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

[emily_in_nc]

I think hours spent riding is just as important as the miles. On my mountain bike a four hour ride is only 24 miles or so, but I need the same amount of food as a 4 hour road ride.

I was going to ask the same thing. If you're riding 10 mph and doing the ride in 6 hours, that's quite different from riding 15 mph and doing it in 4 hours, or 20 mph and doing it in 3 hours.

I go by time only. I always try to eat my first snack at about 90 minutes in. My snacks are usually whole grain fig bars, homemade oatmeal bars DH makes, or store bought granola bars. After the first snack, I eat every hour. I usually consume one water bottle (20 oz) of Gatoraid and my Camelbak full of water (50 oz) during a 40-50 mile ride. If it's especially hot or we're going longer, I'll stop for an additional beverage (16-20 oz of something with sugar and caffeine, like Coke -- only time I drink soda). Once or twice a week, DH and I will stop for a treat while riding, maybe a DQ Blizzard (I get a small sized one) or a cinnamon roll or a couple of homemade cookies from a bakery. I should mention that I am at my ideal weight now and am maintaining it at doing this. If I were trying to lose, the treats would go bye-bye!

I have never analyzed calories on a ride or anything like this, but it seems to work for me most of the time. The only time I've gotten into trouble lately was a HOT ride where I left the Camelbak behind so only had one 20 oz water bottle. I thought we'd be stopping for a drink along the way, but the route was so rural there were no opportunities. I felt like crap at the end of the ride and had to drink a LOT to re-hydrate after. That would not be a problem for you. If anything, you're overdoing it with the liquids just a bit.

[kajero]

I went on 42.75 mile ride today and I DIDN'T BONK! The miles should have been less, but as usual I got lost. I followed nearly all of everyone’s suggestions. SO THANK YOU EVERYONE! I didn’t do the “organic stuff” but relied on Gatorade and one energy bar. (From my earlier post you can see I honestly thought I needed to replace the calories I was burning during the ride.)

I got a good night’s sleep last night. I ate a good breakfast 90 minutes before I left. I hydrated myself before I left. I stopped to drink only when I felt I was really thirsty, but didn’t drink too much. About 90 minutes into the ride, I stopped and had some Gatorade and my energy bar. I continued to ride again only stopping when I thought I needed water. Later on I had some more Gatorade and made it home WITHOUT BONKING! I've had my shower and I still feel great!

I averaged 11.5 mph which is really good for me because usually it is around 10.5 mph or so. I need to look into clips or straps. My feet slid off the pedals too many times and I think my mph might get better if I didn’t keep losing the pedals. I would probably be less frustrated, too.

Now, if you could help me with one more thing . . . No matter how many maps I have, no matter how much I study the route before I leave, no matter how many people give me directions when I ask, and no matter how observant I think I am being of the trail directions, I ALWAYS GET LOST if it is an unfamiliar trail! You can see my route here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/558995134 and you can see how many extra miles I went to get Elm Creek. I must traversed one part of trail six times before I figured out I wasn’t going far enough to get anywhere! I REALLY NEED A NICKNAME — maybe “The Biggest Lost-Her”? Suggestions are welcome.

Coming home was great. I just followed The Three Rivers Regional Trail out of the Elm Creek Park to Medicine Lake. Too bad I couldn’t do it on the way there.

[Crankin]

If you are recording your rides on a GPS, then can you look on Ride With GPS for rides in your area, that you can download and follow? Or, if you don't have a GPS, you can at least print out the cue sheet from any ride you see, that you like.

[emily_in_nc]

Congratulations on not bonking and getting your food/drink intake figured out! That's great.

Definitely sounds like clipless pedals would help. I can't imagine riding without them (other than on a MTB on singletrack). I think you'll find you get speed/efficiency gains once you get used to them.

As far as the getting lost thing, if you don't want to buy a bike GPS (and they are pricey -- I don't have one either), I am not sure what to advise. I get lost too, at times, if I am riding in unfamiliar areas. Some people are just less spatially inclined than others. If it's any comfort, my DH, who is really good with directions usually, got lost around 7 times on his way back from riding the Centennial Trail in Washington State. He did not carry a map with him and assumed he could find his way following the signage, but it was confusing. Every time it went off trail and onto roads, he missed a turn or took a wrong one, it seemed. If it's a trail you haven't ridden before and not well-signed, it can be challenging to find your way. So maybe just give yourself a break? And print out the maps and carry them along if you can.

[kajero]

Thanks

It is nice to know I am not the only lost one! My friends all say it would be a bike ride if I didn't get lost! However, they also said one day I might get so lost they may never find me! The positive things that happen when I get lost are I do get extra miles ridden and I will know the way for next time. Hopefully!

And, oh yes, make sure you put maps you print out are entirely enclosed in your plastic sandwich bag BEFORE you put them in your jersey pocket. Because if you don't . . when you sweat the ink on the maps runs kind of making the map hard to read!

[Crankin]

Kajero, buy a plastic cue sheet holder that has velcro straps that you can put on your bar. The map or cue sheet goes inside, you can look at it, and it doesn't get wet. Most LBS's have them, or go online. They are not expensive. And again, you can print out cue sheets from Ride With GPS if you search for rides in your area. I have found lots of good rides this way, even before I had the GPS.

[ny biker]

Kajero, buy a plastic cue sheet holder that has velcro straps that you can put on your bar. The map or cue sheet goes inside, you can look at it, and it doesn't get wet. Most LBS's have them, or go online. They are not expensive. And again, you can print out cue sheets from Ride With GPS if you search for rides in your area. I have found lots of good rides this way, even before I had the GPS.

I have both of these Bar Map holders. I usually use the smaller one, but sometimes the layout of the cue sheet makes the larger one the better choice.

http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodBM_H.html

http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodBM_S.html

As for getting lost on trails -- I've done that too. The feeder trails that connect the main trail to adjoining roads in this area are sometimes not marked well, so you end up making a wrong turn and having to double back. For paved trails and roads, I find it helpful if I can look at the route in advance on a mapping site like ridewithgps, so I can picture the general layout in my head. (For off-road trails, I just have no sense of direction at all, which is one reason I don't go mountain biking alone.)

[azfiddle]

Glad the suggestions worked for you! I read the posts, but didn't add anything. I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal or half a bagel, and start "refueling" about 60-90 minutes in to the ride. 200 calories an hour or so, and I drink an electrolyte mixed with water for my 2nd bottle on hot days.

[kajero]

Woo! Woo! I went riding today. I dunno -- maybe I should put this in a thread by itself. I am SO happy.

My SO and I went on a 14.58 mi ride today. I AVERAGED 14.4 mph! I have never come even close to this!

I did not bonk.


I attribute my successful happy ride to everyone's advice and suggestions!
I got a really night's sleep!
I ate the, hopefully, a proper breakfast one hour and 15 minutes before we left.
I really hydrated myself before we left.
We stopped at 30 minutes and I had a snack and sports drink. (We weren't going to be on the trail 90 minutes this time because I wasn't going 10 mph!)
And then when we got back my Garmin Edge 500 gave me all that neat news!
I also wore sunglasses on this ride and my last ride. Could this possibly be helping with not "bonking"?

We also studied the trail map over and over again. We made sure we knew where the turns were and what direction we should turn! If you look at my ride you can see we didn't backtrack ever.

My ride is here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/565753385

I still don't think I could have done that with ut all of the advice you wonderful cyclists offered!
And I felt so good when I got home I washed my bike. I love my white Ruby Elite but I am not so sure buying a white bike is the best for keeping clean.
Now I have other questions . . .but that's another thread!

[marni]

first of all........., Congratul;ations on your successful ride. There's nothing quite like getting it all right and getting a good speed on top of that!

You mentioned that you wore sunglasses for the first time so I will offer a bit of learned and inherited wisdom. Remember that it is hard to ride a bike if you are blind. The sun and road glare CAN and will over time cause damage to your eyes . My optometrist has mentioned damage from excessive dryness and macular degeneration among other things. Sunglasses help to keep your outlook a bit cooler ( mind over matter) protect your eyes from bugs and wind and flying bits of debris and with so many styles for both prescription and non prescription eye wear, you can develop a "look" as an added bonus.

Re calories you burned. Recovery is not only about after the ride, but the next day as well. You don't have to run a muck but do make sure you get your full allotment of nutritional calories for the next couple of days to get everything flushed and refilled. Drink lots of water and focus on anti-inflammatory foods as well as the proper balance of protein, fat and dense (whole complex) carbohydrates to restore and replenish everything you used.
And about washing your bike. Perhaps with the newer carbon models a clean bike is not so important as I don't think your sweat can actually damage them or cause rust, but it can cause sticky situation depending on where it lands. I have found that a good cool down /recovery exercise after the bike ride is to grab my recovery drink or snack and spend 15 minutes examining and prepping my bike while I eat or drink. My routine includes checking the tires for nicks and cuts. Adding inflation as needed, wiping down the tire surface and the rim area that the brakes touch, scrubbing of the braking surfaces with a clean rag, wiping the chain and rear derailleur jockey wheels, checking the brake levers to make sure I have closed them, wiping down the rear crank and clip surfaces, and wiping the bike down on all areas where sweat and sticky energy drink might have dripped or flown and generally gibing it a pat on the rump.

Perhaps it seems a bit excessive but I will say I have ridden several cross country rides of 2500 miles of more without ever having a flat tire, brake problem or derailleur problem. I find the routine marginally mindless and soothing plus it ensures that all the salty sweat rings I leave are out in the garage and not in the house.

just my two cents worth.

[kajero]

I have found that a good cool down /recovery exercise after the bike ride is to grab my recovery drink or snack and spend 15 minutes examining and prepping my bike while I eat or drink. My routine includes checking the tires for nicks and cuts. Adding inflation as needed, wiping down the tire surface and the rim area that the brakes touch, scrubbing of the braking surfaces with a clean rag, wiping the chain and rear derailleur jockey wheels, checking the brake levers to make sure I have closed them, wiping down the rear crank and clip surfaces, and wiping the bike down on all areas where sweat and sticky energy drink might have dripped or flown and generally gibing it a pat on the rump.

Thanks for all this wonderful advice. I am going to do a better job "washing my bike." All I did was check the tires, wipe off the chain, clean the entire frame and scrub the handle bars. I used a toothbrush to get into areas that I couldn't reach with my rag. I have blue tape on the handle bars so grime doesn't show. I never imagined how grimy those handle bars can get. I did half heartedly wipe the rim area but I think I will put more effort into it next time!

And this entire cleaning time took me nearly 15 minutes! I doubt I will do this every time because I don't seem to ride more than 60 miles (when I get lost) at a time.

I usually check the brakes, cranks, and pedals before I ride. I now realize that is kind of stupid. If there is something wrong, I won't be able to ride. If I do those checks before I put the bike away, I will be ready for the next ride after rechecking them all again before I go!