Food for cycling

makospeed

Training for the W200 with a mate and we are up to 150km, usually bring 6 tracker bars (nut) & 5 bananas which has been sufficent up to 130km runs, but I found that I had little energy & starving at 140km. Had to buy a sandwich & choc bars at Rathnew which solved the problem but just wondering what other peoples experiences were and what food they ate. thanks

hunnymonster

mmm, seems like ou are getting plenty of food.
What are you drinking? You can make up isotonic energy drinks which are an excellent way to get nutrition into you.
Alternatively you can buy specialised gels that are a concentrated form of energy. There are easily digested, don't take up much space and especially forumlated for athletes. My personal favourite are powerbar gels but there are many makes out there.

The next point is to make sure you start the ride well fed. If you're going for a long cycle have a high carbohydrate meal the night before and something like porridge for brekkie before leaving. Your bosy can only metabolise 250-400 kcal an hour so taking on any more is not going to make you cycle any better. You can however store plenty of energy in your muscles by pre-loading them.

makospeed

Many thanks hunnymonster, the night before I was having a light meal, usually pasta & tuna, and breakfast is 2 weetabix but I have just been drinking water, I will give the isotonic a try this w/e...many thanks again

crashoveroid

I would say try the Carb drinks i use HIgh 5 and find its one of the best the Gels that are out there i use the powbar ones as well as hunny monster i have tried loads but they are the best as well there are powerbars do same as the gel but its whatever agree's with you try a difrent one for each spin to see what works. As well have a good old feed when you leave in the morning before your spin as well.

hunnymonster

I've been taking high5 4:1 in my drinks recently. I like it and the wee bit of protein in it means I recover faster. The other one I use in hot weather is gatorade endurance. For a sheap verson buy some glucose, some salt and mixt them in water. Add a small amount of fruit juice for flavour.

daymobrew

hunnymonster wrote:

The other one I use in hot weather is gatorade endurance.

Where do you get it here?

hunnymonster wrote:

For a sheap verson buy some glucose, some salt and mixt them in water. Add a small amount of fruit juice for flavour.

My version was Miwadi + water + salt + sugar.

I just bought a load of PowerBar Gel Strawberry/Banana (111 calories in 41g of gel, e1.80) and PowerBar ride bars (213 calories, 10g protein in 55g bar, e1.75). I'm hoping that these will be good for W200.
In prior training I had Tracker-like bars, fig rolls, Maximuscle Viper drink (bought in Superquinn!) and "ISO Energy" drink (from Natures Way, Blanch Centre).

Membrane

makospeed wrote:

Training for the W200 with a mate and we are up to 150km, usually bring 6 tracker bars (nut) & 5 bananas which has been sufficent up to 130km runs, but I found that I had little energy & starving at 140km. Had to buy a sandwich & choc bars at Rathnew which solved the problem but just wondering what other peoples experiences were and what food they ate. thanks

FWIW on my long rides (~150km) I make sure that I have a good foundation in the form of breakfast (2 sandwiches in my case), then I take 1 fruit grain bar with me for every hour minus one that I expect to stay out. I eat one grain bar after one hour out, and every hour thereafter. But I also pack one or more sandwiches for lunch.

In addition I take as much isotonic drinks as I can carry with me, 1 part orange squash to 4 parts water with a pinch of salt per liter added.

el tel

Before heading out I eat a huge bowl of Jordans porridge which I mix plenty of honey into to give it a bit of taste and add some glucose. During the ride (usually not more than 60miles and/or 3.5 hours) I will eat three bananas, two Jordans Multigrain bars and a sausage roll as I'm a bit of a starvo. In my bottle I take water mixed with IsoEnergy (from Holland & Barrett). As my pockets bulge with so much stuff I'm thinking that some gels may be the way to go instead although I have heard that it's hard to stomach too much of them.

hunnymonster

It depends on your tummy. I know some guys who fill a water bottle with gels for the bike section of an ironman. They took 16 last year!!! I prefer drinks or solid food on the bike myself and switch to gels on the run but nutrition is very very very very (get the idea!!) much a personal thing.



Daymobrew,
I got the gatorade endurance in the USA. It's the offical drink of ironman north america, one of which I'm doing this year so I thought I had better get used to it.

E@gle.

everyone has there own preference i like the enervit isotonic drink power the power bar gels and the enervit choclate bars. Nutri grain eleveness are good too .
you could try a jam sadwhich or a peatnut butter sandwhich

Covenline

I mix orange juice with water and put in a pince of salt. Drink it every 40 mins ( a few gulps )

May I ask while training for the w200, what distance to you cover on your shorter rides?

makospeed

a shorter distance would be 60km if Im under time constraints on a Saturday, I cycle to work every day for the last 3 years (35km round trip each day) which was a good base. Its only been over the last 5 months I have increased the distance's on a Saturday...

Tales Of Topogr

Just mix a bit of Cranberry juice, Orange juice, pinch of salt and about 80% water.
No complaints.
Ain't shelling out for expensive drinks except for a post ride recovery drink, which I think is important, Rego.
Think of all the vitamins, minerals you loose on a 4/5 hour spin. Even with a healthy diet you cannot replace the lot, I don't reckon.

hunnymonster

I really must get out and do some training for this event. It's been a while since I've done oer 100 km on the bike.

silverside

eat more for breakfast and dinner the night before

on a full day ride i will bring 2 packs of kellogs elevenses bars, a bottle of lucozade sport, and loads of water

i dont always finish all the elevenses bars but they are good for quick energ

we usually stop for a cup of tea half way round and i might buy another banana/choc bar there too

if it is a particularly hard ride / cold day i bring jelly babies too for an energy burst

Covenline

makospeed wrote:

a shorter distance would be 60km if Im under time constraints on a Saturday, I cycle to work every day for the last 3 years (35km round trip each day) which was a good base. Its only been over the last 5 months I have increased the distance's on a Saturday...

Impressive,

Im training for 100 mile in 5 hour

Doing 25 3 nights a week at the moment at a 13 mile a hour average. Tough going. But great fun:)

rubadub

You can get your glucose in the baby food sections in supermarkets, usually €1 for 500g (just in case anybody is being ripped off in chemists or "nutrition shops" and doesnt know).

Glucose is less sweet than sugar and thats why you can take in a lot without it seeming sickly sweet.

E@gle.

fig rolls are good as well and cheap