How many calories do you need to replace on a long ride?

[ny biker]

For eating and drinking, I highly recommend Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guide Book. She covers it all in a fast-to-read format.

http://www.nancyclarkrd.com/books/sportsnutrition.asp

I generally aim for 200-300 calories per hour during a ride, with a bigger-than-usual breakfast and dinner before a long ride. Lately I find that a snack (130-calorie cereal bar) is helpful about 15 minutes before I start to ride. I drink 1 20-oz. bottle per hour, alternating between Gatorade and water. During the summer I include one or two packets of high-sodium gel (Power Gel) as part of my food during the ride. Many regular sports gels and chews, and some drinks like Gatorade, actually do not have very much sodium in them. I'm not able to tolerate much real food during a ride, just cereal bars (Nutri-Grain bars), crackers and occasionally a tomato sandwich. However real foods take longer to digest and get into your blood stream, wheareas the gels and chews take effect more quickly so I feel less hungry.