qwer

Hi everybody,

I've been starting to do a 60/80 mile ride once a week. No competition, pure endurance. The first two times I've been eating pasta one hour before, only been drinking water during the ride and got pretty tired with cramps in my thighs during a relatively steep 4 mile slope towards the end.

The next two times I've been using a higher cadence whenever possible, have not only been drinking water but also took a magnesium tab before and during the ride. This has been an improvement. Last time I've also been eating two bananas during the ride. This has been the best result so far and no cramps on the 4 mile slope towards the end of the ride anymore.

What kind of eat/drink system do you use on longer rides? Preferably without special gels, food bars etc.

shelbyfv

What were you thinking? A couple of Clif bars is my choice for that distance. If you don't like bars, a PBJ is good. Add a banana, even better.

RR3

Never eat any sooner than 2 hours and preferably 3 hours before the start of a long ride because of the insulin release that impairs the burning of fat resulting in an early depletion of glycogen

Eat a little every half hour. Little as in about 100 calories. Depending upon work output, temperature, and conditioning, an athlete can consume from 150-350 calories per hour maximum with 200 calories a good rule of thumb to start with. We are all different.

I eat maltodextrin in my bottle because it is extremely cheap and does not have a high osmolality at high concentrations like other carbohydrate sources.

On a really long ride (400Km or more), I treat myself with chocolate milk and salty cashews or salty almonds or salty bakes potato chips. Somehow chocolate milk just gets me going. High frustose corn syrup beverages don't work for me nor does fructose (GI issues and gas).

trainsktg

Nothing fancy for me. I usually eat eggs, toast and oatmeal 2-3 hours prior to the ride and alternate between a fig bar, a protein bar and granola hourly during the ride. I drink 12-18 oz. of water per hour depending on temperature, with two electrolyte tablets every other bottle of water. I also like to supplement electrolytes with Emergen-C, but not always. I've been trying to keep cadence in the 90rpm range, although lately I've been experimenting with a much lower 60rpm while on gravel.

Keith

StephenH

On typical longer rides, we stop about every 30 miles. I eat whatever sounds good at the time. That may include breakfast sandwiches, fast food, cookies, you name it. Later in a ride, different stuff sounds good and along in a 400k, Beanie Wienie and Vienna sausages start sounding good.

c.miller64

For a 60-80 mile ride, just eat a good breakfast 1-2 hours before the ride and drink Gatorade (or any other sports drink that you find palatable) instead of water while you're riding. If you still have a problem it's most likely not due to nutrition. As to cadence, ride at whatever cadence feels comfortable to *you*. I've seen far more long distance cyclists suffer from riding at too high a cadence than too low. Anywhere between 60-85 is fine.

qwer

Thanks for the replies everyone.

@ shelbyfv - I'm drinking tap water

@ trainsktg/c.miller64 - my cadence is normally +/- 70rpm. On steeper grades or when I feel that I have to start to use more power (headwinds etc) I've started to one gear lower than normal, but I'm almost never above 80rpm.

trainsktg

Yep. I've developed quite a chronic right knee pain this winter. It pretty much coincided with upping my normal 75-80rpm cadence to 90rpm while simultaneously upping my mileage. The last two weekends I dropped my cadence significantly while still climbing over 17,000 feet and my knee feels great. I'm going to go back to a lower cadence on the flats next and see how well my knee holds up over the 100-mile rides.

Keith

DirtRoadRunner

For that length of ride, I typically eat 1-4 gels (either Gu's or Hammers, or perhaps Humas if I'm feeling rich) and one smaller snack (like a candy bar), along with a Gatorade/Powerade (20 oz) and enough water to quench my thirst.

Today I did a 116-mile ride with 8k feet of climbing (spread out in numerous 100-350 ft high hills). I ate every 10-20 miles, mixing up gels, packets of peanut butter crackers, Fig Newtons, and a couple of candy bars with Gatorade and water. At mile 100, I rolled into a town and had a 6" sub and chips at Subway. I felt significantly better after eating the sub - and was quite a bit faster on the last 16 miles home. Having some real food just seemed to help me out after 100 miles of eating carb-heavy gas station snacks. So adding a lunch in the middle of a big ride can be beneficial - at least for me. I had several steep climbs after the lunch and did not get any stomach cramps (which I had worried about).

Machka 

Eat a normal breakfast

Eat about 200 cal/hour while you ride. Real food works well ... granola bars, oatmeal raisin cookies, etc.

Be sure to consume electrolytes if it is hot (salted almonds are a good source of electrolytes)

Drink about one 750 ml bottles of water every 1 to 1.5 hours.

c.miller64

Unless you're a road/crit racer, cadences above your self-selected cadence are inefficient at best, and damaging at worst.

LD riders and racers usually perform much better at the lower cadences- even the majority of faster ones. Last years RAAM winner and record breaker Christoph Strasser had an average cadence of 70 during race.

ThermionicScott 

Gas station pizza and chocolate milk at every stop works for me.

pdlamb

Like StephenH, I like to take 5-10 minutes off every couple hours (25-35 miles). Find a convenience store or gas station, refill the water bottles, and see what looks good. Alternatively, you can find a fire station or park with a water fountain sometimes, and take some sort of "energy" bar. Snickers taste great, they're easy to digest, and they should be bought along the way because they'll melt in the summer heat if you try to bring them.

clasher

I used to take a couple of baked potatoes for metric centuries and recently got into Dr. Lim's style potatoes and his rice cakes are good too. They might be a bit bulky for a jersey pocket but otherwise I can't find much to complain about them. I try and avoid greasy food or heavy lunches, first time I tried a 200km ride I had to turn in after 160 due to eating too much Chinese food at lunch.

trainsktg

Agreed. I think I learned that...the hard way.

Keith

HBCruiser1

I used to eat a rather large breakfast 2 hours before, but lately I've been training my body to do 60 on just a Powerbar or similar. On longer rides I'm learning to listen to my body. My big lesson was my first 120 miler on my SS beach cruiser a couple of months ago. I'd never drank soda on rides but around the 95 mile mark was bonking and craving sugar big time. Stopped at a Subway, grabbed a Coke and a cookie, sat down for about 10-15 minutes and after that felt like a new man that had only done around 20 miles! Sometimes I'll crave salt and a bag of chips really hits the spot, or try some nuts as some have suggested especially if you've been sweating a lot. +1 on the Snickers, the original Powerbar! +100 on chocolate milk! Experiment, that's what training rides are about, learning what your body prefers and what sustains you. Enjoy the ride.