Nutrition for super-century

Dears,

we're planning a 220km ride in early September. Last year we did the 150 version of the same ride. Stopping at every support station and eating what was there (sports drinks, sweet baked goods, bananas, a sandwich at lunch) worked fine but cost us too much time (9 hours total). The cutoff is 12 hours for the 220.

I'm planning to install a saddle mounted bottle holder to have one bottle of a highly concentrated mixture (either diluted gels or self-made maltodextrin mix) plus 2 bottles of water.
I will also have a top tube bag full of stuff & some more bars or a bag of salted nuts or so in the jersey pockets.

If worse comes to worst (weather wise) we will have a backpack (for rain gear) (we're not going if it pours) and more solid food.

I'm mainly wondering about the liquid stash - how many calories can I pack into that bottle full of goop.

Any further suggestions? Note I can't buy all US brands over here but we get Powerbar, and Hammer gel (which looks good 'cause you can buy big bottles)

I've repeatedly read that you should mix a powdered drink mix in the concentration suggested by the manufacturer because it optimizes your stomach's absorption of it. Increasing the concentration could simply upset your stomach.

If you end up buying a product you haven't used before--liquid or gel--I'd suggest doing a few trial runs with it to see how your stomach tolerates it.\

Good luck at your ride!

Just don't eat five bananas, like I did last week. Oyg!

Peanut butter and honey on whole wheat, cut into little slices and frozen, are good while riding. I also like peanut m&m's and raisins - a sort of gorp mixture.

One long ride we did, we took a lunch in a fanny pack, and stopped midway for it. PBJs, apples, and a capri sun juice bag. It was good to stop and have an actual lunch instead of just bits. I think with longer rides, you burn so many calories that it is good to eat an actual meal.

You know your body better than we do, but remember, when your body is in "race" mode, it's best to eat as lightly as you can stand to. You will still need to stop and get more water. Raleighdon takes powdered stuff along on rides like that.

For my long rides, I like to use Sustained Energy (protein) powder mixed with Gu2O powder (carbs/electrolytes). I can use just this for most of my nutrition needs -- I mix it so I get about 500 calories in the bottle. I drink this, and sip my water bottle too, so even though it's a higher concentration, I get everything I need.

Pedalwrench brings up an interesting point. Some energy drinks have a lot more calories than others. Hammer's products are especially calorie dense. You might take a look at this chart for a handy comparison:

http://www.trisports.com/drinks.html

One of the drinks listed--Spiz--strikes me as a bit too much. You body can only absorb so many grams of carbs per hour. Calorically, it packs a wallop, too, but if you're eating real food in addition to it, it sounds like a good way to gain weight while cycling.

I do ALMOST exactly what Pedal does - but I mix the Power Bar brand drink in for electrolytes instead of Gu2o - (I use 2 scoops of Sustained Energy and 2 scoops of electrolyte drink per bottle). I estimate this is about 500 cal per bottle. I will use a bottle every hour and a half or so. (You can absorb about 350 cal/hour - the rest is just bloating your gut). I do not eat much if any real food these days. (just the occasional payday.) I am ALWAYS waiting for folks at SAG stops because all I need to do is mix my drink and go, and they're still eating.

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Originally Posted by maillotpois

I do ALMOST exactly what Pedal does - but I mix the Power Bar brand drink in for electrolytes instead of Gu2o - (I use 2 scoops of Sustained Energy and 2 scoops of electrolyte drink per bottle). I estimate this is about 500 cal per bottle. I will use a bottle every hour and a half or so. (You can absorb about 350 cal/hour - the rest is just bloating your gut). I do not eat much if any real food these days. (just the occasional payday.) I am ALWAYS waiting for folks at SAG stops because all I need to do is mix my drink and go, and they're still eating.

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Brilliant minds... :p

That's how I mix it, but I use four little scoops of Gu2O to two big scoops of Sustained. I'll bring a baggy or two extra for long rides. My friends use gu flasks to hold the extra powder. I like the bags because when they're empty, I can toss 'em. On a really long ride (over 80 miles) I'll need some kind of real food just because my stomach is growling. Then some crackers or pretzels to the trick.