Another little trick I do with the Garmin is set it to "remind me" every 500kCals burned - it flashes on screen and beeps, which I use as a reminder to take a good solid swig of the energy drink bottle (if I haven't already eaten/drank anything since the prior "beep")

I always start my day pre-ride with a bowl of Muesli & a dash of Honey. I don't usually take food with me if i plan on cycling less than 100km. Around this distance then a couple of bananas usually suffice. Only during the challenges last year did i find the magic of waffles! (Asda sell a particularly nice chocolate covered one). This i add if i'm on a hilly <100km ride or 100 miles. For Sportives then i will add some Maltodextrin to my water (Begin a few weeks before on training rides to get it in my system) as well as a High 5 tab and my secret weapon... a packet of Jelly Beans. I try to avoid Gels as they can get to be an expensive habit and i have found Jelly Beans to be just as effective. I will pack a couple of emergency gels though just incase i run out and start to bonk.

On the sportives you also have the luxury of real foods provided en-route, my favourites have been salty potatoes & welsh cakes.
For the sportive i'm doing this weekend they are proposing Soreen loaf, Bananas, Welsh Cakes, Bread & Jam, Beef *kitten*, Ham Wraps & Potatoes. I'll be lucky if my weight breaks even after this ride!

Best treat I had was 23hours into a 24hour Test. My "support crew" (one of the lads from the club at the time) was stood in a lay-bye, I pulled over and he opened a container with a fresh Mango that he'd peeled, de-stoned and sliced up - I just stood there and dropped the slices in my mouth, got covered in juice in the process, but bless him, he'd got a damp flannel and a towel at the ready. The energy from that worked wonders - I've always remembered it, and I make a point of using Mango in the "recovery smoothies" I often make for after summer rides.

I've just started to wise up to this, only ever took food on a ride but often flag towards the second hr onwards, I'd power through it but it would make me ravenous, used a friends carb powder in my bottle on Monday and wow did it make a difference for sustained effort, I did suffer the next day probably due to not taking in the right recovery food ... or enough, I hear Chocolate Milkshake is perfect for recovery though. I also know a guy that swears on Jelly Babies and Jam sandwiches .... that one might be a tad less scientific then the energy drinks though

Just reading through some of the bumph from my Trainer/Physio...

One of the things that he mentioned was that to keep your glycogen levels fully topped up you require somewhere between 7-10g of carbs per Kilo of body weight according to current studies.

His recommendation to me was to start at the lower end (7g) and instead of working with actual body weight, calculate it on "Lean body weight"

- so, working on my figures for current weight and BF% (14% as per the last DEXA scan I had a month or so ago) we're taking

7x((109.8 * 0.86)) = 660g of carbs per day to keep "topped up"

Obviously, that's not compatible with a "defecit eating plan" - considering there's 4kcal/g of carbs, thats 2640kcals JUST FROM CARBS!


It IS however a good indication of what you might need to get down your neck if you were riding back-to-back centuries for example... it also probably explains why most of us have a "Jour Sans" the day after a big ride...



Another thing that stood out was the recommendation that for a long ride, to aim for between 30-60g of carbs per hour - I tend to work on the lower end of the scale, as anything too strong in the drink scale causes "repercussions" later - that's pretty much 1/2 of a 750ml bottle per hour at the concentrations I mentioned above - so really, I guess I actually aught to be taking 2 bottles of the "go", but I reckon that the substantial breakfast pretty much covers the 90 minutes, and if I start drinking after 30 minutes, I'm sort of topping up before I run out... It also explains why if I don't have any gels/bars/butties, I'm pretty much running on fumes by the time I get home - ideally, I sort of "Empty the Tank" with 3-4 miles to ride home and get home with barely enough energy to support my head with both hands... that way I've actually hit the fat burning zone as hard as I can.

And (Bonus) I'm at home, so I can replenish the "Glycogen Window" with REAL FOOD.

I normally just rely on Hammer Heed in my bottle and Stinger gummies. For longer rides, a Hammer bar, banana, or pbj.

Primarily GUs and water. As it gets hotter, will add in some salt replacement. Generally eat something ever 45 minutes.

i can't stomach energy gels or sugary drinks for long rides, so I go for plain water with perhaps with a nuun if it's hot, and try and eat half a cliff bar every hour and stop at a cafe or garage for a cup of tea, sandwich & some crisps every 2.5 / 3 hours or so.

No idea... but you don't *need* gus/gels or whatever else. I've had some of my best performances on water, bananas, half a PB&J and rice crispy treats. I will say that gus/gels are WAY easier to carry.

No idea... but you don't *need* gus/gels or whatever else. I've had some of my best performances on water, bananas, half a PB&J and rice crispy treats. I will say that gus/gels are WAY easier to carry.

I hate eating "real" food when I ride. I like something fruity and chewy.

Clif shots double espresso, GU, Honey stinger waffles, Sports beans, regular Clif bars. I try to eat every 45-60min.

that's fine. My point was that you can get whatever you need, be it sugars or sodium or whatever else, through regular food. You don't need gels or blocks or gu.

20 ounce water every 45 minutes,
GU gel every 60 minutes. If ride is going to be longer than 2 hours

20 ounce water every 45 minutes,
GU gel every 60 minutes. If ride is going to be longer than 2 hours

can we have that in civilised measures for the rest of the world...

20 onces is just over 600 ml.

I usually don't take anything but water for rides under two hours unless it's really hot and then I'll put an electrolyte in the water. I don't normally drink caffeine so I can't take the caffeinated drinks or it gives me stomach cramps. On rides over two hours I found mixing Gatorade 1/2 and 1/2 with water gives me electrolytes and sugars. For over 3 hours I'll take a couple cliff bars in addition to the fluids and eat about 1/2 every hour. I try to plow through a 700 ml bottle every hour whether it's hot or not. I plan accordingly and carry one bottle or each hour of the ride or carry cash to stop at the store and refill if it's more than four hours.