish what you’ve used during exercise. I always feel better if I follow this advice than if I eat after more than an hour.

 

[nickAKA]

Eat a healthy portion of pasta the night before a long ride. If you're particularly paranoid about bonking, have a portion of something like SIS rego (supposed to be for recovery but can help the night before).
During a normal <40 mile ride I'll carry a few gels & a couple of bars along with a bottle or two with hydro tabs in. I normally get home having consumed half the liquid, 1-2 gels (depending on the distance/effort) and occasionally 1 bar but better to be safe than sorry. I'll normally have a gel 10-15 minutes prior to hitting a lengthy climb if I'm anxious about it which seems to help but that could mainly be psychosomatic, who knows.
I did the Manchester 100 purely on hydro tabs, energy bars & gels no problem (but make sure your guts are happy with them before try to do that) but my first 'biggie' (120 miles, average temp about 22 degrees) I had all that plus lunch in 'spoons with a couple of pints half way round, which was nice

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Fish and chips with mushy peas work well for an evening stop. Maybe a pint or two after to keep hydrated.

 

[HLaB]

Not enough. But I like to carry a Banana, a bottle of carb drink (whatever I get at an OK price, at the moment its High 5) and a gel (at the moment its High 5 too) I often only use half the bottle and maybe the banana.

 

[Hopey]

Thanks folks, got a few things to try. SIS tablets added to next shop.

Did 50 miles today. Porridge for breakfast, with a cheese sandwich in my jersey for lunch. Flapjack and snickers on top of that got me home okay, though my legs weakened after a 15% climb from Stow completely humped me. Was knackered for a few miles after that, got my second wind 15 miles from home but then suffered again the last 5.

Based on how I felt after 50 miles still can't see myself ever managing 100, but will keep pushing.

 

[vickster]

Why not just have a couple of good 15-30 minute stops to rest and recover

 

[Hopey]

Why not just have a couple of good 15-30 minute stops to rest and recover

That was with stops! And stretches. Though admittedly they weren't very long.

Bike fit and going clipless will help, will have those in the next couple of months. Until then I'm just gonna get the miles in.

 

[tom73]

All sounds good to me. Just need a bit trying to see what works. Try brown bread over white the carbs are more complex and work better. (Unless it was brown bread that is) ?Maybe carry another flatjack or something else may help just in case.
Maybe a bit of cross training will help. Building up the miles over time nice and steady will go a long way too.

 

[nickAKA]

Based on how I felt after 50 miles still can't see myself ever managing 100, but will keep pushing.

Nonsense - if you can do 50 you can do 100! Keep on training. Take your time, rest along the way, eat, drink and don't stress about it, it's not the TdF.

 

[Globalti]

Gels and energy bars are an extravagantly expensive way of consuming maltodextrin, their main ingredient, which is a carbohydrate. Maltodextrin is the main ingredient in all kinds of foods like packaged soup, Bisto, Complan, you name it, because it's a cheap industrial raw material sold by the tanker-load.

You can buy it less expensively from My protein.com, then add an inch or so to your bottle. Add an electrolyte tab if the weather is hot or just some fruit squash or just have it alone as it doesn't taste too bad. That will trickle-feed you with energy and prevent the bonk.

 

[Globalti]

I find that one bottle of water with maltodextrin is fine for staving off fatigue up to about 50 miles. For a longer sportives ride of 60 to 100 miles I'll fit a second bottle cage and carry another bottle. On a really hot day I'll carry a small plastic bag with one shot of maltodextrin and an electrolyte tab in case I need to refill a bottle. That fits easily in a jersey pocket with a spare tube, a CO2 canister, phone and some cash.

 

[Blue Hills]

I read somewhere to eat within 30 minutes, which I do usually fruit and yoghurt, as your body will absorb the food much more efficiently to replenish what you’ve used during exercise. I always feel better if I follow this advice than if I eat after more than an hour.

Can some kind soul educate me - why is it considered important to eat so soon after exercise?

I pretty much always do as feel like it, but what would be the ill effects if you didn't, maybe with a view to retaining the calorie burn?