Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
We don't really have personal experience of what works and what doesn't until we've ridden say, 150 miles and 10,000' in the mountains and finished in say 10 hours saddle time, feeling just fine except for needing a shower, a Coke, and some ice cream. Experience is the best teacher or as the Germans put it, practice makes the master. Believe me, 2 dates/hour won't be enough. For 50k neither water nor food is necessary unless it's really hot. It all depends on total kJ expended. On long hard rides, I try to take in half my kJ in calories, mostly fast carbs.
I try to follow the recs for daily protein, getting a lot of it from protein powder. The trick is to recover quickly enough that one can ride some every day if desired. Averaging 100 miles/week year 'round is a good goal and requires decent nutrition.
True,
I could only manage 130 miles and 10k ft in 8 1/2 hours saddle time on walnuts, but it was endurance pace throughout, I can pace like that until I get really sleepy I suppose.
Having done the above ride, I cannot claim that it has been my hardest feat, I have found
looping 100 km with 1 km of elevation gain at 29 km/h avg at tempo (so, a bit less than 3 1/2 hours of elapsed time, no pauses) much more challenging.
I never really got the appeal of protein powders, protein is not that hard to get in and not so much is needed anyway. My protein snack is either 2 boiled eggs or 1 can of sardines (or both).