lol

yes... there is more

picking thru available nutrition is a gamut
next time you go into a store, stop and look at what foods you'd consider eating

by sticking to things like Enteral Nutrition products or Hammer Nutrition, its easier to establish a baseline

I think there is more rubbish published on nutrition than almost every other field of study, and that is because it is written to sell books.

Everytime I find out some new "fact" on nutrition I go to the primary literature to see if I can find it. The research is rarely there.

z

yes, I could agree with that, especially when you see the marketing in "diets", "cleansings", etc...

however, when I refer to Nutrition, I'm simply aiming at trying to quantify calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat...
at the very least, attempt to gauge what fuel you are consuming
and optimally
try to put those values to other measures, like time and distance

There are heaps of 24-hour road races around the US. In fact, I think you've got one coming up in Texas soon.
See my Links page for list of 24-hour races: http://www.machka.net/links.htm

I keep it simple when I do my long rides ...

-- I try to consume approx. 500 calories before I set out on the ride.

-- During the ride, I aim to consume between about 200 and 300 calories per hour, and drink 1 to 1.5 bottles (750 ml) of water and/or sports drink each hour. Some of those 200-300 calories could come from the sports drink.

-- I try to take a lunch/dinner break about every 5-6 hours on my really long rides where I consume 500-1000 calories. I prefer sit-down meals if I've got the luxury of enough time for that.

-- I ride easy for about 30-60 minutes after that break.

-- Other than the lunch/dinner breaks, I take breaks whenever I feel like taking a break. It might be a toilet break, a pause at the top of a long climb, a break to take off or put on a jacket, or whatever. If my break is fairly long (i.e. 30 minutes over lunch), it takes a few minutes to get back into the rythmn again, but it's not bad.

-- And as for what I eat and drink ... I consume whatever I crave ... or in many cases, the closest thing I can find to it. :)

veeeeeeery interesting reads, I am rather impressed by both the distances many of you have covered, and the detail put down on your calorie and whatsit input.

shall ruminate on all of this and try to remember some of this to help my endurance. When I rode long days on tours (long days for me that is) I did learn what foods worked and really just sort of muddled through by seeing what didnt work and what helped.

I had a friend who drove across Canada once, and he was doing 300-350km days, and while he was on a lightly loaded racing bike, the distances did and still do astound me in comparing to my 125km max days (albeit with lots of stuff on the bike)--that said, my friend was and still is a heck of an athlete, whereas I am just a regular old tall and skinny guy.

My first 24 solo I did 254km on a rigid singlespeed, with a pig of a gear and no understanding of nutrition other than 'eat as much sugar as I can'. It was not fun.

The most riding i've done is 272km (Canberra to Sydney), on a Friday. I met my friend at the velodrome, rode in a track meet on Friday night, then rode in a 3-man 12hr MTB race on the saturday. That was on a rigid single speed too, and also wasn't much fun

143 miles in about 14 hours I think it was. that was enough. We took a couple breaks. The terrain included mountains, accounting for the need to take 14 hours.

There is a difference between long distance cycling and touring.

Long distance cycling often has a time-limit. For example, audax/randonneuring where the minimum speed is about 15 km/h for many of the events, or centuries with a 7 to 8 hour closing time. Long distance cycling is sometimes also racing like the 12 and 24 hour races. Even solo, unorganised long distance events usually have a time and distance goal in mind.

In those cases, eating becomes a lot more precise and regulated to provide as much energy as possible, as quickly as possible. So I choose things like cookies, beef jerky, and salted almonds.

Touring is usually a lot more relaxed. There isn't a time set time limit ... it probably doesn't matter if you arrive at your campground at 3 pm or 5 pm or 7 pm. You can adjust the distance you ride each day depending on how you feel. And so, eating can also be a more relaxed situation. You can stop at cafes along the way to have sit down meals, or put together something from a grocery store or whatever you like. So your food selection can be a bit more varied and interesting, and you can take the time to have full meals if you want.

Thanks for the link! Too bad the event is in less than 2 weeks. I would still consider doing the 12 hour event, but I have plans for that night. I'll keep it bookmarked for later.

Machka, yes I can see how for the long distance events, one must be so much regimented and organized with food and type of food intake, just so that the distances are physically possible. That said, I am still extremely impressed with how you folks have done such long distances and such long hours in the saddle-speaking of which, boy the other prerequisite is a saddle that fits well!

cheers

tour vs long distance "events"

"events" I'm thinking is the operative word here.

I admit that often times, my rhythm while out on tour simply turns into a day break to midnight type of effort
is it an "event"? not really
is it "Touring"? for me... ya it is... thats how I ride, sometimes...

when I was in the Army we did a lot of training, deployments, etc...
all in prep for combat (I was deployed for Operation Just Cause '89)

I've done a ton of cycling, lots of races, etc...
I love touring!
I also love backpacking

I used to do 24hr Solo MTB races, and really that equates to going round and round in a fairly controlled environment

my point is that, thru "events" you are able to better "train" for real world experiences, i.e. touring
i.e. California Triple Crown
so you go out and do 3 Double Centuries in a season and earn your kudos for CTC
now you know what its like to ride for about 14hrs straight
experience transfers
now you know how to ride a touring bike for 10hrs...

same kind of deal...