What do you eat "on the go" on long rides?

What do you eat "on the go" on long rides?

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Discussion

upsidedownmark

2,120 posts

134 months

Wednesday 1st June 2016
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Depends. Nothing, mid(ish) ride cake stop, 'real' food, or a varying number of gels.

What these threads almost always miss is the link to intensity: At a sufficiently 'conversational' pace, you could eat anything from a full roast to nothing. If you're racing 100 miles flat out, good luck with 'eating' anything more than a few gels.

Harder you go, the less blood there is to spare for digestion, stomach emptying stops, and everything sits there. Personal experience will shape what you can/will eat for varying efforts.

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,944 posts

211 months

Wednesday 1st June 2016
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madzo14 said:
Soreen all the way for me. 3 or 4 slices at a stop is enough to get me round a good long run.

The banana one great I could eat it all day!
I just got some of these, I have had it several times before and remembered I really liked it. I was dubious about buying a load and cutting it up as it may get sticky and stuck in a plastic bag, so I bought some of the mini-loaves which are great! They're more expensive but easily accessible. I think I've found my answer biggrin

I generally try to eat relatively healthily and don't tend to eat things like cake, chocolate, biscuits etc so wanted something a little more on the healthy side (OK, the gels aren't great!!) and I think soreen is a great answer. high in carbs, not massively high in sugars but enough to perk you up, a little amount of protein, some fibre and not too high in fats.

Great stuff biggrin

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,944 posts

211 months

Wednesday 1st June 2016
quotequote all
upsidedownmark said:
Depends. Nothing, mid(ish) ride cake stop, 'real' food, or a varying number of gels.

What these threads almost always miss is the link to intensity: At a sufficiently 'conversational' pace, you could eat anything from a full roast to nothing. If you're racing 100 miles flat out, good luck with 'eating' anything more than a few gels.

Harder you go, the less blood there is to spare for digestion, stomach emptying stops, and everything sits there. Personal experience will shape what you can/will eat for varying efforts.
This is very true. When I actually find it quite hard to eat anything if I'm going much over 85% FTP for a sustained period, simply because I'm a lot more breathless, and have to wait for "recovery sections" before eating anything. This is when the energy drinks and gels are so handy. To aid with longer ride digestion High5 do a 4:1 carbtongue outrotein mix which I find works really well. The protein keeps the stomach active so you digest carbs better. No need for it for anything under 2-3 hours, but anything over it's my "go-to" drink.

yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Thursday 2nd June 2016
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E65Ross said:
This is very true. When I actually find it quite hard to eat anything if I'm going much over 85% FTP for a sustained period, simply because I'm a lot more breathless, and have to wait for "recovery sections" before eating anything. This is when the energy drinks and gels are so handy. To aid with longer ride digestion High5 do a 4:1 carbtongue outrotein mix which I find works really well. The protein keeps the stomach active so you digest carbs better. No need for it for anything under 2-3 hours, but anything over it's my "go-to" drink.
Quoted for the best inadvertent use of a 'smilie' I think I've seen on PH!

thumbup

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,944 posts

211 months

Thursday 2nd June 2016
quotequote all
yellowjack said:
E65Ross said:
This is very true. When I actually find it quite hard to eat anything if I'm going much over 85% FTP for a sustained period, simply because I'm a lot more breathless, and have to wait for "recovery sections" before eating anything. This is when the energy drinks and gels are so handy. To aid with longer ride digestion High5 do a 4:1 carbtongue outrotein mix which I find works really well. The protein keeps the stomach active so you digest carbs better. No need for it for anything under 2-3 hours, but anything over it's my "go-to" drink.
Quoted for the best inadvertent use of a 'smilie' I think I've seen on PH!

thumbup
Damn punctuation!

Allyc85

7,225 posts

185 months

Thursday 9th June 2016
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Snickers or a Mars bar for me smile

loudlashadjuster

5,082 posts

183 months

Friday 10th June 2016
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I'll take a couple of bananas, a bar/Soreen or two and a couple of gels, usually one with caffeine to help over the last 10-15 miles. Really hate the SiS gels though, like slime vomit

Riding socially there are usually enough opportunities to stop when waiting for the slower ones to catch up after a longer or steeper hill so I don't often have to eat on the hoof.

Good job too as I'm not particularly good at it. This does mean though that I tend to eat when I get the chance rather than when I probably should which means the occasional bonk when I've undereaten.

Maybe one day I'll learn biggrin

IanUAE

2,927 posts

163 months

Friday 10th June 2016
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I have a 161km summer solstice ride on 24th June night. It is part of a organised 250 rider event and we have few "mandatory stops". Fluids will be biggest concern as it will ne hot and humid. Some great ideas here, so thanks to one and all.

LordHaveMurci

12,034 posts

168 months

Friday 10th June 2016
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Everybody elses dust frown

Daveyraveygravey

2,018 posts

183 months

Friday 10th June 2016
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Allyc85 said:
Snickers or a Mars bar for me smile
Snickers, yuk! I had one once, I thought the peanuts would be good, but it was like eating gravel, took me forever to get through it! I have a very sweet tooth, and could scoff a choc bar like that in nano-seconds off the bike, but on the bike, it all seems to take more time and effort.

loudlashadjuster

5,082 posts

183 months

Friday 10th June 2016
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Daveyraveygravey said:
Snickers, yuk! I had one once, I thought the peanuts would be good, but it was like eating gravel, took me forever to get through it! I have a very sweet tooth, and could scoff a choc bar like that in nano-seconds off the bike, but on the bike, it all seems to take more time and effort.
Yes, chewing when you're inevitably trying to breathe through your mouth means some stuff is just not worth the effort.

Edited by loudlashadjuster on Friday 10th June 14:28

bakerstreet

4,755 posts

164 months

Friday 10th June 2016
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The longest I tend to do these days is 50 miles and I might stop once or twice on the route.

Truth be told, I don't carry much. I usually carry a cereal bar and that will be what ever is in the cupboard (Aldi, Cadburys or Kellogs usually)

I've started to use Wiggle's during tabs for when I'm riding. However I've had to add Squash to the mix to make it taste bit better. The wiggle tabs were quite cheap at only £2.33 for ten. Before that I only ever used Squash for everyday riding and Lucazade for special events. I'll probably go back to Lucazade for Ride London at the end of July.

Quite like the idea of fig roles as an alternative. Used to really like those a kid. Probably cheaper than cereal bars and they won't be affected by heat/sweat either smile


mcelliott

8,626 posts

180 months

Friday 10th June 2016
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I did a 450km ride at the weekend and my main source of sustenance was simply jelly babies and fig rolls. However when I did manage to stop, bacon butties and Mint Cornetto were the order of the day. Sometimes you have to give in to these cravings! As far as fluid is concerned, a cordial drink supplemented with flat coke works for me.

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,944 posts

211 months

Sunday 31st July 2016
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Didn't quite, but I think I wasn't far off "bonking" today. "only" 72 miles by myself and all relatively flat, ride time was exactly 4 hours (bar a couple of seconds!) so not a particularly long ride but after riding yesterday afternoon and not eating enough to recover, and not fuelling enough today I got to around 55 miles in and was struggling to maintain power.

Worked out I was consuming about 45-50g of carbs per hour which clearly I should be doing more, and I didn't really have much for breakfast either.

Amazing the difference food can make isn't it, 2 weeks ago I did 104 miles and my average power was identical (though the NP was higher on the 104 mile ride due to a lot more hills), I ate a bigger breakfast, and ate more frequently on the bike and 100+ miles in the legs felt absolutely fine.

SteveSteveson

3,209 posts

162 months

Sunday 31st July 2016
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Mars bar. I don't ride longer than about 3 hours, so a mars bar after 2 and plenty of water does me, although the I wouldn't want to try one riding. It's an excuse for a stop.

It is amazing the difference food makes. When I stop for my Mars bar I can feel the difference. It's only a 30 second stop but I feel so much better, and over the next 10 mins can feel my energy levels coming back. The difference in the morning between a day I have breakfast and a day I don't is less obvious, but clear when I see my times on Strava. Someone once told me that you shouldn't eat before exercise as it encourages your body to burn fat. I don't know if that's true or not, but 250 calories of breakfast means I can ride much more than the extra time it would take me to burn that off.

NerveAgent

3,293 posts

219 months

Sunday 31st July 2016
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You guys eating chocolate bars, do they not melt?!

Energy bars and gels for me, I find them more convenient and efficient. I tend to go out for fast-ish pace rides. Not bothered about cake stop type club rides.

troc

3,740 posts

174 months

Sunday 31st July 2016
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Usual a beer half way and then home for shorter rides around 40-50k. Longer stuff and it's pancakes and er, beer at 2/3 distance with coffee and cake 5k from home. Am I doing it right?

E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,944 posts

211 months

Sunday 31st July 2016
quotequote all
NerveAgent said:
You guys eating chocolate bars, do they not melt?!

Energy bars and gels for me, I find them more convenient and efficient. I tend to go out for fast-ish pace rides. Not bothered about cake stop type club rides.
I'm not sure I'd call mine fast=-paced but I don't dawdle. Would never take chocolate, firstly because (as you say) it'd probably melt, and secondly....don't really eat chocolate much anyway.

I recently have tried some warburtons brown "thins" with peanute butter and strawberry conserve which are rather tasty but it's obvious they don't seem to work as well as the SIS energy bars....I do generally stick to bars and gels.

Also don't stop for cake like many others....on my 72 miles earlier my overall stopping time (including nature break and sorting drinks bottles out, traffic lights/junctions etc was around 4 minutes).

Black can man

31,816 posts

167 months

Sunday 31st July 2016
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We had these on today's Pru 100

Bloody good they were too


E65Ross

Original Poster:

34,944 posts

211 months

Sunday 31st July 2016
quotequote all
swerni said:
Those as well.
Buy in bulk, I love them
Just had a look at those.... They're bloody expensive!