I can't believe how much my appetite has increased in the last week or two. I attribute it to a slight increase in my miles and a huge increase in my speed. I'm really pushing my speed and strength.

As I've said before, you don't necessarily save on fuel costs switching from a car to a bike.

I'm eating a lot of sugary foods, out a lack of imagination. I'm not sure what I should be eating more of. Pasta? PB&J? Eggs? I don't believe in sports formulations made of maltodextrin and crap like that.

I'm not a vegetarian but I fully endorse this recipe

I think that's the ticket. I'll make a big pot and have it for a few days. I hope my daughter likes it, too. Hmm, I had burritos for lunch and dinner today. Dinner was vegetarian.

I've made it several times always to rave reviews. Quite spicy, very tasty and filling. Hope you enjoy.

That does look delicious!

You need to carbo load. Pasta is great, at 1.00/lb, not too pricey either. Your muscles must pack the glycogen.

While it won't fill the hole and address your problem, "crap like that" is a valuable aid in budgeting calories and fuel for long-distance rides.

Carbo-loading is great, but carbohydrates metabolize relatively quickly and you will get hungry again sooner than if you include some lean protein in your diet. Plus, if you don't use the metabolized carbs, the turn to fat pretty easily. Don't forget - if you're riding a lot you are not only needing to fuel the muscles (carbs), you are also needing to keep them healthy and in good repair (protein).

While I won't tell you specifically what to eat, I will tell you what works for me. Lean protein such as fish, chicken, ground turkey, a variety of steamed vegetables, and various complex carbs such as baked sweet potatoes, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta.

On long rides (especially strenuous ones), you need to metabolize about 250 calories/hour. Solid foods take more time to process, liquid calories do not. If you're gonna be out all day, energy laden drinks (maltodextrin mixes) absorb through your small intestine much more quickly and with a lot less stress on your body, which is preoccupied with moving the bike and fueling the muscles. You don't want to waste energy digesting a ham sandwich when you could be using it on the brutal climb in front of you.

My fiance cooked a turkey for my mother's b-day last weekend. I've been feasting on turkey sandwiches, as many as 4-5 a day, since then. A little bit of carbs and protein seems to be perfect for me. Steamed veggies finish out the meals at dinner time.

For rides, I bring along granola bars. I've never gotten into the energy bar thing. I tried some and the grittiness ruined them.

Hey BBM, at what point in your monster rides do you start to eat?

you'll get lots of miles out of a big bowl of oatmeal (steel cut oats) and its cheap.. works for me.

You guys are making all of us hungry!

+1 Thank you for bringing intelligent comments to this discussion. You are absolutely right about the content and timing of nutrition. There is a lot of good information about this subject on the LD forum. You have to find the nutritional plan that works for you. For a few weeks last year, I was riding 250 miles a week. My calorie consumption was 4,000 plus per day.

For me, I try to get some type of complex carb in my stomach about an hour before a long ride -- humus or peanut butter toast work well for me. Then, if the ride is more than 35 miles, I supplement with whole wheat fig newtons along the way. It is hard for me to eat solid food immediately after the ride. So, I usually make a "recovery" drink of whey protein, Ovaltene, frozen apple juice concentrate, and 1% milk. That feeds the immediate need until I can eat later.

I have bonked twice -- once while cycling and once will hiking/mountaineering. It hurts really, really bad and I don't want to go through that again.

The night before a long ride, I usually eat lots of pasta. That morning I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal and some (home made) granola bars. When on a long ride I stop at a 7-11 (or the like), I usually walk out with Fig Newtons and Gatoraid.

I ate an entire box of Twinkies once

Seriously as everyone has said, balanced nutrition and staged eating for the event is important.

My most memorable mistake was during a long ride, stopping at a cafe' for lunch, my intention was salad, bread and a banana. It was a Cuban owned cafe, the sandwiches looked and smelled incredible......I gave in. Enjoyed one of the finest meals I can remember and fell asleep at the table. An hour later back on the road I was dead!!! The longest most painful return trip ever....but what a great sandwich

when in doubt I eat chicken

I'd love to know a little more on this subject

I always have trouble knowing when and what to eat while on a long ride. Sometimes I bring a banana, but i know thats not good enough. Drinking I can do, I carry a ton of water and usually mix up some gatorade from the powdered stuff so I can make it kind of strong and super delicious...but I never really know what's good to eat on the road. I'm really hoping the answer is McDonald's cheeseburgers but honestly I've heard enough people say good things about 'energy goo' that i'm thinking about trying it.

I also have a hard time figuring out breakfast before a long ride. Generally I just eat fresh fruit, sometimes with plain yogurt, but I know from having experienced it enough times that its not enough fuel to get me much further than 30 something miles.

My rule of thumb:
When? As often as you can, within reason.
How much? As much as you can, within reason.
What? Ideally, you want something with a low glycemic index. There's the rub; most ready-to-eat foods are so heavily processed and finely ground etc that all the sugars enter your bloodstream at once, overtax your system for a while, and then vanish leaving you hungry.

Thanks for the reminder about oatmeal. You're right that it lasts a long time.

BBM, you posted some extremely sound advice. I should clarify, though, that I don't take long rides. I have a pinched nerve in my back which gives me more trouble on the bike than anything else. So I am limited in my ability to do the thing I love most in life. So until I get into physical therapy, I limit my rides to two hours. In fact, they are rarely more than one hour. I occasionally take a three hour ride, but rarely. By then, my foot usually hurts badly. The pinched nerve refers pain to my foot.

Also, I don't tend to gain weight, so I get away with eating anything, even fatty foods. I have a weakness for sweets, though, which is not good. Oddly enough, I'm finding lately that while on the bike, sweet foods taste disgusting, terrible, intolerable. I don't know why, but I think I should listen to that signal my body is giving me.

Zaphod, I rode for extremely long days when I took my long wandering trip in Europe, which was about a hundred years ago. I had a handlebar bag, and I ate plain bread or fruit cake while pedaling.

BBM, you have an exemplary diet.

is it possible the fine grind those ready-to-eat foods are made from is done to make it easier to digest?

that would sort of jibe with what BBM said above
I added the parentheses.

I generally shy away from those technologically advanced prepared foods but honestly if its tasty and can keep me going maybe I should try it.

my boss, an avid cyclist, swears by PB&J sandwiches cut into 1/4s. he eats small amounts every now and then.

I came across this link "The Ten Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes Make" a few days ago that was posted in the Nutrition forum. Fwiw, I haven't used their products.

Among the interesting points: eating a small amount of about 200-400 calories of complex carbohydrates immediately before an endurance event and eating within 60 minutes after finishing a workout to top off muscle glycogen stores.

When to start eating the 200-300 calories an hour while riding?
.

Peanut butter is very fatty, so we should be careful in recommending it. But those energy bars may not be very different from jam sandwiches. They're certainly a ton more expensive. I'm sure they have a huge profit margin, which makes me very suspicious. Of course they want me to buy them, but that doesn't mean they're good for me.

On the other hand, I seem to handle fat better than most. I'm still fairly thin.

Andrew F, your story made me laugh. Was it a Sandwich Cubano? I used to eat them when I lived in the barrio. It's roast pork, ham, and provolone, if I remember right. I think it had mayonaise, too. And of course, Italian bread. I don't eat pork any more, so it's been a very long time for me.

That's a good article, leftthread! I wonder if it applies to the rest of us, not doing endurance events. I don't do any, but it might be sound advice for me and most others.

Thanks, Noglider. Around here a Torta Cubana sandwich is roast pork, bacon, avocado slices and pickled jalapeno. Ok, I'm officially hungry now.

leftthread, where is "around here?" My barrio was Washington Heights, near the northern tip of Manhattan Island.

Pre-long ride: beef or turkey bacon & egg on a bagel: protein, lean meat, complex carbs.
During long ride: hydro liquid of your choice (I happen to prefer Camelback's Elixir tablets, but whatever floats yer boat), plus quartered PBJ's (the low fat PB is tasty and has better numbers) or Balance Bars, one per hour. Around here they sell Odwalla bars for a buck apiece and their SuperProtein bar has 14 grams in it.
Post ride: glass of low sodium V-8 followed by a Balance Bar.

No bonko!