Food advice sought

[Big T]

I'd echo most of the above.

We used to have a proper English (or Scottish) breakfast every morning, used to buy snadwiches for lunch. Evening meal was usually taken in a pub, but often normal pub sized portions aren't enough. A a couple of time we were lucky to find an eat as much as you like restaurant.

Drinks were usually plain water, topped up at filling stations along the way, supplemented with cups of tea. I found several pints of real ale in the evening helped to replenish vitamins and minerals . Nice to sample different Ales as you travel up or down the country. My fave was Skye Red Cuillin in the Dunroamin Hotel in Bonar Bridge.

[Vorpal]

Evening meal was usually taken in a pub, but often normal pub sized portions aren't enough.

Once when touring, my brother and I were staying in youth hostels.... One night, we made up some cheesy pasta in a huge soup pot. We completely filled the pot with cheesy pasta, thinking we'd have enough for supper and some left over to take as a packed lunch the next day. Then we sat & ate it all in one sitting.

[bearonabike]

-1 for full English

That's -2. I really struggled for the first couple of hours on the days I had a full English / Scottish.

Apart from that anything went. Mars Bar and Irn Bru is a great combo!

For fluids, hydration tabs in water worked really well for me.

[brother nathaneil]

+1 for a full English / Scottish BUT... we were really relaxed about our leave time. We ate early then got ready, prepped our bikes (milled about for a while) so breakfast had settled by the time we were on our way

[PW]

-1 for full English

That's -2. I really struggled for the first couple of hours on the days I had a full English / Scottish.

That's why I keep a bag of Werther's Originals in the bar bag. When digestion and cycling muscles are competing for resources 3 boiled sweets will stick enough sugar into the system to get you going until the situation eases. Then Breakfast takes over and you're fuelled for the day.
Don't use sweets on an empty stomach though. You'll get a bad dose of the Bonk when the insulin level goes up to cope with the sugar.

[Deckie]

+1 for a full English / Scottish BUT... we were really relaxed about our leave time. We ate early then got ready, prepped our bikes (milled about for a while) so breakfast had settled by the time we were on our way

We had the opposite mindset - set off as early as we could so we would miss traffic if we had stayed in a town, plus giving us more leeway throughout the day with our progress toward the day's destination if we needed to change routes. After a couple of days we gave up on fried breakfasts as we were suffering by 10am.

[Vix]

Lots of great advice, on this forum, it sounds as though a good breakfast and lots of snacking, with a decent dinner is the way forward ( glad to hear a few of you managed a couple of pints in the evening ).

[Mike G]

Flapjacks!

They are the original cycling rocket-fuel. Loads of sugariness, easy to eat one handed if you want to eat on the go, and full of oats as well. Horsey people know that you only feed oats to a horse when you want it hyped up and ready for anything........

We baked up tons of the stuff, parcelled it up and posted it on to 3 or four of the B&Bs along our route. You can add all sorts to vary them, such as dried fruit, nuts, coconut, chocolate chips etc. Forget all the expensive gels and supplements......buy some golden syrup and oats, get your Good Housekeeping cookbook out, and enjoy!

Mick's right about lunch (and everything else, too)..........Don't stop for a big lunch. Big breakfast before, big dinner after, and tons of flapjacks in between.........that's the formula!!

Mike

[eileithyia]

Fair, female fat and forty.... well 2 out of 4 might apply, maybe because of these factors I cannot do fatty meals;
It is a very long time since I last had a fry-up breakfast before a cycle ride, the effects carried thru to mid-afternoon and meant I was unable to eat at lunch time, so I was really suffering with bonk later on.
Remember Flap jacks might be a good stand by but are also full of fat as well as those 'good' carbs.

I tend to be of the little and often school and esp on longish days/rides where i might be riding fairly hard. Most 200k audaxes I probably eat less than I would on a non-cycling day.

Porridge/toast/yoghurt/fruit for breakfast then snack every couple of hours, with a reasonable meal at night.

[LollyKat]

Remember Flap jacks might be a good stand by but are also full of fat as well as those 'good' carbs.

Try making these ones by Reohn2 - I can definitely recommend them . Although there is some fat from the condensed milk and the nuts (and even the oats), there is butter in the recipe as there usually is in commercial ones.

[Vix]

I'd echo most of the above. that you had a few beers in the evening, as I'm planning to do the same
I defo like the fact
We used to have a proper English (or Scottish) breakfast every morning, used to buy snadwiches for lunch. Evening meal was usually taken in a pub, but often normal pub sized portions aren't enough. A a couple of time we were lucky to find an eat as much as you like restaurant.

Drinks were usually plain water, topped up at filling stations along the way, supplemented with cups of tea. I found several pints of real ale in the evening helped to replenish vitamins and minerals . Nice to sample different Ales as you travel up or down the country. My fave was Skye Red Cuillin in the Dunroamin Hotel in Bonar Bridge.

[phil parker]

It shouldn't take you too long to work out what works best for you, sustenance-wise, without referring to any preconceived guide lines. The one thing I do know for sure is that we are all different and it is not necessarily the case that what works for one will work for another - not taking away the good advice above, especially for snacks and drinks. Indeed, if you are hungry or feeling week - anything goes, as you should be burning off about 5k+ calories a day.

I certainly can't cycle after a full breakfast, but it does work for others. I rarely snack, but my mate/cycling partner consumes flap jacks at the rate of about 1 per 2 hours!! In fact I rarely eat more than in a normal day - and welcome the weight loss! (it doesn't last long, though!).

I always have a couple of pints and occasionally a glass of wine in the evening with my pub meal.

However, find out what works for you without worrying too much about given guidelines - your body will tell you if it needs more and your waistline will tell you if you need less!

[Mawsley]

Just eat as much as you can!

That's what has brought me to the point of doing the JOGLE!

[mcpasty]

Just made those flapjacks from the linked recipe. Eaten 4 already but not cycling today- they are very nice! Rest are now in the freezer out of the way, far too tempting.Thanks for tip
Just suffered first injury- glutes! Haven't really got a backside and this appears to be the problem
mcp