Eat while riding?

[smilingcat]

I used to carry a small pouch of cytomax powder, some fig newtons, luna bars still my favorite, water. When my two water bottle ran out, I would make a stop at 7-11, circle-K, deli wherever and get 32 oz bottle of water for a refill. One would have plain water the second bottle would have cytomax with water.

If your training ride is one hour or less, you don't need to refuel. but if your ride is over 2 hours, refuleing is a must. I just like to graze.

My rides are not that long right now so I just carry two bottles, one with plain water the second with Accelerade and water. I'm upping my milage to 40 miles per ride so I will start carrying fig newtons or luna bars. Graze while riding.

When I get home, I have jerkey with all that salt and a fruit smoothie before I do anything else.

Smilingcat

[la bicicleta]

Larabars

Peanut Butter to-go cup

[RolliePollie]

Figuring out the food thing took me quite a while, but now I've got it worked out pretty well. I think it's really an individual thing. My stomach seems to be pretty easy-going and I can tolerate snacking during a ride. I know some people who cannot face the idea of eating while riding and feel sick if they do.

My rule of thumb is that if I'm going to be riding farther than 20 miles or so, I always carry some food with me just in case. Power Bars, fig newtons, shot blocks, etc. If I stop for a rest or a potty break, I'll usually eat a few bites. And I always have one water bottle with Gatorade and another with plain water. I drink at least every 10-15 minutes and more frequently if it's hot.

It also makes me feel better just knowing I have food along. Last summer I forgot my Gatorade and my food on one of my solo out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere rides. It wasn't a long ride but I was panicking because I didn't know what I'd do if I needed calories!

Good luck...I'm sure you'll figure out what works best for you. Just experiment a little and you'll get your own food routine down in no time!

[VeloVT]

I think this is highly variable from person to person.

For 30 miles or less, I'm fine with just water.

Up to about 50, I'm okay with just a carb sports drink (I like Gu2O). But I usually end up eating something on rides over 30 because I do most of my riding with my boyfriend, and he gets low-blood sugary much earlier than I do. He's had a couple of low-blood sugar related accidents (like riding into my rear wheel, crashing and cracking a rib, or inexplicably hitting the curb going up a steep hill and again going into the bushes), and so I'll make us stop and have a snack halfway through (usually a Luna bar -- they fit in a medium sized seat pack with tools and tubes if you pack carefully!), as well as making sure he's drinking from the Gu2O bottle as well as the water bottle, and asking him periodically how he's feeling, especially if I notice flaky riding of some kind. (He really doesn't mind my keeping an eye on him . It prevents crashes). (Just to illustrate how variable fueling needs are, he also needs gel or sports beans to avoid feeling lightheaded on runs -- he'll take beans on an 8 mile run, I won't consider bringing sugary stuff on runs unless I"m going over 15 miles).

Over 50, I will alternate sports drink-water bottles (finish water bottle, finish sports drink bottle, go to drug store and refill water/make up a new Gu2O bottle, repeat). I will also need something solid with protein (I like Luna bars, they're easy on my stomach) periodically, depending on the length of the ride (60 would be one, 85 might be two -- but remember, this is in addition to the sports drink).

I drink A LOT. So if I'm alternating water and sports drink, I can actually end up taking in a lot of calories that way.

As others have said, the key thing is to start taking in calories before you reach the lightheaded and spacy stage. It takes some experimentation to find out what works for **you**, and it's a bit of a moving target since your body gets more efficient at using fuel as you become fitter.

[Tokie]

Hi! One bit of advice I should follow more myself - always bring more than you plan on needing. You can get lost and stuck getting somewhere the long hilly way by accident( who, Me?!!), or be riding with or come across someone who is "bonking" Most all of the gels are good, I've heard that you should avoid using the extra sodium gels in combination with sports drinks like cytomax, etc which also have sodium. So if I eat an added sodium gel, I'll wash it down with water, and drink the cytomax later. I like to count calories when something works(for example, my favorite 70 mile hilly ride is a 1000 calorie ride for me) Before I started doing this, packing all the gels, organic toaster pastries,sports drinks, and sports bars seemed like too much food, and I would run out of gas having brought too little. Eat and drink to finish your ride strong! Tokie

[Trigress]

Bananas work wonders for me, cheap and easy to eat. I eat more or less every 45 minutes or so, but then I don't ride very long, I'm a beginner to longer distances. I've also tried some homemade energy bars that I've used winter camping, these contain a lot of fat, sugar and starch, and won't upset your stomach. Correction: they don't upset my stomach...

[Geonz]

It could also be, simply, that you went out too fast. (I don't know how intense 17-18 is for you... might not be.) However, could also be that a shot of GU ... or OJ ... or a banana... after half an hour and you'd have been coming in strong.
I've also noticed that dehydration can peg me out... I'll feel stronger after I drink plain ol' water. (I don't eat much on rides, myself.)

[Fujichants]

Bring some Gu packs along and eat that when you reach the half way mark. I find that this usually helps for me.