Cycling UK Forum

Plenty of good sound advice above.

Particularly agree that you need to go for distance first before worrying about speed.

As fitness increases cycling will become easier (and probably faster).

Try a really slow ride and see how you get on.

Pete

the snail wrote:I don't think the issue here is food/nutrition, it's fitness. The OP rode for a couple of hours, and was tired out due to pushing too hard for their level of fitness. Eating more food won't help. I think the best advice would be to ignore your average speed and pace yourself, concentrate on building distance and stamina. With a reasonable level of fitness, 50 miles should be doable in 3-4 hours with no extra food if you're eating sensibly before the ride. No harm in having a banana or something with you though, a morale boost if nothing else.

Plus 1.

The thing is you have got to listen to your body and not be expecting too much of it or be pushing it too much.

Aiming for an average speed of x or y is all very well but, to be honest, not really appropriate to you so generally ignore it. Use your gears to pedal at a cadence (the rotational speed of your cranks) and pedal pressure (typically firm but light) that keeps you moving but does not drain your muscles. Pick slightly lower gears that you can spin all day and then enjoy a longer but less tiring ride. Don’t flog up hills, get off and walk - it might be slower but you’ll be less tired. The object is to finish and the object is not to be first for part of the ride and then burnt out.

Rest is important. A couple of minutes break every hour, a quick slurp and a plain or fruit biscuit is a help, stay away from sugar/chocolate (it picks you up and then drops you like a stone). Hot weather can dehydrate and / or overheat.

Good luck and take it stready.

Carlton green wrote:

the snail wrote:I don't think the issue here is food/nutrition, it's fitness. The OP rode for a couple of hours, and was tired out due to pushing too hard for their level of fitness. Eating more food won't help. I think the best advice would be to ignore your average speed and pace yourself, concentrate on building distance and stamina. With a reasonable level of fitness, 50 miles should be doable in 3-4 hours with no extra food if you're eating sensibly before the ride. No harm in having a banana or something with you though, a morale boost if nothing else.

Plus 1.

The thing is you have got to listen to your body and not be expecting too much of it or be pushing it too much.

Aiming for an average speed of x or y is all very well but, to be honest, not really appropriate to you so generally ignore it. Use your gears to pedal at a cadence (the rotational speed of your cranks) and pedal pressure (typically firm but light) that keeps you moving but does not drain your muscles. Pick slightly lower gears that you can spin all day and then enjoy a longer but less tiring ride. Don’t flog up hills, get off and walk - it might be slower but you’ll be less tired. The object is to finish and the object is not to be first for part of the ride and then burnt out.

Rest is important. A couple of minutes break every hour, a quick slurp and a plain or fruit biscuit is a help, stay away from sugar/chocolate (it picks you up and then drops you like a stone). Hot weather can dehydrate and / or overheat.

Good luck and take it stready.

Thanks! I'll be sure to go at a reasonable and within my capabilities for my training of the 50 and when I do it.

Again, much appreciated

Carlton green wrote:

the snail wrote:I don't think the issue here is food/nutrition, it's fitness. The OP rode for a couple of hours, and was tired out due to pushing too hard for their level of fitness. Eating more food won't help. I think the best advice would be to ignore your average speed and pace yourself, concentrate on building distance and stamina. With a reasonable level of fitness, 50 miles should be doable in 3-4 hours with no extra food if you're eating sensibly before the ride. No harm in having a banana or something with you though, a morale boost if nothing else.

Plus 1.

The thing is you have got to listen to your body and not be expecting too much of it or be pushing it too much. ....

I'd been watching this thread and wondering about this. My recent tour (couple of months) I'd be doing 4+ hours without eating, often without stopping, often without drinking and in hot weather (the heatwave in France ...).

Ian

Hi,
Time and effort.
Not much effort you can go for a long time.

Also if you're not very fit you run out of energy sooner.

The fitter you are the easier it is to tolerate exercise, lack of nutrition and fluid also.

Psamathe wrote:

Carlton green wrote:

the snail wrote:I don't think the issue here is food/nutrition, it's fitness. The OP rode for a couple of hours, and was tired out due to pushing too hard for their level of fitness. Eating more food won't help. I think the best advice would be to ignore your average speed and pace yourself, concentrate on building distance and stamina. With a reasonable level of fitness, 50 miles should be doable in 3-4 hours with no extra food if you're eating sensibly before the ride. No harm in having a banana or something with you though, a morale boost if nothing else.

Plus 1.

The thing is you have got to listen to your body and not be expecting too much of it or be pushing it too much. ....

I'd been watching this thread and wondering about this. My recent tour (couple of months) I'd be doing 4+ hours without eating, often without stopping, often without drinking and in hot weather (the heatwave in France ...).

Ian

You've obviously been cycling a long time and are fit enough to do that.

Well done.

Psamathe wrote:
I'd been watching this thread and wondering about this. My recent tour (couple of months) I'd be doing 4+ hours without eating, often without stopping, often without drinking and in hot weather (the heatwave in France ...).

Ian

Cyclists as a group contain a very broad spectrum of fitness and experience. I would suggest that Psamathe and the OP (Gazelain) lie at different ends of that spectrum. It’s obviously possible but to my mind it isn’t good practice to exercise for four plus hours in hot weather without drinking, but it’s down to the individual to choose what they do. Food and rest is less clear, but I’ve seen normally capable riders get ‘the bonk’ because their energy bank was exhausted, a snack and a rest helped get them going again but if they’d eaten a little more earlier and not pushed so hard they’d have avoided running out of energy. As they say ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’.

Carlton green wrote:

Psamathe wrote:
I'd been watching this thread and wondering about this. My recent tour (couple of months) I'd be doing 4+ hours without eating, often without stopping, often without drinking and in hot weather (the heatwave in France ...).

Ian

Cyclists as a group contain a very broad spectrum of fitness and experience. I would suggest that Psamathe and the OP lie at different ends of that spectrum. It’s obviously possible but to my mind it isn’t good practice to exercise for four plus hours in hot weather without drinking, but it’s down to the individual to choose what they do.

I'd suggest the same.

As a novice, i was pleased to find a forum where I could get some good feedback and advice (even if many think 30 or 50 miles is a short distance..... Please bear in mind that when I started I could barely do 7 miles in 45 minutes. Now I'm able to do 20 without stopping, only a few months in. I've had some great feedback and appreciate everyone taking the time to respond. Having said that, there have been a couple of comments here where individuals have allowed themselves to have a little gloat. I'm certainly thankful to those that have replied with a helpful comment and will use some of the tips provided.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the reason I started cycling was to get fit and lose weight which I am successfully doing..... Great news, right. I'll continue to cycle and enjoy it. Off on a 35 mile ride later today (which I will pace myself on)..... Ian, you've probably already done that a few times today.

Gazelain wrote:As I mentioned in a previous post, the reason I started cycling was to get fit and lose weight which I am successfully doing.....

Congrats .......

But if you eat to much because you think you need the extra energy then you'll undo any benefit.
One extra biscuit in the middle of the ride will be sufficient.
Also the fitter you get then the longer you can go between refueling.

You need to have two cycling modes.
Fast and furious works best for short rides.
Slow and steady works best for long rides.
How much difference there is between modes and at what distance you switch modes only comes with experience ......

Luck .......

Works for me: a supermarket cake just before the start, or two if i can fit them in. Then at 50 and again at 75 miles, two pints of orange juice and lemonade

Agree with the refuelling above, especially the fig biscuits, I use fig biscuits for Audax events as the snacks between cak stops jelly babies are good too.
My other tips is start off slow, if you normally average 15 try riding at about 13 for the first 10 then increase or decrease as you go along

Everyone so far has been fuelling on carbohydrates.

The 'bonk' has been mentioned, which normally happens when your relatively small glucose store in your body runs out.
After a point it is also quite hard to take on more carbohydrates to match the glucose burn rate.

One alternative is to convert to burning ketones; to be 'keto adapted'.
This isn't training your body to switch to burning ketones during exercise when your glucose store runs out (as some have posted in the past) but to use ketones as your main energy source day in and day out.
Minimal carbohydrates and mainly protein and fat.
If you can adapt to this then your body has far larger energy stores in the shape of fat than it does in the shape of glucose.

Ultra athletes (which I certainly am not) are turning to this more and more (according to the articles I read).

For myself I can ride 50 miles at a gentle pace with rest stops fuelled by coffee with double cream and butter (so a high fat load and minimal carbohydrates). Eating Low Carbohydrate High Fat (LCHF) can improve endurance, and also help in weight loss; logical because the extra weight is fat and suddenly it is your main fuel source.

Not for everyone; I ended up here because of my T2 Diabetes and trying different eating regimes to avoid the dreaded pills. It seems to work for me but YMMV.

I totally endorse the fat-fuelling approach.

You don't need to cut out carbs entirely, but don't train your body to depend on them during exercise. Try mid-ride snacks of nuts (or dairy if you don't have issues with it). eat a protein/fat based pre-ride meal.

Try some fasted riding (at VERY low effort to start with!).

the science shows this works for just about everyone who isn't sprinting or racing at very high intensities.

I would suggest getting enough sleep the day before; makes a huge difference in your energy level. Consider taking folic acid(800mcg) daily and vitamin b5.