Fuel for a long ride

[Twilkes]

I did 63 miles yesterday, the last 45 miles straight into the 20mph southwesterly winds that have been around for the last week or so. On a hybrid, and was aiming for 4hrs30 but with the headwind ended up at about 5hrs10. Had a few 1min breaks to eat and drink, as didn't have a saddle bag or accessible pockets.

This is what I ate - lots of pasta dishes the few days before, lots of water the night before; then 750ml water and a banana before leaving (straight after waking up); and during the ride, 1000ml Lucozade Sport, 1250ml water, a malt loaf, and the rest of the packet of fig rolls. Does this sound enough for a 5 hour cycle with that much headwind? Adds up to around 1600kcals if my maths is right.

The first hour was definitely glycogen fuelled and almost effortless, the second hour was sustainable, but after that I was definitely topping up an empty tank and never felt properly energised again. Could be that I should have taken a longer break.

Could be that I'm just not as fit as I used to be.

 

[50000tears]

It looks to me like you didn't fuel properly before you left and as a result over ate on the ride. Carb loading that much in advance is a bit of an outdated notion and of limited benefit.

You were much better off having a proper breakfast rather than eating everything on the go when things are harder to digest. Having a whole malt loaf and fig rolls and lucozade seems way too much to be carrying and consuming on a ride of that length.

Of course fitness comes into it and it will be the case that 2 people at different fitness levels, or even just different body shapes, will not have the same fueling needs.

As an example, for a 5 hour ride I would have porridge an hour before leaving and a banana 20 mins before setting out. My drink would isotonic zero calories and I would take two flapjacks but probably only finish one. Even in my less fit days I would only take an extra banana and an emergency gel (which only got used on one occasion).

No matter your current fitness i am sure that eating more before hand would have led to less calories being consumed overall, and you would likely have had more energy for the full duration of the ride.

 

[MikeG]

Flapjacks are ALWAYS the answer to these questions!

 

[50000tears]

Flapjacks are ALWAYS the answer to these questions!

I could have saved myself so much typing.

 

[vickster]

Porridge before leaving, banana seems a bit minimalist

And you omitted the obligatory cake and tea/latte stop

 

[Hacienda71]

You need to get your oats. Seriously though most people will recommend porridge or oats with milk or flapjacks etc as part of fuelling for a longer ride. It works for me.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Looks like a lot too early and too little too late.

 

[TissoT]

Pasta two poached eggs ... and Litre of water 2hrs before a ride
and a good diet all way through the year ..

 

[Banjo]

Riding 45 miles into a strong headwind will have doubled your calorie burn. You were simply running on empty.

A banana for breakfast is not nearly enough. I would have an oat cereal with banana and honey in it plus some wholemeal toast with jam or honey or if available a full english.

What you ate on the ride was just playing catch up by then with your body unable to process it quick enough to fuel the effort.

 

[jazzkat]

Last week I did an 85 miler into that horrible headwind on the way back, it took me 5 1/2 hrs.
Big bowl of porridge before setting out. Beef and salad bap/barmcake/muffin/bread roll (delete as applicable!). I usually take a banana or two, but forgot.

 

[Twilkes]

Yep, all makes sense. I'd read some stuff about not eating for a few hours before lengthy exercise, hence only a banana before heading out. Agree that breakfast beforehand would have helped, but the ride started at 3.30am (had to get to the office) so I wasn't going to hang about too much before leaving the house.

I used to commute an hour each way and could do that without breakfast with no problem at all, so assumed a banana to get started and then eating regularly on the way would be enough. But my pockets weren't as accessible as I thought they were so essentially had to stop every time I wanted something, which meant I probably cycled for too long between eating, and by then it was too late.

Good to hear others' experiences, but there are probably differences in normal dietary habits too - there are days when I can happily eat a whole malt loaf and a box of fig rolls alongside my usual meals, and that's without doing any exercise at all.

 

[Twilkes]

I have just realised that my avatar is still a banana. I have no particular affinity with bananas. This thread was in no way endorsed by a banana-based trade organisation.

 

[Tin Pot]

Porridge, banana breakfast
60g carbs/hr during ride

 

[theloafer]

this works for me very easy to make topped with jam or peanut butter

BRANFLAKE LOAF
More delicious than shop bought malt loaf and so easy to fling together
a child can do it. This must be one of the only cake mixtures that looks and tastes
pretty revolting in the bowl, but honestly, the end result is well worth the complete lack of effort...
Best sliced thinly and eaten with butter or jam.
1 mug of Kellogg's All-Bran
1 mug of either currants, mixed dried fruit or sultanas
1 mug of milk
1 mug of self-raising flour
A generous half-mug of caster or soft brown sugar

Method
1. Put everything except the flour in a large bowl and leave the mixture to stand for about an hour.
2. Grease and long-strip-line a standard size loaf tin and pre-heat the oven to approximately Gas Mark 3 (160 C)
3. Sift the flour into the soggy mixture, stir it in well and pour the whole lot into the loaf tin, spreading it evenly up to the sides.
4. Bake in a cool oven for about an hour and a half, until a skewer or sharp knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

 

[Rob3rt]

Any advice re. not eating anything within 2 to 3 hours before exercise is fine, if you are going to be smashing yourself to bits (hard training or racing). But if it is a club run or just a ride or whatever, forget it and get some breakfast down your neck