Old 10-29-07, 08:07 PM
  #25  
Tom Stormcrowe
Out fishing with Annie on his lap, a cigar in one hand and a ginger ale in the other, watching the sunset.
 
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enjoi, the problem is that under physical exercise, blood is drawn away from the stomach walls and 250-350 food calories/hr is all you are able to absorb. Any more slows down fluid absorption and can even reverse it due to osmosis, which badly affects your hydration. What happens if you exceed that intake is the food and water start to pool and slosh and you can get quite nauseated, as well as underhydrated.

It does hurt to overeat going long distances. It's almost as bad as not enough nutrition and hydration, and under the right conditions, heat and high speed, high stress riding can actually be worse.
Originally Posted by enjoi
you deff. short changed yourself on food. The gels are great and all, but its also a good idea to have something that you can slowly eat over a period of time(10+ min) I personally am a huge fan of cliff bars. Take a bit, drink some water, chew, take a bit, drink water, ect. This way you make sure your intaking enough water, you introduce food over time, and stay energized for longer. I also don't think 300-350 cal/hr is enough. Considering that if you eat 300 cal for 12 hours, you're at 3600cal. Thats what an average person should be taking in per day not doing anything particularly straining on the body. According to another thread, at 20mph, the body burns 38 cal/mile. Over 100 miles thats 3800 cal. So over 5 hours (100mi/20mph) you need 760 cal/hr. I'm not sure where the 300-350 cal/hr number everyone keeps stating if coming from, but it never hurts to overeat when going for long distances.
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