Training & Nutrition - Food suggestions on rides 2hrs and under

I do alot of rides that hit the 2 hr mark and i've typically been brining just some pretzels, one water bottle with gatorade powder and another with water. I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions for food on rides 1-2 hours, when i do 3-4 hour rides i try and consume roughly 200 calories every hour from the start, with alittle less in the first and last hour but i'm kinda stumped on what to do for the 2 hour rides.

Me personally, I take just water and either a English muffin with PB + Jelly or, 1 can of Ensure Plus or equiv. I've been trying to get away from that sweet stuff like energy bars and such.

knotty

I don't really consider it necessary to eat anything on a 2hr ride.

I only bring the energy bars if the ride is going to be over 2 hours, if i'm doing 4 hours lets say i'll bring two power bars 1 pack of gu as an emergency and in the first hour i'll eat something real like whole grain pretzels, i'd like even more to bring a cliff bar and a power bar to mix it up.

Right now I just ran out of my store of pretzels and want to try something different, maybe something a little less dry that doesn't choke me.

I was thinking of bringing nothing on 2 hour rides but i always feel i get a shot of power and enjoy the ride more when i eat something at the end of the first hour.

Take one bottle of HEED or Cytomax and try not to use it at all. Don't drink until you start feeling light-headed, maybe at 1.5 hrs., maybe not at all. Then drink a bunch if you need to. Just ride through that first pang at about 45 minutes. Trains you to not be so food-sensitive when you ride. Plus loses weight. You can't get significantly dehydrated in that short a time.

I just take lots and lots of water. Now I perspire profusely and I live in Central Florida (so the need for water is obvious). I don't really need to eat until I do a ride of longer than 3 hours. However, your experience may vary. You could take a banana and eat it about halfway into the ride. Bananas are cheap, nutritious, and they come in biodegradeable packaging.

I do my rides in the morning. So I just have a good oatmeal breakfast 300-400 calories. For a ride I just have water, and when I come back reduced fat chocolate milk from Trader Joes 320 calories.
For three hour rides I usually have two bottles with Gu2O and a cliff bar. For three and a half - four hour rides I bring another cliff bar or boiled potato. Chocolate milk right after as a recovery drink, and breakfast is usually 400-500 calories of oatmeal goodness. It's not that I "need" so much food, but I honestly can't eat enough off the bike to fullfill calorie deficit. So eating on the bike helps. Plus boiled potato on hour three hits the spot. :)

Hmm so maybe for my two hour rides i should bring one pack of GU or a few fig bars, i've been meaning to try those, that would be around 250 calories, not too much. I think for rides from 3-4 hours i might be eating too much, next time i'll bring one power/cliff bar.

I was thinking of bringing nothing on 2 hour rides but i always feel i get a shot of power and enjoy the ride more when i eat something at the end of the first hour.

Me too. A GU every hour works well for me.

I really like the pretzels, they whole wheat and bring you a 120 calories that releases into your system more slowly than energy foods the only problem is when your breathing heavy through your mouth they kinda choke you because they take so long to chew up and they really absorb your spit. I was thinking of doing the fig bars.

I wouldn't eat anything on a 2-hour ride. I do that most evenings in the summer after work when I haven't eaten anything in the prior 5 hours or so, and I don't have any trouble.

hmm i'll give that a shot on my next 2 hour.

I was told though on 3-4 hour rides you should be consuming 250 calories/hr starting from the 1st hour so that your body is already metabolizing and digesting rather than over loading it at the start of the 3rd hour. I totally agree with this.

I wouldn't eat anything on a 2 hour ride unless it is a very high pace (e.g. race)

My 2 hour rides are typically 17-18 mph average, no rests. I would say thats pretty average.

My 2 hour rides are typically 17-18 mph average, no rests. I would say thats pretty average.

What % of LT or Max HR is that for you?

couldn't tell you, i don't even know what LT is.

anything over 2 hours i eat.... Barbara's whole wheat fig bars... They're so delicious and soft and don't use any added sugar.

Me personally, I take just water and either a English muffin with PB + Jelly or, 1 can of Ensure Plus or equiv. I've been trying to get away from that sweet stuff like energy bars and such.

knotty

??? :p

I just found these things cal larabars and they're fruit and nuts with no added sugar, they're pretty good and easy to digest, i might try and bring one along on a ride to switch it up from a power bar

2 hour rides would be water and nothing else. I'd carry a gell in case of emergencies.

2 hour rides, I take 2 bottles and some clif bloks just in case.. I rarely need the the clif bloks..

Well I went on a 2 hour hill frenzy on Sunday and didn't bring anything except a bottle of water and a bottle of water w/just a little bit of gatorade powder in it, and i felt great. I just had half a bran muffin on top of my regular breakfast before i left and finished the other half with a sandwich after the ride.

Now I'm just trying to figure out what works best for 4 hour rides, eating from the start of the ride or starting to break into the food towards the middle of the ride.

I find that my food intake will depend on the intensity in relation to the time and not just the time. If I am just biking 4 hrs at a comfortable pace, my eating will differ from if I am doing tempo intervals and hill climbs.

It was 2 hours of grueling hills...

Well I went on a 2 hour hill frenzy on Sunday and didn't bring anything except a bottle of water and a bottle of water w/just a little bit of gatorade powder in it, and i felt great. I just had half a bran muffin on top of my regular breakfast before i left and finished the other half with a sandwich after the ride.

Now I'm just trying to figure out what works best for 4 hour rides, eating from the start of the ride or starting to break into the food towards the middle of the ride.

Well that really depends on what you are eating. For example cliff bars take a while to digest. I think the website mentions something around 2 hours. So it's best to start after an hour, and then stop an hour before the end, with some recovery drink right after you come back. On the other hand gels are absorbed and hit your blood stream quicker, so you can start eating a bit later on the ride, but you have to continue eating them.

I used to follow the conventional wisdom of not eating if the ride is 2 hours or less. However, I am going to put Hammer Gel in my bottle or carry a flask and take some during hard 2-hour training rides this summer. I have already started putting Perpetuem in my bottles recently and feel stronger on short rides. I have also started eating a banana or something right before the ride. Plus I want to get used to the taste of Perpetuem so that I can go exclusively Perpetuem and Hammer Gel for the Ride Across Indiana this Summer. I am anxious to see how well the Hammer Gel flavors the Perpetuem. All Hammer products can be mixed if I understand correctly.

What I was thinking of doing for my 85 mile ride next weekend which will probably take a bit under 5 hours because I'm going to go slow is ramping it up from real food to energy fods.

0:00-59:00 - eat nothing just water
1:00-1:59 - fig bars about 200-250 calories worth
2:00-2:59 - LaraBar (220 calories natural fruit/nut bar, no additives)
3:00-3:59 - Power Bar
4:00-4:59 - Power Bar if needed
4:00-?:?? - Emergency Pack of Gu

That would bring me near a 1000 calories with the bottle of gatorade I would bring and some cliff blocks in there. What would you guys change from that list?

I did about 50 miles of quite hilly roads in VA on Saturday:

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/va/upperville/535717076

At about 25 miles I had a Trader Joes "Blueberry Walks Into a Bar" bar (like a fig newton with blueberries - 140 calories) and some dried flavored plums (about 200 calories). That was about right for me. My legs were feeling it, but I never came close to bonk.

What I was thinking of doing for my 85 mile ride next weekend which will probably take a bit under 5 hours because I'm going to go slow is ramping it up from real food to energy fods.

0:00-59:00 - eat nothing just water
1:00-1:59 - fig bars about 200-250 calories worth
2:00-2:59 - LaraBar (220 calories natural fruit/nut bar, no additives)
3:00-3:59 - Power Bar
4:00-4:59 - Power Bar if needed
4:00-?:?? - Emergency Pack of Gu

That would bring me near a 1000 calories with the bottle of gatorade I would bring and some cliff blocks in there. What would you guys change from that list?

Try it and see how you feel. There is no one right answer, everyone is different. Last 85 miler I did was on a bottle of Gu2O, fish burrito, and boiled potato. Potato wasn't really necessary, but I figured I brought it along might as well eat it. Generally I like to have some calories in my water in case I forget to eat, and it's a more steady intake of calories then gels or power bars.

i just eat at the end.

What I was thinking of doing for my 85 mile ride next weekend which will probably take a bit under 5 hours because I'm going to go slow is ramping it up from real food to energy fods.

0:00-59:00 - eat nothing just water
1:00-1:59 - fig bars about 200-250 calories worth
...........

I dont understand what your trying to accomplish by holding off for the first hour and 'ramping' up food intake. If your planning a ride for 5+ hours, your going to burn say 500 calories an hour, you dont have that many calories in your muscles to start with, so you need to ingest some during your ride. Eating them at the beginning will help, anything you eat in the final hour probably wont even make it into your system to do anything.

There is no need to rethink or reinvent all this. Search the forum, check machka's site, randoneering sites, etc. The general rule is start ingesting 300 calories an hour every hour, from the start. The limiting factor in distances is that your body can only take in 300 or so calories an hour but you can burn 2x that cycling. So eventually you run out. Delaying your intake wont help.

Personally I tend to underdo the calories, and do a century with only a few gells and a few bottles of heed.

Thats what i've been doing, i was thinking of making giving it a shot not eating in the first hour but i think you might be right.

I do really well w/ a banana half-way through a two hour ride.

#1. Before you ride, while you ride, and after you ride ... especially while you ride ... eat what you like. Eat what tastes good to you. Eat what will sit well in your stomach. Eat what you crave. (Just be careful about getting too carried away with the curry and spicy mexican food ... they may be what you crave on a ride, but may not sit well later. :D)

#2. For a ride which is approx. 2 hours, I will eat something before I go ... breakfast cereal, poptarts, toast and honey, bagals, cookies, pizza, whatever. I aim to consume somewhere in the neighborhood of 400-600 calories. On the ride I carry a water bottle, a bottle with HEED, and an oatmeal raisin cookie or a rice crispy square ... just in case I need them. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

#3. For rides longer than approx. 2 hours, I eat something before I go ... breakfast cereal, poptarts, toast and honey, bagals, cookies, pizza, can of Ensure, whatever. I aim to consume somewhere in the neighborhood of 400-600 calories. On the ride I carry a water bottle, a bottle with HEED, and some other food. Usually that "other food" comes in the form of things like ... cereal bars, granola bars, rice crispy squares, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, and that sort of thing.

#4. For rides longer than approx. 2 hours, I have something to eat before I go, as mentioned above, but then about 30 minutes into the ride, I'll start NIBBLING on the food I brought with me. NOTE: I NIBBLE. I do not cram the whole cookie into my mouth and tell myself I've eaten my 250 calories for Hour 1. I have tried that method in the past, and found it only made me feel ill and feel like not eating anymore. But nibbling works for me.

My cookies, etc. are in my Bento box where they are easily accessible, and about 30 minutes into the ride, I take one bite, and wash it down with a bit of water or HEED. 5 or 10 minutes later, I take another bite and wash it down with water or HEED. 5 or 10 minutes later ... etc. So I am consuming 250 calories per hour spread out over the hour. This means that my stomach is not suddenly attacked with 250 calories ... it gets a little bit and has some time to start the digestive process, so it is never overloaded. And basically, I'm eating all the way through the entire ride. If I start to feel full, or have to concentrate on climbing a hill or something, I'll back off on the eating for a little while, and then resume when I can again.

#5. When you have become an experienced century/long distance rider (and other experienced century/long distance riders will attest to this over in the LD forum), you may be able to do long rides on little or no food. This is because your body will have become trained to use it's own fuel reserves. Nevertheless, even then I always advise bringing food because you just never know what might happen out there on a long ride which will disrupt your body's ability to do this. And until you've been riding long distances for a few years I don't recommend trying it.

I should add that while I don't usually eat on a 2 hour ride, I bonked pretty hard after an hour of crit practice last week. ouch. Someone offered me a gel, but in my stupor I decided to limp home and make a smoothie. I hadn't eaten for a while beforehand and I wasn't expecting it to last so long, so remember to factor in prior meals and intensity when determining what to bring/eat while you ride.

My goal is to eat during a ride to try keep my blood sugar constant rather than let it drop down during the workout and eat too much after.

I'll generally go through a single (big) water bottle of accelerade on a two-hour ride, and maybe a newton or two if I feel like something extra in my stomach.

Gatorade, nothing else for 2 hours.

For a fast two hour ride i'll take one carb/electrolyte gel and two bottles of water

20 oz of water should be enough on a 2 hr ride...anything over 2 hrs i usually eat a clif bar and try to drink a bottle per hour.

your going to burn say 500 calories an hour, you dont have that many calories in your muscles to start with

Please cite source. My reading has indicated that you have stores for about 90 minutes in your muscles... my math works out like this: 90 mins at 18mph = 27 miles x ~50 cals/mile = 1350 cals in muscle stores.

Please cite source. My reading has indicated that you have stores for about 90 minutes in your muscles... my math works out like this: 90 mins at 18mph = 27 miles x ~50 cals/mile = 1350 cals in muscle stores.

Reread the post. I never said muscles only had 500 calories, I said they dont have 5 hours worth.

If my ride is 2 hours or under I don't even bother with water (unless it's really hot out). Am I the only one?

I don't eat on rides under 2.5 hrs anymore but i always drink 2 bottles of water...whats the point of bypassing the water? I've seen too many people get ****ed up from dehydration without even knowing it doing sports and not doing sports.

Reread the post. I never said muscles only had 500 calories, I said they dont have 5 hours worth.

Right...I've got stop using beer as a recovery drink.

I hydrate before and after short rides like this and haven't had issues with dehydration. I used to bring water but found I didn't need it. I eat lots of fruit and vegetables and normally drink lots of water and not much alcohol or caffeine, so I don't think I'm at too much risk.

I hydrate before and after short rides like this and haven't had issues with dehydration. I used to bring water but found I didn't need it. I eat lots of fruit and vegetables and normally drink lots of water and not much alcohol or caffeine, so I don't think I'm at too much risk.

As an eagle scout myself, even if I'm not planning on drinking the water, some might not be a bad idea as a just in case measure. What if you get held up on your ride or come across someone whose cut, dehydrated, etc. Even though you may not need it, water isn't something I'd want to bring none of. Point being I'd rather have enough gear with me to improvise (I'm not talking about bringing everything you might ever need on a bike ride) than to need something and not have it.

I always take a bottle of water on rides however short. One time I got some dust in my eye and thankfully a stream of water from the bottle washed it out. Otherwise, I might have possibly scratched the cornea. Even on a short ride, many times you get dry mouth or something and that water is a relief.

knotty

i only use nuun on short rides, it has electrolytes but no carbs