Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Nutrition

Any recommendations or favorites for nutrition when riding. I've started stretching out my rides....up to about 3 hours. Have been sampling different protein or energy bars. I'm also mixing 1/2 water, 1/2 Gatorade while riding.

I like:

salted almonds
beef jerky
pastries
cookies
fruit
dried fruit

Have been sampling different protein or energy bars. I'm also mixing 1/2 water, 1/2 Gatorade while riding. Paying attention to your needs on long rides is half the battle. As long as you "log" or otherwise remember what works and what doesn't you'll improve. Simply guessing, or using some other cyclist's advice is worthless.

I find that I like to be constantly changing what I eat on rides. It's not like I eat completely different food on each ride, but I'll eat Cliff Bars on rides for a couple months until I get to the point where just seeing the Cliff Bar wrapper in the store makes me nauseous. Then I'll try bagels and cream cheese for a while, or pop tarts, or fig newtons, or... There are many choices out there that can work. It doesn't have to be expensive "performance food." Basically my requirements are about ease of digestion, caloric content, and how well it survives being stuffed in a jersey pocket.

Any recommendations or favorites for nutrition when riding. I've started stretching out my rides....up to about 3 hours. Have been sampling different protein or energy bars. I'm also mixing 1/2 water, 1/2 Gatorade while riding.

Continue to experiment. You'll find that your tastes and needs change as your rides get longer and they'll change again during the long rides themselves. What you thought was good at 100 miles might be unappetizing at mile 200.

My usual suspects for on-bike food are those packages of Keebler peanut butter crackers and Nature Valley granola bars (both the hard oat & honey ones and the softer fruit & nut ones). Sometimes I stick a Coke in a jersey pocket and sip on it for a few hours. Gatorade starts out mixed at full strength, and then cut 1:1 with water, and then gets abandoned all together on anything longer than 400K (it just tastes too sweet and "sharp" to me as the ride progresses). I've tried Perpetuum and didn't care for it. Bananas and sliced oranges are favorites. Chocolate milk is a favorite at stops. Big fan of Cool Ranch Doritos, too. Sometimes I carry cafe au laite in a water bottle. Picked that one up at PBP.

When randonneuring, I'll keep to a normal eating schedule, eating three sit-down meals a day. I'll eat more and quite a bit fattier foods than I would in my civilian, non-riding life. For example, on our fleche this past weekend we had a big breakfast at a local diner before the start of the ride, lunch at a local pizza restaurant, lunch #2 at a Subway, dinner at another pizza/pasta restaurant, and then breakfast at a local diner at the finish. Along the route we stopped in a cafe for coffee and pastery in the morning, and then various convenience stores throughout the rest of the day and night for munchies and drinks.

See what works for others and it'll give you some ideas for what to experiment with to determine what might work best for you. Five years into doing long rides, I'm still figuring it out, and that's part of the fun. Good luck!

Here's what works for me: Cytomax and Clif Shot Bloks while riding (aiming for 200-300 cal/hr). Cheeseburgers, strawberry Quik (400 cal/bottle!!), Starbucks Frappucino, V8, pretzels, chips, Mtn Dew, meat snacks and anything else that strikes my fancy at break time. Hi-carb stuff in the saddle, more protein, fat and salt in between.

Eat (and drink) more than you think you need to, and don't ride so hard you can't keep eating and drinking while pedaling.

SP
Bend, OR

bananas; raisins; chicken sandwiches; salted water; mineral supplements; protein powder in fruit juice; snickers bar and Gatorade for fun and flavor

Any recommendations or favorites for nutrition when riding. I've started stretching out my rides....up to about 3 hours. Have been sampling different protein or energy bars. I'm also mixing 1/2 water, 1/2 Gatorade while riding.

Try out some different nutrition/hydration drinks. I find a big difference from when I used to use gatorade.

As The Octopus said, you will find that your needs change over time. I used to eat energy bars on centuries, then when I graduated to multiple centuries in a row -- a cross country ride -- what I needed during the ride changed -- gels and a solid lunch and finally (if there is a finally) with longer Brevets -- 400k, 600k -- little to no solid food. I'm still experimenting.

Sometimes a big sugary pastry hits the spot. Last weekend I was 50 (hilly) miles into a 70 mile loop near my house and was just slogging. I stopped at a well loved and regionally famous bakery (Black Diamond Bakery) and devoured a whole wheat frosted apple cinnamon roll.

That made the last 20 miles feel very fast.

amazing how long rides allow us to eat as much as we want

Sometimes a big sugary pastry hits the spot. Last weekend I was 50 (hilly) miles into a 70 mile loop near my house and was just slogging. I stopped at a well loved and regionally famous bakery (Black Diamond Bakery) and devoured a whole wheat frosted apple cinnamon roll.

That made the last 20 miles feel very fast.

That's what I ate on the Chili Feed 200k. Made the climb to Greenwater almost tolerable as I was watching the lead riders coming down the hill.