Your Century Eat/Drink strategy?

[Bklynmom]

I just did my first Century and had a challenging time with eating and drinking - two things I am usually good at .

I would love to hear everyone's century eating and drinking plan, including before and after the ride.

Here is what I did and what did or didn't work:
-Breakfast of Oatmeal and 1/2 cup leftover coffee (good)
-Pre ride slug of coffe, banana and pound cake (good)
-Bottle of Gatorade and liter of water first 25 miles (bad, only could think about bathroom)
-Peanut butter on pita bread 50 Mile snack - (dreadful choice, burped peanut butter for 35 miles )
-Blue Gatorade -(bad bad taste)
-Gu gel at mile 95 (good, tastes dreadful but not nauseating)
-Gu Gel at finish line (good)
-Extra Gatorade and 2 advil one hour after (Good)
-Pasta after, dinner 3 hours later (good)

So what works for you?

[indysteel]

I'm doing my first century--at least I hope so--this weekend so I'll be interested to see what everyone says on this one. My "gut" (no pun intended) reaction to what you ate/drank is that I would have added some pre-ride hydration. I also would have eaten more about 2-3 hours before the ride and a little less (like just the banana) right before the ride.

I also would have eaten my first snack earlier than mile 50. I usually eat my first snack on long rides at mile 30 or so, i.e., right before I can expect to deplete my glycogen stores, and again at mile 50 or so. I would have made sure that I ate something salty during the ride to aid in digestion and to replace electrolytes (I also drink CytoMax energy during rides). I'm not sure how much water you drank after mile 50, but I would add that to the list because the Gu without water is hard to digest. Finally, assuming that I'm not feeling sick to my stomach by then, I would have had another snack at mile 70 or so and relied on the Gu only for the last bit of the ride. Finally, I would drink a recovery drink, i.e., a balance of carbs and protein, immediately after the ride, along with water and a carby snack about an hour later, before eating a more complete dinner.

[Fredwina]

How i approach it depends on wether it's supported or not
Pre-ride meal - Clif bar or a bagel
1 Hydration - set your computer on elapsed time - every 15 minutes - H20 every 30 enegry /electolyte drink
every hour food - enegery gel or carbs
get plenty of bannannas, you don't want to have killer cramps at mile 90
That being siad, I have a "garbage disposal" stomach - I usaullu don't have problems with Indigestion and riding. I think the key is that folks think if they burn XXX calories/hour, they have to consume the same or they will bonk. The problem is that you have to expend calories to digest food(Grasping at an opportunity to be wrong here), so if you put too much in you tummy, it could backfire (no pun intended).
It does take some expermentation to figure out what you need

[SouthernBelle]

I'm doing my first century this Saturday, but last Sat I rode a little over 75 miles. I carry a clifbar cut up into 8 pieces in my bento box and snack on it. I went through 3 bottles of liquids, so I figure 4-5 for a century. I also ate a Mojo bar in there somewhere.

I'll have my usual breakfast of cereal & banana with coffee. Start time is 7:00 a.m. and I have to drive about 80 miles to get there, so that should be plenty of digestion time.

I just try to eat and drink small amounts continuously.

[uk elephant]

I am by no means an expert but I did do 80 miles on Sunday and felt great the whole way....

Breakfast (about 1 hour before I headed out): oatmeal with raisins, seasoned with cinnamon and ginger, topped with brown sugar and whole milk. Also had a glass of water and a small coffee

Snack break at mile 25'ish (after 90 mins): home made English type of flapjack, which is really like a cereal bar made with oats, brown sugar, golden syrup and butter. I make mine with chopped nuts too (brazil nuts this time) and top with chocolate. Great energy food and very tasty.

Lunch: pot of proper English strong tea with milk, toasted ham and cheese sandwich with tortilla chips and coleslaw.

Snack break at 90mins after lunch: another flapjack

Snack break at 2hrs after lunch: some energy gel.

On arrival home I had a very yummy ice cream (chocolate cornetto) and a pint of coke in the pub then came home where BF served up yummy sausages, roasted veggies and gravy.

On the road I drank about three bottles of water and two bottles of blackcurrant squash (I can't stand sportsdrinks). Probably should have drunk more water, but I felt pretty good.

[michelem]

uk_elephant,

What is "squash"?

[makbike]

I'll eat a good dinner the night prior to the century on Saturday (probably steak & potato, salad, veggie). I'll also make it a point to drink plenty of water on Friday to keep myself hydrated.

Saturday morning I'll have a fried egg, bread, apple and a smoothie. I'll have a diet coke during my 45 minute drive to Georgetown.

I'm assuming there will be SAGs about every 25 miles or so. If this is the case I'll munch on peanut butter treats, fruit and fluids at each stop.

I'll fill both bottles at the start with Gatorade and refill them at each SAG.

I'll also pack a few Clif bars and MOJO bars to munch on if I feel I need an extra boost along the way.

[uk elephant]

Squash is concentrated juice that you mix with water to drink. Comes in all kinds of flavours.

[Trek420]

Squash is concentrated juice that you mix with water to drink. Comes in all kinds of flavours.

UK, since you hate sports bev, try to bring a lot of Squash with you or powdered bev of choice on AIDS Lifecycle. We will have Gatorade and water at the rest stops, no other sports bev is provided at stops.

There will be lots of juice options in camp.

My strategy is pretty much the same, try to eat balanced meals before a big ride.

Normally I don't eat oatmeal but it's oatmeal every morning on the AIDS ride. Yum.

Also (sorry for the slight hijack) UK, there is a continental style breakfast at the ride start (no coffeeeeee though). Knowing there's no oatmeal I'll pick up TJ's oatmeal scones.

[HappyAnika]

I'm surprised, it sounds like some of you go a long time on the bike without eating. I haven't ridden a century (yet), just a half and a metric. However I tend to go by time, not distance, as far as eating and drinking. (10 miles of climbing at elevation is NOT the same as 10 miles of gentle downhill in town). I recently attended a short talk by a rep from cliff bar who was also a certified sports nutritionist (and she stated very clearly that she didn't care whether the cliff products worked for us or not, but to find something that works). Even before this talk, this is similar to what I would shoot for and find it works for me, but was reinforced by this talk. So the basics are, eat a decent carby meal with a little protein preferably 1-2 hours before the ride. For me this is a bagel with cream cheese, OJ, and coffee. I will sip water up until I start the ride. Then, starting at about 45 min to an hour, consume 30 g of carbs and at least one water bottle per hour (more water if its hot). This can be either snacks (fig newtons, sports bars, blocks, gels), or in the form of sports drink with electrolytes if you can't stomach any food. (I love blocks, they are my snack of choice, but I mix those up with fig newtons and sports drinks for some variety). Then immediately post ride you want a recovery drink and/or food with a nice 4:1 carb: protien ratio. Try to eat a healthy meal within 30 mintues to 2 hours post ride. Don't skimp on the carbs, you need them to replenish your glycogen stores. Also, the day before I drink a ton of water, eat a healthy dinner, and no alcohol.

I'm not an expert, and everyone is different, but like I said this approach works well for me. I really make an effort to start eating blocks after 45 min of at least medium intensity riding, otherwise I will start getting tired and have a hard time getting my energy back. No way could I go 90 minutes without anything and keep going. My morning commute is 80 minutes, I don't eat on the way, but I don't have to ride any further. As soon as I get to work (I am STARVING by this point) I have a breakfast bar and a vitamin water, followed by some oatmeal, yogurt, and coffee post shower.