Food..while riding

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Swoop
I guess food is equipment. Anyways during a hard ride of length 50-100 miles are there any guidelines as to how many calories per hour to ingest? Also what do you eat when you ride?

Fig Newtons have always worked for me. 😉

For a 60 mile ride I did recently, I ate 6 Frusli cereal and fruit bars - 120 calories each (so 720 total). They are fairly high in carbs (but "good" ones, not just straight sugar) and low in fat, and seem easy to digest. I don't know much about nutrition and sports science but these things seem to work for me.

As mjw_byrne put it, there's food science at work there and with a little research, you can probably dig up some pretty effective formulas governing how much a given rider should consume on X ride putting out an average of Y watts over Z miles.

I just listen to my tummy though.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Swoop
I guess food is equipment. Anyways during a hard ride of length 50-100 miles are there any guidelines as to how many calories per hour to ingest? Also what do you eat when you ride?

I'd guess food comes under nutrition and training.

The gels I've bought all say to take one roughly every hour if you're doing extended, hard exertion, like a century (metric or imperial).

Using that as a rough guideline, you should take in ~100 calories an hour in "good" carbs. I'd also suggest you try some foods or gels on training rides BEFORE the "big day", so you know what specifically agrees with your tummy and system - you don't want to experiment and create a gastro-intestinal disaster during the big ride itself if you can help it.

Others recommend bananas, other fruit, snack bars, etc. - again, know the nutritional makeup and caloric content, but try a variety of stuff to see what works best for you.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Swoop
Also what do you eat when you ride?

Roadkill is free.

50 miles. Eat when you get home, just take in lots of fluids.

100 miles. A gel pack and an energy bar.

if you're riding hard, say a 5 hour century, you'll need about 250 - 300 calories per hour (total of solid and liquid ). and remember...that's all you can process and empty from your stomach. more than that and you could experience gastric/intestinal problems.

if I'm riding fairly easily, I like real food...fruit, scones, fig newtons, etc. if I'm racing or riding with a fast group, I have to make do with gels...no time to unwrap and chew.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Swoop
I guess food is equipment. Anyways during a hard ride of length 50-100 miles are there any guidelines as to how many calories per hour to ingest? Also what do you eat when you ride?

Everyone who plans on a long race, should practice eating on the bike. Eating is a personal thing and you have to explore what works for you.

If you get in the habit of stopping to eat, then you may have troubles eating on your bike while racing. like when and how.

here is a great tip I learned:: take some power gels , about 5 or 6, and squirt them into a small water bottle. Raspberry is best. Fill it with water. shake it really well. keep that in your jersey, its much handier than openeing the gels, you dont litter and with the water it comes out easier for fast intake.
🙂
its actually really yummy. and for every three swallows you get about a gel and a half and that is 100 calories. If you dont finish it just put it in the freezer for the next ride.

I bought a large bottle of Hammer Gel for that exact use. Works out pretty well and is a lot easier than opening the gels, downing em, and then stashing the trash to toss later.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Nitromike
I bought a large bottle of Hammer Gel for that exact use. Works out pretty well and is a lot easier than opening the gels, downing em, and then stashing the trash to toss later.

That's the real killer with gels; I really like taking gels on a hard ride, but can't stand fumbling with a handful of sticky, empty packets in the middle of a climb.

After 1 time of reaching into my jersey pocket and getting a hand covered in goo that was enough, I bought the bottle and a small water bottle that fits in my pocket.