Quote Originally Posted by Veronica View Post
I think hours spent riding is just as important as the miles. On my mountain bike a four hour ride is only 24 miles or so, but I need the same amount of food as a 4 hour road ride.
I was going to ask the same thing. If you're riding 10 mph and doing the ride in 6 hours, that's quite different from riding 15 mph and doing it in 4 hours, or 20 mph and doing it in 3 hours.

I go by time only. I always try to eat my first snack at about 90 minutes in. My snacks are usually whole grain fig bars, homemade oatmeal bars DH makes, or store bought granola bars. After the first snack, I eat every hour. I usually consume one water bottle (20 oz) of Gatoraid and my Camelbak full of water (50 oz) during a 40-50 mile ride. If it's especially hot or we're going longer, I'll stop for an additional beverage (16-20 oz of something with sugar and caffeine, like Coke -- only time I drink soda). Once or twice a week, DH and I will stop for a treat while riding, maybe a DQ Blizzard (I get a small sized one) or a cinnamon roll or a couple of homemade cookies from a bakery. I should mention that I am at my ideal weight now and am maintaining it at doing this. If I were trying to lose, the treats would go bye-bye!

I have never analyzed calories on a ride or anything like this, but it seems to work for me most of the time. The only time I've gotten into trouble lately was a HOT ride where I left the Camelbak behind so only had one 20 oz water bottle. I thought we'd be stopping for a drink along the way, but the route was so rural there were no opportunities. I felt like crap at the end of the ride and had to drink a LOT to re-hydrate after. That would not be a problem for you. If anything, you're overdoing it with the liquids just a bit.