A no-sugar ride

[Triskeliongirl]

To me that is a huge amount of carbs and a huge amount of calories for a 40mile ride. I think folks think they need way more food than they really need on the bike. On a 40 mile ride, at most I will consume 2 bottles of muscle milk light, and 1 small bag of pretzels.

[Crankin]

Lately, I have been needing more food on the bike. Maybe it's the fact I have been riding in hot weather? I tried restricting it a bit and that was not good.
For example, yesterday I rode 45 miles. My riding time was around 2.5- 3 hours (I don't usually care). I had one bottle of Accelerade (the lower sugar kind) and another bottle of water. I drank about 2/3 of the Accelerade and at about 30 miles, refilled it with water and mixed in some more powder. I sipped about 1/3 of the water. At about 25 miles I felt really sluggish and hungry, despite the fact I had egg whites/cheese, whole wheat toast, and fruit for breakfast. I had to stop and eat about 1/4 of my bar. A few miles later, I finished it. At mile 41, we stopped and I had a fresh fruit plate and coffee, then rode the last 4 miles home. I was ravenous and a little "buzzed" by which I mean I get this weird feeling after a long and hard ride... not shaky or anything, but it only goes away after I eat a good meal or snack. Unfortunately, I chose to stretch for 20 minutes! So despite thinking I would have a nice low carb salad with chicken breast, I opted for a chicken sandwich on a whole wheat roll, cole slaw, and melon. I had a snack of half a ciabatta roll, a slice of cheese, and one slice of low salt ham at 5, since I was going out to dinner, late. I was starving until I ate dinner!
I find I feel much better when I eat a little bit continuously during a long ride. Sometimes I need a shot block every hour, too. In fact, I often eat half a Luna bar before starting a ride, even if I have had breakfast within 2 hours.
So, even though I try and watch my carbs quite a bit when I am not riding (more to control my weight than for any medical reasons), I just can't do it on the bike. Yet, my DH can ride quite well without eating or drinking anything. I have to remind him to drink and he never uses anything but water or occasionally some Nuun.

[mirliluck]

I personally don't think it's too much food/carbs for a 40 mile bike ride, but maybe better used by your body after and during the ride than all just before to help you protect lean muscle mass. Eggs and banana maybe before the ride for fuel, the fruit leather or something similarly portable during, and the bread or oats, something like that, immediately post ride to restore glyogen in your muscles. I've read somewhere that sprouted grain bread is like the perfect post-ride/workout complex carb, I usually do something like that with a protein shake. And then lots more protein later...