Cycling UK Forum

I do MBO events of up to 5 hours, moderate to vigorous exercise.
All the "sports drinks" I have tried upset my innards. When I just carried water, I needed about a litre per hour, and several pit stops.
Now I use a blend of plain mineral salts - one tiny scoop plus 2-3 scoops of sugar per water bottle. I drink a lot less, but retain what I do drink, and do not get dehydrated.
Everyone is different - took a lot of trial and error to find what suited me best.
As others have said, get checked for more serious conditions like diabetes first.

Mick F wrote:My advice would be to "listen to your body".


Listen and take notice of what your body wants.
Don't listen to what someone else says you should be doing.

Sorry Mick, I don't go along with that at all. You say 'listen and take notice' etc, but what exactly should a novice be listening and looking for?

Mick F wrote:If you are hungry, eat.
If you are thirsty, drink.

No,I don't agree - when I tour, I often forget to drink as I don't feel thirsty even when it's warm/hot weather, but by heck, I suffer if I don't drink regularly. Likewise eating - early on in my audax riding days, I didn't feel hungry and didn't eat, and guess what, I hit 'the wall' though lack of energy.

Hi, thanks for all the useful replies.

coffeedrinkerUK:
It could be I am sleeping with my mouth open. I'll ask the Mrs. what she thinks.

Tonyf33:
A bit of background. I cycle about 5 miles each way to work a day. At weekends I cycle on one day for 40 minutes intense cycling, 40 minutes intense swimming and finally 40 minutes cycling again. I don't take it easy and bomb it along, usually overtaking people. I can do 100 mile cycle rides on relatively flat land on the odd occasion without trouble and don't tend to feel worn out.
The actual symptoms I get at night are usually about 4 hours into sleep when I wake up with a dry mouth and a relatively high heart rate (I forget what rate as it's been a few weeks since I last had this problem :-$). My normal resting rate is about 45bpm when lying in bed. When I was younger and unfit I went cycling with my school and totally overdid it - in that case something similar happened and my heart rate was high all night and I lost a ridiculous amount of weight in the space of a few days.

NATURAL ANKLING:
I like your idea of drinking during cycling and thanks for the weighing advice. I'm going to try both. Drinking while cycling is something I don't do much of because I don't have the urge to. Even on the Olympic route in winter (just 1 loop of Box Hill) I drank less than a litre.

axel_knutt:
As I put above, I think your over-exercise point has mileage however I don't feel as though I've overdone it. I mean, I sweat a lot but I don't stress myself to the point I feel I'm near throwing up which I understand is a symptom of really overdoing it. The eating tip is something I will try. Maybe I'm just not getting the energy in because if I'm frank, I don't eat more on days when I do do loads of cycling. When I do eat loads after cycling I find the food doesn't pass through my body nearly as quickly as normal so clearly my body is absorbing the extra energy or something.

Mick F:
Thanks for that. I've made a note to think more about what I'm eating/drinking and when.


As I say, I haven't had the symptoms for a few weeks but this weekend I'm going to do my cycle-swim-cycle routine and report back hopefully. Cheers.

Hi,
Well most experienced audaxers do drink on the bike and eat too.
Theres nothing wrong with drinking on the bike because if you are exercising you will perspire even if its not visable and your breath will pass more moisture too.

I would advise that if you are exercising for two hours that you take some nutrition with you to nibble on, cereal bars / mini mars.

My training consists of 2.5 - 3 hrs at 80% average of max heart rate, I only eat one slice of toast for breakfast so my only body energy stored will about 3 hours max then I will tail off.

So when I get home I will be hungry, after about two hours into ride I stop to visit the local recycling centre and I take a nibble to satisfy my hunger and perk me up for the uphill on / off road ride home.

If I work harder say on another course 1.25 hrs and I will eat then go straight home (total 2.5 hrs).

Part of my hunger will be the migre breakfast I know but if your doing vigorous exercise for up to two hours you will need extra sustinance for sure, or lose weight.

Dehydration brings on rapid heart rate, fact.

You have a virus
You are dehydrated (can be brought on by virus)
Your bed is too warm
Your simply not drinking enough
Other medical conditions.

I dont think anyone here will advise to drink only water for more than two hours exercise without eating at all, especially if you are pushing it.

You can do it but after you will need to make it up before you go to bed, on top of your normal intake of fluid and food.
When I say drink all the time, you still need to eat more often than if you are on a day off, modern processed food has excess salt etc, so unless you are a health freak dieting on boiled cabbage you dont need any supliments in your diet unless the doc says so.

If you had consumed a large meal just before ride like a full english with a jug of tea, then you could be excused for a while longer and the hunger comes on quick too

If you fail to eat early enough then later on you you might satify the hunger but will have to wait for the food to do its work.

Also when you exercise your imune system is less effective just after and which can last a day.

Your younger experience at school could well have been this.

I have done all those things but prefer a more reliable training program nowerdays.

bikes4two wrote:

Mick F wrote:If you are hungry, eat.
If you are thirsty, drink.

No,I don't agree - when I tour, I often forget to drink as I don't feel thirsty even when it's warm/hot weather, but by heck, I suffer if I don't drink regularly. Likewise eating - early on in my audax riding days, I didn't feel hungry and didn't eat, and guess what, I hit 'the wall' though lack of energy.

It's still my advice.
No point eating and/or drinking if you don't need it.

Mick F wrote:It's still my advice.
No point eating and/or drinking if you don't need it.

The problem for people is knowing when they need to,especially people who are't used to exercise or if they don't feel hungry.
There's no point taking the body to the empty stage then filling up,as it can make you sick and knock the stomach offside.Better eat little and often than empty>full,empty>full we're not machines,people look on food as fuel,it's more than that.

When I am touring, or otherwise exerting myself for long periods of time, I need to eat & drink regularly. In fact if I *don't* feel at least mildly hungry and thirsty, unless I have jsut eaten or drunk, that's usually a danger signal for me, especially if they seem distasteful. If I do not stop to eat it will be followed by the lethargy that is the first stage of the bonk for me. Similarly, if I don't drink, I am in danger of dehydration.

If your heart rate is increased then that is a classic sign of lowered salt concentration, as I said the signs often don't show up until many hours after the exersize period.
This is the first quote I found on the livestrong website relating to lowered/increased salt levels
"Decreased sodium lowers blood volume, causing the blood pressure to drop and the heart rate to increase"

IMO I wouldn't say that having a dry mouth is a definate sign of dehydration, that's far too simplistic. Of course drinking during exersize is more beneficial all round than a huge slurp at the end or when you 'feel' thirsty but my initial post is totally valid. From what you've said that's 2 hours of intensive exersize, you WILL lose a lot of salt, you must replace it DURING the exersize especially with any (increased) drinking otherwise will just be reducing your sodium levels and put yourself at risk.

Paul de Vivie devised a code for the wise cyclist:
1. Keep your stops short and few.
2. Eat before you're hungry, drink before you're thirsty.
3. Never get too tired to eat or sleep.
4. Add a layer before you're cold, take one off before you're hot.
5. Lay off wine, meat and tobacco on tour.
6. Ride within yourself, especially in the first hour.
7. Never show off (ne jamais pedaler pour l'amour propre!)

Okay, wow, thanks for the replies.

The salt-deprivation comment and the thing about food taking a while to take effect both ring true with me in particular. I don't eat any more on cycling days than non-cycling days and clearly I need to change this. I'll endeavour to eat more often in small quantities on days I do lots of cycling rather than what I do at the moment

My current routine of 2 hours of intense exercise followed by a large gap before I eat tea later in the evening needs to change as it sounds like by the time I eat in the evening it's too late for the salt/energy to sink in and have an effect so I'm kept awake.

Hopefully I'll report back once I've tried this out.

What is the humidity level in your house?

Modern houses are notoriously dry, since they are often centrally heated with dry heat and under-ventilated, especially if it is an "eco-house".

A normal level should be 50-60%, and if you are sleeping with low humidity that would tend to dry you out. Humidity levels can get lower in winter (naturally / more heating / windows closed etc).

A humidity meter should be inexpensive, or there may be one on your dehumidifier if you have one.

Solutions may be to sort out your ventilation, pot plants or a humidifier.

Ferdinand