Nutrition for long rides

[Jbr]

55 minutes ago, wattnow said:

Far too much eating going on here. No need for eating on a training ride unless you going over 3 hours. After that a banana or 2 is plenty.

Food cannot replace a lack of training or fitness.

Keep it simple, eat less, train more 😃

Racing and stage racing a completely different story though.

That is one dumb post right there. Don't do that at home.

Riding fasted won't make up for an unhealthy/unbalanced diet and it will certainly not make you stronger. It hasn't been said you must eat 1g/kg/hour for every hour of training either.

But if you do a workout, better make sure you fuel during and after if you want the gains, otherwise all you'll get is fatigue.

 

I personally always have a good breakfast before a ride/race. Only maybe once a month I go for a 2 hour fasted ride.

I only fuel on the bike for the 2+ hours LSD rides or workouts. Most 1hour/1,5hours LSD rides I don't even take water on the bike except if it's a hot day.

Edited April 26, 2022 by Jbr

[wattnow]

1 minute ago, Jbr said:

That is one dumb post right there. Don't do that at home.

Riding fasted won't make up for an unhealthy/unbalanced diet and it will certainly not make you stronger. It hasn't been said you must eat 1g/kg/hour for every hour of training either.

But if you do a workout, better make sure you fuel during and after if you want the gains, otherwise all you'll get is fatigue.

Did I mention fasted? I don't recall doing so! I was talking about whilst eating on the ride.

Have your breakfast and head out the door. Once you have had a good breakfast you don't need to eat for a little while (sub 3 hours of riding).

[jcza]

For the anoraks - Cycling Food Plan? Get Personalized Plans | EatMyRide

[dave303e]

4 minutes ago, wattnow said:

Did I mention fasted? I don't recall doing so! I was talking about whilst eating on the ride.

Have your breakfast and head out the door. Once you have had a good breakfast you don't need to eat for a little while (sub 3 hours of riding).

you obviously don't ride hard enough. But this is bad advise none the less.

[Mamil]

1 hour ago, Mamil said:

I remember a few years back the woolies hot cross buns were certified kosher and halaal - as if we needed further evidence of a world gone mad!

The experts suggest that while you can do this without negative effects the quality of your training is reduced and your recovery is less effective. Which means you don't reap as much benefit from the training sessions as you could have if properly nourished and you take longer to assimilate those benefits during rest. Nothing says you have to eat on a 3 hour ride but you really should.

Also what tends to happen to me is that when I get home i pick at leftovers because I'm short on calories which is less than ideal.

 

Replied to wrong post. Wanted to point out effect of wattnows not eating on 3 hour rides

Edited April 26, 2022 by Mamil

[The Ouzo]

I'm obviously not doing this right.

 

Any ride under 3 hours I dont eat first, but I'll have a gel after 1 hour. And another at 2 hours.

The longer the ride the better the chance of me using a sports drink with carbs in it.

Rides under 1 hour are done with nothing before or during, only water.

 

But I did a 6.5 hour zone 1/ zone 2 ride last weekend where it appears I did not get enough carbs in according to those that know. I was still not recovered a week later.

[Jbr]

5 minutes ago, ouzo said:

I'm obviously not doing this right.

 

Any ride under 3 hours I dont eat first, but I'll have a gel after 1 hour. And another at 2 hours.

The longer the ride the better the chance of me using a sports drink with carbs in it.

Rides under 1 hour are done with nothing before or during, only water.

 

But I did a 6.5 hour zone 1/ zone 2 ride last weekend where it appears I did not get enough carbs in according to those that know. I was still not recovered a week later.

I only eat gels because it's convenient (doesn't take much space in the pockets on long rides, fast absorbing), but they are so expensive I would never replace a breakfast with 1 or 2 gels on a training ride ! Except on a specific workout if I want a quick caffeine rush.

Also fasted rides feel ***/sore in the legs, I tend to feel more tired, be slower and burn less calories on these rides, but for sure your body adapts to it. I try to keep one every now and then to keep my body remotely used to it, but what you should probably do if you want to ride competitively is rather train your body to process more carbs per hour than to be able to function without them.

Edited April 26, 2022 by Jbr

[Frosty]

2 minutes ago, wattnow said:

Did I mention fasted? I don't recall doing so! I was talking about whilst eating on the ride.

Have your breakfast and head out the door. Once you have had a good breakfast you don't need to eat for a little while (sub 3 hours of riding).

It depends on the intensity of the ride how big the breakfast is (carbs) and the types of sugars. If you have a breakfast with 120g of carbs, only 60g will be processed per hour; unless it’s a mix of fructose and glucose. The Glucose Transport (GLUT) can only process 60g per hour, and the Fructose (GLUT5) transporter can do another 30g.

That is why you need to allow “1g carbs, per Kg of body mass, per hour” to fully digest your pre-ride food.

[Super Sywurm]

I had droëwors on one ride, was nice...

[The Ouzo]

4 minutes ago, Jbr said:

I only eat gels because it's convenient (doesn't take much space in the pockets on long rides, fast absorbing), but they are so expensive I would never replace a breakfast with 1 or 2 gels on a training ride ! Except on a specific workout if I want a quick caffeine rush.

Also fasted rides feel ***/sore in the legs, I tend to feel more tired, be slower and burn less calories on these rides, but for sure your body adapts to it. I try to keep one every now and then to keep my body remotely used to it, but what you should probably do if you want to ride competitively is rather train your body to process more carbs per hour than to be able to function without them.

I use GT Gel, comes in a bottle that you decant into a smaller sippy bottle to take with you on the ride. Works out cheaper than buying sachets.

 

And yes, you are probably right, but having brekkie first would mean getting out of bed even earlier. My body is so used to riding without eating first that I was very surprised, when on my long ride last week, we stopped for breakfast 50km in and my body did not complain about getting going again after that.

[Frosty]

11 minutes ago, ouzo said:

I'm obviously not doing this right.

Any ride under 3 hours I dont eat first, but I'll have a gel after 1 hour. And another at 2 hours.

A gel is about 20-25g. Taking two gels is then 40-50g for 3 hours. So about 120-150g short.

The body, fully topped up, starts on 500g, so non-eating taps into the glycogen stores. The body won’t allow you to deplete to zero (the brain still needs food). Training and racing on depleted glycogen also creates micro damage in the muscles which takes time to fully repair.

[Help.Me.]

40 minutes ago, Jbr said:

 

But if you do a workout, better make sure you fuel during and after if you want the gains, otherwise all you'll get is fatigue.

 

I just want some guidance here please, I get up at 4h30 drink my coffee , do my morning routine and then onto the IDT. I do 100% of my training fasted, I am following a TrainerRoad program and lately last 2 weeks before my "race date" there is a lot of overs and unders intervals and I must admit I am battling during my sessions, could it be due to not fueling before hand?  I have a normal oats breakfast after my sessions..........am I under fueling ? Sessions vary between 60 - 90 mins.

[Escapee..]

Lekker combo for me is

Game + Rehidrat which gives around 50grams

Then just add a gel/bar or whatever food is available

[Job]

 

25 minutes ago, Frosty said:

It depends on the intensity of the ride how big the breakfast is (carbs) and the types of sugars. If you have a breakfast with 120g of carbs, only 60g will be processed per hour; unless it’s a mix of fructose and glucose. The Glucose Transport (GLUT) can only process 60g per hour, and the Fructose (GLUT5) transporter can do another 30g.

That is why you need to allow “1g carbs, per Kg of body mass, per hour” to fully digest your pre-ride food.

The 2:1 Glucose (60g) to Fructose(30g) per hour is old dogma. Currently even SIS has moved away from it and i's now on 1:08 ratio of Glucose to Fructose. There are people who are taking up to 120g of carbs per hour especially in a race, so the additional 30g over the  90g " limit" is still absorbed by both transporters. I think it boils down  to one's gut tolerance and how you have trained your body over time.

[Jbr]

17 minutes ago, Help.Me. said:

I just want some guidance here please, I get up at 4h30 drink my coffee , do my morning routine and then onto the IDT. I do 100% of my training fasted, I am following a TrainerRoad program and lately last 2 weeks before my "race date" there is a lot of overs and unders intervals and I must admit I am battling during my sessions, could it be due to not fueling before hand?  I have a normal oats breakfast after my sessions..........am I under fueling ? Sessions vary between 60 - 90 mins.

Yes, that means your last food intake was probably 7 hours before your workout, and probably not a very optimised meal. Problem is now that you are used to it you’ll likely battle to do intensity right after eating your oats. You don’t need to eat your full bowl though, if you ride 60 to 90mins maybe eat 80g of oats before your ride and finish your meal right after, it’s actually good to eat oats right after anyways.

I personnaly prep my oats/coffee the evening before, microwave it 30 secs, down it and jump straight on the bike, but it takes me 40-ish mins to get to the first climb and I’ve been doing it for years so I don’t struggle at all with digestion. I know people who have to eat at least 2 hours before the start of a race, which for early starts can be a bit of a problem !

[The Ouzo]

44 minutes ago, Frosty said:

A gel is about 20-25g. Taking two gels is then 40-50g for 3 hours. So about 120-150g short.

The body, fully topped up, starts on 500g, so non-eating taps into the glycogen stores. The body won’t allow you to deplete to zero (the brain still needs food). Training and racing on depleted glycogen also creates micro damage in the muscles which takes time to fully repair.

Will definitely try upping the intake then, as I do sometimes find myself drained after even a low intensity ride.