Long Ride Eats

[tinyhelmets]

We're heading out on a weekend tour: 85 miles, 45 miles, 45 miles. I just looked up the amount of calorie burn for the first day-4000+ calories! What are your favorite nutritionally dense foods to take with you on a biking trip? I'm stocking up on peanut butter, nuts, bananas, apples, etc since I don't want to stop for junk or too many sweets.

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[OakLeaf]

Personally I would need more protein. It depends on what you can stomach while you're riding. People laugh at my convenient store egg salad sandwiches, but they're perfect for me. Hard boiled eggs are popular on some organized rides and wouldn't be too hard to carry.

[ny biker]

My stomach generally can't handle much besides carbohydrate gels during a ride, so I would focus on replacing the calories with the post-ride meals. Also make sure you eat at least a normal amount of calories in the days before the ride, and consider eating a bit more than usual the day before. Just make sure it's food you can digest easily. Anything really heavy or high-fat will feel like lead in your stomach while you're riding.

[maillotpois]

I like real food for a long ride. I'll start out with some high calorie liquid meal replacement in my bottles (sustained energy) so I know the foundation is solid. Then I will use real food - sandwiches, soups, tamales, payday bars, etc. during the ride. I'll use some block type things (honey stinger chews are amazing and should basically be called what they are: candy), but gels do not make me happy or satisfied during a long ride.

What food or how much I tolerate depends a lot on intensity of the ride. IF I am hammering, it's less solid food, more chews and liquid nutrition. For most brevets, real food is better. Since you describe your ride as a "tour", that would be more my brevet pace I think.

Best thing I ate during my 400k fleche last weekend was chicken noodle soup from Denny's. We got there around midnight and they had technically stopped serving the soup hours earlier, but it stayed cooking slightly in the pot, so it had condensed down to a super salty heavenly mixture. We also had a "real" dinner stop with pasta and fries. Yum! They had white tablecloths and wine glasses out and we come in with full reflective gear and blinky lights on.

[Susan Otcenas]

Will you have support for this ride? Or are you carrying the things you listed on your bike or body? If so, I'd nix the apples for sure. For their weight, bulk, lack of caloric density and difficulty eating wile moving, they just aren't worth it. Nuts: I personally love nuts once I get sick of sweet gels, etc., but nuts really are not a good source of energy on a bike ride. Yes, they are calorically dense, but they are not easily digestible (and therefore it will take quite some time for the calories to be converted to the sugars you need to burn). Bring them along only if you are riding at a more casual pace and/or plan to much on them while riding. Because once you are hungry, it will take a long time for nuts to satiate you. Bananas are great, but remember that they bruise easily and again, take up a fair amount of space given the calories they provide.

I like real food for a long ride. I'll start out with some high calorie liquid meal replacement in my bottles (sustained energy) so I know the foundation is solid. Then I will use real food - sandwiches, soups, tamales, payday bars, etc. during the ride. I'll use some block type things (honey stinger chews are amazing and should basically be called what they are: candy), but gels do not make me happy or satisfied during a long ride.

What food or how much I tolerate depends a lot on intensity of the ride. IF I am hammering, it's less solid food, more chews and liquid nutrition. For most brevets, real food is better. Since you describe your ride as a "tour", that would be more my brevet pace I think.

Best thing I ate during my 400k fleche last weekend was chicken noodle soup from Denny's. We got there around midnight and they had technically stopped serving the soup hours earlier, but it stayed cooking slightly in the pot, so it had condensed down to a super salty heavenly mixture. We also had a "real" dinner stop with pasta and fries. Yum! They had white tablecloths and wine glasses out and we come in with full reflective gear and blinky lights on.

I agree with just about all of this. Especially if you are riding at a casual pace and have time to actually STOP to eat, there's no reason you can't get everything you need from real food. My personal favorites include peanut butter and banana on Dave's Killer Bread (complex carbs, simple carbs, fat, protein, salt and easily packable without spoilage). I also quite like hummus or smoked turkey breast on tortillas. I roll them up and wrap in a little sleeve of Saran. These I generally eat in the first few hours, as they can spoil more quickly than the PBB sandwiches. They are also easy to eat while riding, unlike the sandwich which is something I generally only eat when stopped.

I do, however, use both gels and nutrition in my bottles, depending on the type of ride, the length, how much off-bike time (or not) I expect to have, and whether or not its cold or dark. In cold or darkness, I make much heavier use of calories in my bottle and gels, as I find it easier to manipulate these things while riding. I can't easily eat with gloves on, and I find it challenging to eat in the dark, so I don't get enough calories if I don't supplement this way.

Regarding gels: They are only 100 calories, so don't expect them to give you energy for more than 20-30 minutes. I'm OK with that, especially when I know I have a tough or hilly section coming up. But they are definitely not what I want to eat all day!

Oh, and Payday Bars are a food of the Gods! Love those things! I have also discovered that at oh-dark-thirty when your stomach is queasy and you think nothing will appeal, it's interesting to wander into a convenience store and see what strikes you. I discovered that cold Pop Tarts straight out of the box were mysteriously good....

[Owlie]

Protein! I know someone mentioned carrying beef jerky. I like the idea, but I've never tried it. 40 miles is my limit on relying solely on what I've eaten plus gels/chews, but I haven't done many rides of that length to figure out what really works.

[maillotpois]

I have also discovered that at oh-dark-thirty when your stomach is queasy and you think nothing will appeal, it's interesting to wander into a convenience store and see what strikes you.

Yes! I love this. Oddly, things like Taco Bell are really appealing at those times.

[Owlie]

Will you have support for this ride? Or are you carrying the things you listed on your bike or body? If so, I'd nix the apples for sure. For their weight, bulk, lack of caloric density and difficulty eating wile moving, they just aren't worth it. Nuts: I personally love nuts once I get sick of sweet gels, etc., but nuts really are not a good source of energy on a bike ride. Yes, they are calorically dense, but they are not easily digestible (and therefore it will take quite some time for the calories to be converted to the sugars you need to burn). Bring them along only if you are riding at a more casual pace and/or plan to much on them while riding. Because once you are hungry, it will take a long time for nuts to satiate you. Bananas are great, but remember that they bruise easily and again, take up a fair amount of space given the calories they provide.




I agree with just about all of this. Especially if you are riding at a casual pace and have time to actually STOP to eat, there's no reason you can't get everything you need from real food. My personal favorites include peanut butter and banana on Dave's Killer Bread (complex carbs, simple carbs, fat, protein, salt and easily packable without spoilage). I also quite like hummus or smoked turkey breast on tortillas. I roll them up and wrap in a little sleeve of Saran. These I generally eat in the first few hours, as they can spoil more quickly than the PBB sandwiches. They are also easy to eat while riding, unlike the sandwich which is something I generally only eat when stopped.

I do, however, use both gels and nutrition in my bottles, depending on the type of ride, the length, how much off-bike time (or not) I expect to have, and whether or not its cold or dark. In cold or darkness, I make much heavier use of calories in my bottle and gels, as I find it easier to manipulate these things while riding. I can't easily eat with gloves on, and I find it challenging to eat in the dark, so I don't get enough calories if I don't supplement this way.

Regarding gels: They are only 100 calories, so don't expect them to give you energy for more than 20-30 minutes. I'm OK with that, especially when I know I have a tough or hilly section coming up. But they are definitely not what I want to eat all day!

Oh, and Payday Bars are a food of the Gods! Love those things! I have also discovered that at oh-dark-thirty when your stomach is queasy and you think nothing will appeal, it's interesting to wander into a convenience store and see what strikes you. I discovered that cold Pop Tarts straight out of the box were mysteriously good....

Paydays, while tasty, mostly make me queasy. I've never tried them on the bike. Somehow I don't think they'd do that on the bike, though, so I'll have to see if I can find the little ones. Do they get horribly gooey in a jersey pocket?