Race Day Meal Advice - cyclist

worldtraveller321
worldtraveller321 Posts: 150 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello all doing a Fat Bike cycling event next week, it will be about 40 miles in the snow. time line of event can up of riding up to 6 hours. I have done many cycling events like this before, where i was riding 8 hours +
Just like some extra feedback perhaps in eating wise. day before and day of the event for something like this
thanks

Replies

  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
    More important than your pre-race meal, what is your plan for nutrition during the race?

    The morning of a long race I usually eat something incredibly carby/sugary like a chocolate chip muffin. And usually a couple gels before the start.

    For a 6-8 hour event you are going to want to be taking in fuel during the actual event. When racing at endurance paces I personally had an efficiency test done that measured me at 800 calories per hour. Most people burn at a 600ish calories per hour rate and the conventional wisdom is to replace half of that.

    So 300/hr x 6 hours you will want to carry on the order of 1800 calories with you. I use Hammer Perpetuem mixed into a 1000 calorie bottle. The rest I usually carry gels for.

  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
    I guess it also depends on what this event is. Are you actually racing this? IE - are you going to be pushing pretty hard for 6 straight hours?

    If not you can get away with much less fuel. That 1800 figure I threw out there is assuming you are racing and trying to win or at least perform "well" for whatever that means to you.

    For what its worth, for a full Ironman I generally take in about 500 calories before the swim, a 100 calorie gel on swim-exit, close to 2000 calories during the bike, and around another 1200 during the run. But that is fueling for an 11 hour day.
  • worldtraveller321
    worldtraveller321 Posts: 150 Member
    thanks for advice, yes i will be i usually try to do my best, i am no podium finisher, but i push and ride to my best. so all help is needd. I was using perpetuem last year for a few 100 mile mt bike events, helped well as well the hammer Gels, good invention
    however i try to consume real food when i can if there are bananas offered at the aid stations
  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
    I would love to have real food while racing but my stomach doesn't tolerate solids (beyond the gummi type stuff) when I am pushing hard. If you are stopping at aid stations then solid food becomes much more practical.
  • worldtraveller321
    worldtraveller321 Posts: 150 Member
    nice. Ya i was wanting to change my training plans, to try to get faster, i feel i can still improve,
    ya the hammer gels are quite yummy , used the chocolate ones and coffee flavour
  • mudmonkeyonwheels
    mudmonkeyonwheels Posts: 426 Member
    When I was racing I always had pasta and chicken in some form the day before the race. On the morning of the race I would try and have a mixture of low and high GI (usually something like porridge with brown sugar and toast with honey). During races I also struggled to stomach food but found that Gu Chomps were great- not sure if you can get them where you are but essentially you could swallow them after only 1 or 2 chews and your body digests them like a liquid so a great option if you struggle with gels. In a longer race I would probably have the entire pack + a handful of giant jelly beans if things got tough and some sort of electrolyte in my bottle. Not sure if that helps at all but that is what worked for me :) Good luck for your race.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    My husband does long MTB races. He usually has pancakes and a banana for breakfast. You'll want carb heavy but easy to digest (not a lot of fiber). I think you are supposed to eat your big meal, what 4 hours before start time? (I know it's ridiculously early). He also can't handle food while races and just does Carbo Rocket 333 and Gu Chomps (I don't know how his teeth don't fall out afterwards). If real food works for you go for it, but remember a banana only has about 100 calories. The 300 calories per hour is a pretty good goal, so combine your bananas with gels or a drink, or maybe even peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (those frozen uncrustables are super easy to grab although in a snow race they might stay frozen which is bad). Every racer is different, some like condensed chicken soup.
  • worldtraveller321
    worldtraveller321 Posts: 150 Member
    thanks

Categories