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What do you take for 4+ hour rides, when you know there is no cafe stop?
Yes, yes. Another how do I ride further thread 😉
Mini malt loaves, dried apricots, Eat Natural bars, Mars or Snickers, possibly some jelly babies.
An e-bike
Belvita breakfast bar, flap jack, Soreen, banana
A sandwich. Don't over think it.
Depends...
Is it hard ride/race....
Or just a nice long ride...
If it's rice, then sugary gel type goop... easy and fast to eat...
Normal ride = normal food...sarnies, pizza etc
DrP
Whatever you want to eat on a long ride. Prefer solid food over sports stuff, so chewy bars, something savoury as well.
Though why would you do a ride without a cafe? What kind of madness is that?
Though why would you do a ride without a cafe? What kind of madness is that?
Damn good Q. However on Monday we did 4+ hours round the Aberfoyle area with no cafe option. And Friday we did a 6 hour winter hill walking day. On both I didn’t eat enough. The latter was just not stopping in the weather - had loads in my rucksack; the former I just went out with outdoor provision bars which wasn’t enough. Today we are going out for another 40 mile gravel ride and I’m thinking what to raid as we ride past the coop, that is easy to carry.
DrP - definitely nice long slow ride. The word race doesn’t feature in my vocabulary!
Some classic suggestions above, though a lot of carb and sugar. No protein?
Some of the dried fruit/Soreen stuff is a non starter for me, as IBS + no cafe stop is a potential disaster!!! (Over share!)
Christmas cake.
Sandwiches.
It is quite useful to know the whereabouts of all the easily accessible apple trees on your ride.
We've pivoted away from "specialist" cycling products towards a mix of more ordinary food.
We make a trail mix with nuts, dried apricots/ cherries, mint imperials and wine gums/ jelly babies/ haribo.
Regular nut/ fruit bars - sweet and savory.
Pressed fruit bars
Those sachets of pulped fruit with a screw off lid
Ginger cake
Sandwiches
Etc etc.
Malt loaf, a banana, some nature bars and lots of SIS gels. Plus bloks for ad libitem continuous grazing (three packets). Eat something every 30-40min switching solid and gel, and eat a decent bowl of porridge with brown sugar before you go.
Good for 8hour rides. For longer I have a special mix of mashed rice and tuna plus semolina in freezer bags, but we won’t go there 🤣
Coke* and carbs
*your favourite variety
Isotonic carb drink (decathlon's powdered drink is really good) then mini malt loaf, some bananas, cerial bars/oat bars. Gels for emergencies
I'm assuming you are stopping to eat rather than fishing food out of your pockets whilst riding?
I have issues with gluten heavy foods (bloating) and can't eat nuts. I prefer savoury food so my go to lunches are:
Frittata - home made if I have time otherwise from Morrisons.
Oatcakes and Primula cheese.
Proper cheese sandwich but with Ryvita
Home made beef jerky
Home dried fruits - banana, apple, peach mostly
Jelly beans for a fast sugar hit if necessary.
cold pizza for me on long days out. and zip loc bags of mixed olives.
and liquorice.
Seems I'm over simplifying my ride eats, generally don't eat breakfast anyhow, if no suitable leftovers in the fridge I just pick up a couple of scotch eggs from wherever, maybe a wrap, have one late morning and the rest for late lunch. Never take any of these sports foods, sugery sweets etc, does me fine.
I seem to do a mix of everything suggested.
I carry a bottle of isotonic energy drink for sipping when eating isn't an option. At the start of the ride I tend to eat more complex carbs like cereal/breakfast bars, flapjacks or rice cakes. Towards the end of a ride I eat more sugary things so stuff like fruit, jelly beans and jelly babies. I always take a caffeine gel as an emergency get out of jail free card.
One of the best pieces of advice i was ever given for rides like this is to take food that you are going to want to eat and don't over think the nutrition profile. At the end of the day what you need are calories, in any form, if you like it and want to eat it you will, if on the other hand you don't fancy it, well it's not going to help sitting in your bag/pocket.
Newbie error: buy some "energy bars" from your local supermarket the day before and then find out on the ride that they are dry-as-dust inedible lumps of raw squashed porridge oats.
Porridge for breakfast.
Cheese and pickle sandwiches. Bonus points if using home-made bread.
Windfall apples.
We're now supposed to think of ourselves as 'athletes' needing 'sports nutrition,' mainly so people can sell us stuff. Outside of cutting edge competitive sport, you'll be fine on a couple of cheese rolls, flapjack, tangfastics and whatever else you can fit in your luggage of choice without it getting squashed.
*See also the 'stay hydrated or die' bollox designed to shift camelbacks and sports drinks.
First of all, I take food, not fuel. 😀 I'm typically out for 3 hour rides and wouldn't eat during that time. If it's going to be much longer then Peanut butter and honey rolls are my " energy" food, though I'll otherwise just take rolls with cold meat, cheese, coleslaw whatever.
Jelly babies for a short sugar hit.
Chocolate covered nuts and raisins.
I almost always have a pack of energy sweets or a gel with me too but they're always going out of date.
Maccy Ds - 99p cheese burger:
1200 calories all the basic food groups covered.
Hit the drive through nearest to the halfway point of your ride, spend the return leg trying to out run the shame...
A ~225g bag of jelly babies.
Food.
But et well beforehand and you won't need much. 4 hr ride I would only take some snacks. Only if its all day do I take food then its sandwiches / pies / cakes
Pork pies, chocolate chip brioche buns and peanut butter and apple turnovers, a bottle of rioja and or money for the pub.
@ahsat
The 'feed zone portables' book is really good.. Nice little recipes in there...
I've a spare copy if you're anywhere near the south coast.. you can have it!
DrP
I always make Elvis sandwiches. Crusty cob filled with streaky bacon, peanut butter and apricot jam. Also date and coconut chewy bar. They gave me the recipe at the Marquis Drive cafe and I make a pile of that with added cherries and sultanas.
Another good one is boiled new potatoes with some olive oil and salt in a ziploc bag.
I like mini pork pies. Quite moist, fit in a pocket, stronger than scotch eggs. Plus they work as normal food as well.
The problem with scotch eggs is that they are quite a lot to eat at once and don't really handle being half-eaten. I've had the mini scotch eggs but the ratio of breadcrumbs:filler isn't great.
Pub
Chippy
It's like you didn't even read the OP. Awfy short of pubs and chippies in the Hielands, as you know!
I did, it said no cafe stop 😋
Seconding mini pork pies. Densely calorific, salty and tasty. Perfect after 3 hr stint. Combine with a snickers for turbo boost.
I wish I could find my thread from years ago where I listed what I ate on my WHW ride. It was seriously a lot.
Doing the Lord of the loops peak ride mid lockdown involved a very heavy rucksack.
On a related, but tangential, note I bought a standard sized baguette today and just discovered that my son has eaten it for lunch with his tomato salad. All 24 inches or whatever is was.
We tend to eat stupid amounts in my family.
Mini Melton Mowbrays, your favourite hard cheese, boiled eggs. cake, marzipan. dried fruit and nuts. Wash it all down with full fat milk. Don't be surprised if you put on weight during the ride, but at least you won't bonk. If it's just over 4 hours then the eggs and cheese will probably be enough, the rest is for proper long rides.
Chocolate spread sandwiches!
Or
Ham and cheese sandwiches sometimes you just want food. Mini pork pie third'd
And Haribo obviously
Strawberry jam and cheese sandwiches - blimmin' brilliant 🙂
Also a few slices of flapjack if you like that sort of thing, and a bag of jelly babies for emergencies.
I do like bananas, too, but carrying the peel around until you can get rid of it can get messy so I tend to avoid them.
Thanks all. I have a lot of respect for those who can do 3 hours without food, but both me and my Mum suffer low blood sugar levels (not diabetes, been checked several times!) and it just doesn’t work for me. Some good ideas here (thanks for the videos and links), and I am definitely already onboard re the pork pies.
Out for 5.5 hours on the gravel bike today, with 4200+ feet of climbing. Ate a lot more than I can do (bars, nut butter sandwich, bananas), and tried hard to watch my HR and ride every hill as ‘easily’ as possible. Have come back feeling significantly less trashed than I could do/have in the past. And that is on top of Fridays winter hill today. Thanks for all the advice stw - some way to go, but maybe the Badger Divide is going to be an option.
can't find the original thread, but for some reason found the list on another thread. This is the second most I've eaten during a ride:
coffee
scone and jam
two cheese ham and picked onion sandwiches
2 chocolate pancakes
honey roast cashews/peanuts
jelly babies
toasted pitta bread
Baton de Berger Salami
tin of Soup
Squeezy fruit purees
1 litre Apple Juice
1 litre grape juice
4 cans of Pepsi
1 can of Irn Bru
8 bananas
Packet of fig rolls
2 Ambrosia rice pudding
couple of slices of smoked ham
packet of wine gums
lots of water
oh and a couple of boiled eggs
I have a lot of respect for those who can do 3 hours without food
Why?
Exercise if fun, eating's fun. Embrace it 😉
... both me and my Mum suffer low blood sugar levels
You're probably aware of this already if it's something that affects your daily life, but in my experience what you eat off the bike is just as important as what you eat on it. It's easy to say you can eat this, or that, and you'll be good, but there's a certain amount of conditioning that enables people to do that. It may come naturally to many people - they're probably people who naturally have a better diet than me. I've become comfortable with doing endurance rides over the years. It wasn't always that way though and I still suffer if I start loading up on sugary foods day to day. When that happens it can take me weeks to readjust.
On a four hour ride I would take two banana's and some flap jack or similar, bottles would have fairly dilute Torq energy powders...I'd probably have a gel somewhere in case it goes wrong.
Up to say 6-8 hours it'd be the same but more of it. I'm impressed with those that can get pizza and boiled spuds in there jersey pockets!!
If rides go past about 7-8 hours savoury becomes necessary.
It’s very valid butcher. I eat pretty healthy off the bike. I could do with every ride having a mid avocado and poached egg, to avoid the sugar highs/lows. But less practical in a jersey pocket. In some respects the nut butters, bananas, a cheese sandwich and pork pies are the best for me. Though still need for some flapjack in there when the sugar is too low!
Even today I was having to hoover up some clif blocks 4 miles from home as I felt I was blowing up. This week we walked 1.5 miles before dinner and I had to get an emergency twirl from the Coop! I hate how bad the lows can be, and with little warning. But I am used to it (most of our bags have an emergency chewy bar in them); but it’s why eating properly on the bike has clearly become key for me to be out longer.
PB&J sandwich. Cheap, portable and all necessary food groups. The jelly is homemade blackberry so it’s a few pence per sandwich.
Short rides, <2 hours: nothing bar a bit of iso in the water bottle.
Medium, 2-4 or 5 hours: caramel waffles ('cos Lidl don't carry the proper Welsh toffee ones). Pretty much 100% carb, and a lot of that in simple sugars. Easy to slip into a back pocket, keep forever if you don't happen to eat them.
Longer, 4-5+ ... I've never not found a shop/cafe/burger van at some point. Plus the waffles. if I knew it was going to be impossible, I'd probably pack my normal lunch - Sandwich Spread sarnies, apple, nut+berry mix... I'd likely take a lot more nut+berry than normal though.
I'm going to add the mini pork pies as an option on the mids though 🙂
Thanks all. I have a lot of respect for those who can do 3 hours without food, but both me and my Mum suffer low blood sugar levels
Me too - the key is eating well before hand. You want long and short acting carbs and to forget all the "keto" nonsense. Both the day before and for your breakfast.
This thread is very timely for me.
As I sit here I feel very tired and dehydrated from a ride yesterday.
Admittedly it was my first ride in months, but unfortunately this is nothing new for me.
8 hours - 35 mile mtb ride with 1600m elevation.
I bonked quite hard during the middle of the ride and never really recovered after that.
Also felt just like I was gasping for liquid a lot of the time, although had the 500ML per hour thing.
I'm sick of feeling like this during and after rides, so any advise/ critique greatly appreciated.
Food for the day:
1 litre of water/ squash and ham & cheese omelet for breakfast
4 litres of water out on the ride
1 ham and cheese sandwich
bag of crispy coated nuts
4 mars bars
1 apple
Some chicken, baklava and water when I got in
Chicken roast dinner, more water/ squash and waffles with ice cream later on for dinner
Sorry about the moany post
4 litres of water out on the ride
Far too much water. In danger of washing electrolytes out of your system
Nothing like enough carbs beforehand. You need a good mix of long and short acting carbs, porage is very good. Your cheese and ham omelette does not contain the carbs you need to fuel for the ride so effectivly you are setting off without the fuel on board and never catch up again
All those mars bars are giving you insulin spikes and sugar crashes. Again more long acting carbs
Start the day with plenty carbs in your breakfast, fuel thru the ride with long and short acting carbs not mainly short acting.
For a typical 4-6 hour ride I would eat a decent sized breakfast of porridge with lots of dried fruit, nuts, and maple syrup. On the bike I would take 1x500ml bottle of water, 1x500ml bottle of isotonic (High5 or similar), and two bars from here:
https://veloforte.com/collections/energy-bars
I'd probably bring one of those bars home with me. If the weather is nice I generally stop at a shop somewhere with a bench nearby and get a pastry, sandwich, or something and a can of ginger beer. Sit and eat in the sunshine, and bring both bars home.
I've been in similar situation for years, with feeling gubbed and then not sleeping afterwards.
Last couple of rides I have closely managed the sweating and also used hydration tablets. Seemed to work really well.
I totally agree with TJ that 4 litres water will do more harm than good unless it's actually needed and accompanied by salts
Personally I find "fuelling" or for those people that hate this term, what I eat, has a massive impact on how long I can ride for and how I feel during that time. I eat a massive bowl of porridge for breakfast and then depending on what I have available: homemade flapjacks, nature valley, cliff bars, cereal bars and bananas throughout the day. If it's a long day on the road bike instead of the mountain bike I'm mixing gels into that, especially later in the day and I'll have carb drink in the bottles as well.
As someone else said, eating is great fun so I also make sure to have stuff that I wouldn't normally eat, like snickers, peanut butter cups, cake or a recent favourite is refreshers.
Just realised I rode last week for 5-6 hrs on two bananas, a pint of ale and a packet of crisps. It was just about perfect. Any longer (or minus the brewery stop) and the peanut butter sarnie would have gotten it. Combined mashed banana & peanut butter sandwich is an easier way to carry and consume both of my regular fuel items, but have yet to try it.
Lidl have nice-flavoured* raw fruit/nut bars at the tills for about 40p?
* - Cacao and orange flavour - actually tastes more like a (oldskool) Terry’s chocolate orange than do the (new) Terry’s chocolate oranges. Delicious,
- Bakewell tart flavour (nicely understated)
- Cashew (uninspiring but pleasant)
In response to the LCHF youtube posts:
2 mars bars and a 500ml bottle of full fat coke.
You get the sugar, you get the fat,plenty of calories, which you're burning off anyway, and you also get the emotional lift such sweet things give you.
I agree with DrP on the first page as for me it would depend on the ride.
4hours easy and it would be anything convenient, probably cereal bars and flapjack type stuff. Home made of bought.
Wouldn't need that much. I normally have something like a gel or sweets in my pocket as a quick pick me up but rarely use them.
4 hours race pace would be different.
Probably 750ml energy drink, 750ml water.
2-3 bars I know I can eat and digest working hard. 2-3 gels. I'd have thought about what I ate before. Probably a few extra carbs. Normally try and eat more easy to digest good 2 hours before then a bar or two before the start.
@jonba I bloody hate resorting to energy gels and energy drink in races.. but need's must.. it's the only real way of conveniently getting calories in whilst redlining!!!
DrP
Dyna ti - you need a base of long acting carbs under it or you get insulin spikes and sugar crashes
Ignore allthe LCHF nonsense and don't get your nutrition advice from youtube
Forgot to add - as well as eating a decent breakfast, if I'm planning a particularly long ride the next day (>6 hours) then I'll be sure to eat plenty of something good the night before, usually pasta and chicken. No idea if carb loading is still a thing, but that's what we did when I were a lad.
What do you take for 4+ hour rides, when you know there is no cafe stop?
Yes, yes. Another how do I ride further thread 😉
I just take a banana and a piece of home-made flapjack, with a gel in case of need - and TBH with the exception of my lunch rides, pretty much all my rides are +4 hours.
I do though have a bowl of granola before, with a tea & biscuits and then if we're driving there I'll take a latte with me and drink while I'm driving. Once I'm looking at +5 hours I will be planning a cafe/shop/garage stop, even if it needs a detour.
For four hours I'll have gels, a mini Soreen and those Lidl fruit/nut bars up there.
For six hours, I'll have a sandwich as well - but that's almost always on my MTB with a backpack.
Can gravelleurs take sandwiches?
I forgot to mention that ordinarily, I'll eat a banana with a glass of water ~30mins before I head off for a 90min+ ride, besides taking the jelly babies with me if I expect top be out 2hrs+. The riper it is, the quicker the fruit's sugar will get into the bloodstream.
That pre-ride water is handy for times when it's borderline whether I need my second 750ml bottle, or when it's heatwave hot and there's a risk that 1.5l might not be enough.
Admittedly it was my first ride in months, but unfortunately this is nothing new for me.
8 hours – 35 mile mtb ride with 1600m elevation.
I bonked quite hard during the middle of the ride and never really recovered after that.
Also felt just like I was gasping for liquid a lot of the time, although had the 500ML per hour thing.
I’m sick of feeling like this during and after rides, so any advise/ critique greatly appreciated.
Don't leave months' between rides...
Maccy Ds – 99p cheese burger:
1200 calories all the basic food groups covered.
You're mixing up your units. It's ~1200kJ, so only ~300kcal. Better have three of them 🙂
Bag of fruit & nuts from Tesco
tbh it's as much when you eat as what you eat. Any snack is probably ok but for convenience I use gel blocks or energy bars, try to eat regularly to stave off the bonk. i.e. once an hour, or in a normal ride at the bottom or top of the climb.
You’re mixing up your units. It’s ~1200kJ, so only ~300kcal. Better have three of them 🙂
Thank goodness someone was on fact (fat?) checking duty.
Yes stuff down four, or three and a mcflurry...
That would make a fantastic thread wouldn't it;
'which detergent for getting the ground up hooves, brioche buns, gherkin and ice cream that I yacked up, out of my Rapha jersey?'
And maybe a massively out of date CLIF bar that's been lurking in the depths of my pack for ages.
Whatever id normally eat for lunch, generally a sandwich, wrap or pitta, filled with whatever i have in the fridge, generally tuna or chicken with some sort of salad and sauce, plus banana, apple and some sort of sweets for a sugar hit.
I can do a 2 hour ride without food but anything over and i need sustenance, im firmly in the eat a lot camp though, although its more of a little and often kind of jobby.
As probably evidenced from the thread, everyone is different and has different needs or different needs at different times. It definitely takes some personal trial and error, trying a few different strategies and seeing what works pre, during and post ride. It might also take a while to get accustomed to different loading strategies during the ride.
I am LCHF but it took me a while to get here and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it for most people!
Biggest thing I've found is a full cooked breakfast beforehand. That'll sort me a solid 3-4 hrs of hard riding before I need to think about eating anything else.
Big days out will then generally involve Sorreen, fruit/nut/m&ms, pork pies, flapjack, clif bars
@ahsat - with regard to Badger Divide - I did it last summer, and ended up not eating most of the food I took with me as there was plenty available en-route. I was b&bing so had a good brekkie every day, which probably helped.
1st day (Inverness to Laggan), I didn't stop until Fort Augustus, but I think there may have been options for food in Drumnadrochit. FA had plenty of options. Big gap over the Corrieyairack (which is a ****). The art gallery/cafe in Laggan was closed that day (doh!), but I could have gone to the trail centre cafe if I'd realised. I was staying at the Laggan Hotel, so just went straight there instead.
Day 2 (Laggan to Killin). Its a decent distance, but not "big" riding to Corrour Station for a proper refuel. Then there's a cafe at Bridge of Balgie, which again I didn't know about. After that its not too far to Killin which has enough of everything, inc shops for a restock.
Day 3 (Killin to Glasgow). Mostly pretty easy riding - I recall one big climb over Queen Elizabeth Forest Park before you're in Aberfoyle, with plenty of cafe options. After that, it was just a case of finishing the bloody thing...!
(I'd say there's an awful lot of conditioning involved in stuff like this too. I wouldn't bother taking food on less than a 2 hr ride at any time of year, and I'd be planning not to eat unless in an emergency under 3hrs. Unless its proper blazing hot, I'd barely be touching liquid on a 2hr ride too, but then I've never been a big drinker. Get used to riding like that, multiple days on the trot - then when you're doing the big days and eat plenty, you end up feeling invincible!)
4 Hours. A morning club road ride. 50 to 60 miles? Same pile of manky cereal for brekky as any other day and a cheap munchy bar in the back pocket to fish out at 30 to 40 miles plus. If a nice sociable mid ride stop is actually factored in and is part of the ride then something tasty will do as well. Ideally meat based as that tastes best.
It's all very well saying this, but you're ignoring the issues raised by the OP. I've cycled massive days over Himalayan terrain 'fuelled' only on rice, chappatis and beer, but I was (am) conditioned to it. The main point is you need to eat well all the time, especially the evening before if possible. A big breakfast is good, but coming at the problem late. If you want to ride big hills and long distances, train to ride big hills and long distances. Everything else is just calories and psychology unless you're at the cutting competitive edge.
Hi ahsat
What kind of food do you enjoy would be the first question I would ask? What do you think you would look forward to eating out on the bike? I take an entirely unscientific approach to ride nutrition if I am honest but there are some common themes for me.
A good pre ride bit of food both in the morning and the night before. I love Lidl Low Gi Granary cob bread, Aldi 100% peanut butter (crunchy, of course!) and a banana for breakfast. Throw in a yogurt and some fruit juice and I am happy! Alternatively, hot rice pudding and mandarins or porridge with sultanas and milk are another winner.
On rides, I like real food and have been known to take a footlong subway, cookies, jelly babies, peanut m and m’s, chocolate raisins, halva, left over pizza, Indian or Chinese takeaway, bagels with turkey, cheese, radish and Tabasco (yum!), crisps, pork scratchings and cola for an immediate boost if I am flagging.
Just take what you enjoy and you will be fine!
Cheers
Sanny
It’s all very well saying this, but you’re ignoring the issues raised by the OP.
Not really - we have pointed out he needs carbs to fuel before the ride. ham omelette does not cut it and mars bars are all short acting stuff. The OP needs to be properly fuelled prior to setting out then will not have the issues of flucuating blood sugar levels and then getting insulin spikes and sugar crashes from just taking on board short acting sugars.
Oats are the best as they have some weird blood sugar regulating effect. ditch the omelette and have porage
Its the long acting carbs that are missing and causing the OP issues
Not really – we have pointed out he needs carbs to fuel before the ride.
She.
And I was referring to the posts immediately prior to my response.
@TJAgain thanks - as the OP I can promise I eat lots of oats (and nut butters) on and before rides…and before I go out I eat a big bowl of muesli with 50% extra oats added (can’t stand the texture of porridge), followed by a banana, maybe with peanut butter or wholegrain toast. It was ricko who was eating the omelet.
There are some v good points re the need to fuel the night before. If I know it’s going to be a big ride the next day I try and eat something with pasta or wholegrain rice the night before (my father has been diabetic for 15 years, so I am well versed in the idea of low GI). Or I get an XL firepot meal if bikepacking. But I admit I’m not religious in these things before every ride as it can be a bit spontaneous. I will try and plan better.
When I was a kid my Mum had to feed me pasta every evening before swimming lessons as I just crashed! And the day @p20 met me for the first time, I pulled out a huge box of pasta mid ride, including fork (he has have never let me forget this; but after 15 years now knows how important it is I am regularly fed!).
It’s the big days in the wilds (we were out for 6 hours yesterday with no chance of a cafe stop; but didn’t bonk due to managing my efforts!) or being slowed by bikepacking kit, and wanting to not bonk to be able to do as Montgomery says to then able to train/get used to riding further, and back-to-back days. Thanks in particular to @Sanny and @JonEdwards for some particularly thoughtful responses.
Lots to think about (basically how much tasty food/pork pies I can fit in my restrap bags!), along with getting fitter, riding slower and better gearing (the new 40T cassette has helped). Then hopefully I can slowly build things up.
Thanks STW 🙂
She
😉
Thanks
Sorry
*prays for forgiveness*