How long before you eat?

[lulubel]

I thought I'd ask this in terms of time rather than distance because we're all riding at different speeds.

So, what's the longest you'd plan to be on your bike for without eating anything? And what do you take when you do take food?

 

[Glover Fan]

40 miles without food easy.

 

[slowmotion]

About three hours. Most people seem to like cake but I don't have a sweet tooth so it's bananas, rolls and loads of coffee.

 

[Adasta]

I'm almost always ravenous, so I'd probably eat somewhere around the 40km mark.

 

[Cardiac]

For me, some drink roughly every hour, then snacks such as chewy cereal/fruit bars, bananas, etc, every couple of hours. I don't like to run "empty" - it's much harder to get going again if I do.

 

[Baggy]

if I've eaten an hour before I go out I'm ok for about 90mins to 2 hours and will then have a snack every hour or so. Bananas, malt loaf, flapjack, cold pizza, cereal bars and oatcakes are some of the various things that make it into my saddlebag.

 

[Cush]

If I am doing a long ride I dont have what some would call a "proper breakfast" as I find it takes too long to digest but I like to stop after an hour and have a snack and then go on for at least three hours and have a good break but eat only snack food, this suits me but it would not work for others

 

[HLaB]

If I'm doing a long ride (100miles +) I tend to eat a cereal bar or Banana every 20-25 miles, on average I guess that is every 1.25 to 1.5 hours. For rides shorter than that I tend to just carry an emergency bar/ banana and sometimes I eat that halfway, sometimes not. If its a DCC club ride there's a cafe stop half way'ish (looking at todays and yesterdays club rides thats also roughly 1.25 to 1.5 hour'ish).

 

[marzjennings]

2 hours is about my limit for no food on a ride, though when it's hot I'll go through 3 litre's of water in that time.

For longer rides I'll carry a 250 calorie power bar for each 30-40 minutes of riding depending on ride intensity.

So for a 100 mile ride I might go through 10 power bars, a couple litres of power drink and couple more litres of water. I estimate I'm going to burn around 8000 calories and so I plan on replacing at least half of that during the ride.

 

[palinurus]

Depends on effort. It's possible to ride for some time- several hours- without eating if you ride at a very easy pace.

For a reasonably brisk ride I'd eat around the 60-90 minute mark.

 

[GrasB]

If I'm planning to be on the bike less than 2 hours I'll not eat at all. If it's over that I'll start graze eating around the 75-90 min mark. Personally I don't like stopping unless it's for long durations, 45 min or more, so I'll have something in my back pocket which I can take small bites from or pick out 1 or 2 pieces of with my finger tips to eat.

 

[gavintc]

I am not good at eating on the move and will do it on longer sportives and club runs, but I have to force myself to remember to do it. My routine is to eat once I have crested a climb and take nibbles on the start of the way down. But, if I am out just doing a training run, I will out on a run over 100km.

 

[amaferanga]

Depends on effort. It's possible to ride for some time- several hours- without eating if you ride at a very easy pace.

For a reasonably brisk ride I'd eat around the 60-90 minute mark.

+1

Also, you've (probably) got to replenish some of the calories you burn on the bike so may as well start while you're still riding. Probably makes it less likely that you'll gorge yourself on crap unhealthy food after the ride as well....

 

[MacB]

2 hours is my limit, anything from 25 to 36 miles depending on my fitness, I did 22 miles yesterday in 1.5 hours, just drank a pint of water before leaving, no food or bidon en route. This is a local loop though and do pass several shops if I get thirsty. On longer rides I think I have a tendency not to eat or drink enough, not really got the hang of drinking on the fly, I tend to stop and have a good guzzle.

A good training aid for me would be a buddy with a saddlebag loaded with pizza/kebab/beer riding ahead of me....I wonder just how fast, and for how long, I could manage with the 'right' sort of incentives?

 

[threebikesmcginty]

A good training aid for me would be a buddy with a saddlebag loaded with pizza/kebab/beer riding ahead of me....I wonder just how fast, and for how long, I could manage with the 'right' sort of incentives?

I think you'd be better off with someone cycling behind you with a shotgun or a whippy length of razor wire.