Samuraidog

I've recently been trying to cut sugar out of my diet. I've gone two weeks now with almost no sugar (including fruits). Overall, I feel better, but long bike rides concern me. I don't want to become hypoglycemic, dehydrated, or completely run out of energy.

Even with sugary hydration sports drinks, I tend to bonk on long rides. Cytomax and PowerBar Peform seem to help, but I don't want all of the sugar contained in those drinks. A poster in another thread stated that it is a myth that your body needs carbs on long rides.

Can anyone give some advice for staying hydrated and maintaining peak levels on long rides while avoiding sugar?

Thanks.

therhodeo

What exactly do you mean by "peak levels" in regards to hydration? What kind of distance are you dealing with?

Samuraidog

Sorry. I didn't elaborate because I didn't want to make the post too lengthy.

My typical rides are 30~70 miles. Please disregard the "peak levels" part of that question. I guess I just want to be able to take long rides without bonking (while avoiding sugar).

mvnsnd

You should be able to do 30-40 miles with no food and just a low calorie hydration drink in your bottle. Beyond 40 miles, you may want to take a small snack that has some carbs to fuel your system and some protein to hold you over. I know guys who use a fruit and nut mix for that. Perhaps look for low carb bars like the Quest ones. The reality is that you'll need some carbs at some point even if you cut pure sugar.

I like Lara bars as they contain figs which are good in potassium.

dalava

Beyond certain point in your ride (depending on your effort and metabolism) you simply burn more than you can take in, the trick to avoid bonking is to take in calories periodically that are easy to digest and quick release which most likely will contain some sugar and carb.

Heathpack 

Glycogen is used while cycling for efforts that are close to your anaerobic threshold. Fatty acids are used when you are well below threshold, working purely aerobically. If you ride well below threshold, you can in theory ride without taking in any carbohydrate, just by riding on stored fat. So one strategy you might follow if you want to avoid sugar is to just ride slowly and not worry about taking anything in while cycling. Or eat fat or protein which you should be able to digest if riding at low intensity.

However, I'm not sure why you're avoiding sugar, but generally speaking this is counter-productive for cycling performance. If you want to ride with any intensity, you will need to fuel those rides with carbs and also replenish your body's glycogen after your rides. The easiest carbohydrates for your body to absorb, especially while riding intensely, are sugars. The rules of good nutrition off the bike are very different than the rules of good nutrition on the bike. Instead of sugar, you could eat other simple carbs like pretzels or crackers or the like.

caloso

I will typically do 30-40 miles on two eggs and a cup of coffee. Beyond that, I will need something else, usually a Clif Bar or a gel.

Samuraidog

How about Nuun electrolyte tablets? Anybody had any success with those? How about any other electrolyte drinks?

caloso

Electrolyte tablets prevent cramping, not bonking, which is a different issue. But yes, NUUN tablets work great. I use Gatorade because it's cheap, effective, and available everywhere.

OldTryGuy

Ever noticed that after eating a meal you feel full and sometimes need to relax because your stomach is full? Guess what, you're feeling this way because the food you ate is SITTING IN YOUR STOMACH being broken down with the aid of acids and oxygenated blood. When you are bicycling and eating the same digestion process takes place but now your leg muscles are being denied their fuel, oxygenated blood, because it is being used for digestion.

Often times it takes more than an hour for the food eaten while bicycling to be digested and during this time it is sitting in the stomach using oxygenated blood to help turn that food into energy. If you are happy eating a pb&j sandwich and having it sit for an hour or longer taking oxygenated blood away from your leg muscles thus reducing your ability to perform at peak levels, then go for the slowly digested foods and drinks and deal with the consequences.

If you want QUICKLY ABSORBED FUEL, eat dates, raisins, apricots, applesauce AND those much maligned gels that have been formulated to release their energy very quickly with a minimal amount of blood being used to affect the process. GELS get their stored energy out of the stomach VERY QUICKLY AND THUS THE FEELING OF POWER 10 minutes after it passes your lips not the hour or longer regular food can take.

I use Crank Sports e-gel and e-fuel without the need for NUUN tabs that yields no energy benefits or other gels that yield far less carbs and electrolytes. What's The Best Energy Gel? Why Buy e-Gel, See How e-Gel compares to competitive energy gels and chews.

NOTE - I have used the other products available and found that for myself the C S products taste superior, are easier to get out of the packet and provide more nutrients per packet. They were an important part in my recent Cross Florida 168.8 mile ride a couple of Sunday's ago. https://spacecoastfreewheelers.com/events/xfl/

Samuraidog

Very informative post. Thank you.

Carbonfiberboy 

Because one burns through fuel so quickly on the bike, the rules for on-bike nutrition are completely different. The higher the glycemic index, the better the bike food, exactly the opposite of how one should eat off the bike. That said, the above suggestions about not eating on the bike for a two hour ride are good ones. However for 70 miles rides, you're going to have to eat. For rides that long, I start eating during the first hour.

As others have alluded to, it's possible to eat very low carb, both on and off the bike. However you mentioned "peak levels." Good performance on the bike requires carbs. No carbs, less performance on long rides.

Richard Cranium

Why?

What the heck is wrong with you? Why hasn't every post told you are a misguided soul? You can't possibly be interested in your health if you cant even find basic nutrition information and follow it?

Ask your doctor for suggestions. Get a book. But please - try and learn basic nutrition if you want to improve at cycling.

Carbonfiberboy 

Aw, give the guy a break. There's so much dietary weirdness out there now, courtesy our beloved internet. The crazy is strong out there. Having folks over for dinner, the latest we've run into is "no nightshade" people. That plant family include potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, IOW the good stuff. Please folks, stay away from young naturopaths!

Drew Eckhardt 

Nope.

With decent training and diet riding an endurance pace you're still getting 20-25% of your Calories from glycogen or blood glucose.

On average you have about 100g of glycogen in your liver, and 400g in your muscles although there's no way to move it between muscles or even fibers within the same muscle - what's in your type iix fibers can't be used for endurance riding.

If 1/3 of your muscle glycogen is accessible, that gives you 233g at 4kcal each totaling 932kcal.

At 20-25% glycogen, and 20-25% net metabolic efficiency that gives you a range of 3101 - 4845 kj out before needing fuel.

932 / (.2 to .25 glycogen fraction) / (1 kcal / 4.2 kj / (.2 to .25 efficiency))

One Watt = 1 joule per second; so 1W * 1 hour = 3600 joules or 3.6kj.

At 150W you output 540kj/hour and you could last 5.7 - 9.0 hours

At 200W it's 720kj/hour and you'd run out in 4.3 - 6.7 hours

150W is a 17-18 MPH average on flat ground with false flats, corners, and slowing for traffic controls; 200W 20-21.

You probably have enough reserves for at least a metric century, and maybe an imperial one.

It depends on whether it's a steady effort and training/diet.

Steady efforts are self-limiting. Some one with a 300W FTP would output 1080kj in an hour, although after that it's over. Some people get under 60% of their energy at FTP from carbs and 50% at a tempo pace and will be fine. Passing five hours your maximum pace is going to drop to your aerobic threshold which spares your carbs.

Mixing hard efforts and endurance riding for a few hours (like in a group ride with hills or where you take your turn pulling) you're going to run out without fueling.

Drew Eckhardt 

Eat enough carbs you don't bonk. With enough endurance miles in your legs that might not be any for a 40-70 mile ride at a steady pace. Mixing in hard efforts you're going to run out. "Enough" is a very personal number. You probably can't digest more than 250 Calories an hour, and don't need to replace everything you're using.

Drink enough you don't weigh a couple percent less after riding (burning glycogen frees up the water stored with it, so you can lose a little weight without a change in hydration leel). Don't drink so much you weigh more.

For 40-70 miles you have plenty of electrolytes in reserve.

Heathpack 

Lol, you are certainly an interesting fellow who has it all figured out. Amazingly, you have it all figured out for every other cyclist in the world. Its incredible really. You can even predict how fast I'll go on a specific number of watts. Ok, a 20k TT that I recently rode at 190 watts. Flat course, no turns, slow course conditions that improved gradually over the duration of my race, sea level, air temp 57F. What was my speed and how many calories did I burn? (No, I was not wearing a calorimeter, in case you ask. Why? Because it was a race and I am a normal human being.) Just wondering.

What I did in my response, Drew, was give a simplified answer to a guy who wants to eliminate sugar from his diet and still ride a bike significant distances. He is not someone that has the best understanding (right now) of cycling nutrition. The message I gave him is: Ride at low intensity and you can do it for a long time without sugar- for many hours and very likely for the distance you want to ride (40-70 miles). How do I know this? I do it myself, but at higher intensity than I'm suggesting for him. Its trainable. Part two of my message: If you want to ride hard, you're going to need to take in carbs and your best source is sugar. Simple, straight forward and correct advice.

Honestly there is no need to turn every nutrition, weight loss, or training discussion into a tedious mathematical exercise in which you call other people out on trivial details while ignoring the gist of their post. You are not the last word on these topics and interacting with everyone else here on the forums as if you are just gets a little exhausting. If that's your intent, carry on, I guess. If its not, then maybe take a step back every now and then and look at the big picture of the conversation at hand. OP has gotten several pretty good answers to his question already and sometimes letting someone with a simplistic question digest the answers he's already gotten is perfectly adequate.

Machka 

I'm on another forum where there's a constant list of posters asking about this diet and that diet and should they eat this food and that food.

One of my favourites is not eating after 6 pm. Yep, apparently several have read somewhere that you're not supposed to eat after 6 pm.

I don't get home from work until after 6 pm ... what? I'm not supposed to eat dinner? And 6 pm in what time zone? What if you travel to another time zone ... which 6 pm do you use? Oh and then there's daylight savings time ... am I supposed to stop eating at 5 pm for half the year ... or can I stretch it out to 7 pm?

Machka 

Drink water.


For rides under 2 hours, eat normally during the day, and bring water on the ride. Tuck a good quality granola bar into your handlebar bag just in case something happens.

For rides between about 2 hours and 4 hours, eat normally during the day, bring water on the ride ... and maybe think about consuming approx 100 cal/hour. Plus tuck that extra granola bar into your handlebar bag.

For rides over 4 hours, eat normally during the day, bring water on the ride ... and you might aim for about 200 cal/hour especially at first. When you get really comfortable with rides over 4 hours, you might find you don't need quite that much. Don't forget that extra granola bar!

Machka 

Yes, consume electrolytes.

One of the best natural sources of electrolytes is salted almonds. Look up their nutritional content ... especially the minerals ...
Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Nuts, almonds, dry roasted, with salt added


Next best are potato chips. Then maybe a combination of 100% pure orange juice + beef jerky. Essentially, things with sodium and potassium plus a few other minerals.


But on long, hot rides food isn't always enough and electrolyte tablets are beneficial.

Looigi

Good old sodium is the only electrolyte you might need to supplement when riding as it's the only one lost in consequential quantities through sweat. A highly effective sports drink is 100-150 cal of fruit juice diluted to 24oz with 1/8 level tsp of table salt.

Richard Cranium

First of all, the question in itself is based upon an ignorance of what types of sugar, or carbohydrate support or hinder exercise. That being said, there is no advice to support any answer but "NO" to your question.

However, one of beauties of cycling is that you can continue to drink water while riding at low or "easy" intensities - and your body will do its best use fat to fuel itself. However, what you really fail to understand is, using a small amount of carbohydrate while riding will allow to perform so much better at burning fat - that in sum total of calories used - you are better off using carbohydrate while riding then just about anything else......

"Fat burns in carbohydrate fire." No carbs, no fat burning, no performance.. you just quit......

wolfchild

Try making your own energy snacks and drinks based on starch and protein instead of sugar.
Most of the commercial made sports drinks and energy bars are garbage.

gregf83 

Alan Lim's Feed Zone Portables has lots of suggestions for food on the bike. They're tasty but most involve foods that have a glycemic index similar to or higher than table sugar so it depends on why you are trying to eliminate sugar as a fuel source while riding.

mapeiboy

I have a large bowl of steel cut oats with a banana before the ride . I take nothing but water on my 4 hours ride .