Fuel for long bike ride

lmr0528

Hello all. On Saturday 6/27 I will be doing a 45 mile charity bike ride with my husband & dad. I've never ridden for nearly that long so I'm a bit nervous about it. I'm wondering what kinds of food I should make sure I eat on Friday so that my body is ready to go Saturday and I have the energy to make it through the whole ride. I know I will definitely be focusing on drinking water so that I'm hydrated enough, and will be drinking a lot during the ride as well. There are rest stops every 10 miles or so with water, Gatorade and small snacks also. I'd really appreciate it if anyone could give me any suggestions.

msf74

Just eat a bit more carbs for the next few days. The night before have a relatively carb heavy meal but go easy on the fat intake (so a pasta dish with a tomato rather than creamy sauce.)

For the ride itself - up to you but I prefer jelly babies and maybe a jam sandwich cup up into small chunks in a sandwich bag...

brianpperkins

Eat like you would before any normal ride weekend and bring some snacks for the trip to keep the tank topped off. Sports drinks are easy ways to take in some easily digested carbs while on the bike. As mentioned, a sandwich cut into small sections work ... candy (preferably one that doesn't melt) ... gels ... whatever works for you.

Just as important ... make sure your bike is ready to go. Things that are mildly annoying on a 30 minute ride are maddening over the course of hours. Show up with everything lubed, adjusted, tightened, inflated, etc as needed ... spare tubes, pump, tools to change a tire on hand ... just in case.

fbinsc

Be sure to have some energy gel like Gu
My first long ride I bonked. Someone gave me a gel and I was back from the dead.

jvs125

I'd eat normally the days before. On the morning of the ride, ensure to have a good, filling breakfast that includes carbs. For the road, take a banana and a granola/protein bar to snack on during the ride.

BrianSharpe

fbinsc wrote: »

Be sure to have some energy gel like Gu
My first long ride I bonked. Someone gave me a gel and I was back from the dead.

^^ Forget gels unless you've trained with them, not everyone can tolerate them and there's a huge variety of them on the market (some with caffeine, some without etc)

As it sounds like you haven't really trained for this the key will be pacing more than nutrition ( I do a 100km charity ride every year, it's a ride, not a race so you don't need to try to kill your time). Make sure you do take in some extra carbs in the days leading up to the ride but don't overdo it, unless you've trained your body it's not going to suddenly store a lot of extra glycogen.

For breakfast that day something like a bagel with peanut butter & a banana should get you off to a good start. Stop at each of the rest stops but don't overdo the snacks, pick easily digested foods (and ones that you're already comfortable eating.....nothing new) and try to limit your intake to 250 cal or less per hour.

One of my favourite long ride foods are good old PB&J sandwiches (they get a little squished in the back pocket of my jersey but I'm going to chew it up anyway....)

Have fun!

jacksonpt

brianpperkins wrote: »

Eat like you would before any normal ride weekend and bring some snacks for the trip to keep the tank topped off. Sports drinks are easy ways to take in some easily digested carbs while on the bike. As mentioned, a sandwich cut into small sections work ... candy (preferably one that doesn't melt) ... gels ... whatever works for you.

Just as important ... make sure your bike is ready to go. Things that are mildly annoying on a 30 minute ride are maddening over the course of hours. Show up with everything lubed, adjusted, tightened, inflated, etc as needed ... spare tubes, pump, tools to change a tire on hand ... just in case.

Agreed.

Any food that is easy to carry, eat, and digest will be fine. For more casual rides, I like PB&J sandwiches and rice cripsy treats. For races, I do gels and gummies. Sports drinks are also a good idea and more beneficial than straight water.

lmr0528

BrianSharpe wrote: »

fbinsc wrote: »

Be sure to have some energy gel like Gu
My first long ride I bonked. Someone gave me a gel and I was back from the dead.

^^ Forget gels unless you've trained with them, not everyone can tolerate them and there's a huge variety of them on the market (some with caffeine, some without etc)

As it sounds like you haven't really trained for this the key will be pacing more than nutrition ( I do a 100km charity ride every year, it's a ride, not a race so you don't need to try to kill your time). Make sure you do take in some extra carbs in the days leading up to the ride but don't overdo it, unless you've trained your body it's not going to suddenly store a lot of extra glycogen.

For breakfast that day something like a bagel with peanut butter & a banana should get you off to a good start. Stop at each of the rest stops but don't overdo the snacks, pick easily digested foods (and ones that you're already comfortable eating.....nothing new) and try to limit your intake to 250 cal or less per hour.

One of my favourite long ride foods are good old PB&J sandwiches (they get a little squished in the back pocket of my jersey but I'm going to chew it up anyway....)

Have fun!

I definitely have not trained for this like I planned. We signed up for this back in February, then my husband and I ended up buying a house and got super busy with that. We just closed Friday and moved in this past Saturday! So all the time that I planned on spending preparing for this ride, got spent packing and unpacking instead. I'm actually pretty nervous about it. But I plan on just going slow and steady and eventually I'll finish. It's not a timed thing anyway, as long as everyone is off the roads by 3pm! I love Quest bars and eat one everyday. I was considering bringing one of those with me, I can easily eat that while riding too. Thanks for all the suggestions so far everyone.

SBRRepeat

lmr0528 wrote: »

BrianSharpe wrote: »

fbinsc wrote: »

Be sure to have some energy gel like Gu
My first long ride I bonked. Someone gave me a gel and I was back from the dead.

^^ Forget gels unless you've trained with them, not everyone can tolerate them and there's a huge variety of them on the market (some with caffeine, some without etc)

As it sounds like you haven't really trained for this the key will be pacing more than nutrition ( I do a 100km charity ride every year, it's a ride, not a race so you don't need to try to kill your time). Make sure you do take in some extra carbs in the days leading up to the ride but don't overdo it, unless you've trained your body it's not going to suddenly store a lot of extra glycogen.

For breakfast that day something like a bagel with peanut butter & a banana should get you off to a good start. Stop at each of the rest stops but don't overdo the snacks, pick easily digested foods (and ones that you're already comfortable eating.....nothing new) and try to limit your intake to 250 cal or less per hour.

One of my favourite long ride foods are good old PB&J sandwiches (they get a little squished in the back pocket of my jersey but I'm going to chew it up anyway....)

Have fun!

I definitely have not trained for this like I planned. We signed up for this back in February, then my husband and I ended up buying a house and got super busy with that. We just closed Friday and moved in this past Saturday! So all the time that I planned on spending preparing for this ride, got spent packing and unpacking instead. I'm actually pretty nervous about it. But I plan on just going slow and steady and eventually I'll finish. It's not a timed thing anyway, as long as everyone is off the roads by 3pm! I love Quest bars and eat one everyday. I was considering bringing one of those with me, I can easily eat that while riding too. Thanks for all the suggestions so far everyone.

Quest bars are protein heavy- you'll be better off with simple carbohydrates for the bike ride so your body can process them quickly and keep you glycogen-ed up.
I'm a fan of PB&J, granola bars, snickers and ice cream on very long touring rides.

ETA: also, bananas and pretzels.

Also, have fun!

sijomial

Don't overeat on the days before but eating up to maintenance level probably wouldn't be a bad idea.
Carbs on the day are king.

My routine is a large bowl of granola for breakfast and snacking on malt loaf, cereal bars and sports drinks. Little and often works best for me.

A bit late now but whatever you decide to do (eating & drinking) don't make it radically different from normal training rides - on my first century I fell into the trap of "more is better". Doubled up on the amounts I had trained with and felt awful for the first 40 miles.