Newbie needs help with proper fueling for ride

[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.

[GulfCoastAmy]

Thanks for the tips all! I will try to find something that's not too bad. And I like the idea about the 15 miler - that sounds like a smarter move.

Not sure about my HRM. I bought the Polar F6 (with the chest strap) specifically because of it's good reputation for accuracy. My heart rate gets really high when I cycle as compared to other activities I do. I assume it's because I'm a newbie and I'm pushing pretty hard. I'm sure as my body acclimates to the sport I will burn less. Or maybe it's just wrong? Dunno....

[Zen]

NUUN only replaces electrolyes, it has no carbs or sugar for fuel.

[OakLeaf]

Not sure about my HRM. I bought the Polar F6 (with the chest strap) specifically because of it's good reputation for accuracy. My heart rate gets really high when I cycle as compared to other activities I do. I assume it's because I'm a newbie and I'm pushing pretty hard. I'm sure as my body acclimates to the sport I will burn less. Or maybe it's just wrong? Dunno....

When they talk about accuracy of a HRM, they're mostly talking about how accurately it reads and records your heart rate.

Calories burned is another thing. Even the best estimators, that take into account age, sex and weight, are just estimators based on average people's VO2 max and average power output. (Polar is reputed to have one of the best estimators, though.)

And I might be wrong about this, but I don't think your ability to burn calories at a given HR becomes more efficient as you become fitter - just the opposite - as someone pointed out, one component of calorie expenditure is your mechanical output, and obviously at any given HR, a professional cyclist can put out way more wattage than a recreational rider or casual racer.

Or, to put it another way, if my HRM tells me I've burned as many calories in a day, as I know that TdF athletes eat during the race, I call BS.

[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.