Newbie needs help with proper fueling for ride

[GulfCoastAmy]

Hey everyone! I am brand new around here and just started riding this week. Took my first ride on Sunday and have been riding at least an hour a day since. I am hooked! I have been riding right after breakfast and so far my eats have been substantial enough to keep me going (I've been going about 10 miles or so - I'm slow so it takes me about 70 minutes).

On Saturday I am going to attempt 20 miles but I'm not sure how to fuel. I'll be hitting the road right after my normal 465 calorie breakfast (oatmeal with banana and peanut butter made w/ skim milk). Is that enough for the whole ride or do I need to plan on something for during the ride? I do know that I am burning approximately 600 calories per hour (this is according to my Polar F6 HRM). I am so confused! I know I will need to replenish throughout the day so my overall calories don't go to low, but I'm just not sure about during the ride. I don't want to feel like crap when I'm done.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Biciclista]

sounds to me that taking a drink of some kind with you would be all you need for a 2 hour ride . a light snack too if you are really concerned.
You are drinking right? do you use a sports drink?
Welcome to TE!

[GulfCoastAmy]

Just water. What do you recommend? I am not fond of gatorade/sports drinks. Is there anything else that would work?

[Biciclista]

I like NUUN, it's sugar free. But if you're getting hungry; you're going to need something else. You need to try it; maybe try a 15 mile ride first?

[Veronica]

I use Gu2O. It has less sugar than a lot of the other sport drinks. You could also try watering down any of the sports drinks so that they give you some calories.

Whatever you do, you'll have to experiment to figure out what works best for you.

Veronica

[OakLeaf]

And be aware that HRM calorie calculations are wildly inaccurate.

You might burn 600 calories in an hour if you rode all 20 miles in that hour. Might.

[Eden]

in general

1 hour or less plain water is fine

1-2 hours some calories in your bottle - either work to find a sports drink you can tolerate (Gatoraid is pretty icky - there are better things) or make your own. I've know people who use watered down fruit juice or honey and water with a little sea salt mixed in.

2+ hours take or purchase along the way, some solid nutrition - doesn't have to be sports specific. Lots of people like pretzels, pbj, fig newtons etc.