Nutrition for long rides

[Sid the Sloth]

2 hours ago, Jbr said:

that's 280g of gels, 62g per hour, considering you weigh 30kgs that's already more than enough !

did you really smash this many gels ? I think I never had more than 3 or 4 in one ride 🤣

Yes and then I think there was 40g in the bottle, but one was a water. Luckily I have a gut of steel haha. Never struggle chucking down the gels but it can get expensive if it is your own nutrition...

[Frosty]

On 4/29/2022 at 5:01 PM, Job said:

Yes I prepare it the night before with boiling water then let him cool down before putting it in the fridge to use it the following day. I must admit at first my stomach wasn't too happy but I slowly got used to it and as I got used to it I increased the concentration, sometimes I add a spoon of game powder for a different taste.

I made some for tomorrow’s ride. 75g of Selati, 1g salt, 1 tsp citric acid and some vanilla essence. It’s not too sweet for my liking. One ride won’t make a difference but it won’t harm me trying.

[buckstopper]

My Swartberg. I got about 500g net carbs in and then came the mountain. I l still had 160 in my tank bag when I got to the pass proper but never used it. I did drink on the hill. Back in PA my son (having finished and taken a shower) handed me a bottle of Revive when he met me at the finish. Being my first visit to the Pass I subconsciously (I think) managed my effort in order to get over the pass without getting off to push. Did 7h38. Very chuffed. Tired but not broken, and could've gone again today. 

Edited May 1, 2022 by buckstopper

[swingTOpeddle]

Some more info on the topic

[Zebra]

On 4/29/2022 at 12:59 PM, Zebra said:

Thanks, actually going to give this a try…

(this after me mentioning one banana, and a bottle of water!).

I then bought the Biogen/Sweet Potato fuel; mixed it in HALF a 500ml water bottle of cold water, and drank it in the car on the way to a 60km bike ride; the taste was very acceptable, WELL priced at R199, and I think I will be using it that way - pre-ride drink - going forward, and report back here.

cheers

Chris

[The Ouzo]

I got around to trying a different nutrition strategy today. Granted the ride was just one 2 hours, but I could at least compare to previous rides on the same route with different nutrition.

Started with a small bowl of pronutro pre ride.

Then I made some sugar water as per recipes I found on the net, 5 tablespoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt in water. But we didn't have white sugar so I used brown.

As it was chilly out I just used tap water and shook it up nicely, seemed to dissolve everything.

I backed that up with a fastbar at the halfway mark.

 

Initially the sugar water tasted rather sweet, but once my palate got used to it it tasted rather nice. But again it was a chilly day, would have to see what this is like in the baking heat of summer.

 

I didn't feel drained coming to the end of the ride and also did not feel famished once I was done.

Will be experimenting with this further.

[DJR]

A little reserve of body fat around the middle helps with those very long rides.............well,that's my story and I'm sticking to it..................😜

[The Ouzo]

Follow up.

 

I'm not sure if its related and further experiments are needed, but I developed a headache yesterday of the type that I can normally trace back to to much sugar (normally its chocolate - my vice).

[_David_]

For me on rides shorter than 4hrs I can get away with using almost anything 32Gi, Cadence, Coke & water, Biogen etc... but if the ride is longer than 5hrs I need proper food.

[Frosty]

2 hours ago, ouzo said:

Follow up.

I'm not sure if its related and further experiments are needed, but I developed a headache yesterday of the type that I can normally trace back to to much sugar (normally its chocolate - my vice).

Not saying this is related to your problem, or not, as I don't know (yet); I'm still learning.

Our body likes to remain in homeostasis (a balanced state of being). If we get too much of one thing, the body likes to adjust to bring it back to a balance. If you have too much water, i.e. diluted electrolyte levels, it will dump water (you pee a lot), or if you have too much sodium you will retain water to dilute the electrolytes.

One of those symptoms is a headache, which is related to hyponatremia (low sodium levels). Then there is osmolality (Kg) and osmolarity (L) in the blood. Think of reverse osmosis water, where it removes all the metals in the water; this isn't good for the body in the long term unless you are supplementing with electrolytes.

I'm not saying dump the recipe, but rather to experiment (if that's your thing) until you find something that works. A teaspoon of salt contains 2325.5 mg of sodium (Google search), which is quite a lot, especially on cooler/colder days. 

The rabbit hole; it's a deep one.

[The Ouzo]

4 minutes ago, Frosty said:

Not saying this is related to your problem, or not, as I don't know (yet); I'm still learning.

Our body likes to remain in homeostasis (a balanced state of being). If we get too much of one thing, the body likes to adjust to bring it back to a balance. If you have too much water, i.e. diluted electrolyte levels, it will dump water (you pee a lot), or if you have too much sodium you will retain water to dilute the electrolytes.

One of those symptoms is a headache, which is related to hyponatremia (low sodium levels). Then there is osmolality (Kg) and osmolarity (L) in the blood. Think of reverse osmosis water, where it removes all the metals in the water; this isn't good for the body in the long term unless you are supplementing with electrolytes.

I'm not saying dump the recipe, but rather to experiment (if that's your thing) until you find something that works. A teaspoon of salt contains 2325.5 mg of sodium (Google search), which is quite a lot, especially on cooler/colder days. 

The rabbit hole; it's a deep one.

Thanks Frosty.

Reason I feel its the sugar is I get similar headaches if I eat certain chocolates (normally the cheap stuff).

But I also used brown sugar instead of white, so that might have something to do with it, I'll try the same recipe with white sugar next time.

On the salt, the recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon. I feel that if I keep the sugar the same then to bring the sweetness down a bit I need to up the salt.

I'll experiment a bit more before making a final call on using sugar water.

[Frosty]

Another way to reduce the sweetness is to add an acid, eg. citric acid (a small amount goes a long way).

[Escapee..]

I am trying this out at the moment

 

https://www.enduradesports.com/shop/endurade-supercarb-454g/

 

[Job]

I use raw lemon and squeeze the juice until the sugar water tastes to my liking, or any other juice for a good taste. It took me about 2 weeks to get used it. I still have 32GI Endure, Enduren and some USN carb that I forgot it's name and I keep changing them depending on the length of my ride or what taste I need on the day. 

[Mamil]

On 4/26/2022 at 8:02 AM, Shaheedalex said:

Hi would a RedBull not send ones heartrate through the roof...let alone when exerting ones self drive it higher? 

It doesn't seem to do that to me during exercise for some reason. If I drink one at rest my hr goes up a good 20bpm but during endurance events it just makes me feel perky and provides a sense of ease and strength.

I do know that there is a fair amount of variability in people's response to caffeine though. As it happens I mixed my red bull with my hammer perpetuem at cp2 on 36one and not only did it pick me up it tasted fabulous!!!

[The Ouzo]

8 minutes ago, Mamil said:

It doesn't seem to do that to me during exercise for some reason. If I drink one at rest my hr goes up a good 20bpm but during endurance events it just makes me feel perky and provides a sense of ease and strength.

I do know that there is a fair amount of variability in people's response to caffeine though. As it happens I mixed my red bull with my hammer perpetuem at cp2 on 36one and not only did it pick me up it tasted fabulous!!!

I remember the first time I has a Monster Energy drink.

Shortly afterwards I was sitting at my desk with a customer infront of me and I started shaking like a druggie in withdrawal.