adam_mac84

Did my first century today... my longest ride to date. We did go out faster than i am used to because i was riding with 2 stronger riders.

about mile 35 i was sooooo nauseated (lasted on/off the rest of the ride). I was trying to get gatorade into me, but it just seemed to make things worse. Water in my mouth and over my head was all i could do to get by. (after stop at mile 42 only took water)

during the ride i drank at least 35-40 oz every 20 miles (the rest h2o poured over my helmet)

2 hours before race i ate 2 packages of oatmeal with peanut butter, strawberries and banannas in it

mile 17, 2 watermelon slices, handful of peanuts/mm's/rasins, 1/2 orange

mile 42 1/2 turkey wrap, BBQ sandwich, watermelon slice

mile 76 GU packet (cause i couldn't stomach anything) 3 licorish vines, and nother handful of peanut mix

mile 87, watermelon slice, 1/2 orange, 3 pretzel rods

Mile 90, GU

mile 100 gu

finished at mile 107

Any advise? i am wondering if it was early stages heat exhaustion? every stop i put cold wet rag on my head and neck.

unterhausen

could be heat related. You didn't tell us how long you took, but what you ate at mile 42 would have made me sick all by itself. I don't do well with protein that early in a ride. I'm not sure that watermelon works for me during a ride either.

Rowan

Everyone is different with their food tolerance, but having a look over your list, you seem to have packed away a lot of food early in the ride when you didn't really need to. I think the accepted measure is that your body uses the glycogen stored in your liver for the first two hours or so of exercise (this can vary with intensity). What you take in in the second half of that two hours helps provide the energy resources for later on.

You indicate that your intensity was very high, so your body was having a real battle deciding whether to pay attention to your legs or digesting your food.

I'd suggest that you experiment a little more with your food intakes, but essentially nibble regularly rather than take in a lot. Let your stomach digest what it has.

I am not a fan of Gatorade. It's sucrose content is way too high for my liking.

I also may well be that you need to experiment with electrolytes. There is a recent thread here about this subject and its influence on the stomach's ability to transfer nutrients. Likely your fluid intake, plus the high carb and sugar content in your stomach meant you were going to get more and more bloated, or suffer from a feeling of nausea. I know that when I don't pay attention to electrolytes, I can start feeling bad.

I also am not a fan of nuts. I think they are hard to digest normally unless you chew them up really well (to a paste). Otherwise, they tend to pass through your system undigested. Dry food like that also needs additional fluid intake to assist the digestion process.

All this is in my opinion. Others', based on their experiences, may be different.

adam_mac84

total RIDE time was 6 hours 1 minute (was my first, don't know if it's good or bad).... i would put our overall time around 7.5 hours or so

steve0257

Part of it might be that you went out faster than you were used to. Also, what were the weather conditions? If it was relatively cool and overcast you might have gotten slightly overhydrated. I managed that once and the basic feeling was one of bloating and slight nausea.

valygrl

Too much food is a possibility - I did a hundred miles today and ate 3 Gus, a small cinnamon roll, a slice of banana bread and a root beer, 2 bottles of Heed, 1 bottle of water.

Gatorade itself is a possibility too - I can't drink it at all, it messes up my stomach. However, your description sounds like you were already feeling sick when you started to drink it, so it's hard to say. I use Heed, I used to use Cytomax or Gu2O. I can't do Perpetuum or Accelerade or Spiz (worst name ever).

WMBIGS

I'm thinking too much food also. I did 88 miles today with 4997' climbing. Breakfast, 1 banana at atart of ride. Ate the other banana about 45 min into ride. Drank 20 oz regular gatorade the whole ride. Too much sugar to drink at once. 4 or 5 mini (100 cal) clif bars, another banana, 1/2 package peanut M&M's. My wife had reheated the chicken enchiladas for my post ride meal- Yummy!.

maxine

Another vote for "that seems like a lot of food!" But food issues often seem to be a highly individual thing, so it may be hard to judge what went wrong for someone else. Me, I don't like to eat solid food at all until I've been riding at least about 60 miles. If I've had an adequate breakfast, I generally don't consume anything but water for the first hour, and then I start taking sips of Ensure every 15 minutes or so. Same routine after the 60-mile solid food, and other solid-food breaks.

Ride conditions are a big factor, too. What works for you on a cool, flat, easy century may not work when you're climbing mountains in 90-degree heat with no shade. Experiment, note what works and what doesn't, eventually you'll hit on what's best for you.

I don't like Gatorade.

daveF

Another vote for too much food. I was training for a 100 mile mtb race recently, doing 8 hr rides. I found that drinking only water, and taking two to three salt stick tablets and eating one cliff bar per hour worked really well. Gatorade or similar drinks or many gels have not worked well for me in the past.

powers2b

+1 for Hateraide
Turned my stomach everytime I tried it.
Next time drink plenty of water ~500ml/10mi
At the stops have a couple slices of fruit and a granola bar ~20 mi
Eat a light lunch

Enjoy

unterhausen

for some reason, the last couple of rides when I've had Gatoraide, I've started cramping fairly soon afterward. I don't know if that's coincidence, and probably doesn't have much to do with the OP's problem. Since the OP seems to indicate that it was very hot, I think his food intake was just too much for his body to handle.

canopus 

I'm opposite everyone here. Gatorade does me good. But i don't eat my food until around mile 60-65 (Subway is turning into the favorite there) My first banana doesn't go in until around mile 25. By 60 65 miles around here though the temps have climbed up to 95+ so heat exhaustion is what I'm fighting.

10 Wheels

Bingo

positron

He described it as very hot though... I vote heatstroke combined with too much food. I always dilute gatorade 2 or 3 to 1 before I can stomache it, and so much sugar on a hot sunny day = nausea...
They have put more and more sugar in the gatorade over the years.

next time, eat a huge amount the night before (pasta, bread etc) and then try to nibble less, but more often during the ride. bananas are obviously really good, and when im about to bonk a snickers seems to give me some staying power.... and water that gatorade down a bit.

njkayaker

Lots of people do OK with Gatorade (and similar stuff). Many people don't drink it at full strength.

Gatorade is mostly sugar water, which means it's food as well as hydration. Its benefit or effect is probably not much different than any other food-drink with the same sugar content. That is, regardless of how it (and other stuff) is marketed, don't expect magic from it.

And too fast a pace (see following) and not being used to riding in hot weather.

deep_sky

Sounds like you didn't keep the electrolyte intake high enough. Nausea is the first sign of heat exhaustion for me. Then the shivers start, then my vision starts looking like an acid trip, then I finally stop sweating, and by this point, I am going to need some medical attention to recover. Now, I have a bottle of cytomax and some endurolytes for every ride I am not, no matter how far, how hard, or how long.

fishermba2004

around Ohio anway...gatorade recently changed their recipe to remove the high fructose corn syrup and replace it with sucrose. I noticed it after getting violent stomach cramps after half a small bottle. I switched to 32 oz bottles of powerade and no more cramps.

adaminlc

I agree with the opinion of too fast and too much food. I would never eat a meals worth of food all at once during a ride of that length. I also have trouble with bottled gatorade, but I have found that the stuff from a gas station fountain machine treats me much better. I just water it down a bit (maybe half water) and it works great. Couple that with a good meal about 1 hour before the ride and a few fig newtons and bananas and I am good as gold.

gregf83 

When you extend the ride time beyond anything you've done you need to go out easier not harder. It probably wouldn't have mattered what you ate. Next time start easier and finish stronger. And lay off the fat. Peanuts & peanut butter aren't going to help. Stick to carbs and a little protein.

Richard Cranium

Geez, you can't figure it out?

You go out too hard, have no ability to digest anything and blame your condition on GATORADE. Works for me.

When will people realize that their problems are with their pace, not the food/drink du jour?

HawgFuel

I think you over ate at mile 42 and ate the wrong thing. fatty meats take a long time to digest, so you shouldn't be eating bbq sandwitch half way through your ride unless you plan on taking an extended break before riding again. If you want protein go for peanut butter bread. It is a good time to fuel up though. I find Kind bars easy on the stomach and Larabe (gluten free) bars too.

BTW, you can shoot gu's every hour. I usually don't eat much at the end of centuries either. Towards the end I'm shooting gu's and gel cubes and bananas, grapes and a few corn chips. Once I'm finished then I'll eat real food, but during white bread PBJ's are about as close to a meal as I go.

HawgFuel

I think you over ate at mile 42 and ate the wrong thing. fatty meats take a long time to digest, so you shouldn't be eating bbq sandwitch half way through your ride unless you plan on taking an extended break before riding again. If you want protein go for peanut butter bread. It is a good time to fuel up though. I find Kind bars easy on the stomach and Larabe (gluten free) bars too.

BTW, you can shoot gu's every hour. I usually don't eat much at the end of centuries either. Towards the end I'm shooting gu's and gel cubes and bananas, grapes and a few corn chips. Once I'm finished then I'll eat real food, but during white bread PBJ's are about as close to a meal as I go.