Training & Nutrition - What type of food to replenish energy?

Can anyone tell me what it is they eat/drink during their rides to replenish their energy?

I am just starting to get out and bike more but in my other sport, competitive sailboat racing, I'm tired of eating Luna bar after Luna bar in between races. And I'm looking for something besides the bottles of water.

Typically we're on the water all day and a single race can last 30mins. to 2 hours depending on conditions. Sometimes there is an opportunity to eat during the race but usually we are trying to stay focused and our only opportunity to eat is between races.

Thanks for your help.

Food high in carbohydrates. Gatorade/powerade are the drinks. Anything sweet is my preference. :D Only problem with sugar is that it absorbs water, so too much might dehydrate you. :(

Stick with the drinks.

I use date newtons and (now that I found a cheap souce) to a lesser extent powerBars. For drink I buy powered gatorade $4 for a tin and makes at least 10 or 15 bottles worth.

Great source of energy Spire.. only prob with Date Newtons (or Fig Newtons) is the use of partially dehydrogenated fats as well as the wrong kind of flour..

Figs and dates are excellent by themselves, just too sticky.. I'm trying to figure out a way to make them less sticky.. e.g. roll in cocos flakes and freeze or cool very much?
If you have no objections against chemical stuff, powdered gatorade is prob the best bet..

Ivana

Gu or other energy bars may help.

Fruits can be a quickie for you also. Gravitate towards the less messy fruits, especially the bananas, since they can give you some quickie potassium, which can really help with muscle replenishment.

Gatorade will perform miracles for you- and you can get almost any flavor these days. I like it ice cold with a slight slushiness from the freezer. Try orange juice too. OJ can have the same effect as gatorade.

Originally posted by fietser_ivana
Great source of energy Spire.. only prob with Date Newtons (or Fig Newtons) is the use of partially dehydrogenated fats as well as the wrong kind of flour..

Ivana

The dehydrogenated fats and oil subject is very true. But there are plenty of brands of Fig-Bars that you can buy at natural co-ops that are made from all natural oils and non-refined flours.

I'd say the best things to eat for energy are natural whole foods. Bananas, pears, oranges, nuts, etc.

The theory is that you really will not replenish energy on a ride. Carbohydrates available for use by your muscles are in the form of glycogen and it takes time for the body to replenish the stocks. A snack on the bike just will not do it.

I have found that on long rides, various things do help but probably by giving the nonmuscular tissues something to burn and saving the glycogen for the muscles (if the theory is right).

Lots of people love expensive, high tech energy foods and bars. I NEVER eat these. I mean you CAN eat them if you really WANT to but who would want to? I have had good results from oranges, bananas, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (mainly jelly and bread), pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, water melon!, fig newtons, and so on.

I recall one ride I did in a cold drizzle. It was a Sunday morning and nothing was open and we got HUNGRY. After 50 miles we found a little diner and each had coffee and a pecan pancake with syrup. We hit the road for the last 17 miles and it was like the pancake had been directly injected into our bloodstreams. What a rush.

A friend of mine tells me that she was feeling wasted after 70 miles in a century so she got a one lb chocolate bar and washed it down with 2 liters of mountain dew (WARNING DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME). She dropped all her friends and finally flamed out about 3 miles from the finish.

People's response to different foods and exercise varies widely. I know some people who have a hard time keeping anything down during a long ride and they swear by GU (one of those hi tech things but in this case it makes sense).

Fig bars are a good, cheap source of carbs, and low fat. I get one lb at walmart for 88 cents. There are 20 fig bars in a lb, each bar has 90 calories, 15 calories from fat. That's 1800 high carb, low fat calories for under a buck.

Banana!!!! yummy too......