What And When Should I Be Eating???

[crashS2K]

I used to ride all the time with a water and a carb drink. Am following the slow carb diet which is less than 30g of carb a day with a 'cheat' day that conveniently coincides with my weekend bike rides.

I find that I only need water on my weekend rides (typically 50-80 km @ an average of 24km/h) and a normal breakfast (couple of weetabix and some granola).

Ultimately, I think it depends on what you want out of your riding. If you're training hard and pushing most of the time at tempo pace then fuelling on your ride would make sense. However, I think most average recreational riders probably don't need as much energy / fuelling as the media and nutrition companies would lead you to believe.

I still carry a couple of gels 'just in case' - but have yet to need them...