I'm in France now and have had no issues buying energy bars. In Bourg d'Oisans the bikeshop in the middle of town had a range (I bought the Maxim energy bars) and there were also some energy bars available in the Casino supermarche there too.

In Bourg St Maurice, the Intersport had a good range with Maxim, Powerbar and High5 plus others...

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http://climbinglama.blogspot.com.au

You didn't really read all of what I said. A bag of pretzels, a bannana, and two bottles of drink(something with sugar ie gatorade, poweraide ect.) along with proper hydration and nutrition threw out my time off the bike gets me threw 4+ hour rides just fine. BTW that includes multiple days regardless of whether I'm climbing 5-7k vertical feet or riding on the flats.

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+ 1 for perpetuem



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I think it depends on your body's metabolism, training level and how hard you are riding. It also depends what you eat for breakfast and whether the ride crosses mealtimes. So if you stuff yourself then ride 4 hours then have lunch, likely you can get away with eating very little on the bike. But if you're trying to lose weight this is probably not a good idea as you get used to eating large amounts at mealtimes.

For example the ex pro tour guide on my recent holiday would ride 4 hours on roughly 2 small bottles of water and a double espresso as the pace even up steep hills was very easy for him. For me (far less fit, L2/3 up the steeper hills and riding quite hard throughout) it involved 2x750ml of sports drink, 2x 750ml water, 2x small sandwiches, 1-2x gels.

From a triathletes POV, where it can be skewed a bit for Ironman distances, as it involves getting on the bike after 3800m of swimming in suffocating latex and a stressing transistion.

- Ironman: 12 SiS Isogels in a 750ml clear bottle with stripes on it to see how many gobbled, 750ml mixed High5 energy in a Speedfil system. Drink 2 from the bottle on first 1km on the bike when noone is up to speed yet, though remember to quick mouth-gurggle-rinse to get rid of residue from sea water(bacteria a very real risk here). Then for every XX:00 hour, eat 2 gels from the gel bottle, every hour at XX:15 and XX:45 have a small drink from the Speedfil, and a bigger one at XX:30, usually not starting till after 1 hr on the bike and warmed up properly. Remember your'e wearing a trisuit which is soaked from the very cold seawater and to avoid stomach issues with a cold body, the gels will suffice for the first hour till the suit has dried itself in the wind. At 100km aid station grab a bottle of energy drink mixed and refill Speedfil while rolling and ditch bottle at end of same aid station. No other aid stations needed, no littering(penalties for that), no excess weight, wrappers and no messing around, a gel bottle and a tube with liquid, period! If get munchy, grab a half a banana, the peel is littering-legal and the wrapper is open already

This has been tested in practice and worked splendid and had energy enough for the marathon. Maybe add a bigger gelbottle(Camelbak) to hold 14 Isogels if there are more hills on the bike route(180km). Add 750ml more aid station liquid(grab at 80km and 140km aid stations) for warmer weather and a Salt Stick dispenser with up to 6 salt pills. Fluid seems low but worked in moderate conditions with just one pee break during the 180 because of the swimming which "sucks up water"

- Regular rides though, my strat is more modest:
-- Up to 1hr(Usually do these as Spinning, as pressed for time and since Spinning gives me more value for time doing Speedwork)
-- 1-2hrs, 750ml High5
-- 2-3hrs, Speedfil 750ml High5 + 750ml High5 refill
-- 3-7hrs, Speedfil 750ml High5 + 750ml High5 refill + Gelbottle with 2+2*(hrs-3) Isogels, proceed as Ironman but nothing taken till after 1 hr for warmup reasons.

The training ride stuff might be overdoing it for the rides alone, but "training" is "training for racing" and I wanna feel fresh on the 30min runs I do asap after 3+ hr rides, as well as the up to 1hr speed runs I do in dedicated Brick(Bike+Run with focus on both passes, rather than running 30min flat, post-bike at race pace) sessions.

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"A forum post should be like a skirt - long enough to cover the subject material, but short enough to keep things interesting."

You are correct. I forgot about it. That was the only place I was in where I saw that.

prendrefeu:

You are the man! I couldn't in a million years do what you do in that small amount of intake. Small for me anyway. Then again, I also don't find anything fun about a ride past the 6 hr mark LOL...........

Clif Bars, Powerade or Accelerade. Sometimes trail mix.

For the most part most of you eat way too much on your rides.

In general most people on this forum fall into one of these catagories:

1-2 hr ride = short ride bring 2 bottles of what you like
3-4 hr ride = medium ride bring 2 bottles of what you like and a banana or equivalent
5-6 hr ride = long ride bring 4 bottles of what you like (you might have to fill up somewhere), a banana or equivalent, and something else gels, maple syrup, HGH what ever. This is alot more than I would take anyway.

What you eat and drink before the ride is what counts. During medium to long rides it's stuff that can be absorbed quickly and easily.

Food choice would be pivotal after the long ride.

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I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree

Bananas are great and fig rolls! Apparently fig rolls have the perfect ratio of short and long term carbo; perfect for the endurance rider

For longer rides I also usually take several mini scotch eggs which seem always to hit the spot

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I would not say it's correct or not correct. It's up to you.
Bottom line is bringing in food/liquid that is absorbed by the system readily.

For me I really could not eat a sandwich, eggs and the like on a 1-6 hr ride. Maybe on a all day ride it's different and the intensity would also be different on those extremely long rides.

Here is a small article on digestion during exercise

http://www.livestrong.com/article/44697 ... -exercise/

Other articles

http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/spor ... r5118.html

http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition ... e_exercise

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I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree

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They do meet my criteria to a certain extent.
I do not require much fluid intake or food. On cool days I don't even take a bottle for 2 hr rides.
I did not care on the number of calories. What I said in my previous post about what to take during a 1-2 hr ride is an example in general of what people should take but that's not what I take on rides.



I believe she says this to show that there are problems with the individual if digestion is not complete before exercise. During digestion more blood is diverted to the stomach. If digestion is not complete before vigorous exercise some people experience the above symptoms.



Here she says that plain water does not show the same symptoms during exercise and that dehydration does show the similar symptoms as when the individual vigorously exercises just after eating. I believe the quantity of food you eat before exercise, the time before exercise and the tolerance of the individual is key in determining if and when the individual exhibits the above symptoms. Same as in her citation "Eating Before Exercise" from the University of Iowa




I agree with the statements above.



Not sure I agree with that statement since I think they might mean a leisurely stroll on the bike in the neighborhood not doing a hard training ride.



My on bike nutrition. On my rides that range from 1.5 - 2.5 hrs I usually take no bottles. On hot days like 85+ degrees I'll take one bottle (21 oz.)
On rides that go into 3 and 4 hr. I'll take 2 bottles (21 oz each).

I might drink a bit before the ride but digestion has long finished. Carbs have long been stored the day before.
During my riding season most of my meals consist of 60/30/10 carbs/protein/fat.

Most of my rides are 2 - 2.5 hrs. They are not consecutive all the time. This is based on the weather and time I have to do them. I might do a 1.5 hr ride today and 5 tomorrow. And I really do not plan on how long the ride will be until I'm actually riding it and how I feel on the bike. I do not have a structured plan I follow. It's pretty much how I feel at the time of the ride.

Does this answer your questions?

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I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree

Let's hope so, for everyones sake.