UKC

Hi

Does anyone else find that hydration tablets and energy powders cause them stomach issues in rides? Even when watering down from the recommended amounts, I find the former have a background fizziness and the latter make me feel a bit nauseous on rides.

If so, do you have any recommendations or suggestions, as no doubt water alone on longer, harder rides does not replenish what your body needs?

Also, does anyone have any recommendations for onboard snacks (for rear pocket or top tube bag)? I need something every 20-30 minutes, even with a proper diet in the lead up to rides and I'm still exploring options to try to find what works best for me.

By way of some background, I'm a newbie, punter cyclist having bought a road bike last October, in my later 40s so without the base fitness, strength and speed of the roadies I see flying around (albeit that I managed the 100 mile Devon Coast 2 Coast in a day on my MTB last August 3 months after starting to ride). I'm signed up to a sportive on Dartmoor in June and have been doing 40-60+ mile training rides with 4,500-5,500ft ascent most weekends since December. Yesterday was a 64 miler (70 miles to/from the town centre car park) with 6,600ft ascent on the Dartmoor Classic Medio route, but my stomach felt crap throughout hence the above queries.

Many thanks 

Cusco 

Go back to basics: Water in your bottles and ordinary food. Unless you're a pro trying to squeeze every last percentage point of performance out of your body, you shouldn't need anything else. Sounds like you've been reading too much marketing info produced by people with a vested interest in suggesting that riding a bike for a day is somehow 'extreme'.

Just an opinion based on my experience, of course!

Yes, it was possibly the original catalyst for a stomach issue. Elete water (posh salt and other electrolytes) is my go to. Though tbh salt and lo salt mix with lemon juice would be about the same. 

You could try adding plain glucose powder in your water bootles if you think you need it, you can buy 500g of glucose powder for a couple of quid from many supermarkets or boots etc it's what's in most "sport" drinks anyway and you could always add in a pinch of salt.

I always stick a banana and some kind of granola / flapjack bar in my pocket and only use a gel if I hit the wall completely.

I always used to go for a mix of stuff, some techy sports nutrition and some normal food. I actually quite like the slightly carbonated after taste from high 5 zero salt tabs but if I was carrying 2 bottles for a longer ride I'd carry one water one with a salt tab and I'd drink alternatively one and the other.

For food I'd carry a banana and a mini pork pie and then a few sweets or dried fruit and a few gels for emergencies. You wouldn't believe how many people would stare jealously at you eating a pork pie at the feed station of a sportive.

You could always go for the Graham Obree sports nutrition plan, "take two slices of brown bread, spread with plenty of jam, stick together"

30g HYDRAFIT ENERGY DRINK MIX*  in 750ml waterbottle. A bit of sugar but probably a negligible amount over the day. 

Flask of coffee. Fresh tomatoes, apple, cheese sandwich, muesli bars, nut mix with some dried fruit added. But I'm doing off-road  routes only half your distance/ascent.

*it's what I happen to have, it came free with a Tour de France souvenir magazine.

My stomach cant tolerate any sugary/carb electrolyte drinks so I never use them. 

I prefer to separate hydration from food energy consumption so for me its a bottle of electrolytes (I use the High 5 ones and have a section of flavours to mix it up a bit) and a bottle of water/squash. For gels/bars I use mountain fuel as they are the only gels that have not caused stomach problems. Also love their flapjack.  But I also eat 'real' food and especially for longer stuff its hard to keep a happy stomach on gels alone so I also have things like cereal bars, small bits of pizza, potatoes, crisps, roasted peanuts etc. just in small quantities so that my stomach gets some real food. 

This works for me for longer rides (120km +) and also long runs, triathlon etc.

Full sugar Vimto for me to drink.  If it's stupid hot, then a single high5 or SIS tablet per bottle.  For food:

• Decathlon jellies and nougat
• Sainsbury's Christmas cake, cut into  thumb-sized blocks and wrapped individually in greaseproof paper - said cake available all year round.
• For a really long ride, a long baguette roll, stuffed with salami and ham and cheese and mayo/pickle, wrapped in tin foil

Finally, if it's going to be an all-dayer, often an anti-acid tablet wrapped in tin foil, just in case acid reflux gets me having spent too long on the drops

100% this, i gave up with powders and potions years ago, just a massive waste of money when nutritionally they are pretty much the same as normal run of the mill food.

Mountain biking, I just use water, as easier to clean the bladder and we'll stop more often and I can eat then.

Road biking, I used the High5 Zero tabs for hydration (the neutral flavour is quite nice, actually - rather than the flavoured ones), or SIS Go Energy for very long rides.

Food is flapjack, banana, fruitcake, cereal bars, Marmite sandwich and so on - might treat myself to the High5 bars once in a while for a big event. Sausage rolls or cheese or ham sarnies are fine in winter, but in summer they go manky in the heat in your pocket - unless you buy en-route.

Incidentally, my dentist recommends a swill of mouthwash after a ride to neutralise all those sugary snacks.

Assuming it's not super hot, then I just take water in my bottles (I don't like how they get sticky if I use a powder). I tend to chuck in a couple of cereal bars of my choice - not sports specific, I just make sure I don't get the extra low sugar ones. Other than that, a handful of little packets of Haribo gummy bears. I like how they taste, they're pre- portioned, and I bet they're 90% of something sports specific, for 20% of the price. For emergencies, I might throw in a caffeine gel to get me home. 

I'm toying with the idea of a 250km gravel epic this summer, but I've heard it's de-rigeur to stop at McDonald's for that - quick, you know what you're getting and it's full of all the calories, fat, salt and sugar your body is craving. Portion sizes aren't massive either, which I guess is a bonus. 

Ehh, no, not for me. I get the logic, but I prefer to explore/support any village shops on the route. They usually have something at least as 'nourishing'! If I can't find one then a Co-op bacon-and-egg sandwich will do the job, and they're everywhere.

I use High 5 gels and SiS energy tabs in water on my rides. Find no discomfort during rides and the gels easier to stomach than other makes. 

I concentrate more on pre loading than what I drink during a ride if I'm going a fair distance (100km plus). So will spend the day before drinking plenty of water and eating a few extra carbs. A big breakfast in the morning and the a banana and a couple of Alesto Raw Fruit & Nut bars from Lidl (lovely BTW) to accompany the ride.

Other options i take are cheese and peanut butter wraps and Soreen. If things get to sweet sickly then marmite rice cakes are great. 

If I'm feeling flat during a ride then I'll stop at a garage and get a bottle of full flat coke, seems to do the trick. 

Yeah, I know what you mean, and I usually stop at bakeries myself too (or butchers and get them to make a roll up for me). I bet I'd still fancy some nice salty chips though! I did wonder about trying to get a Döner in the afternoon... but then I have to have garlic sauce... and then all I would want to do is sleep! 

Thanks to everyone for some great ideas from your personal experiences. I'll definitely be trying some of those for the next few months' training and on the sportive itself.

 

Can you not just wait for it to cool down first before you fill the bottles?

pinch of sea salt and a tablespoon of sugar is all I add to my water bottles, I find it much easier on the stomach than plain water when I'm riding fast.

Rough rule of thumb is 1g or carbs per kg of body weight per hour when you are riding in Z3 or above, it doesn't matter what form the carbs take (refined sugar or something starchier like brown bread), any protein or fat will make it harder to digest as they require more blood flow to the digestive system to digest.

I don't eat anything at all if I'm doing a  Z2 endurance ride, been fine upto 3hrs so far.

Yep, I use full sugar squash with a pinch of salt plus a pocket full of Jelly babies. Suits me. 

Ah, so grabbing a handful of peanuts (high fat and high protein) every hour or so from the aid station during an event recently (running not cycling) may also have contributed to my gastrointestinal distress?

Water in the bottle/camelback and peanut butter and banana sandwiches on granary.

Remember to have a good mix of food.  Ten years ago  i did a 200k ride and took a bag of soft figs.  They were great during the morning but some time in the afternoon, i found myself absolutely sick of sugar.  I craved some savoury food (tortilla wraps with a filling, cold roast tatties etc).

Used to use all the energy drinks/potions, carb loading and snacks etc that you're "supposed" to use.

It was just a roller coaster of sugar highs and lows unless you keep it up continuously.

Water and non/slow release carb food now make for a much more pleasant experience. but I loosely follow Maffetone

Since changing I find I don't need to eat nearly as often as I did before.

FINALLY a mention of jelly babies! An ever-present in my gym bag, rucksack and bumbag.