Food advice sought

[mcpasty]

Of course, there is the obligatory morning fry-ups and evening beers, but bar the usual gels and drinks, do any of you have any top tips for food types and realistic quantities for the 100 mile days?
Regards

[PW]

I tend to be a "Real Food" type. Good breakfast, beans on toast for lunch, cake mid PM & a pub dinner after the end of the ride. I carry Soreen Malt Loaf in the bar bag, which will keep you going and help a rapid recovery from the Bonk if you under eat. Robinsons Lemon Barley Water mixed weak is good. It also helps to carry a few sweets, jelly babies seem to be popular but I prefer Werthers Originals. These I use to get going again after a food stop when the digestion is in competition with the cycling muscles for food. 3 is usually enough. Don't use them for normal fuel, they tend to provoke an insulin spike and your energy levels will crash unless you continue to consume vast amounts of sugar.

[thirdcrank]

Think in terms of a gradual change from McPasty to McHigh-Fibre.

[Si]

food types and realistic quantities for the 100 mile days

Based on my experience, the answers to your two questions are "anything" and "all of it". And I still lost the best part of a stone in weight.

[Russcoles]

On long rides I tend to use fruit juice in my water bottle. Its easier to drink the calories whilst cycling than to eat them. On hot days it can be wise to water it down. The benefit over energy drinks is that you can replenish at any supermarket or corner shop.

[Mick F]

Eat what is available, and don't worry what it is, so long as it's BIG.

A decent breakfast will set you up for the day. Eat everything put in front of you, and snack as required during the day without stopping for a big long lazy lunch. It's difficult to get going again!

At your destination, get showered and cleaned up, into a change of clothes, go down the pub for a beer or two and a good evening meal.

Get to be early, get a good night sleep, and relish the thought of a good breakfast.

Repeat as necessary.

[ferrit worrier]

I used to work on 50 cals a mile, but in all honesty I think it's quite a bit more. I recently had a crack at a double end to end and aimed at the 50 cals per mile target. after 16 days and 1,500 miles I'd lost about 18lbs in body weight. not good. And a lesson learnt.

While on the subject of food. whist on the return journy from JoG I'd stopped at Lockerbie and found a good pub for tea. I'd got a "T" shirt on with the charity name and the attempt details ie Home to Lands End and back via John o'Groats as I sat down one of the locals came up to ask about the ride as he fancied having a go, we had a great chat after my order was taken he left me to go back to his table, I did catch a bit of conversation with the waitress about what I was doing and when my food arrived the plate was FULL . He seemed quite keen so I hope he does have a go, and the people of Lockerbie are great. Tarras B&B if your up that way.

Malc

[bigfoot]

+1 for a full breakfast and a good evening meal with a couple of pints.

Inbetween we stopped being choosy after a while. Anything that's easy to carry and eat on the bike - from Mars Bars to Cereal Bars, bananas. On a v long day we stopped 3 times, lunch was a sandwich or jacket potato depending on where we stopped, inbetween either a cafe or a supermarket. Full fat Coke if I stopped for a cold drink.

I didn't bother with gels, but I did carry electrolyte powders with sugar (I sweat a lot, and calories in the drink help), and often jelly babies/ wine gums for snacks. In general though we soon stopped worrying about it. Easy to eat calories that don't leave your hands sticking to the bike.

Part of it is what works for you. I can eat several McPasties & still cycle. Several friends stick to energy gels, and anything heavier than air seems to upset them. Work out what you can eat & then just keep eating a little & often.

[Deckie]

Just eat as much as you can!

We started out with the big fried breakfasts etc, but found that really didn't work for us. After a couple of days the balance we found that worked was a "normal breakfast" followed mid morning by a meal, then a lunch meal, afternoon snack, then a huge evening meal.

Our preferred was to get a big chinese takeaway (two house special fried rice, two house special chow mein, something else!), eat as much as was comfortable and save the rest to eat as our mid morning meal the next day. Lunch would be pasta something (the best we had was in Crediton).

For drinks we mainly had just water. I would be careful with isotonic drink mixes, I saw someone collapse having drunk huge quantities of a mix that was too strong. She became dehydrated as her body struggled to cope with the salt and mineral levels passing through her. having said that, do be careful to take on enough salt, soy sauce does the trick nicely!

[Vorpal]

food types and realistic quantities for the 100 mile days

Based on my experience, the answers to your two questions are "anything" and "all of it". And I still lost the best part of a stone in weight.

Yup. Eat anything edible that anyone offers you. Carry some stuff with complex carbohydrates (starchy foods) like flapjacks, bananas, eccles cakes, granola bars, trail mix, etc.

[mcpasty]

Sounds like I have carte blanche to fill the belly (wondring if i can get some deep fried mars bars back in the home land?) and the liquid options are quite varied from you, i think diluted apple juice sounds a plan. Energy and detox combination.
I'm thinking I may be missing some brekkies tho so the bar and snack options could be a winner unless I go for packet porridge - yum!

[barneybear69]

-1 for full English
I had one during my recent (August) Lejog (9 days)and it was so hard to work the fat off - my choice is porridge and toast - slow release carbohydrates.

I also carried soreen and at last a couple of energy bars. I used High 5 energy powder in my drink as it's light to carry and provides 4 part carb to 1 part protein - can also be used as recovery drink. I'd also stop off for coffee/cake morning and aft but no big lunch. At night my choice would be pasta/rice or similar.

I've broken down the days at www.nigelend2end.co.uk

Any other advice feel free to drop me a message

[Vorpal]

I'm thinking I may be missing some brekkies tho so the bar and snack options could be a winner unless I go for packet porridge - yum!

Don't miss breakfast without a reasonable substitute. Packet porridge may be a good option, but I'd need about 4 of the the little packets made up, plus some fruit, and yogurt or granola to have enough to start the day. When touring, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day!

[barneybear69]

Don't miss breakfast without a reasonable substitute. Packet porridge may be a good option, but I'd need about 4 of the the little packets made up, plus some fruit, and yogurt or granola to have enough to start the day. When touring, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day!

I couldn't agree more with Vorpal

[kennycr]

I did a solo (for half the route), unsupported LeJog in June using B&Bs and staying with friends (and at home one night - it is on the route!), and for me it was the experience of a lifetime.

Yes to a big breakfast of cereal, porridge, toast and as much bacon, eggs, sausages etc. as you can cram in, along with fruit juice, coffee and whatever else is on the table. Yes also to having plenty of water on board and as many biscuits/chocolate that you think you'll need to get to the end of the day. I also did the 'couple of pints, a big pub meal and an early night' thing, but it wasn't always possible. I nearly got into big trouble at the end of a long day into Kendal and I was lucky to find the last B&B on the road out of town, about three or four miles away. If that had been full it would have been another 15 miles and I'm not sure I had that in my legs at that time. A lucky escape! The problem was I couldn't get anything substantial to eat there and when I got up the following morning I thought someone had cut my legs off. Even after a substantial (and excellent) breakfast, the run over Shap to Carlisle then Lockerbie turned out to be the worst of the whole route and I can only put it down to not feeding the muscles the night before.

I never made the same mistake again and the rest of the journey was fairly straightforward (not easy!). There were hard days, mainly due to bad weather in Scotland, but if I was to give the most vital pieces of advice to anyone trying it for the first time, they would be:

1. Travel light (which I did, thankfully).
2. Eat as much as you can - in the main that's what I did, and I still managed to lose 12 lbs.
3. Look after your backside (having kids in their late teens, I never realised I would need Sudocreme again, but it did the trick).
4. It's not a race.
Above all, travel safely and don't take any risks. One of them is bound to go wrong.

KC