I alternate between a gel and solid food. One hour it's a gel, the next it's an energy bar or rice cake, if I feel like I need something in between I have these energy gummies I love to eat on a ride. I like a banana but I'll only pick up one at a cafe and eat it there. They always seemed to get smushed if I carry them in my pockets.
Home made ice tea with 70gr of honey and 1gr of salt in a 750ml bottle. One question though if you do not mind... I am using power meter and chest strap heart rate monitor. My Garmin connect app tells me that I usually consume 180-200 gr worth of sugar (around 800 calories) in an hour (I am around 80kg). So if that is the case why the usual recommended range (i.e. 30-90gr) is way less than what I seem to spent? Is that because of the stored glycogen in the body? If that is the reason, I assume as the ride get longer we can not count of stored glycogen levels to compensate the difference between what we actually spend and consume.
Dried fruit to eat and smoothies in my bottles to drink. Whole plant food all the way, none of that chemical processed garbage. I have flip tops that fit on standard water bottles so i can chug smoothies.
I did a 260km ride with my pockets stuffed full of muesli bars and the intention of eating 2 every hour. After eating around 15 of the things I learnt 2 valuable lessons. 1) You need a bit of variety in your nutrition and 2) That the choc chip ones are no good as your body heat melts them.
63 year old, 15 hour ironman (hopefully faster this year). I very much follow the idea of separating out nutrition and hydration. Bottles on the downtubes contain decanted gels with a small amount of water to make it flow. Hydration in an xlab between the bars, currently Precision Hydration 1,000 electrolyte, as they are the sponsors at Barcelona. One slight mod, I do not eat any solid food after 8pm the night before. I tried flapjack, but just makes me need to go to the toilet. I also tried half a banana on the bike as people keep saying you need proper food, but I really dislike chewing on the bike. This regime works for me.
Did a 250 mile ride last week in 18hrs elapsed 14.5hrs in move. My fav meals on such long rides are dried apricots, dates, raisins. Bannanas are great but they are bulky and heavy, it worth to take a couple of them(or get at local shops). Also apples are refreshing. Gels are for races imho
I would say it depends on how hard you are going to push. I did a 90km ride at the weekend on just two bananas and a small home made brownie square at the food stop with electrolytes in my water. Haaving said that as a diabetic the brownie square gave me all the energy for the day.
Haribo - the cheap answer if you can digest it. The Gels are ridiculously expensive and for riders doing races. You should eat during the race what you had tested in training to avoid all kind of digesting problems.
We bought the GCN Cyclist's Cookbook a few years ago. Nigel Mitchell's recipes, hints, and tips work for us. Making rice cakes to suit our tastes is satisfying, affordable, and, most importantly, effective. Also, a few years ago, Emma Pooley shared her recipe for a porridge of oats, banana, and milk - we use this before events. We do not buy overpriced, packaged simple food. Please don't promote this stuff. Simple food, made at home is by far the best.
@@naisbest3020 Got any favorite recipes? I tried making my own recently, and got a fat-nozzle reusable squeeze bottle for it. It was alright, but not amazing. Was honey, sunflower butter, and avocado oil, with a little salt.
I once rode the Lance Armstrong favorite ride in Austin, 120 miles around Lake Travis, very hilly. All I ate or drank was 16 ounces of Gatorade. No problem, but I don't recommend doing so. I heard about a race across America rider who used to practice riding on very little sustenance.
Conor's hat choice at 1:20 into the video looks perfect for fishing with his grandfather for protein between rides, though I wouldn't bet on him catching anything other than a cold.
Bei längeren Touren (ca. 100km mehrere Tage am Stück) komme ich ganz gut klar mit: Ein Schokoriegeln zum Frühstück, 20-30km später ein gutes Frühstück beim Bäcker, bei 50-80km je nach Strecke gibts wieder was größeres zu beißen umd Abends ein ordentliches, kraftiges essen. Zwischendurch Protein oder Haferriegel. Andere Süßigkeiten auch. 2-6l Wasser am tag, zwischendurch ne Cola. Essen und trinken muss man bevor man es wirklich braucht. Vor allem Wasser!
I rarely take carbs for Any workout or ride under 90 minutes. If you fuel correctly before the workout your glycogen levels should be full enough to get you through the workout. Electrolytes with plenty of water is sufficient. Anything over 90 minutes I start fueling from 30 minutes into the ride.
Dried apricots, candy and rice cakes are my go-to snacks on the bike. I always tend to bonk on the first long ride of the season as I forget just how much I actually need to eat... One apricot every 30min is not enough 😂 One bottle of water and one with electrolytes, I don't like drinking my energy...
Is a good to have a 30g energy gel every half hour and every 20 mins 2 mouths fulls of water.. that's how I do it.. longer rides I carry more water in a bag on my back and follow process above.. How do I calculate my carb intake or digestion is there a way other than trial and error to your body..
Let’s say you do 10 hours a week, that’s roughly 500 hours a year. At the low end (allowing for no fuelling on sub-hour rides), 60g of carbs per hour means 30,000g per year. An energy gel typically costs about £2 per 30g. That’s £2000 a year for food. Put differently, a five hour ride at 90g per hour, is 450g. That works out £30 for ONE ride. It’s madness! Plus - the dentist will cost a lot more too unless you use a prescribed, high-fluoride toothpaste. There needs to be a way to get cheaper, healthier carbs in.
I am 70 yo and I ride several centuries and 200 km rides per year. I’ve found water is much more important than carbs. a ziplock bag full or raisins and salted almonds is plenty of fuel for 100 k. I never eat while riding: I stop for a few minutes to eat. For 160 I have a sandwich for lunch, and for 200 I add one energy drink in the last hour. But I don’t ride fast. I never feel “ rubbish”. Take away message: drink plenty of water!
I’ve done a few 600-700km no sleep rides and start with oats for breakfast. Then stop to eat every 4-5 hours with bananas, dried apricots and almonds for slow energy release which I snack on all ride. Most of these rides are unsupported so have to eat what you can get on the route. Always crave bacon and egg so stop for a toastie en route and try eat as many carbs/ protein as possible. And always drink a Powerade/ water 50/50 mix to replace electrolytes and the odd coke too. Just keep eating, even if not hungry, and you’ll be fine. One thing most people don’t think about? Eating and hydrating well the day before has a role in how a long ride goes too
Ketones for the brain, triglicerydes for muscles, glucose for cells that can't run on anything else. By the way gluconegenesis produce glucose in your body, don't have to consume carbs even
Yes, I feel the “recent” trend of carb heavy fuelling for hours on end can’t be good for your metabolism in the long run. Even though you are spending all that energy immediately, at the end of the day your body consumed a huge amount of pure glucose and fructose.
@@krzychjkx6311 If consumed during exercise, there won't be any "huge" spikes... so you can get away with it. Problems start later, once you don't exercise, but still fuel eat lots of (short) carbs. Metabolic flexibility, however, generally is a good thing, and from a health perspective, most people would probably benefit from getting a little bit better at metabolizing fat instead of relying solely on sugar.
@@gcn I think Connor and Marcel went backpacking in the Philippines a couple of years ago, I'm not sure if they tried some lomi and pares along their way though.
I like to measure my efficiency in kilometers per burrito. At least 40km/burrito, but new bike may make that 50km/burrito. Cars use miles per gallon, but I like our fuel per distance better. ;)
I stop every 50km or so for a coffee and a snack. Unless you are competing, there is no need to get hung up on it. I'm in my 50's and have been doing century rides for decades.....cotton shorts, flat peddals, and a few sandwiches. Just enjoy the scenery
What to eat & the amount on a ride is dependant on the intensity. Avoid nutrition products & JUST EAT NORMAL FOOD. Gels are for emergency bonking which can be avoided. Electrolytes are found in food & the commercial products are for dehydration which can also be avoided.
Not quite 100 miles, but I did 151km once fueled only by one banana, one Butterbrez'n (buttered salted pretzel) plus beer, one small piece of cake, one cappucino and a double espresso. I've done plenty of 100km rides without eating anything during the ride. The key to surviving without eating a lot during the ride is to go slow enough that you run mostly on fat. Highly unlikely that I ever run out of that fuel! But on a serious note, I feel this is one of the many benefits of zone2 training. I used to be one of the "go hard, anytime"-guys when I was young. I've bonked several times, sometimes on rides as short as 65km, and bonk hard. The last two years, however, the bulk of my cycling has been zone 1 and 2, and for a while most of my morning commutes have been fasted. While I am not necessarily faster than before, I now can go much longer... and I've never bonked again. Well, technically I might have, because at the end of some rides I was definitely slowing down a bit, and some rolling hills or traffic lights needed getting out of the saddle (what they ususally don't), but overall it was a gradual adjustment of speed and then a "cap" of available power, instead of the man with the hammer hitting you. But even the capped power runnin of fat only was sufficient to get me home in good mood and without feeling ill... Could I have gone (much) faster if fueled properly? Sure! But peace of mind and resilience is also worth something.
New riders, you need to have a ride where you go to the absolute depth of a full-on bonk. You need to know what it feels like, because if you don't do it under a controlled setting you will do it in a big ride or a race.
A true full on bonk where you don't even know where you are and why because your brain can't get enough carbs to function properly (that is a full on bonk), is not something I suggest anyone does on purpose when on a bike far from home and unsupported by someone who can get them home. If someone is to attempt that they really need someone acting as a sag wagon.
Did my first 100miler April this year, 6hr 18min. I used 6 SiS betafuel 80g in 6 bottles of water with an electrolyte tablet in each one. Was perfectly hydrated and perfectly fueled, had about half a bottle left over at the end which i drank on the car journey home. Ive sinced started mixing my own maltodextrin and fructose energy powder for 1/3 of the price of SiS stuff and just as good.
@@gcnI've got 3 more 100+ miles planned for the year. doingn regular 70-80 mile rides on the weekends now the weather has finally turned in the UK, and still feel great for the 3-4 shorter midweek rides. Proper fueling is key!
betafuel is my go to approach too, works very well - normally will use one electrolyte bottle and one betafuel and top up water in petrol station or corner shop....need to perhaps use the tabletsas an option, though they always seem to crumble before i use them...
Andy nailed it. Conner, not so much. Conner, as a former top-level pro cyclist, is used to ingesting lots of carbs. His suggestion of 60-120 grams or more per hour during a century may work for him as a former pro or other pro-level riders (Pogi will take up to 140 grams per hour), but for the average rider, you will probably have stomach distress. Andy's suggestion of between 30 and 90 grams is more realistic. I do a double-century race in under 10 hours. I make a liquid fuel that consists of 40 grams of carbs (UCAN), 10 grams of protein, and 10 grams of fat taken every 75 minutes. Consistency when racing over long distances are very important.
this right here. most of my shorter rides (3-4 hours) I stick around the 30--45 mark, longer rides Ill creep up to the 60mark. Never done more then around 70g an hour.
Connor literally calls out at 4:15 that you don't need so much if you're taking it easier or you have a smaller build. As someone who is over 100kg fairly lean and almost as tall as Connor, when I was fitter and pushing faster pace I needed a lot of fuel to maintain ~30km/h average over 150km+.
Totally agree that for most riders anything greater than 60-80 g/hour is likely to cause stomach distress, or even worse diarrhea - the single worst thing that can happen on a ride. I'd rather change three flat tires in the rain than deal with 💩💩💩. I do believe you can and should train your stomach to handle the load by gradually increasing the amount of carbs consumed during training rides leading up to a big event (most of us do a handful of longer, higher intensity events in a season, whereas pros are doing dozens so there's no detraining of the stomach and it'll stay used to it). Almost every big event of a century (I'm in the USA so that is 100 miles) or greater that I've done, there are numerous riders heading for the porta-pottys at about the halfway mark... because they know it's a longer distance than they're used to, and so they've been cramming down the gels and such at a significantly greater rate than they've become accustomed to on their training rides of 50-70 miles. I think they are afraid of running out of gas because they've not trained to the same distance as the event, so they're hoping taking on extra fuel will get them through it, but instead they just get ill. I start at 40g/hour on trading rides and seldom ever go higher than 70-80 during an event, with a mild loading program for 2-3 days prior, because I'm very "sensitive" - and I believe strongly in riding greater distances in training than the actual event, but at a slower pace and intensity that I find enjoyable (i.e. I'll do whole audiobooks through a righthand earbud while training; in the UK I'd do a lefthand earbud for safety - still gotta be able to hear car traffic!). A few short days with high intensity mixed in, and then I can usually crush it for the actual event (just meaning I beat all my buddies - I ain't no Pogacar!). Ya gotta put in the miles to ride well... No amount of magic nutrition will make up for it.
Other reason for me on middle of long ride restroom break - long rides start early in the morning. I usually do normal unloading mid-morning. Hopping on the bike super early is a major digestive schedule disruptor in the first place. :/
As a type 1 diabetic, I can easily vouch for the 60-> g of carbs an hour. My regular cycling workout route is about 50 minutes, which I do at an avg HR of 140-150. If I leave home at a blood glucose level of under 10 mmol/L, I will have a hypoglycemic incident well before I'm back home. A tube of glucose pills with about 40g of carbs will be just about enough to keep me from going hypoglycemic. Healthy, non-T1D people shouldn't of course crash as bad as I do as their bodies can balance their blood sugar - my point is it seems like about 40-50g carbs is the minimum I need to add per hour of 140+ bpm avg hr activity to keep up. Maybe even more. I haven't done a multi hour effort at that rate in a loooong time.
Depends on what I'm aiming at. Losing weight to become leaner, or to improve condition and maintaining the fastest speed as possible. In the company of people that push you or otherwise. The fueling can be totally different considering these circumstances.
@@dh7314 it is Canadian and you can find them in different parts of the world but not very many parts, there's 1 in London England and few in the Philippines and a few US states have some
@@gcn I think better is a subjective thing for myself. Im just happy to complete these long rides, I'm on a single speed and don't look at my times. I'm there for the ride not the competition. Each to Thier own though. I don't think I'll ever race though
Just adding minor correction here: The expert interviewed stated “the brain only runs my glucose.“ This is absolutely untrue. The brain does just fine running on ketones, which are produced when glycogen stores are gone and the body enters the fat burning phase of energy production.
Have been focussed on nutrition since I started racing back in the 1980's. But we have a lot better info on optimizing "watering" - and better quick foods such as gels etc. than ever before. Makes doing it right a lot easier. Still, a banana and sandwich can do a lot with the right amount of water.
It might be getting too far into the weeds but I'd love if you guys could cover cycling with diabetes. I was diagnosed with type-1 recently but have always loved cycling, doing many long rides. Watching this video reminds me of what I need to do daily, balance my calorie intake with insulin. The aspect of glycogen weighs in there as I have to worry about low blood sugar as much as high. Cycling seems to be great for diabetes as I need to use very much less insulin when I am riding a good amount. I keep glycogen inhalers and an injection with me just in case my blood sugar drops too low. Talking to my nutritionist, she had some advice on how to fuel for rides. A big part of it is keeping my blood sugar levels at a high starting point (150mg/dl) and avoiding insulin 2 hours before starting a ride. It would be interesting to hear from athletes who have type-1 diabetes that are out there.
I’m doing a 200 miler (mtb) next week , will be using tailwind endurance fuel, jam and Nutella sandwiches, gels, flapjacks and probably a burger and chips halfway 😂
After years of trial and error and just forcing myself to drink more while riding--even if I'm not "thirsty"--I feel like I've finally got a pretty good handle on it. I did a century this past weekend and felt 100% the whole time. Never bonked. Never flagged. Had tons of energy and power right up to the finish line. In fact, I could easily done another 30 or 40 miles. Nutrition-wise, I hate gels and never use them. I eat real food on my rides--if I eat at all. On the century ride I just did I brought a mixed bag of cookies and nuts from home... and had a couple of small sandwiches along the way... and started with my bottles full of ice and electrolyte drink... and ended with just water the last 50 or so miles. I find it's also helpful to get off the bike every 25 miles or so... at the beginning... more often toward the end of the ride. Find a shady spot, take a piss, stretch the legs and back and arms... eat and drink... then take off again. If I do that I feel MUCH better at the end of the ride--and the next day.
I Do always separate hydration from carbohydrates. I drink electrolytes with no sugar. Especially on hot days I think it makes much sense keep things seperated.For my fueling I take gels every 20-30 min. So far it works for me.
Real (UNPROCESSED) food is best for me. High on fibre, protein and rich with carbs. It has everything my body needs for any prolonged effort, and it is the most efficient way my body will process the nutrients. You could take sweet potatos on a ride, mais and rissoto balls with bits of dates, some fruits are prime for natural sugars. Quick energy. I prefer fruits over gels any day of the week. Cause who knows whats in those plastics satchels. Nope, no gels for me. Just food. Also on longer rides; gives me an excuse to stop at a café and treat myself to a lunch or a snack.
Typical isotonic is around 67g of powder per liter, most of which are a few types of sugars. On a hot day you might ingest around 750ml of that per hour, so for some rides/some training sessions that might already be more than half of what they need carbs-wise, correct? So maybe then on longer (multi-hour/day-long) rides it is actually more important to include something that has some extra macros like some protein and maybe bit of fats besides the extra carbs?
Eat little and often, every 15/20 minutes works for me. Home made flapjack ( made with coconut oil & honey ), jelly sweets instead of energy gels they dont agree with me, in my bottles, fruit squash with 1 gram of salt, and shop bought pan o chocolate in a convenient bag or a jam sandwich.
Low carb high fat source of energy is for low exertion activity. The fat burning process is way too slow to keep up with the body's needs when exercising more intensely, that's why when you don't fuel properly and run out of carbs, you "hit the wall" or "bonk".
The guy from Precision Fuel who claims at 05:00 that the brain ONLY runs on glycogen is utterly wrong and thus really creates doubt about both his credibility and integrity because the brain also uses ketones. When glucose and insulin levels are low, your liver produces ketones from fatty acids and in most instances has demonstrated peak recovery and performance in this state with individuals who are fat adapted, which is why people often speak of feeling alert and functioning at their best when fasted, etc. I understand he is trying to sell his products but both he and GCN end up looking like fools for simplifying and misleading viewers about such a basic physiological function.
I believe it's worth mentioning, related to this video, that many more people are fructose intolerant than is commonly recognized, so the type of carbs is important too, and not all are created equal. Corn syrup and especially high fructose corn syrup will send a lot of riders to the bathroom, or even worse the side of the road... In other words they'll have a day like Luke Plapp had in the Dauphine (or was that in the Giro? Clearly I've been watching too many races!)... Anyway, I used to get sick routinely at races and couldn't figure out why until I got some testing done, and figured out it was the expensive gels that I was only eating at special events. Once I switched to my normal training ride foods, and just increased the amount gradually up until an event, no more problems. According to my GI physician, it's nearly as common as lactose intolerance and is more likely as you age (like lactose intolerance) because you lose the ability to produce a key enzyme to break it down. Once the undigested sugar gets to your lower GI tract, watch out!
Generally good info. Howerver If you are in decent shape you should be able to ride for an hour or two without any fancy sports nutrition products. If you can’t then maybe look at your diet. Fats are what give you long term energy and even fairly lean people have enough for a a long ride. Constantly taking in carbs means you body never learns to access it’s fat stores. I think sports nutrition porducts are more for longer rides, 2 hours plus. I have ridden lot’s of long rides 2 or 3 hours with no or little food and I don’t think my performance suffered. Of course the companies that make and sell nutritiion products would have you believe that you should use it all the time. I would guess that the vast majority of rides are less that a couple of hours.
Weak ice tea or powdered lemon drink or 1/4 gatorade/water. I rely mostly on liquids. Maybe cake or cookies, anything easy to digest. If anything I err on the side of eating less.
What works great if you don’t ´t want to spend millions on gels or other stuff: Get Maltodextrin, blend it with plain white sugar in a 3:2-ration and mix in a bit of salt (pink Himalayan salt ha a great electrolyte mix). That ´s a real cheap carb mix. And my stomach can take this much better than gels.
2:1 glucose/fructose is supposed to be optimal for gut absorption- so for example 60g sucrose (30/30 glucose/fructose) to 30g maltodextrin gives that ratio...
I really appreciate all these tips as they give me a good insight into how body uses carbs. As a T1 diabetic I would really appreciate if there could be a specific video on that as there's so many variables that's hard to iron out and I'm having difficulties finding good sources online. My main gripe is having high blood sugar and feeling bloated while having almost no glucose in my muscles so I bonk anyway. I know that by then I need more insulin but the way it translates to having more power is still murky to me and often then results to having low blood sugar instead. Learning how my body works has been one of the good side effects of cycling so far.
I am also T1D, I have an Omnipod and for long rides I target a higher BS of 150. When first leaving I will usually be at 180-190, I also use a temp basal that is 80% less insulin then I normally receive. Everyone's fitness is different and its definitely way easier to bonk as a T1D. Best advice I can give is to play around with your basal rates (sometimes when going for a 50k+ ride I will not give myself insulin at all by using a temp basal of -100%) and make sure you bring whatever your preferred carbs are! I usually bring two Powerades in my bottle mounts and a cliff bar in my jersey.
@@christianduncan9697 Thank you for the insight. I'm also aiming at anything between 8mmol/l so around 150 to about 10 (180.) I have freestyle libre for now, and it's helping a lot, but my main issue is with temp basal rate. I usually set temp basal to about -50% and usually that's fine, but sometimes my blood sugar just keeps rising, but energy is dropping because the glucose isn't where it's supposed to be. Be due to my lack of effort or something else, it's a lot of trial and error. The most annoying thing is when blood sugar goes to the extremes, either to like 300 or down to about 60. My issue is that then I often overcompensate, so it's sometimes from one extreme to the other. And don't even get me started on night lows after a longer ride. On the other hand, I'm super happy that we have things like CGM and temp basal rates, without which it would be much worse pain.
Yeah exactly it is definitely a game of trial and error and I think the more you ride the more you can associate certain temp basal rates w certain efforts, but I’ve found even these rates change depending on your fitness level so it’s not too easy. I always seem to be low at the end of a long ride but then my sugar will spike once I am resting afterwards even after turning off temp basal which I still don’t really understand lol
@@filipruml The rise may be down to too much effort causing conversion of hepatic glycogen into glucose (due to exercise induced stress hormones), riding more gently will reduce the effect (see EXTOD course materials) as will being fitter (i.e. a given power/speed is less stressful to maintain); it could also be (mental) stress hormones towards the start of a ride you're nervous about which again causes glucose production (I get this for new long rides, or if I've not ridden far for a while). I find all the above effects tend to wear off after about 3h - 4h of riding (presumably as my liver has used up enough glycogen that it's having second thoughts about continuing to be "helpful") and from then on it's a question of how much basal you've got onboard and what colour socks you're wearing ;).
60g of carbs are worth 240kcal. In an hour, you're going to burn more than twice of that. So, the beer belly is under attack even if you manage to fuel properly 😉
I put up to 100g mix of fructose and maltodextrin and 1/2 tsp salt in a 700ml bottle. It's like sipping on a Beta Fuel gel with added hydration and buying bulk ingredients is cheaper in the long run.
Purified fructose is not food gradient, it is a toxin, without fibers as it’s in nature! It metabolizes pretty much as alcohol does.Almost the same enzyme complex participates.
I've been playing with mixing apples, strawberries (both blended to high heaven and back), honey, and some salt in a 500ml rubber flask. I've also added some pedialyte powder a couple times, but I don't think I need it. I haven't tried the malto yet. That's next. Seems to be helping. "Real food," cheaper than gels, and I can make it however I like it using local source ingredients. Wins all around, so far.
@@arviddh I tried that, but I needed some flavor. I will mix gatorade and 30g sugar per bottle in the spring/fall. But, for now, strawberries are in season, so cheap. And sit better in my gut.
Has anyone found a good savoury fuel? I’m sick of eating sweet foods while on the bike. I’ve heard people talk about rice cakes but they only seem to have 8g of carbs each.
It depends entirely on the effort you are putting out and even more importantly, the ambient temperature. I got round a 200km Audax ride in 8 hours with just 3 or 4 bananas. That was in Summer. I always use electrolytes (such as Zero dissolving tablets). In winter, that same route had me eating in cafes twice and still struggling to get round. It added over 2 hours to my time. Cold weather burns calories faster than people realise. If you are REALLY serious then you should train using some kind of Fasting routine. 50 mile rides in Zone 2 or maybe Zone 3. Force your body to adapt to burning fat as well as Carbs. Once you do that then the dreaded BONK won't hit you so quickly and so hard. I've ridden 100 miles or more 94 times (my goal is 100 times) and I learned that, no matter how trivial you start thinking 100 miles is, it will always bite you if you don't take it seriously, and don't prep for it properly. One of my worst days on a bike was on a (usually) relatively easy 200km, when I'd had a few the night before, didn't carry enough food or water. I can still remember those final 50km. Trying to change into 1st gear ... only to find I was already in 1st gear.
What do you typically eat on your long rides? 🍌
I alternate between a gel and solid food. One hour it's a gel, the next it's an energy bar or rice cake, if I feel like I need something in between I have these energy gummies I love to eat on a ride. I like a banana but I'll only pick up one at a cafe and eat it there. They always seemed to get smushed if I carry them in my pockets.
Alternate carbo gels with sweet milk bar or paçoca for a more salty taste.
Home made ice tea with 70gr of honey and 1gr of salt in a 750ml bottle. One question though if you do not mind... I am using power meter and chest strap heart rate monitor. My Garmin connect app tells me that I usually consume 180-200 gr worth of sugar (around 800 calories) in an hour (I am around 80kg). So if that is the case why the usual recommended range (i.e. 30-90gr) is way less than what I seem to spent? Is that because of the stored glycogen in the body? If that is the reason, I assume as the ride get longer we can not count of stored glycogen levels to compensate the difference between what we actually spend and consume.
Dried fruit to eat and smoothies in my bottles to drink. Whole plant food all the way, none of that chemical processed garbage.
I have flip tops that fit on standard water bottles so i can chug smoothies.
Cured meat+regular tap water. Cured meat because it is salty and because it doesn't really need refrigeration that much.
My rule is that the eating starts before the riding does. The first snack happens while I'm getting ready.
Snacks snacks snacks 🙌 We're here for that!
As Nigel Mitchell said (paraphrase) eat really early on, on the bike. -Keeps your body moving to process and produce energy efficiently.
I did a 260km ride with my pockets stuffed full of muesli bars and the intention of eating 2 every hour. After eating around 15 of the things I learnt 2 valuable lessons. 1) You need a bit of variety in your nutrition and 2) That the choc chip ones are no good as your body heat melts them.
This answer the question
Also a little too much fiber if it’s real muesli.
63 year old, 15 hour ironman (hopefully faster this year). I very much follow the idea of separating out nutrition and hydration. Bottles on the downtubes contain decanted gels with a small amount of water to make it flow. Hydration in an xlab between the bars, currently Precision Hydration 1,000 electrolyte, as they are the sponsors at Barcelona.
One slight mod, I do not eat any solid food after 8pm the night before. I tried flapjack, but just makes me need to go to the toilet. I also tried half a banana on the bike as people keep saying you need proper food, but I really dislike chewing on the bike. This regime works for me.
Ok i did
Did a 250 mile ride last week in 18hrs elapsed 14.5hrs in move. My fav meals on such long rides are dried apricots, dates, raisins. Bannanas are great but they are bulky and heavy, it worth to take a couple of them(or get at local shops). Also apples are refreshing. Gels are for races imho
I would say it depends on how hard you are going to push. I did a 90km ride at the weekend on just two bananas and a small home made brownie square at the food stop with electrolytes in my water. Haaving said that as a diabetic the brownie square gave me all the energy for the day.
Sports gels and bars are ridiculously expensive. Don't even think of buying these for a second.
Expensive is relative to income.
If you lack the funds, you can always make your own at home. It’s fairly easy.
Haribo - the cheap answer if you can digest it. The Gels are ridiculously expensive and for riders doing races. You should eat during the race what you had tested in training to avoid all kind of digesting problems.
We bought the GCN Cyclist's Cookbook a few years ago. Nigel Mitchell's recipes, hints, and tips work for us. Making rice cakes to suit our tastes is satisfying, affordable, and, most importantly, effective. Also, a few years ago, Emma Pooley shared her recipe for a porridge of oats, banana, and milk - we use this before events. We do not buy overpriced, packaged simple food. Please don't promote this stuff. Simple food, made at home is by far the best.
I only use them for XC ski races. Everything else freezes or is too hard to carry.
@@naisbest3020 Got any favorite recipes? I tried making my own recently, and got a fat-nozzle reusable squeeze bottle for it. It was alright, but not amazing. Was honey, sunflower butter, and avocado oil, with a little salt.
Unbelievably this is filmed in and around Avening the village I grew up in. Also top fuelling tips 😂
6:55 Connor is so tall, his XL frame looks like a 24" childrens bike
Always great Conner! Nice new ride!
We love filming with Conor 🙌
I once rode the Lance Armstrong favorite ride in Austin, 120 miles around Lake Travis, very hilly. All I ate or drank was 16 ounces of Gatorade. No problem, but I don't recommend doing so. I heard about a race across America rider who used to practice riding on very little sustenance.
Conor's hat choice at 1:20 into the video looks perfect for fishing with his grandfather for protein between rides, though I wouldn't bet on him catching anything other than a cold.
Bei längeren Touren (ca. 100km mehrere Tage am Stück) komme ich ganz gut klar mit:
Ein Schokoriegeln zum Frühstück, 20-30km später ein gutes Frühstück beim Bäcker, bei 50-80km je nach Strecke gibts wieder was größeres zu beißen umd Abends ein ordentliches, kraftiges essen. Zwischendurch Protein oder Haferriegel. Andere Süßigkeiten auch. 2-6l Wasser am tag, zwischendurch ne Cola. Essen und trinken muss man bevor man es wirklich braucht. Vor allem Wasser!
This was very helpful. Thank you!
I rarely take carbs for Any workout or ride under 90 minutes. If you fuel correctly before the workout your glycogen levels should be full enough to get you through the workout. Electrolytes with plenty of water is sufficient. Anything over 90 minutes I start fueling from 30 minutes into the ride.
Dried apricots, candy and rice cakes are my go-to snacks on the bike. I always tend to bonk on the first long ride of the season as I forget just how much I actually need to eat... One apricot every 30min is not enough 😂
One bottle of water and one with electrolytes, I don't like drinking my energy...
Great video, Conor. Anyone got hints on how to set custom alerts on the wahoo element roam?
request #??? - please do a nutrition video for us diabetic riders..... 100g/cars per hour would probably kill me
Hydration and electrolytes are key in any race.
I prefer fasting rides and doing 50km before breakfast
Is a good to have a 30g energy gel every half hour and every 20 mins 2 mouths fulls of water.. that's how I do it.. longer rides I carry more water in a bag on my back and follow process above..
How do I calculate my carb intake or digestion is there a way other than trial and error to your body..
In a group ride, may I add, drink and eat while you are at the back of the group, for safety's sake.
Let’s say you do 10 hours a week, that’s roughly 500 hours a year. At the low end (allowing for no fuelling on sub-hour rides), 60g of carbs per hour means 30,000g per year. An energy gel typically costs about £2 per 30g. That’s £2000 a year for food.
Put differently, a five hour ride at 90g per hour, is 450g. That works out £30 for ONE ride.
It’s madness! Plus - the dentist will cost a lot more too unless you use a prescribed, high-fluoride toothpaste.
There needs to be a way to get cheaper, healthier carbs in.
What about diabetics (with or without ketoacidosis) that have to keep their carbs low, and protein high ???
Insulin-dependent or not ???
Perhaps we could do a video on this 👀
I am Type two Diabetes so have trouble getting Carbs.
So it takes longer.
Any advice
I would suggest to look up prof. Stephen Phinney, Jeff Volek- keto adaptation in atheletes
Training for a race
Never have figured it out. Being older (60+) doesn't help any either.
Who edited this video 😂
Brand sponsor nonsense to eat nonsense u can't read
Haven't you eaten anything the day before? Seems way too much 'fuel' to me. Especially those revolting chemical gels. Get a boiled egg down you.
I am 70 yo and I ride several centuries and 200 km rides per year. I’ve found water is much more important than carbs. a ziplock bag full or raisins and salted almonds is plenty of fuel for 100 k. I never eat while riding: I stop for a few minutes to eat. For 160 I have a sandwich for lunch, and for 200 I add one energy drink in the last hour. But I don’t ride fast. I never feel “ rubbish”. Take away message: drink plenty of water!
Dehydration will get you long before the bonk!
52 years old and getting ready for my first century ride, in July in Texas...🥵. Timely video and informative, thanks!!!
I’ve done a few 600-700km no sleep rides and start with oats for breakfast. Then stop to eat every 4-5 hours with bananas, dried apricots and almonds for slow energy release which I snack on all ride. Most of these rides are unsupported so have to eat what you can get on the route. Always crave bacon and egg so stop for a toastie en route and try eat as many carbs/ protein as possible. And always drink a Powerade/ water 50/50 mix to replace electrolytes and the odd coke too. Just keep eating, even if not hungry, and you’ll be fine. One thing most people don’t think about? Eating and hydrating well the day before has a role in how a long ride goes too
You can go
Why would someone do that?
@@FoobsTonChallenge the mind and body, see what you can do. You don’t know until you try
A helpful and sensible response
@@darrylearnshaw7102 the david goggins mentality 👌
Ketones for the brain, triglicerydes for muscles, glucose for cells that can't run on anything else. By the way gluconegenesis produce glucose in your body, don't have to consume carbs even
Yes, I feel the “recent” trend of carb heavy fuelling for hours on end can’t be good for your metabolism in the long run. Even though you are spending all that energy immediately, at the end of the day your body consumed a huge amount of pure glucose and fructose.
@@pedro.almeida exacly, huge spikes of blood glucose and leads to chronic systemic inflamation, glication and damage to cells
@@krzychjkx6311 If consumed during exercise, there won't be any "huge" spikes... so you can get away with it. Problems start later, once you don't exercise, but still fuel eat lots of (short) carbs.
Metabolic flexibility, however, generally is a good thing, and from a health perspective, most people would probably benefit from getting a little bit better at metabolizing fat instead of relying solely on sugar.
It’s hard to take a guy seriously with his hat on backwards. Just saying.
Maybe the sun was at his back 😂
In the Philippines, we stop at pares and lomi eateries to fill those carbs up. There are also lots of coconut stalls along the roads for electrolytes.
We know where we're heading next 👀
@@gcn I think Connor and Marcel went backpacking in the Philippines a couple of years ago, I'm not sure if they tried some lomi and pares along their way though.
Ayus!!! Loving the growing Audax scene in Fils now!!❤ Coconut water works amazing for me, better response than any commercial electrolites.
@@Brit-Pino and coconut water is available almost everywhere!
@@gcnbest place to cycle
ABCs of centuries (long rides)
Always
Be
Chewing
I like to measure my efficiency in kilometers per burrito. At least 40km/burrito, but new bike may make that 50km/burrito. Cars use miles per gallon, but I like our fuel per distance better. ;)
Since I'm americunt I like to measure my efficiency in 10 uncle bobs foot per hamburger.
I take kebab.
Mine ist Coca Cola. Around 10l on 760km 😂
I stop every 50km or so for a coffee and a snack. Unless you are competing, there is no need to get hung up on it. I'm in my 50's and have been doing century rides for decades.....cotton shorts, flat peddals, and a few sandwiches. Just enjoy the scenery
Did Vätternrundan 10 days ago, 315km. Ate 150 grams of salami, and drank coffee and water. That was all. Fully fat adapted, zero carbs.
Yes, it works.
Didn't work for me.
@@genegade So it irritates you it works. Interesting.
What to eat & the amount on a ride is dependant on the intensity. Avoid nutrition products & JUST EAT NORMAL FOOD.
Gels are for emergency bonking which can be avoided.
Electrolytes are found in food & the commercial products are for dehydration which can also be avoided.
Not quite 100 miles, but I did 151km once fueled only by one banana, one Butterbrez'n (buttered salted pretzel) plus beer, one small piece of cake, one cappucino and a double espresso. I've done plenty of 100km rides without eating anything during the ride. The key to surviving without eating a lot during the ride is to go slow enough that you run mostly on fat. Highly unlikely that I ever run out of that fuel!
But on a serious note, I feel this is one of the many benefits of zone2 training. I used to be one of the "go hard, anytime"-guys when I was young. I've bonked several times, sometimes on rides as short as 65km, and bonk hard. The last two years, however, the bulk of my cycling has been zone 1 and 2, and for a while most of my morning commutes have been fasted. While I am not necessarily faster than before, I now can go much longer... and I've never bonked again. Well, technically I might have, because at the end of some rides I was definitely slowing down a bit, and some rolling hills or traffic lights needed getting out of the saddle (what they ususally don't), but overall it was a gradual adjustment of speed and then a "cap" of available power, instead of the man with the hammer hitting you. But even the capped power runnin of fat only was sufficient to get me home in good mood and without feeling ill...
Could I have gone (much) faster if fueled properly? Sure! But peace of mind and resilience is also worth something.
New riders, you need to have a ride where you go to the absolute depth of a full-on bonk. You need to know what it feels like, because if you don't do it under a controlled setting you will do it in a big ride or a race.
A true full on bonk where you don't even know where you are and why because your brain can't get enough carbs to function properly (that is a full on bonk), is not something I suggest anyone does on purpose when on a bike far from home and unsupported by someone who can get them home. If someone is to attempt that they really need someone acting as a sag wagon.
lol - they don’t need to force it. It will definitely happen! More than once.
Not sure a guy who can't wear a baseball cap properly knows that much.
Did my first 100miler April this year, 6hr 18min.
I used 6 SiS betafuel 80g in 6 bottles of water with an electrolyte tablet in each one. Was perfectly hydrated and perfectly fueled, had about half a bottle left over at the end which i drank on the car journey home.
Ive sinced started mixing my own maltodextrin and fructose energy powder for 1/3 of the price of SiS stuff and just as good.
Awesome! Sounds like you've smashed it 🙌 Have you got another 100miler planned?
@@gcnI've got 3 more 100+ miles planned for the year. doingn regular 70-80 mile rides on the weekends now the weather has finally turned in the UK, and still feel great for the 3-4 shorter midweek rides. Proper fueling is key!
@@mosmes02 consider sugar. It's half fructose half glucose. With citric acid it's very tolerable. Or add maltodextrin if it's too sweet for you.
@@pierrex3226yeah I tried normal table sugar, not sure if it was in my head but I just didn't feel the same as a 1:08 fructose:malto mix.
betafuel is my go to approach too, works very well - normally will use one electrolyte bottle and one betafuel and top up water in petrol station or corner shop....need to perhaps use the tabletsas an option, though they always seem to crumble before i use them...
Andy nailed it. Conner, not so much. Conner, as a former top-level pro cyclist, is used to ingesting lots of carbs. His suggestion of 60-120 grams or more per hour during a century may work for him as a former pro or other pro-level riders (Pogi will take up to 140 grams per hour), but for the average rider, you will probably have stomach distress. Andy's suggestion of between 30 and 90 grams is more realistic. I do a double-century race in under 10 hours. I make a liquid fuel that consists of 40 grams of carbs (UCAN), 10 grams of protein, and 10 grams of fat taken every 75 minutes. Consistency when racing over long distances are very important.
Conor is also about 2x size of me, and certainly taller than most - not really a wonder he uses more calories! More person = more calories.
this right here. most of my shorter rides (3-4 hours) I stick around the 30--45 mark, longer rides Ill creep up to the 60mark. Never done more then around 70g an hour.
Connor literally calls out at 4:15 that you don't need so much if you're taking it easier or you have a smaller build.
As someone who is over 100kg fairly lean and almost as tall as Connor, when I was fitter and pushing faster pace I needed a lot of fuel to maintain ~30km/h average over 150km+.
Totally agree that for most riders anything greater than 60-80 g/hour is likely to cause stomach distress, or even worse diarrhea - the single worst thing that can happen on a ride. I'd rather change three flat tires in the rain than deal with 💩💩💩. I do believe you can and should train your stomach to handle the load by gradually increasing the amount of carbs consumed during training rides leading up to a big event (most of us do a handful of longer, higher intensity events in a season, whereas pros are doing dozens so there's no detraining of the stomach and it'll stay used to it). Almost every big event of a century (I'm in the USA so that is 100 miles) or greater that I've done, there are numerous riders heading for the porta-pottys at about the halfway mark... because they know it's a longer distance than they're used to, and so they've been cramming down the gels and such at a significantly greater rate than they've become accustomed to on their training rides of 50-70 miles. I think they are afraid of running out of gas because they've not trained to the same distance as the event, so they're hoping taking on extra fuel will get them through it, but instead they just get ill. I start at 40g/hour on trading rides and seldom ever go higher than 70-80 during an event, with a mild loading program for 2-3 days prior, because I'm very "sensitive" - and I believe strongly in riding greater distances in training than the actual event, but at a slower pace and intensity that I find enjoyable (i.e. I'll do whole audiobooks through a righthand earbud while training; in the UK I'd do a lefthand earbud for safety - still gotta be able to hear car traffic!). A few short days with high intensity mixed in, and then I can usually crush it for the actual event (just meaning I beat all my buddies - I ain't no Pogacar!). Ya gotta put in the miles to ride well... No amount of magic nutrition will make up for it.
Other reason for me on middle of long ride restroom break - long rides start early in the morning. I usually do normal unloading mid-morning. Hopping on the bike super early is a major digestive schedule disruptor in the first place. :/
As a type 1 diabetic, I can easily vouch for the 60-> g of carbs an hour. My regular cycling workout route is about 50 minutes, which I do at an avg HR of 140-150. If I leave home at a blood glucose level of under 10 mmol/L, I will have a hypoglycemic incident well before I'm back home. A tube of glucose pills with about 40g of carbs will be just about enough to keep me from going hypoglycemic. Healthy, non-T1D people shouldn't of course crash as bad as I do as their bodies can balance their blood sugar - my point is it seems like about 40-50g carbs is the minimum I need to add per hour of 140+ bpm avg hr activity to keep up. Maybe even more. I haven't done a multi hour effort at that rate in a loooong time.
How to Fuel for a 100 Mile Ride: Buy sugar products from our sponsors
Depends on what I'm aiming at. Losing weight to become leaner, or to improve condition and maintaining the fastest speed as possible. In the company of people that push you or otherwise. The fueling can be totally different considering these circumstances.
Connors bike is huge 😂😂😂😂
Conor is huge!
Yeah, there is a lot of him. 😂
What sunglasses are those at 6:38 ?
6 pints and fish and chips
almost the same here, 6 pints, a baguette avec fromage and les patates frites with mayonaise, best ever
🤮
sugar/water in a soft flask does it for me
Good Old English Breakfast Glass of Orange juice Finished off with a Cold Pint of Iced Water. That's all you need.
Tim Hortons, I did a 181.61K ride all on tim hortons, tim bits and donuts and grilled cheese. I've even done a 110k on McDonald's
sry i dont speak murica
@@AlpenmagierTim Horton is Canadian, no?
@@dh7314 it is Canadian and you can find them in different parts of the world but not very many parts, there's 1 in London England and few in the Philippines and a few US states have some
And? Most of that garbage is sugar, who are you trying to impress?
@@pierrex3226 I don't care if people are impressed,
I prefer a mix of carbs and savoury lower carb foods. After a few hours i am sick of gels!
I just eat. I dont care what. Food. Prope food. Whatever is available at evebt or shop at the time im riding. Never had an issue.
Do you think you'll do better if you did try and optimise your fuel?
@@gcn I think better is a subjective thing for myself. Im just happy to complete these long rides, I'm on a single speed and don't look at my times. I'm there for the ride not the competition. Each to Thier own though. I don't think I'll ever race though
Just adding minor correction here: The expert interviewed stated “the brain only runs my glucose.“ This is absolutely untrue. The brain does just fine running on ketones, which are produced when glycogen stores are gone and the body enters the fat burning phase of energy production.
Shhh they are trying to sell glusose and fructose here 🤭
@@pedro.almeida Lol, you might be right!
If I'm going on a long ride (above 60 miles) the eating starts 2 days before.
Have been focussed on nutrition since I started racing back in the 1980's. But we have a lot better info on optimizing "watering" - and better quick foods such as gels etc. than ever before. Makes doing it right a lot easier. Still, a banana and sandwich can do a lot with the right amount of water.
It might be getting too far into the weeds but I'd love if you guys could cover cycling with diabetes. I was diagnosed with type-1 recently but have always loved cycling, doing many long rides. Watching this video reminds me of what I need to do daily, balance my calorie intake with insulin. The aspect of glycogen weighs in there as I have to worry about low blood sugar as much as high. Cycling seems to be great for diabetes as I need to use very much less insulin when I am riding a good amount. I keep glycogen inhalers and an injection with me just in case my blood sugar drops too low.
Talking to my nutritionist, she had some advice on how to fuel for rides. A big part of it is keeping my blood sugar levels at a high starting point (150mg/dl) and avoiding insulin 2 hours before starting a ride. It would be interesting to hear from athletes who have type-1 diabetes that are out there.
I’m doing a 200 miler (mtb) next week , will be using tailwind endurance fuel, jam and Nutella sandwiches, gels, flapjacks and probably a burger and chips halfway 😂
I was
Sugar, salt, citric acid, and Bob's your uncle.
A pair of pigs and one hundred eggs should be fine.
After years of trial and error and just forcing myself to drink more while riding--even if I'm not "thirsty"--I feel like I've finally got a pretty good handle on it. I did a century this past weekend and felt 100% the whole time. Never bonked. Never flagged. Had tons of energy and power right up to the finish line. In fact, I could easily done another 30 or 40 miles. Nutrition-wise, I hate gels and never use them. I eat real food on my rides--if I eat at all. On the century ride I just did I brought a mixed bag of cookies and nuts from home... and had a couple of small sandwiches along the way... and started with my bottles full of ice and electrolyte drink... and ended with just water the last 50 or so miles. I find it's also helpful to get off the bike every 25 miles or so... at the beginning... more often toward the end of the ride. Find a shady spot, take a piss, stretch the legs and back and arms... eat and drink... then take off again. If I do that I feel MUCH better at the end of the ride--and the next day.
I stop for coffee and a nice lunch. What's the rush?
I Do always separate hydration from carbohydrates. I drink electrolytes with no sugar. Especially on hot days I think it makes much sense keep things seperated.For my fueling I take gels every 20-30 min. So far it works for me.
Real (UNPROCESSED) food is best for me. High on fibre, protein and rich with carbs. It has everything my body needs for any prolonged effort, and it is the most efficient way my body will process the nutrients. You could take sweet potatos on a ride, mais and rissoto balls with bits of dates, some fruits are prime for natural sugars. Quick energy. I prefer fruits over gels any day of the week. Cause who knows whats in those plastics satchels. Nope, no gels for me. Just food.
Also on longer rides; gives me an excuse to stop at a café and treat myself to a lunch or a snack.
Typical isotonic is around 67g of powder per liter, most of which are a few types of sugars. On a hot day you might ingest around 750ml of that per hour, so for some rides/some training sessions that might already be more than half of what they need carbs-wise, correct? So maybe then on longer (multi-hour/day-long) rides it is actually more important to include something that has some extra macros like some protein and maybe bit of fats besides the extra carbs?
Flapjacks for me. Stop for couple of bites of these with a swig of water every 25 miles or so.
Eat little and often, every 15/20 minutes works for me. Home made flapjack ( made with coconut oil & honey ), jelly sweets instead of energy gels they dont agree with me, in my bottles, fruit squash with 1 gram of salt, and shop bought pan o chocolate in a convenient bag or a jam sandwich.
Low carb high fat source of energy is for low exertion activity. The fat burning process is way too slow to keep up with the body's needs when exercising more intensely, that's why when you don't fuel properly and run out of carbs, you "hit the wall" or "bonk".
The guy from Precision Fuel who claims at 05:00 that the brain ONLY runs on glycogen is utterly wrong and thus really creates doubt about both his credibility and integrity because the brain also uses ketones.
When glucose and insulin levels are low, your liver produces ketones from fatty acids and in most instances has demonstrated peak recovery and performance in this state with individuals who are fat adapted, which is why people often speak of feeling alert and functioning at their best when fasted, etc.
I understand he is trying to sell his products but both he and GCN end up looking like fools for simplifying and misleading viewers about such a basic physiological function.
I believe it's worth mentioning, related to this video, that many more people are fructose intolerant than is commonly recognized, so the type of carbs is important too, and not all are created equal. Corn syrup and especially high fructose corn syrup will send a lot of riders to the bathroom, or even worse the side of the road... In other words they'll have a day like Luke Plapp had in the Dauphine (or was that in the Giro? Clearly I've been watching too many races!)... Anyway, I used to get sick routinely at races and couldn't figure out why until I got some testing done, and figured out it was the expensive gels that I was only eating at special events. Once I switched to my normal training ride foods, and just increased the amount gradually up until an event, no more problems. According to my GI physician, it's nearly as common as lactose intolerance and is more likely as you age (like lactose intolerance) because you lose the ability to produce a key enzyme to break it down. Once the undigested sugar gets to your lower GI tract, watch out!
That was a good comment
Generally good info. Howerver If you are in decent shape you should be able to ride for an hour or two without any fancy sports nutrition products. If you can’t then maybe look at your diet. Fats are what give you long term energy and even fairly lean people have enough for a a long ride. Constantly taking in carbs means you body never learns to access it’s fat stores. I think sports nutrition porducts are more for longer rides, 2 hours plus. I have ridden lot’s of long rides 2 or 3 hours with no or little food and I don’t think my performance suffered. Of course the companies that make and sell nutritiion products would have you believe that you should use it all the time. I would guess that the vast majority of rides are less that a couple of hours.
Yeah, I did centuries for years. Anything for a T-shirt I was around when they only had power bars and no STI shifting!!!❤❤
Golden rule... Eat what you normally eat, race day is the worst time to experiment especially with food stations if available.
Weak ice tea or powdered lemon drink or 1/4 gatorade/water. I rely mostly on liquids. Maybe cake or cookies, anything easy to digest. If anything I err on the side of eating less.
Sodium isn't the only mineral you sweat out and needs to be replaced. Calcium, potassium and magnesium also should be replenished.
Oh…. You started pushing queer month too… I’m out seeya
For an ironman, how do you take enough fuel with you to get through 180km?? A bike bag is too heavy??
As my mate Jeff once said - carbs are legal dope!
You looks in great shape Conor.
Aren't they european? Wtf is miles?
Just a longer version of a "kilometers" (haha)
Conor seems to be riding the loudest bike on GCN, has he got everything setup correctly on his bike?
Fill up on porridge the night before. Then take banana butties and sorren malt loaf.
Ride an hour, eat a banana.
What works great if you don’t ´t want to spend millions on gels or other stuff: Get Maltodextrin, blend it with plain white sugar in a 3:2-ration and mix in a bit of salt (pink Himalayan salt ha a great electrolyte mix). That ´s a real cheap carb mix. And my stomach can take this much better than gels.
2:1 glucose/fructose is supposed to be optimal for gut absorption- so for example 60g sucrose (30/30 glucose/fructose) to 30g maltodextrin gives that ratio...
I really appreciate all these tips as they give me a good insight into how body uses carbs. As a T1 diabetic I would really appreciate if there could be a specific video on that as there's so many variables that's hard to iron out and I'm having difficulties finding good sources online.
My main gripe is having high blood sugar and feeling bloated while having almost no glucose in my muscles so I bonk anyway. I know that by then I need more insulin but the way it translates to having more power is still murky to me and often then results to having low blood sugar instead. Learning how my body works has been one of the good side effects of cycling so far.
I am also T1D, I have an Omnipod and for long rides I target a higher BS of 150. When first leaving I will usually be at 180-190, I also use a temp basal that is 80% less insulin then I normally receive. Everyone's fitness is different and its definitely way easier to bonk as a T1D. Best advice I can give is to play around with your basal rates (sometimes when going for a 50k+ ride I will not give myself insulin at all by using a temp basal of -100%) and make sure you bring whatever your preferred carbs are! I usually bring two Powerades in my bottle mounts and a cliff bar in my jersey.
@@christianduncan9697 Thank you for the insight. I'm also aiming at anything between 8mmol/l so around 150 to about 10 (180.) I have freestyle libre for now, and it's helping a lot, but my main issue is with temp basal rate.
I usually set temp basal to about -50% and usually that's fine, but sometimes my blood sugar just keeps rising, but energy is dropping because the glucose isn't where it's supposed to be. Be due to my lack of effort or something else, it's a lot of trial and error.
The most annoying thing is when blood sugar goes to the extremes, either to like 300 or down to about 60. My issue is that then I often overcompensate, so it's sometimes from one extreme to the other. And don't even get me started on night lows after a longer ride.
On the other hand, I'm super happy that we have things like CGM and temp basal rates, without which it would be much worse pain.
Yeah exactly it is definitely a game of trial and error and I think the more you ride the more you can associate certain temp basal rates w certain efforts, but I’ve found even these rates change depending on your fitness level so it’s not too easy. I always seem to be low at the end of a long ride but then my sugar will spike once I am resting afterwards even after turning off temp basal which I still don’t really understand lol
@@filipruml The rise may be down to too much effort causing conversion of hepatic glycogen into glucose (due to exercise induced stress hormones), riding more gently will reduce the effect (see EXTOD course materials) as will being fitter (i.e. a given power/speed is less stressful to maintain); it could also be (mental) stress hormones towards the start of a ride you're nervous about which again causes glucose production (I get this for new long rides, or if I've not ridden far for a while). I find all the above effects tend to wear off after about 3h - 4h of riding (presumably as my liver has used up enough glycogen that it's having second thoughts about continuing to be "helpful") and from then on it's a question of how much basal you've got onboard and what colour socks you're wearing ;).
Damn... I was counting on burning off my beer belly on my next grand fondo...
60g of carbs are worth 240kcal. In an hour, you're going to burn more than twice of that. So, the beer belly is under attack even if you manage to fuel properly 😉
@@robertoarmenio3516 Cool. In that case I'll another beer.
Gummy worms and a gatorade protein bar per 50 miles.
Bananas was the only thing I could tolerate when I was riding
Why is he wearing a cap back to front, indoors??
I put up to 100g mix of fructose and maltodextrin and 1/2 tsp salt in a 700ml bottle. It's like sipping on a Beta Fuel gel with added hydration and buying bulk ingredients is cheaper in the long run.
Purified fructose is not food gradient, it is a toxin, without fibers as it’s in nature!
It metabolizes pretty much as alcohol does.Almost the same enzyme complex participates.
I've been playing with mixing apples, strawberries (both blended to high heaven and back), honey, and some salt in a 500ml rubber flask. I've also added some pedialyte powder a couple times, but I don't think I need it. I haven't tried the malto yet. That's next. Seems to be helping. "Real food," cheaper than gels, and I can make it however I like it using local source ingredients. Wins all around, so far.
@@anthonyaltieri5652 Very fancy ;) I just mix sugar with water in one or two soft flasks .
@@arviddh I tried that, but I needed some flavor. I will mix gatorade and 30g sugar per bottle in the spring/fall. But, for now, strawberries are in season, so cheap. And sit better in my gut.
Has anyone found a good savoury fuel? I’m sick of eating sweet foods while on the bike. I’ve heard people talk about rice cakes but they only seem to have 8g of carbs each.
Butterbrez'n and a beer.
Steak, red wine and cigarettes.
Interesting insight
Cheesy poofs and nutty bars
It depends entirely on the effort you are putting out and even more importantly, the ambient temperature.
I got round a 200km Audax ride in 8 hours with just 3 or 4 bananas. That was in Summer. I always use electrolytes (such as Zero dissolving tablets).
In winter, that same route had me eating in cafes twice and still struggling to get round. It added over 2 hours to my time. Cold weather burns calories faster than people realise.
If you are REALLY serious then you should train using some kind of Fasting routine. 50 mile rides in Zone 2 or maybe Zone 3. Force your body to adapt to burning fat as well as Carbs. Once you do that then the dreaded BONK won't hit you so quickly and so hard.
I've ridden 100 miles or more 94 times (my goal is 100 times) and I learned that, no matter how trivial you start thinking 100 miles is, it will always bite you if you don't take it seriously, and don't prep for it properly. One of my worst days on a bike was on a (usually) relatively easy 200km, when I'd had a few the night before, didn't carry enough food or water. I can still remember those final 50km. Trying to change into 1st gear ... only to find I was already in 1st gear.
Perfect timing! Looking to ride 100 miles in the next month or so - thank you!
Glad we could help! Good luck on the 100 🙌