Food For Thought

I hope I'm not starting a thread on a subject that's been beaten to death. I did a search for food, fuel and nutrition and didn't find much of anything but I find it hard to believe it's a subject that's not talked about at length.

I've been riding gravel for a couple years now and still haven't nailed down my nutrition. I carry a few bars and chews etc and still every ride I run out of gas near the end.

This last weekend I rode the Mammoth Gravel Classic in St Croix Falls, WI and for the first time really tried to pay attention to what I ate during a ride and made sure I ate often. For starters I had a pretty good sized breakfast; bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, etc but that was a good hour or more before the ride. I wasn't hungry at the start, let's put it that way. I kept an eye on the time and made sure I ate 100 or more calories an hour. Still, with about 20 miles to go, about 4 hours into it, I was smoked. Clearly a hundred calories an hour isn't enough.

I know everybody's different but what are you all eating during a ride?  I really need to figure this out before I attempt The DAMn ride in August.

Thanks in advance guys.

First - as you say everyone is different. But, 100 calories an hour really doesn't sound like a lot of fuel to me. Also, fat and protein calories take longer to digest and be available to your muscles for energy. For fast energy, carb's are your friend. Though you didn't mention hydration, this is also part of your nutrition problem in a long endurance event. Energy drinks like Gatorade not only supply water, but about 160 calories in sugars per 24 oz. water bottle. Whether the additional electrolytes that Gatorade and other sports drinks supply are really necessary is debatable. So --- the basic formula for long endurance events is use a high carb. energy drink like Gatorade, and high carb, easy to digest food like your favorite energy bars, or gels. But, be careful --- overloading your stomach with simple sugars can bring on serious gastric distress. And, even if all of this sugar doesn't get you sick, you sure can get sick of the artificial taste of some of these products. There are a number of sports endurance products that add some protein and fat. There are some studies that support their effectiveness; but the studies use questionable methods, with very small samples. Often the published results cannot be duplicated by other researchers. There is also an argument against consuming simple sugars, in that they cause an insulin reaction which then causes a drop in blood sugar and a continuing cycle of highs and low energy. While this may be true for sedentary activity -- the usual 10 am burn out after a high carb breakfast-- this doesn't really apply to high intensity activity like  endurance bike racing. Going way back to studies conducted at Ball State University in the 1960's and 1970's, the most important nutrient to enhance athletic endurance performance are carb's.
PS: Your muscles store roughly 2,000 calories in the form of glycogen which is readily available for use. Once this store of muscle energy is used, muscles must switch to using fat and protein for energy. Runners burn approximately 100 calories per mile. Hence, many runners hit the wall about 20 miles into a 26 mile marathon race. Cyclists burn roughly 40 calories a mile. Therefore, if the glycogen isn't replace by consuming simple sugars, cyclists will begin to bonk at around 50 miles -- more or less depending on the intensity of effort.  But, ultra-marathon runners can run 50 miles or more. The secret is that they have trained their bodies to run on stored fat, which is a virtually inexhaustible -but inefficient- supply of energy in your body. You can do this too in your training by simply doing regular over-distance rides at a slow pace. Maybe once or twice a month, try to get in a ride that is the same distance, or a bit longer than your longest event.

Try dates, Medjool dates.

moe53 wrote:Try dates, Medjool dates.

Yup - one serving (4 dates) of Medjool dates have 277 cal., mostly from simple sugar. But, as I warned earlier, high concentrations of simple sugars can be tough on your digestive system- and dates add a lot of fiber as well. Great source of concentrated carb's, if you can handle them; otherwise an early pit stop may slow you down in a race. Ditto for a lot of other dried fruit. 

bobknh wrote:First - as you say everyone is different. But, 100 calories an hour really doesn't sound like a lot of fuel to me....

That was my first thought as well. I can easily burn 100 calories an hour just mowing the lawn. 

The video is a little silly (on purpose) but try packing some of these puppies along on your next ride. You can make a big batch in about 5 minutes. They are awesome, made with real food, and will keep you going: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBFP7RbRVYc&t=3s

Have you tried picking up "Feed Zone Portables" - the first chapter explains in detail how on average energy is used on duration rides/runs. On average, you should eat half of the calories you burn per hour, but there's a lot more to it, this book gives a nice insight - and delicious recipes. I thought it was really useful in *my* case. (disclaimer: no affiliation what so ever with the authors)

Try eating some "real" foods as well if you can. I find things like thin crust pizza, flattened PB&J sandwiches, cookies and banana's (all relatively pack-able) work better as ride fuel than any of the packaged foods. I still have a few gels and blocks in case I need a quick pick me up, but overall it is a great solution for me. 

Also as mentioned Gatorade and similar products are great for adding extra sugar if you are really pushing it. If you don't get along with the taste/high sugar flavor, water it down or use less of the powder. I find about 1 tbsp of powder per 710ml bottle provides a nice flavor while still adding a nice shot of sugars.

Along with Medjool dates I mix natural peanut butter and maple syrup or honey or blackstrap molasses in a small bowl and put it in a gel flask. Carbs, fat and protein. Good to go. Gatorade powder mix for fluid.

You need real food and electrolytes.  I went through all kinds of fluid/gel/bar combos and the winner for me is:  NUUN tablets in water, probar bars (350 calories per bar) or homemade chocolate/peanut butter balls with coconut (recipes aplenty on the net). I use this for randonneuring which is further than most gravel races.

I'm one of those that can't eat solid food while actually riding. Too hard for me to chew, and breath heavily at the same time. So if I'm racing, it's gels for me. I'm partial to GU salted watermelon and also Untapped maple syrup gels. I suck down one every 30-40 min. I also count the calories from my sports drinks in my bottles too.
If I'm just on a long ride, I'll bring bonk breaker bars, but I'll have to stop for the few minutes it takes to get one down. I'll eat about a half a bar every 45 minutes (approx 260 cal. per bar)

According to GU, 5 minutes before, and every 45 min during.
I use a GU flask to get about 6 servings in one place.
That also forces me to drink water, which is my weak point.

Sometimes, I use Skratch or Garden of Life fluid replacement or carbs in the waterbottle

For me, water is as important as the food I eat

I don't usually drive long distances and don't have this problem. But sometimes I understand that I will want to eat if I didn’t get enough sleep before the trip, and I can use this vacuum sealer to save food. I also take a lot of water with me, because I need to drink it as soon as my body wants it.

What you eat matters, and there are some great suggestions here.  I really like a good high carb drink to sip on. Hammer Sustain is my favorite because it's unflavored, but you can add your own taste. or Perpetuem, if you can find a flavor you like.  I also LOVE small boiled red potatoes, covered in salt.  I also like just salted and rolled small flour tortillas. 😂  But...  the most important thing to get you through long rides, is endurance training at the amount of time you think you will be out there.  Don't try to eat enough to replace the calories your burning (unless you are into that).  Condition your body and it will respond.

Here is what we've sort of evolved to over the last couple of years:

For hydration, I use 50g sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a squirt of orange flavoring per bottle.  That's in my 2nd bottle, and the 1st  water w/ flavoring and salt.  If it's a race, I'll either carry a 3rd bottle with the sugar mix or, depending on length/ sag support, carry a couple of fizzy tablets for refills.  I'll also carry electrolyte chews and begin eating them at about hr 3, which seems to have  helped a lot with cramping.  ***we've used Scratch mix, etc and none of it seems any more effective than our sugar mix or even powdered gatorade.

For food during races: Fig bars unpackaged in the top tube bag (packed full)); 4 gels in bib pockets.  Maybe some cliff blocks. If there are sag stops, bananas and cookies are a blessing after mile 50.  So far, making time to grab real food has been well worth it (I'm old and slows, so a minute hear and there isn't hurting me.  My son gets by on what he carries).

For big, fun rides:  fig bars (our staple), maybe some gels if we have them, jelly sandwiches, bananas. Basically, whatever is in the cabinet that's high carb and easy to choke down. We sometimes take Cliff bars, but they are like eating sawdust when you are breathing hard.  ***I keep saying "we/ our" because my son and I ride/ race together.

Finally, I'll just say that, for me, I try to start eating after the 1st hour, and make sure to do so every 30  min after, shooting for a min of 60g of carbs/hr ( don't know how many calories, but 200 or more.

Also, a big bowl of oatmeal with bananas and berries is our goto breakfast.