UKC

My fuel regime on long road rides (for me), say three hrs, is a bit haphazard -- stuff a back pocket with a couple of oatcakes, some apricots, dates, raisins and cashews, then start eating the broken-up mixture after about 30 miles/ 90 mins -- and I wouldn't mind improving it. I also drink say 2 x 750 ml bottles, the second of which has one of those fizzy electrolyte pills in it. Don't fancy buying sports drinks.

Am I correct in assuming that the food part of this would be better replaced, according to the below link re new research, by simply adding 50 or 60 g sugar (white? brown?) to each of the water bottles?
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/28/sugary-water-performance-spo...

In reply to felt:
Everyone different, my regime on 3 hr ride is bottle of water and perhaps a banana - longer rides I do a regime of alternating drink on the hour, gel on the half hour, even in the first hour - drink is normally just plain water

I would imagine sugar water would give you a boost but would it not taste sickly?
Bananas are good, just remember to take the skin home with you.
It's best to try lots of different gels until you find the ones that you like/dislike the least, some will work for you whilst others are just horrible!
A bag of jelly babies also works in this country, don't make the mistake of taking them for a long ride in the Alps in the summer though as you end up with a sugary slimy ball of them

Finding what works for you on long rides is all part of the fun

In reply to felt:
to me, putting a bit of sugar and a pinch of salt in a bottle of water, is almost the same as many very expensive isotonic drinks. I sometimes just use fresh fruit juice and cut it down to 25% with water, it has a bit more taste.

In reply to felt:

I don't drink water or eat food on a ride of only 3 hours, but then my body is trained for much longer times in the saddle. A sugary drink would do you fine.

In reply to felt:

Rule 91.

Wally

In reply to felt:

If what you're doing now is working for you then why bother changing it? If you're finding it doesn't work then experiment with other stuff like you say - that's the only way you'll really know. I personally would prefer your current option of having a bit of food as it's something to look forward to.

I think it's often too easy to overthink these things (we're all guilty of it) when we should just get out and ride our bikes

In reply to Byronius Maximus:

I know exactly what you mean re overthinking, and thanks for that, likewise for everyone else's input, but in this instance I've been guilty if anything of underthinking it (haphazard nibbling, &c) and was wondering whether anyone had a view on this report I linked to, which might be -- I don't know enough about nutrition to know whether it actually is -- a new approach, i.e. forget food, just drink water with sugar added. I'm getting a bit fatigued around the 50-mile mark and I don't think it's because I'm particularly unfit, just running low on energy. But yes, you're right, I do look forward to crushed oakcake and raisins with the odd nut, washed down with water.

In reply to felt:
Try eating a little earlier......maybe at the 45 min or 1 hour in mark. Just a nibble. Try to keep your blood sugar levels constant by not waiting until you feel you need it. Then nibble every 45 to 60 mins. If you have glucose drink don't have it too strong unless you have another bottle with plain water. I am not a nutritionalist.......this is just my experience as cyclist.....

In reply to felt:

I presume that your raisins and dates give you a fairly quick hit with glucose(obviously not as quick as glucose itself), then slightly slower with apricots, and finally some input from the oatcakes, so in order to keep the glucose levels in your blood going you have to match all that with how well you induce release of your own insulin by eating these things. Sometimes you could overshoot on your insulin production by eating, but not eating enough. Then is when your body may say that you have the Mars bar shakes etc, and you could eat more of the raisins etc(or you can imbibe some glucose for a swifter fix) I think that I would just experiment a little with what you have already got.You could also carry glucose gels as an emergency backup.

In reply to felt:

A tip for winter. You can get a monki cage and mount a flask on your bike. Hot sugared tea, life saver during these cold days on he bike if riding remote roads.

In reply to felt:
Two hours tends to be around my limit without eating so if I'm going to be out longer I take a Clif bar and some Clif bar bloc shots. I much prefer the bloc shots to gels; they are nice and chewy so you can eat one over the course of a few minutes, they don't make me thirsty and they don't make a sticky mess. I'll start eating the clif bar at 1hr15 and will probably have a quarter of it every fifteen mins before moving onto the bloc shots.

I don't drink energy drinks just electrolytes and in the past I've also used watered down juice with some brown sugar chucked in. It's good in the winter but I don't tend to like it much in the summer for some reason.

In reply to Bogwalloper:



Rule 91 has an exception which is hard rides over two hours. Maybe Bogwalloper should work a bit harder to justify his position on the moral high ground.

For what it's worth, I tend to take anything that I think I could eat if in need. Generally, if it's cold I can manage most things, but Torq bars and 9 Bar being good for me. The latter are readily available in Sainsbury's etc and are the bar of choice for our club nutritionist. They have a largely non-melting chocolate backing which makes them easy to eat, and the seeds give you something to do for 15 minutes or so afterwards. they're also cheap.

Make sure you tear the top off before you start - firstly so that you don't have to struggle with it, and secondly so that you've got to eat it because it won't last until your next ride.

I always take gels in winter too, in case it all goes wrong. Take this morning for example - didn't need the food, but I did need two gel packets to patch a totally mullered tyre. Usually though, they're emergency/miscalculation food

On a three - four hour ride, aiming to arrive back utterly wasted - I take one bar and two gels.

I quite like PowerBar shots too, because I can eat those no matter how hot I get.

In reply to nniff:


>

Bet you're a bundle of laughs on the club run

Wally

In reply to nniff:



This is a good point - it really annoys me how many of the 'proper' energy bars have wrappers that are so hard to get into. I like the Science in Sport bars but really struggle to open them with one hand + teeth, usually needs two hands.

In reply to Bogwalloper:



Oh dear, and I was hoping so so much more from you.

Never mind though, poppet, you run along now; nothing for you here.

In reply to Orgsm:

Have had a few occasions of being out at Burbage and finding I'm knackered and have to cycle home into a head wind in the dark and cold, hot sweet tea would be lovely then. The sheep seem glad when it gets to twilight and people go home I often think. I'm sure it's all in my mind.