Originally Posted by
jrkotrla
Signed up like a fool for the
Tejas 500. Not asking for advise on how to train, as it's way to late for something with as much foresight as that at any rate
, but on what to eat/drink on the ride.
Talked to the organizer and he suggested staying on the bike and going slower as a much better strategy for finishing within the 48hr time limit than doing quick sprints around the 26mile course and resting between. Given this, I'll be spinning on the bike continuously for however long it takes me to finish and/or fall asleep and crash (with necessary stops to switch bikes/tires/bio).
For those of you who have done these things, what do you use for fuel?
I have never done such a ride/race but I can tell you that for me real food is important. Since this race is done on a circuit I assume they will have a feed area where you can store a cooler of food. I would take a big cooler full of ice and cans of V8. Small sandwiches made with wheat bread, small amount of protein and lots of raw veggies on them. Make them about the size so you can eat one small one each lap. I would also take some electrolyte drops to add to my water instead of Gatorade. The best thing you could do would be to make a small protein shake every two laps out of raw milk and some high quality whey protein. One world whey protein is far and above the best but it is really expensive. It would be worth it for this race though. So you could stop for about 1 minute each lap and grab a sandwich and V8 to eat on the bike. Then stop for about 4-5 minutes every other lap and make a small whey protein shake. You can also throw a few apples and bananas in the cooler to take on the bike to eat while riding. After about 4-5 hours you may get a raging appetite since you are really starting to burn a lot of calories.
Good luck.