Cycling UK Forum

This might sound daft! Starting traininng for LEJOG, i commute 60 miles a week, i am reguler cyclist, now getting longer rides in,s ayou build up your mileage, if your doing an 80 miler would you stop for a break?? Say for lunch? I am now in a good habit, 40 miler porridge before i go, eat every hour, drink every hour, but lunch? And if its lunch, what would you eat and drink? Any thoughts much appreciated. Spike

I would certainly break the journey up either halfway or into 3 smaller chunks, ie 2 breaks. It is not always about eating, sometimes a break just refreshes the brain, the legs and gives renewed impetous after the break to carry on.

Food; these i err on the side of something light... cannot cycle on a full tum anymore..... soup/roll, or a scone / toasted t-cake, menu 'starter' item etc.

But lots will have their own ideas of big meals, greasy jo breakfasts etc... you have to find what works for you.

The least satisfactory answer is that everybody is different. What works for me in terms of breaks may not work for you.

On longer rides (and throughout our JoGLE) we have several short breaks, maybe not hourly, but when we feel the need, and do tend to have a slightly longer lunch break and eat a light meal.

As you are building up your mileage and, more importantly, your hours in the saddle*, I'm sure you will find a routine that suits you. The human body is usually pretty good at getting it's own way!


*If you can sit on your bike for 8+ hours a day for several days running the distance will not be a problem!

everybody is different. What works for me in terms of breaks may not work for you

+1.

I think that your best course of action, if you have time before the big ride, is to try practise rides with varying lunch strategies and see which _you_ find most comfortable.

For me I just played it by ear. On some days I'd just do frequent stops for 5 min nibbles, other days I had a nice pub lunch and a relax mid day....all depended upon how I was feeling at the time. Main thing is not to worry about it....you'll do a lot of learning on your first big ride and you'll make a few mistakes, but on the whole you will find that you get through it fine and enjoy the experience (once the rain has stopped).

I could go out for an 80mile ride after a decent breakfast and hardly stop at all. Maybe to relax the muscles, admire the view, nibble a cereal bar, drink water - or find somewhere to top the bottle up. That's all. I'd come home tired and happy, eat a hearty meal and sleep well.

However, to do this day after day is a completely different thing. By the third day, I'd be permanently hungry and need snacks and nibbles almost every hour or two.

So, in your training, think about what it would be like to ride day after day. I like to mix and match different day's miles. Perhaps have a short one in between two long ones. If you do two or three long ones, having a short one feels like a day off!

I'm working towards LEJOG in September, so it's a bit presumptious of me to reply. But on all of the long day rides I've done, I've only had brief stops for energy bars and snack foods. I can't imagine stopping for long, or eating a large meal, during the day. I would say it's vital to keep up a steady supply of energy - once you get hungry it's difficult to catch up.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply. Loads of things to think about,i will take a bit of advice from everyone! Spike

Jay Gee wrote:I would say it's vital to keep up a steady supply of energy - once you get hungry it's difficult to catch up.

+1 for that one evening I didn't eat as much as my body was telling me it wanted and I suffered for three days after. You have to remember that you are not just eating enough for that day's ride, but to maintain your condition for the next several days' rides too.

I'll get my usual post in about a lot of this is what's going on in your head. You sound to be getting the miles in already so you must be gaining a pretty good idea of what suits you, but like everybody facing an extra challenge, you are having the little doubts - hence this post. IMO a big advantage of getting more and more miles in is that as well as getting all the knowledge about what suits your own body in terms of stops and grub/ drinks, you will gain both the confidence of knowing what you are capable of and knowing how to deal with the little voices telling you that the whole thing is silly so why not go home.

In short, there's nobody on here who doubts that you can do it, except possibly you have the occasional "what if?" session.

Distance cycling gives you plenty of time to think - make sure your thoughts are full of self confidence.

Agree with all that already said.

My advice would be two fold. First is simply to enjoy it. Anxiety or trying to ride it to a feeding regime would have the potential to take the enjoyment out.
Second is just listen to your body. Eat when your body tells you to do that. Little and often makes sense during the day but then a decent meal after the end of the days ride puts you back in the zone for the next day.

On a full day ride I must admit that taking a long break just runs my batteries down and I find it hard to get back in the rythm. Short breaks suit the little and often approach and that does the biz for me.

Some days you may be battling wind and rain and need a break. Other days the sun will be out and you'll whizz along. So as others have said just play it by ear. A good lunch can nicely break up the day, but see how you are going and how far you intend to do that day.

spike2446 wrote:This might sound daft! Starting traininng for LEJOG, i commute 60 miles a week, i am reguler cyclist, now getting longer rides in,s ayou build up your mileage, if your doing an 80 miler would you stop for a break?? Say for lunch? I am now in a good habit, 40 miler porridge before i go, eat every hour, drink every hour, but lunch? And if its lunch, what would you eat and drink? Any thoughts much appreciated. Spike

Not sure you need to take it all that seriously. Must you do eighty a day? Unless you're in a hurry or with a tour why not relax and do fewer MPD. I've done it twice in 2010 and 2011 and there are those here who never seem to stop doing it! But I did no special training stopped morning and afternoon for a drink and dinner time for a nosh. Depending on where those stops were I sometimes missed some of them out altogether. But I still made it easily and would have made it back too if my f*ing bike hadnt broken down. I'm seventy next year and take no regular exercise except shopping trips and the occasional ride around the Surrey hills.