Your top tips for fuelling your ride

[mattheus]

It was probably inevitable that someone would bring up switching to fuelling from fat/ ketogenic diets. There's a vast amount on this in the forum archives.

You're clearly referring to my post, as no other post qualifies.
Note that my post did not refer to Ketogenic diets. Just low-carb.

From what I know of the audience for this article so far I wouldn't include this.

May I ask why not?

(I'd ask you to consider that there will be lots of suggestions that are basically adding high-carb food to the new cyclist's diet!)

[mjr]

Advice to that audience to drink alcohol would be irresponsible.

Told you, Carlton!

[mjr]

Advice that includes "drink before you're thirsty" needs to include advice on avoiding overhydration. That's dangerous and now surprisingly common. Evidence available of course.

Not something I've come across - do you have a link?

"Exercise induced hyponatremia":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise- ... ponatremia

"The incidence of exercise-associated hyponatraemia in the London marathon":
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19622524/

Isn't hyponatraemia under-sodium-ing, rather than overhydration? Overhydrating is just a way to cause it, and other problems.

[PH]

My top tip would be to not call it fuelling, I'd rather a discussion about what people like to eat on a bike ride. Rather than top tips, it might be interesting to read what others do, without it necessarily being a recommendation. Readers could take from that some ideas that they could try for themselves and maybe find what works for them. There must be a good variety of riders and opinion amongst your Cycling UK colleagues, maybe the article could give them a bit more of a profile.
Either way. I'll put money on three things coming top, bananas, beans on toast, and flapjack. Why thee are top is probably an article in itself, an understanding of that leads to alternatives that offer similar for those who like variety.

[mattheus]

OK:
- nuts (unless allergic!), come in a variety of flavours
- mini pork pies
- vegan versions of above (which are now a million times tastier than ~10 years ago, and probably healthier)
- (if sat in a cafe): Beans On Toast. The brunch of (cycling) champions. An excellent source of essential amino acids, plus some slow-release carbs.
- fruit.

[axel_knutt]

A few papers that found a benefit to eating high carb low fat over HFLC:

Johanssen et al: Prolactin, growth hormone, thyrotropin, 3, 5, 3'-triiodothymine, and thyroxine responses to exercise after fat and carbohydrate enriched diet.

Simonsen et al: Dietary carbohydrate, muscle glycogen, and power output during rowing training.

Helge et al: Interaction of training and diet on metabolism and endurance during exercise in man.

Simonsen et al: Dietary carbohydrate, muscle glycogen, and power output during rowing training.

(4) A decent stop on a long ride, whether cafe or packed lunch helps enjoyment.

I used to find it quite difficult to get going again if I stopped too long and ate too much. I used to stop once an hour and eat ~250kcal.

[Richard Fairhurst]

If you're relying on cafes/supermarkets, plan your lunch stops!

It might not matter here in the Cotswolds or anywhere else populated... but in rural France, or mid-Wales, or Northumberland, you may get to 1pm and be nowhere near anywhere that will sell you lunch.

When I cycled through rural France last month, for each day I sketched out a likely start point, end point, and lunch stop. Even then it turned out that several of the villages I'd identified as lunch stops had nothing other than a restaurant/bistro selling delicious steak frites. Which was obviously a colossal hardship.

[Carlton green]

Advice to that audience to drink alcohol would be irresponsible.

Told you, Carlton!

Well, if it had happened then it would be irresponsible. I rarely consume alcohol, but to each - within the law of the land - their own preferences. Occasionally somebody’s post will be accidentally misinterpreted and occasionally it’ll be twisted for a bit of a laugh, a sense of humour is a good thing .

[Pendodave]

I guess it depends on how long and how intense your cycling is going to be.
If it's just tootling along, I don't see why you would need to feed yourself differently to any normal day involving gentle excercise. Perhaps food that can be easily and safely packed in a saddlebag or pannier would be the only criteria.
If I'm cycling at a reasonable pace and distance, I can't eat anything heavy at all. So I'm just after high carb lightweight stuff. Jelly babies, peanut butter sandwiches, flapjacks, cakes. Little and often.
I think that practicing what you eat on a cycling day is important - individual guts digest food very differently, and finding out that yours doesn't like something is a tough thing halfway through a long day.
Post=cycling intake of sufficient carbs is also important.
Although I'm somewhat sceptical about the claims that improved understanding of nutrition during the day has led to the vast improvements in pro-cycling performances, I think that the increased use of simple sugars in water has allowed racing cyclists to go faster and further. Along with other stuff.

[mjr]

I guess it depends on how long and how intense your cycling is going to be.
If it's just tootling along, I don't see why you would need to feed yourself differently to any normal day involving gentle excercise.

I'm not sure, but I think the problem with that is that a normal day for most of this country involves almost no exercise.

[Carlton green]

I guess it depends on how long and how intense your cycling is going to be.
If it's just tootling along, I don't see why you would need to feed yourself differently to any normal day involving gentle excercise.

I'm not sure, but I think the problem with that is that a normal day for most of this country involves almost no exercise.

Seconded. Whilst working ‘hands on’ in industry some jobs barely saw me move around and in the later office jobs I made a point of regularly leaving my desk to walk to some other place for a few minutes of exercise - sometimes I’d spend my lunch hour either walking, cycling or running . In retirement I’m far more physically active.

During large chunks of my working life chocolate biscuits, chocolate bars and crisps were consumed through the working day; all unhealthy stuff from the on-site vending machines. Those (what were normal life foods) aren’t foods that I’d now recommend for helping with cycling .

[mattheus]

There are definitely evidenced materials that will work better than hicarb foods:
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/13/3/78

The findings of this systematic review suggest that rHuEPO administration, regardless of the total dose, consistently enhances key hematological and physiological parameters and tends to improve maximal performance-related outcomes.

[JohnR]

Hey all. I'm writing a beginners' guide to fuelling your ride. This is aimed at people who maybe started cycling to work, got bitten by the bug and want to do longer rides and are thinking about proper fuelling.

That's potentially a very broad range of people which could include someone who is increasing their ambition up to 30 miles at a steady pace and someone else who is targeting a good audax time. Their fuelling needs are very different. In my experience 30 miles shouldn't need specific fuelling over and above a normal meal but I would carry a breakfast bar or two and a bottle of water for emergencies. The audax or similar is above my fitness grade but I can cycle 70 miles at around 12mph fuelled by a good breakfast, some breakfast bars (or similar - one of my favourites is fruit slices where a packet of 3 biscuits feels like a small meal) and water (how much depends on the temperature as does the number of electrolyte tablets used in a day). A banana or two doesn't go amiss.

It can be informative to put different data into http://bikecalculator.com/ and see the corresponding energy requirements. How good the body is in converting food into usable energy is another matter but Bike Calculator illustrates the effect of speed or hills. I consciously think in terms of "fuel" and how much is needed without the risk of putting on weight. I'm currently trying to get rid of some fat reserves which I accrued during last winter when food consumed exceeded that needed for reduced exercise which raises the question of which cycling fuel works best for getting rid of that fat.

[atoz]

As someone who last year had a hb1ac test result considered "borderline" it's certainly given me pause for thought.

I've always been dubious about the over reliance on high sugar snacks, gels and such. Years ago I used to use isotonic sports drinks but only for long all day rides, especially when I knew it would not be easy finding a good cafe for "tea". Then I was doing a lot more miles, and demanding miles at that.

It's amazing that you get people relying on gels for audax events. But there again people enter some of these (not the over 200k ones though) as training for sportives and ultimately races. You just look at the ultra lightweight bikes and expensive kit and wonder.

Nowadays because of residual fatigue from "mild" COVID and being quite a bit older I don't do what I used to, which I find frustrating. I try to eat sensibly without over reliance on high sugar carbohydrates but cycling is often a high energy activity especially if out all day. On a more optimistic note since cutting out unnecessary sugar sources generally I am 1.5 stone lighter.

[Jdsk]

OK:
- nuts (unless allergic!), come in a variety of flavours
- mini pork pies
- vegan versions of above (which are now a million times tastier than ~10 years ago, and probably healthier)
- (if sat in a cafe): Beans On Toast. The brunch of (cycling) champions. An excellent source of essential amino acids, plus some slow-release carbs.
- fruit.

Beans are notoriously deficient as a source of essential amino acids. Common beans used in baked beans will probably not supply enough methionine. (If anyone looks this up remember that there's a lot of different things called "bean".) This may be why beans and grains are such a common combination in different cultures. Although I don't think that it's the cause of the popularity of beans on toast. : -)

For Beccie's audience there's no need to consider protein intake and essential amino acids. But slow release of carbohydrates is probably a good thing and enjoying the meal a very good thing: see above and below,

Jonathan