What to take on a long ride

[DDH]

I was just wondering, what you guys take with you when you go on your long rides. I mean to me, right now, 25 miles is a long ride.
What kind of food, snacks, do you take? How often do you fuel yourselves while riding?

I want to start pushing myself further pretty soon and was just wondering what kind of things I need to take along. I thought I could start riding farther once school starts and just take my time and stop and rest or eat something or whatever while I was taking my ride. My rides for the most part are usually by myself so I would have to carry everything too.

There is an organized ride in Copperas Cove this coming Sat the 12th that I plan to go on. I figured I should be able to do the 26 mile ride, as long as I pace myself. Do you guys take anything with you on these rides?

Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[light_sabe_r]

Snacks snacks snacks!

On my 45km ride on Saturday I took a bottle of water, snack bars and juice. ^_^

I also thoughally reccommend taking tissues or wipes as if you have to stop in the middle of the bush to pee... they provide REAL relief!

[Veronica]

When planning for a ride I think in terms of how long I'll be riding, not mileage. If it's more than 90 minutes, I bring two things to eat. I usually only eat one. If I have no place to shop, I bring two things for each hour thereafter that I plan to be out. If there are stores on the route, I still bring some extra stuff.

What do I eat? Paydays, Cliff Shot Bloks, Sport Beans, Hammer Gel. Each of those is one item.

V.

[Tri Girl]

I also think in terms of time, not miles. I always ride roads to "nowhere", thus no place to stop and refuel, so I must bring everything I'll need.
This last weekend I did my longest ride (80 miles) and brought lots of snacks. In this heat, hydration is my number one priority. I had my Camelbak, and 3 bottles of fluid (2 cages and my aero bottle). For food I brought Paydays, fig newtons, beef jerky, sport beans, and GU. I always bring far more than I'll need to eat and a variety of things, because I never know what's going to taste good 3 hours into a ride.

Have fun out there. I would surely bring some light snacks on your ride this weekend. Have a great time, and let us know how it went when it's over. :)

[terpin]

I am addicted to LUNA bars. They travel nicely on a ride and taste great.

Question to previous posters: What are Sport Beans? Never heard of them.

[Veronica]

Introducing Sport Beans™ Jelly Beans, the newest hot product from the makers of Jelly Belly®! Sport Beans Jelly Beans are formulated with carbohydrates, electrolytes, and vitamins B and C. They're the ideal portable power™ for endurance athletes, weekend warriors, and sports enthusiasts of all types. In fact, Sport Beans Jelly Beans fit the needs of anyone looking for a fast, great-tasting source of energy. Try some today!

I like the orange ones - they are tangy.

V.

[KSH]

First, I have 1 water bottle, my Camelbak, and 1 water bottle with gatoraid.

Then, I have Clif Shots in my small bag on my bike.


In my pockets, I might carry:

1) A package of peanut butter crackers.

2) Clif Bars- Peanut Butter one.

3) Sport Beans (they DO start to melt and stick together in 100F degrees heat... if you are out for 3-6 hours).


We also stop at stores, so I might buy something in there... like a Luna bar. I like the Nuts over Chocolate... so I can't carry that on the bike with me, as it will melt.

Just find some snacks that have carbs, fill you up to some extent, might be eaten while riding (I have had to do this when I get hungry before the next rest stop), and won't melt.

Good luck!

[tulip]

Luna bar, money, tube, pump, multi-tool, water, phone

[Nokomis]

Fuel for a 40: I carry 2 water bottles with an electrolyte mix, and spare packs in case we top off the water somewhere. 2 Lara bars, a couple Gu, and if we have it - some dried Mango Tango fruit (mango flavored neon orange pinapple. Yummers!)

[DDH]

Thanks girls, I appreciate your help.

Other question, Do you rest a day or two before you go on a long ride or do you just keep plugging away and practicing your distance. I know I am probably only going to be able to do the 26 mile ride, but the most I have ridden around here for the last few weeks is 12 miles at one time. Mostly I do a 10 miles route and then come home. I figured once school starts I will start pushing it more, but really want to try to do the 26 mile ride on this organized ride. I could do the 10 mile easy and wanted to try and challenge myself, but am I asking to much? Plus DH is going and he hasn't ridden in years either but thinks he can do the 26 if he paces himself. He rode with me last night and I had to laugh at him. He took off like a shot, got way ahead of me, I guess showing off, who knows (men)LOL. Anyway, by the time we turned around to come home, he was worn out and I got way ahead of him and had to slow down because it was getting dark and he had no light on his bike and I didn't want to leave him. I told my son when we got home that daddy took off trying to act like he was 15 and wore himself out. LOL
Anyway, so should we just do the 26 and take it slow and easy or just do the 10?

[Fredwina]

Do the 26 and 10 share the same route? I.e. , can you go to where they fork and make the decsion there. You've been riding 10 fairly regularly, so I would think you could do 26 if you paced yourself.
Food on ride, I'm like everyone else - I think in terms of ride time - I've had Luna bars melt on me (Nice semi-arid area where I live!) I like the Clif Shot blocks and Sharkies.

[Tri Girl]

You know your body best, but it sounds like you're ready to do the 26 (and seems like that's what you've got your heart set on). Go for it!!! Just make sure DH doesn't sprint out first thing. It would be sad to have to load him on your handlebars for the remainder of the ride. :p
I usually take it easy the day before a really big ride/training session/event. I still will work out, but just will keep the intensity low.

Have fun!!! :)

[roshelleuop]

My favorite snack to bring on longer bike rides is Fig Newtons, I prefer the fat-free kind (and as a backup, my very favorite tangerine powerbar gel with 2x caffeine). I can fit 6 fig newtons in my bento box and they are right there waiting for me when I start feeling sluggish. I usually put one gel pack in my jersey pocket, then a backup in my set pack. Most often, I don't need either one, but they are there "just incase".

A big lessons learned for me that I'd like to share is that refueling during riding should be based on your own personal body needs, and not on other cyclists. (I'm only talking about food here, not water - water should be replenished before, during and after ride) When learning to ride, I read all of this stuff about cyclists eating energy bars, gel packs, and fruit while riding. So I thought I was suppose to do that during each ride. Well, I found that my body didn't need it and soon learned that I only needed refuleing when doing longer than 25 mile rides. Anything less than that, I was fine with my one bottle of water and one bottle of gatorade.

My lesson is that you really need to listen to your body and not what other cyclists do, becuase each cylcist is different. Just keep in mind that when refueling, you shouldn't be consuming more calories than you are actually exerting. If you add up a bottle of gatorade, an energy bar, and a gel pack, this will bring you well over 700 calories. So make sure to listen to what your body needs before refueling. Also keep in mind, the best fueling techniques occur 1 - 2 hour prior to your ride.

Also, never forget your water, spare tube, pump, multi-tool, cell phone, and emergency information.

Happy riding! ;) :D ;) :D ;) :D
Roshelle from Milwaukee

[roshelleuop]

Also, is there sag wagons? If you do the 26, then get 20 miles into it and decide you want to stop, most often there are sag wagons that will pick you up and take you to the end. Or, you can stop and enjoy the scenery for a little bit while resting up to finish the remaining 6 miles. Good luck!!!!!

Just a thought
Roshelle from Milwaukee

[Trekhawk]

Pretty much the same foods as the girls have mentioned and PRETZELS. I love Pretzels in the second half of a long ride.:)

[li10up]

I'm trying to lose some weight so I try to keep the calories as low as possible on my rides. For the first hour you probably only need water - 2 bottles. I like one water and one Gatoraid though. Anything much longer than an hour you will need to re-fuel. But don't overdo it. Remember, you probably only burn about 500-600 calories an hour (this varies of course) so you don't want to take in too much. Just eat a few bites of something every 15 minutes and stay hydrated.

Copperas Cove? I'm just up the road from you. We ought to get together and ride!

[HappyAnika]

I really liked this thread on snacking, it has a lot of good ideas:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=7644&highlight=snacks

Depending on how long I'm going to be out, I take a combination of water bottles with water and "sport" water, like vitamin water. For longer rides I take the camel back. I like to err on the side of more water than I think I will need if I'm riding where I can't refill. Same for food, I always take more than I think I will need. I absolutley love fig newtons since eating one at a time is easier for me than trying to eat a whole power bar (granted I could eat just part of the bar, but then it can messy trying to save the rest). If I'm unsure whether facilities will be available I bring some tp in a plastic baggie so I don't have to drip dry. I always have a small amount of cash, a credit card, my ID, phone, tube, pump, multi-tool, presta-schraeder adapter, my asthma inhaler, and a patch kit in case I get more than 1 flat.

[DDH]

Never thought of fig newtons, thats an easy and quick thing to eat while riding. I like the peanut butter crackers thing too.

Right now, I can ride an hour with just water and it doesn't seem to bother me to much. I need to start taking some gatorarde or something though I think, because I sweat profusely in this humidity.


You bet Li10up, I would love to find someone to ride with on occasion. Pm me sometime and let me know where you are?