DGoeder

I'm taking on my first century this Saturday and needed some advice. I feel like I'm okay on mileage and nutrition during the ride, but I'm wondering if I should do anything different this week as far as eating. More or less of anything in particular or just eat like I normally would?

cafzali

Personally, I'd say don't binge on carbs, or really anything, beforehand. I've seen this ritual so many times, but never quite understood it. Carbs will turn to sugar when your body processes them and in most people that decreases your energy, makes you hungry relatively quickly and doesn't provide any real nutritional benefit.

I'd just eat a sensible meal the night consisting of chicken or fish and some healthy veggies. Right before the ride, make something like a protein shake right before your ride that you can drink at least 30 minutes before you start. A good protein shake is about 1 to 2 scoops of whey powder, a large glass of almond milk, a whole banana and a teaspoon or so of almond butter. Put all that in a blender, blend it up for about 30 seconds and you'll be good to go. Those work amazingly well.

Along the ride, really bananas and water or Gatorade will get you through. I love bananas because the potassium really helps with muscle recovery and can often keep you from having any real pain.

Good luck and have fun!

poxpower

If you're not competing or going all-out, you don't need anything special. Eat a normal breakfast, drink plenty of fluids and take it easy.

rumrunn6

OP - Hey how did it go?

DGoeder

OMG. It was one of the greatest experiences I've had as an adult, and one of the hardest things I've ever done. I realized a few things along the way.
Cycling is so much more mental than I though. I know my normal training routes at home. There, I didn't know what was around each turn, where to stop, or how long the climbs were.
Related to that, I found out the difference between a hill and a climb. I live in NW Ohio. We have a couple of hills. Central Ohio has climbs and a lot of hills. I need to get better at climbing. This route had three rated climbs. I made it up one. Now I get that to motivate me for next year.
As far as nutrition, things were great. This ride douse an outstanding job of providing food and beverages for the riders. We had a terrific dinner the night before, and well stocked rest stops every 15-25 miles. Lots of PB sandwiches, bananas, water, gatorade, and it looked like there had been a full scale raid on the Cilff Bar warehouse.
Now that I've hade a couple weeks to reflect on the experience, I am so glad I did it.

rumrunn6

had a friend who swore by P,B&J sandwiches cut into 1/4s and he munched them along his rides.