tdl123321

Going to attempt my first century ride and unfortunately the course has some pretty significant climbs, so it is going to be a huge challenge for me. My question is.... Can I use heed and hammer gel as my sole means of nutrition or do I need to some more solid foods(cliff bars etc)?

oboeguy

It's nice to eat "real" food on long rides. There are, I think, some threads on favorite real food for rides. Mine? bagel quarters with pb and (unfiltered) honey.

ericgu

You can certainly do a century on liquids/gels only - assuming that you can tolerate that combination for a whole century without getting totally sick of it. Lots of people get food fatigue, and you may get 4 hours into it and never want to look at another gel.

I find that having a little solid food to go with the liquid stuff. I might have part of a clif bar, a fig newton or two, a banana, some grapes, or something like that.

You don't say how long your longest rides have been, but take it easy for the first 50 miles - really easy.

JayC

Keep in mind what Clif bars are made of.. you might be making a bathroom stop in the later portion of the ride

FrankBattle 

I gav eup Clif bars for this very reason. They tasted okay .. then the ingredients kicked in.

Never had an accident, but always felt, well, uncomfortable.

Machka 

If you can stomach 250-300 calories per hour of HEED and Hammergel ... go for it. But that's A LOT of HEED and Hammergel.

Personally, I'd consume some real food too ... but NOT Clif Bars (yuck!!). I'd go for cookies, pastries, fruit, salted almonds, granola bars, dried fruit bars, and stuff like that. Tasty stuff. You might even consider eating a real meal at the halfway point if you have the opportunity ... chicken sandwiches are a good choice for that.

terrymorse 

I don't think most people need that much nutrition on a century. It's over in a few hours -- short enough that you're pretty unlikely to blow through all of your glycogen stores.

I don't eat much on a century ride: 3 or 4 gels, 2 or 3 sports drinks, and maybe a banana. That's about 800 calories over 5-6 hours.

Machka's a long distance expert, riding lengths where nutrition is very important. Longer distance means slower speeds, where it's easier to take in more nutrition without gastric troubles.

jtree

i would expect you would get sick of the sweet taste by the end of the century, although heed isn't anywhere near as sweet as something like gatorade. the plain flavored heed is especially neutral tasting. hammer also sells perpeteum drink mix, which is designed for longer rides, e.g. 6 hours. it adds fat and protein into the mix in a prescribed ratio that some studies have shown is beneficial.

paednoch

I have ridden 12 centuries and 2 doubles this year..I always stop and eat at a tavern at mile 92. I have two Budwiesers and a burger basket. Then I always have some goo or equivalent for the ride in on the doubles I took a camelbak mule and loaded it up with pop tarts and peanut butter sandwchs. That is my recipe and I am sticking with it....... half of my centuries have been sub 6 hours. The first double I did in 13 hours which included the stop at the tavern. SOlid food in my opinion is way way way better than gels which will be consumed frequently to avoid the bonk.

lrzipris

This may work for terrymorse, but not for me or my buddies: we all need some solid food along the way. And "a few hours" for a century means, for us, ~6 hours. That's a long time on just gels and such.

But, more importantly, tdl123321, regardless of what I or other folks require on long rides, you should figure out what you need before you do that century. For the same reason that you would not do the ride with a new saddle, for example, or some other new equipment, don't experiment during the ride itself, as it will be painful to discover mid-century that you are not prepared!

Lucky07

Well, start off with a solid meal the night before and a good breakfast. That will be a good base.

If you're doing a solo century, bring a sandwich for the halfway point or something more solid than a gel. Or stop and get something along the way. I like Clif Bars, but a little goes along way.

Personally, I couldn't make it on gels alone. The caffinated ones make my heart race like a chimpmunk.

maximum01

Last century I rode I consumed the following:

- 2 x gel packs
- 2 x chocolate jaffa cake bars
- 3 x small brioche bread rolls with butter and strawberry jam filling (yum!)
- 1 x mixture of gummy sweets and cola bottles (for the end of ride)

Washed down with:

- 1.5 bottles of HIGH 5 sports drink (tropical flavour)

I was actually still starving after all of the above. In future I plan to take some more brioche rolls and maybe some small salted baked potatoes. You can never pack enough food for a century.

CraigOn2Whls

Well since you are using Hammer products already, I would sugest "Sustained Energy"(SE) On my century I only had SE and Hammer Gel and Heed, NO Solid food. I Had 4 bottles with me 2 of SE 1 Heed and 1 water.. the SE were "2 Hour" bottles (3 Scoops in each bottle for me). then I carried a third SE refill of powder with me in a zip lock and mixed a new bottle at the 50 mile SAG stop. I never felt hungry the whole ride even at the end.

Read some of the info on the Hammer site on nutrition while riding, It's good stuff
Also, if you read the stuff on the Hammer site, they warn aginst consuming simple sugars with any of their products as it may cause stomach pains.

Good luck
-Craig

Grasschopper

When I do a solo century I plan on 2 major stops where i will eat real food and take a good potty break as well as refill the bottles and hydrate...there are also minor stops for water bottle fills and potty breaks if required but those are much shorter. So dureing the ride I will try to do the energy bar thing between major stops and then something like PB&J or a chicken sando. Throw in a cookie or two as well...hell if you ae riding for 100 miles your going to burn off that cookie.

chadbryant

I'm new to cycling and this is very interesting to me. I'm a runner and during long races I could not stomach the kind of solid foods that you all are talking about. I'm talking about 4 hours of running in a marathon. Your body is diverting blood from the stomach to your working muscles and your digestive system will actually slow down a lot. I can eat some fig newtons, oranges are good, but mostly gels and sports drink. I'm curious, in cycling that far are you not going through similar physiological processes like running where your body is having to send blood to working muscles (and the skin for cooling if it is hot and humid)? If so, it would seem difficult to eat a lot of solid food.

botto 

+1,000,0000

IMO most people tend to overeat on their rides, whether it's a 2 hour ride, or a 7 hour ride.

Kenal0

Is this an organized ride with rest stops supplied with food and drink?
Kenal0

maximum01

It really depends on the individual. And it also depends on the pace you're setting. If you dawdle along taking lots of stops you'll need much less food intake.

Some of the guys in my local road club can survive a century only on HIGH 5 carb drink, others like myself need loads of extra food to make it through without feeling like a road crash victim.

I find I get severe food cravings if I don't eat every 30 mins or so on a hard ride.

Hambone

I wish I had followed this advice before my first century. I went ape at the first rest stop and hit every portapotty I passed the rest of the day.

I was so afraid of bonking I lost perspective. (The worst part is I have about ten gagillion stored calories I could have relied on...)

Afterwards, I read 375,000 posts all saying, don't eat that differently than normal and/or don't try new things.

LA_Rider

That’s why there’s so many fat cyclist.

I do a century every week. Along with a breakfast of toast, yogurt, and a banana... 4 gels, and 1 or 2 bars get’s it done.

The key is to keep going - only stopping for a few minutes at a time to pee and chew.

Stopping to eat lunch may seem like a good idea at the time, but it’s hell to get started again.

donrhummy

Terry,

Usually I'm impressed by your posts but this one, I think, lacks your usual insightfulness. While your centuries take only 5-6 hours, the OP said it's their FIRST century ever. That means:

1. They're likely to take 7-9 hours (depending on condition)
2. They're likely to expend more energy every hour than you will due to lower conditioning level

Once you pass that 6 hour mark, the lack of energy taken in really hits you.

As for the OP's general question, it depends on you. Everyone's different. For example, I've tried eating solid foods on my century rides and I just can't stomach it - it makes me sick and gives me stomach pains. So now I use only liquids to fuel and I've had zero problems since switching to that.

Also, not everyone has the same need for hydration and energy nor the same capacity of processing fuel
per hour. You'll need to figure out how much you sweat and how well you process fuel or else you could end up on either end of the spectrum: too much fuel/hydration (both causing problems) or too little (again, causing problems). Use the info given by people here only as a starting point and then experiment on your training rides.

bigskymacadam

Heed and Hammer Gel are great for two hour events. But, Perpetuem or Sustained Energy has enough calories of complex carbs to get you thru. It also contains a small amount soy protein; enough to get used by your body so that you're not totally burning muscle after a few hours.

Hilly? You're going to be excerting more energy on the climbs which may lead to cramping (especially if it's warm) ... take some Endurolytes with you too.

Solid food is a matter of preference. I stick to an all liquid fueling, however. I don't want to have to go number two on a ride.

This page is sort of an online version of the Endurance Handbook. Lotsa good info there.
https://www.hammernut.com/za/HNT?PAGE=TRAININGTIPS

Psimet2001 

Last unsupported century I did I only used about 3 gels and 2 cliff bars with a bottle of gatorade bought en-route.

Most supported centuries I take a gel and a Cliff bar just in case, but get by with 3 half PB&J's and 1/2-1 bananna.

Can it be done on just Gels - absolutely.
Should one do that their first century? No.
Do a lot of riders become scared of bonking and tend to eat too much on ride? Probably.
Are there a lot of fat cyclists that eat too much at rest stops? Absolutely.
Is there any reason to care about the last statement? No.

What should you eat on your first century?
Whatever you can stomach. You practically can't eat "too much", but it is possible to not eat enough. Use your head (stomach actually) to figure out what to do....

....oh and bring some $$ to stop in and get something at a passing store if need be.

Lucky07

It's true that people over-eat on Centuries. I certainly did the first time out. But that's natural since most people are so freaked out about riding that distance and the possibility of bonking.

The amount and type of food you take in is obviously very specific to your body, the effort you're putting in & the route itself. If you're on a supported ride, get a little something at every reststop. It doesn't have to be a huge amount of food. If you're doing it on your own, take enough to make you feel comfortable. If you don't use it all, no problem. Better to have it and not need it...

maximum01

agreed with the point above about only stopping for a few minutes at a time. if you have a proper lunch break you'll only stiffen up. also, imho, a century isn't a century if you stop half way through for lunch.