Originally Posted by
DXchulo
Any tips on this?
I seem to get tired of eating after 8 hours or so. I also have trouble getting enough calories from liquids alone. Is it just mind over matter? I tend to hate gels because they're not very high on the bang for your buck scale, but they are easy to choke down when you don't really feel like eating. I'm going to try carrying a lot of gels next time.
Stomach issues are always my biggest weakness on long rides. Sometimes I wonder if it's physical or mental.
I also experience stomach issues on my long rides and probably the first thing which helps is this ...
Nibble often.
I need to start nibbling regularly after about 6 or 8 hours on the bicycle, and by that I mean, I need a store of cookies, salted almonds, and gummy lollies in my bento bag or easily accessible in my handlebar bag and I need to take a small piece and pop it into my mouth about every 15 minutes.
As mentioned above, variety is the key so I'll alternate between the three.
If I let it go longer than about 15 minutes, I start to run into problems so I've got to keep the eating going ... just one lollie, or a couple salted almonds, or a tiny bite of cookie ...
As mentioned, electrolytes are also a key ingredient in feeling well on the bicycle. When I started cycling longer distances, I used to read about people in the southern US using electrolytes and figured it had to be really incredibly hot before a person needed to use them, but since then I've discovered that any temperature that has me sweating is the time for electrolytes. This includes cool temps where I've overdressed slightly or, lately, the days when I experience hot flashes.
Electrolytes can be found in foods like salted almonds, potato chips, the combination of beef jerky and dried apricots or 100% pure orange juice ... so my rides will usually include something from that list. But we also bring electrolyte tablets. Sadly and oddly, electrolyte tablets are not easy to find here in Australia!
When we stop at a control, I'll go for a beverage with calories ... coke, apple juice, orange juice, or ice tea are the ones that seem to work the best ... and I'll drink the whole thing right there if possible. And then I usually go with something salty and fairly bland. In Canada it was perogies. Here in Australia it might be dim sims and potato cakes.
I often bring a can of Ensure, or a baggie of Ensure powder, with me as well just in case all the tricks above don't work. I did the Rocky Mountain 1200 in 2002 mostly on Ensure. I've tried others but Ensure seems to work the best.
And I'll have a few gels with me just in case.