Nutrition/Hydration question - long

I am starting to take much longer rides on my Trek, these are country miles. The weather is starting to warm, though so far have been unable to ride on one of the 80 degree days we have had recently.

As of yet I am unable to drink while riding, and my Trek 7.6 has room for only 1 water bottle cage (the LHT has three, but can't take it on the road yet until fitting and shifting issues are addressed). I thought about putting a second water bottle in my jersey, but that really weighs the material down in the back.

I have a Camelbak, and while I know what most people don't use these for riding the roads, I figure proper hydration is more important than image until I can ride my LHT on the road - or find some other way of hydrating on my Trek. I tend to not drink enough anyway. So the water thing seems to be taken care of - I can put water in my Camelbak (or Cytomax) and put Cytomax in my water bottle (and stop to drink) if I don't put it in the Camelbak. The Camelbak is 50 ounces.

Does this seem a reasonable hydration plan for country riding.

As far as nutrition is concerned, and knowing that I have always had problems with hypoglycemia (and have a Road ID that mentions this) I have been experimenting. I know that Cliff or Luna bars take a little time to get into the system, so I eat a half or full bar at least 30 minutes before riding if it has been awhile since a meal, and keep a Gu energy gel with me just in case.

The gel seems to go down easier than a Cliff Shot Block - but I won't really know what my stomach will tolerate best until the heat/humidity has arrived. Will also experiment with keeping some nuts/trail mix with me - and when the real hot weather arrives will have a bottle with a carb/protein mix.

My question is related to eating during my ride. I get that I need to eat something prior - and after a long ride should have something post-recovery. I do not, however, have a good understanding on when it is appropriate to eat during the ride.

Right now my rides are averaging about 1.5 hours, and I feel fine so obviously don't need to eat during my rides right now. My blood sugar is also fine after my rides and I do have my meter with me and know what to do should I become hypoglycemic, just trying to avoid that :rolleyes: I figure that I can avoid that by starting with good nutrition/hydration but don't want to over-do it either. I just need to figure out what my body needs - and it will help to understand what others do.

Read Nancy Clark's cyclist food guide. It is awesome! As far as the camelback is concerned...who cares how it looks. I live in HOT Texas and I couldn't ride very far without mine.

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Originally Posted by mraguirre

Read Nancy Clark's cyclist food guide. It is awesome! As far as the camelback is concerned...who cares how it looks. I live in HOT Texas and I couldn't ride very far without mine.

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Cool, I will see if my library has it - now that you mention it I remember it being referenced in another thread.

I could find her 'sports nutrition guide' (which would be helpful also) at my library, but not the cyclist's guide.

I agree the Camelback is fine, although I do think you should continue to work on being able to use your water bottle while riding, too. :)

As for eating, I think everyone is different so bear that in mind. On CIBA rides, I tend to hit all their SAG stops, so that means that I eat at about 20 mile intervals. That said, I can generally make it to 30-35 miles before eating something, assuming I've had a decent pre-ride meal. I am not, however, a fan of bars and gels. I'll eat them if I have to, but I'd rather have just about anything else. Bananas are probably my preferred pre-ride and on-ride snack. I like Clif blocs, too.

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Originally Posted by indysteel

, although I do think you should continue to work on being able to use your water bottle while riding, too. :)
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Why? I find I keep up with hydration much better when I wear my 'Bak.

You do not want to run out of water out in the boonies. Look into this

Read reviews here

Do you have a heart rate monitor? For me, I know I start to go downhill when I hit the 500 calorie mark. I've yet to find anything that doesn't sit well with me while riding, so I guess I'm fortunate. Love Shot Blocs, even the Jelly Belly sport beans give a little boost. On long (50+ mile) rides, a peanut butter sandwich works wonders. Don't worry about the Camelback, my brother wears his. I usually like to carry one bottle with water, and one with Gatorade. I find that after 20 miles I need to start replacing electrolytes. Anything shorter than that and I'm ok with just water. Of course, you don't want to wait until you're hungry or getting tired and cramping to eat. You'll have to learn at what time you have to ingest something to avoid getting to that point. It will take you some time to figure out what your body needs and when.

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Originally Posted by NoNo

Do you have a heart rate monitor? For me, I know I start to go downhill when I hit the 500 calorie mark. I've yet to find anything that doesn't sit well with me while riding, so I guess I'm fortunate. Love Shot Blocs, even the Jelly Belly sport beans give a little boost. On long (50+ mile) rides, a peanut butter sandwich works wonders. Don't worry about the Camelback, my brother wears his. I usually like to carry one bottle with water, and one with Gatorade. I find that after 20 miles I need to start replacing electrolytes. Anything shorter than that and I'm ok with just water. Of course, you don't want to wait until you're hungry or getting tired and cramping to eat. You'll have to learn at what time you have to ingest something to avoid getting to that point. It will take you some time to figure out what your body needs and when.

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I do have, and use, a heart rate monitor - that is a good idea to note about when I start heading downhill where calories are concerned. I haven't forgotten about electrolytes - and thanks to everyone for their thoughts on this. Considering I generally ride alone it seems wise to put some thought into this as my rides get longer :)

I am also getting a stem bag for both of my rides so I have room for whatever I decide to take with me. I think the 'Bak will be enough on my back :p

Zen - thanks for the link and will check it out for my Trek. One of the reviews says that it is still possible to have a medium seat-bag at the same time, but it might be someone with a seat-post that sticks up a mile :)

I have the same bike as you and can still fit a good sized under-seat bag with this set-up

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Originally Posted by Zen

I have the same bike as you and can still fit a good sized under-seat bag with this set-up

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Cool, that is good information, thanks!

I would like to emphasize -- forget about what is fashionable. Severe dehydration is what's really uncool. Running out of water is a horrible thing on a hot day. And btw today I did a big club ride and there were plenty of people riding road bikes while wearing camelbaks.

I generally aim for 1 bottle per hour, and for me a bottle is 20 oz. I think I aim for that because I've read it in various places. So estimate the number of hours you'll be riding between opportunities to refill (which might be the duration of the whole ride if there's no place to stop and get more to drink) and multiply by 20 oz. Then add more in case you are slower than usual for some reason, delayed by a mechanical issue, etc.

When it's really hot you need enough electrolytes, too. Last year I reread Nancy Clark's book and figured I was not getting enough sodium on hot days. I uppped my intake (using Gu Roctane instead of regular Gu) and I think it has helped me feel better and less "Help me I'm melting" when it's furnace-hot outside.

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Originally Posted by Zen

Why? I find I keep up with hydration much better when I wear my 'Bak.

You do not want to run out of water out in the boonies. Look into this

Read reviews here

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Zen, I don't dispute that Camelbacks can be handy, but being able to drink from a water bottle while riding is, IMO, a handy and helpful skill to have. She may not always want to ride with the Camelback. She may want to avoid having to stop just to take a drink. I tend to think, too, that it will be part and parcel of her developing better handling skills. More than anything, I'd encourage her to not tell herself--if she even is--that she just can't master it.

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Originally Posted by mraguirre

Read Nancy Clark's cyclist food guide. It is awesome! As far as the camelback is concerned...who cares how it looks. I live in HOT Texas and I couldn't ride very far without mine.

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not to mention that yoou can pack your camelbak with ice and let it melt and keep you cool a bit longer. Camelbak also makes a slightly carbonated easily dissolved tablets with calcium carbonate and various electrolytes which is almost tasty.

marni

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Originally Posted by indysteel

Zen, I don't dispute that Camelbacks can be handy, but being able to drink from a water bottle while riding is, IMO, a handy and helpful skill to have. She may not always want to ride with the Camelback. She may want to avoid having to stop just to take a drink. I tend to think, too, that it will be part and parcel of her developing better handling skills. More than anything, I'd encourage her to not tell herself--if she even is--that she just can't master it.

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I haven't told myself this :)

Nor have I tried it yet - though will eventually when I can move my hands off the bars and feel stable while doing so. Am just being patient with myself - I only have something like 225 miles under my belt since really being able to start riding - and only something like 32 of those miles are on the actual road :p I am, however, adding to that as quickly as I can and having a blast doing it.

I took my Trek to my (new) LBS and discussed assorted options to get more water on that bike as it only has a place for one water cage. We determined that there is no way that I can get both a seat-post mounted water bottle holder and a seat-bag on it - and the bars are too thick to mount a handlebar holder either. He suggested that when it comes to the Trek that if I need more than the one water bottle to just break out my Camelbak. He made the point that filling it with ice will help cool my back :)

The LHT gives far more water options, which is good - we just need to fit it to me so I can ride it long enough to need water :p