Nutrition on a long ride

[Audax67]

Pasta for breakfast a couple of hours before the start has always worked for me. I carry various bars in the HB bag but mini-salami* as well for the salt, fat & protein, which stop the sweet stuff becoming sickening. And a banana, whose skin you can joyously whang into the hedgerow because, m'lord, it's as biodegradable as you.

* Landjäger work well if you can find a UK equivalent. In fact, I feel like a long ride today but the butchers are closed on Mondays.

[althebike]

If I ride midweek, then anything over 90 mins becomes a long ride. I will take a weak electrolyte or energy drink, but more to add flavour to the water than anything else, I would not expect to eat or do anything special to prepare for such a ride. Weekends are different, 3 hours becomes a short ride and over 4 hours becomes long. I will make sure I eat before riding, take 2 water bottles and maybe bring a gel incase I do get into difficulties.A cafe stop is ok but when does a cafe stop turn the event into 2 shorter rides? I try not to stop for a significant time.

[crazydave789]

javoid energy drinks like red bull and monster.

Out of interest dave, why do you say this? In extremis, on very tough rides, I have found Aldi's alarmingly named Red Thunder useful.

most canned energy drinks are too powerful because they are designed to give you a short buzz from the additives that scramble all the stored sugars in your liver and a sugar rush from all that sweetness which can cause an insulin crash especially if you are stupid enough to have the diet versions. My missus has a friend who drinks litres of diet coke per day, she tried to match him one night drink for drink as she was driving, she ended up having an insulin crash which she likened to being high as a kite. we worked out she had had close to three litres of the muck.

years ago before all the gels and supplements pro teams would make up a last bidon of quarter to half Coke to water, any stronger and it is dehydrating which is why you shouldn't drink coke or beer if you aren't balancing your fluids. alcohol needs a pint of body fluids to digest one unit and caffiene/sugar drinks are similar in what they need, you know you have gone too far when you throw up what the body cannot physically digest - hence the number of messy pavements after nights out or that queasy feeling in the morning and why vodka redbull or jager bombs mess you up so much.

if you are dehydrated at the end of a long days riding which you will be despite your 6 litre fluid intake then that can of pick me up can mess with your liver and kidneys, your blood pressure, sleep cycle and even cause mental health issues if abused. if you see the damage it has done to kids drinking 2-3 litres of the stuff per day with mental health issues and symptoms similar to drug addiction because the caffiene and taurine levels are often twice the recommended daily allowance for an adult per bottle. recent studies have led to several calls to ban energy drinks or treat them like alcohol and restrict their sales to kids.

I use them as well but tend to have them early on when I'm hydrated and can digest it properly it allows me to pick up speed on the first couple of days and wakes me up. the long days ride will allow my body to recover properly as I go along over the next few hours. I used to start the day with 50/50 coke then end it with 50/50 fanta or similar. if you can sip it in a separate bottle then it can last you the day but it does tend to taint water bottles.

I like Monster yellow or green as I find it more drinkable (turbo lilt) and it is 50p per can at costco but might buy a dozen a year and use sparingly,

as we get older our natural recovery periods are easier to mess up and we are less used to running around dehydrated compared to when we grew up and went all day playing out, in school or in working life working with nothing to drink.

I was taught 35 years ago as a child roadie that you eat mainly for tomorrow so a mix of simple carbs for usable energy and complex carbs for restocking your reserves. as far as I am aware you use up your bodies carbohydrate stores in 12-14 hours but it takes 28 hours to replenish it so you snack snack snack.

just google why energy drinks are bad for you and pick a few articles to read.

https://www.caffeineinformer.com/top-10 ... nk-dangers

as a boy soldier I did an 72 hour escape and evasion exercise as part of a leadership cadre. I along with many others was eating instant coffee granules raw when I ran out of proplus (and I had a 100 pill mega bottle) along with masses of painkillers. it took me two weeks to recover from the palpitations and cold turkey type symptoms almost as long as it took my feet to recover (blood was coming through my boots). It put me off coffee almost totally though I still drink tea like a fish, I maybe have ten cups of coffee a year. People ask why I don't and I say truthfully that it makes me grumpy.

so if you do have your can of red thunder at the end of the day just make sure you are hydrated and water it down a bit. sponsored riders might have a doctored can to drink in front of the cameras but they have the advantage of an IV in the team bus afterwards.

[Mick F]

...... alcohol needs a pint of body fluids to digest one unit ........

Somehow, I think that needs to be looked at rather closely.

One pint of 4% beer has how many units?
Two or three maybe.

You are saying that drinking a pint of beer needs at least two pints of body fluid to digest it. Don't forget, that beer is mainly water, so
I very much doubt this "fact".

[gnvqsos]

In Sheffield some of the old timers take a small snap tin,and one uses those fat balls designed for garden birds.He wraps it in grease-proof and fills his water-bottle with cold tea-no milk.The younger riders not to be outdone melt cheese in pan,stir in museli,and allow to set o'ernight in sardine trays.these are foil-wrapped and kept warm by stuffing them around their kidneys for a drink the young 'uns have cold capperchinos bought from Withaspoons or Carbucks.

[crazydave789]

...... alcohol needs a pint of body fluids to digest one unit ........

Somehow, I think that needs to be looked at rather closely.

One pint of 4% beer has how many units?
Two or three maybe.

You are saying that drinking a pint of beer needs at least two pints of body fluid to digest it. Don't forget, that beer is mainly water, so
I very much doubt this "fact".

I was taught that at Medics school 30 years ago as we had to know how to deal with the aftermath of weekend leave and sgts mess dos and I seem to remember Micheal Mosely covering the same subject, 1 pint of typical beer needs an extra pint of body fluid to digest and it takes to two hours to get rid of that alcohol from your system provided you remain hydrated, the fluid is not returned to the body though which is why you pee so much for the first few hours then stop as your body lacks the fluids to digest it so quickly. a hangover is mainly lack of body fluids and high blood alcohol. that bad curry is usually the body dumping the slurry downwards instead of up.

another reason why beer bellies are water rich fat as the body stores water to help cope with it and women who have a lower body water content get wasted so quickly.

if I remember correctly this is mainly due to the diuretic effect of alcohol dumping the fluids you need to digest it out of your system as the body drops the stomach contents into the small intestine where it goes straight to the fire exit. alcohol causes the body to produce more stomach acids so the body draws fluid back to dilute it and prevent damage to the stomach. the digestive system runs on a form of hydrochloric acid.

the effects are also highlighted because alcohol is a sugary drink so you get a double hit energy drinks with high caffeine and sugar also.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/3039 ... hydration/

https://www.timeforwellness.org/blog-vi ... damage-544

[mjr]

A naturopath and Lance Armstrong's old foundation? Well, that's me convinced(!)

[ANTONISH]

...... alcohol needs a pint of body fluids to digest one unit ........

Somehow, I think that needs to be looked at rather closely.

One pint of 4% beer has how many units?
Two or three maybe.

You are saying that drinking a pint of beer needs at least two pints of body fluid to digest it. Don't forget, that beer is mainly water, so
I very much doubt this "fact".

Well "studies have shown"

Some years ago I was at a Q & A session by Vin Denson.
He was Jacques Anquetil's road lieutenant - Anquetil didn't drink much water (drier is faster).
In the old days it was common for domestiques to raid bars along the route for liquids - things were unlike today where riders are kept hydrated with many bottles during the day.
Anquetil preferred wines - Vin Denson recalled that on a hot day their manager would draw alongside and tell him "only beer no wine".

[Mick F]

Not many years ago, before we had an abundance of good drinking water, the liquid of choice was beer.
Whole families working on the land only had beers and ciders as their liquid requirements.

Sailors going over the seven seas - even into the early 20th century - had no water to drink at all. In the RN you had a rum ration every day, and as much beer as you wanted. Merchant navies had their own system, but beer was the staple liquid diet.

It was the coming of steam power with the need for fresh clean feedwater that tipped the balance, not the health and possible dehydration of the crew.

BTW, they didn't dehydrate.

[crazydave789]

Not many years ago, before we had an abundance of good drinking water, the liquid of choice was beer.
Whole families working on the land only had beers and ciders as their liquid requirements.

Sailors going over the seven seas - even into the early 20th century - had no water to drink at all. In the RN you had a rum ration every day, and as much beer as you wanted. Merchant navies had their own system, but beer was the staple liquid diet.

It was the coming of steam power with the need for fresh clean feedwater that tipped the balance, not the health and possible dehydration of the crew.

BTW, they didn't dehydrate.

aye small beer as it was known and not a small amount either. it was very weak by todays standards not even 2% a bit like american beers used to be or alsace lagers. that type of beer you can drink allday and not dehydrate. sailors always had a water ration though. grog was water, rum and lime juice.

they also had a much saltier diet

wine was also weaker as the producer made more money that way.

not so long ago the french foreign legion used to fill their water bottles with beer or wine but it was sipped throughout the day. the body can adjust to it over time but it does take time to alter your bodies water useage, back in the 80s my water ration was 2 pints for the day because we were only given one water bottle (we soon started to get hold of our own bottles and the difference an extra bottle made was amazing). desert troops in the last century had about the same and adapted to it. your body switches it's heating system off to reduce sweating and you reuse more digestive fluids.

Hydration is a bit of a modern affair as we are much weaker than we used to be. now we are expected to have a clear wee once an hour, when I was growing up it was maybe twice a day and as yellow a kia ora. same as when I'm all day cycling.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/ne ... 859506.stm

[Mick F]

At school in Wigan in the 50s and 60s, we had a water jug and glasses on the lunchtime table in the dining hall.
That was it.
Never did us any harm.

I cannot get my head round why folk can't even go for a walk without taking a water bottle with them. I'll ride a bike for a few hours and not take water with me unless during the summer. Winters and cold weather, I take nothing, and have a nice cup of tea when I get back.

[slowster]

At school in Wigan in the 50s and 60s, we had a water jug and glasses on the lunchtime table in the dining hall.
That was it.
Never did us any harm.

A water jug? You were lucky. We had to drink sulphuric acid.

[Alan O]

I did a 70-mile ride yesterday, and my nutrition was...

Some pasta with a tomato sauce at approx 5am, before setting out at 7am - and half a pint of water before I started.

Next food was a snickers bar (well, Aldi's cheaper equivalent) at 20 miles.

Café stop at 35 miles - 1 sausage sarnie (I always carry them), and a big cream/jam scone.

Pub stop at 50 miles - another sausage sarnie and then 2 pints of Doom Bar. Another Aldi "snickers" before restarting.

Another snickers at 60 miles, and then home.

During the ride I also drank 1.75 litres from my two bottles (water with 6 tsps sugar and 1/2 tsp salt per litre), a can of soft drink at the café stop, and a 500ml bottle of water. I was a hot and very sunny day.

I'm not sure that helps, really

[Sweep]

I cannot get my head round why folk can't even go for a walk without taking a water bottle with them. I'll ride a bike for a few hours and not take water with me unless during the summer. Winters and cold weather, I take nothing, and have a nice cup of tea when I get back.

I would always take water on a bike ride.

But your first sentence amused me.

I think its often a pose in cities - folk need to feel that they are ultra ultra busy/on the go. Same reason you see folks in london walking down the street with a paper cup of coffee. Relax folks. Pop in a bar. Drink a coffee. The world will survive with you on leave for 5 to 10 minutes.

[Sweep]

Not sure I can get my head round pasta for breakfast alano, but maybe I will try it.

I do a mean tomato sauce.