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?

[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.

[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.

[Danette]

I don't do Powerade or Gatorade unless I don't have a choice... it works but it's not very natural and clean.

My personal favorite mixes are Luna Pink Grapefruit or Cliff Shot Electrolyte Drink mix in Crisp Apple. Both are natural and mostly organic. I pick them up at sports stores but you can order them online. The Luna mix has less calories that would be great for a 20 mile ride.

Or if you want something straight from nature you can drink Coconut water... I like ZICO which is flavored with a little passion fruit and orange peel. yum. but ya gotta like coconut.

And about the HR monitor... yes you will acclimate....it's weird how your body knows you are doing something different even when it's use to physical activity.

[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.

[GulfCoastAmy]

Or if you want something straight from nature you can drink Coconut water... I like ZICO which is flavored with a little passion fruit and orange peel. yum. but ya gotta like coconut.

That sounds great! Wonder where I can find some? I'll check the Fresh Market on the way home.

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

Calories burned is another thing. Here's a pretty good archived discussion on the subject from the bikeforums board.

Cool - thanks! I'll check it out.

[GLC1968]

Just as an aside - if someone is working very hard and is also fairly heavy/large, it is possible to burn 600 calories per hour. But yeah, even Polar's calculations tend to be high - and more so for women, apparently (unfairly!).

[Veronica]

My Polar says I burn about 600 calories per hour. I use it as a guide for how hard I worked. It NEVER means I get to go eat that many calories.

Veronica