What to eat before/during a 100-mile ride?

What should you eat the night before a 100-mile ride? And in the hours leading up to it?

 

How often should you have sports bars, gels, or trail mix during the ride?

 

Finally, how often should you take an electrolyte-replacement pill (I've got the Nuun brand) with water?

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Permalink Reply by S on May 23, 2011 at 7:13am

You probably shouldn't carboload but just eat normally the night before and up to the ride.  I'd say the best thing is to go with what works based on experience.  E.g. if you're fine with powerbars or trail mixes during your longer rides leading up to the century, do the same thing.  Doing something new might cause you to have a horrible ride if your body can't handle it or disagrees with the new food that you're trying out.

 

That being said, I think the recommendation is about 150-300 calories per hour of stuff during the ride and maybe a pill every 2 hours or so.  It depends on how hard you're going, the temperatures, your body weight, etc. so it comes back to seeing what you've needed on previous rides and working from there.

Permalink Reply by wigner on May 23, 2011 at 8:43am

morning of, i make sure to eat a nice big b'fast i'm used to. and just enough coffee to, ahem, void the system. don't want to be carrying around THAT extra weight. eggs, wheat toast, honey, granola, etc

 

during the ride i like the gels and cliff bars. candy's a treat if you plan on stopping at a gas station or something. i agree with S - stick with what you know and what what you are used to. sucks having a lump of some gross hempen brown rice bar in your gut and a horrible taste in your mouth. but yeah 2-300 calories an hour (include the first hour), in some combo of gel/bar/drink/real food.

 

and it's best to eat/drink before you need it while on the ride. i just did 80 friday and kinda was draggin ass towards the end cuz i just lost track of things and was just drinking water when i got thirsty for the last hour or two, rather than forcing the gels and the gatorade. tecate tall boys help me tons, but i'd wait til miles 60+ before you start on that.

 

my favorite shit on a long ride is extra chewing gum - the green kind.

 

what's the details on your ride?

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Permalink Reply by Curt H Moore on May 23, 2011 at 11:12am

good advice above,  changing your food could end up with cramps

My best advice is drink fluids every 15 minutes.  I always started the day with a breakfast and coffee

and take a 20 oz to go///

Permalink Reply by S on May 23, 2011 at 11:21am

One little addition, I've been told that after 4-5 hours, most gels and energy bars become really unpalatable so you may want to experiment with and bring some real food like small peanut butter and jam or ham & cheese sandwiches or something similar.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Dr. Doom on May 23, 2011 at 2:44pm
This is true, and honestly I'm skeptical about claims that there are any benefits to energy bars over Snickers or Pop-Tarts anyway. For me it's more important to eat every hour than to eat a certain amount on a really long ride. Everyone gets different results, but I like bananas, oranges, super salty trail mix with chocolate chips, apple cake with peanut butter, Pop-Tarts, and fig cookies. I also sometimes bring powdered Gatorade sometimes and mix it at half strength. Bottled sports drinks can taste really nasty and way too strong after a few hours.
Permalink Reply by chixieonfixie on May 23, 2011 at 3:13pm

What did you eat on the longest ride to date?  Did it work for you?

 

Oatmeal is a great slow burning fuel, so are yams.  Snip the ends off your nrg bars so you dont have to fiddle with them on the road.

Permalink Reply by Michael A on May 23, 2011 at 3:24pm

I buy fresh bagels, put on some peanut butter and cut em into 1/4's. during the ride, put them in small snack size baggies and then your jersey pocket or bag. While riding eat one of the 1/4's every 1 -1 1/2 hrs and you should be fine. I make sure to drink a 16 oz bottle of water per hour of hard effort. Gatoraid or electrolite replacement drinks are helpful but not a necessity. I usually stick with plain water so I can pour some on my neck to cool off.  As far as gel's go your first 100 mile ride is not the place to experiment, cramps or worst can be the result. 

 

Last year I rode over 15 centuries and 2 double centuries using this method. On organized centuries I take full advantage of what is offered, just remember being bloated and tired SUCKS.

 

Good luck and happy trails

Permalink Reply by David on May 23, 2011 at 4:50pm

Awesome! Thanks, guys.

 

I did 100 miles last year for the first time, from downtown Milwaukee to Navy Pier (was about 93 miles, plus a little after that to make it 100). This year I plan to take Metra to Joliet and then make my way to Urbana/Champaign. I've never been to the university town(s), and I look forward to it.

 

Anyway... in the past on long rides I've had trail mix and bars and gel, but I just kind of winged it. Good to get your advice. I know Marathoners in New York have pasta the night before, but I'm not that hard-core. I will get a bagel or two, and some PB&J... cereal... then eat the bars, gel, etc. during the ride. Just a question of what kind of food to have along the way from real restaurants— or at least fast-food places. Healthy's the name of the game. (I'm tall and thin.)

Permalink Reply by MagMileMarauder on May 23, 2011 at 6:15pm

Interesting because I'm planning a similar (college town) trip this coming holiday. Metra to Harvard, IL and then ride to Madison, WI. I'm gonna take the more indirect route with bike trails which will come to 97 miles.

 

My trip is a tour I plan to complete in 4 days/3 nights.  2 nights in Madison, then on the return, mostly trail to Milwaukee, spend a night there, and then ride to Kenosha the next day, where I'll take the Metra back to Chicago. Here's my tentative route

 

As for food, drink, etc. This last month, I've been practicing (average 60 mile rides) and it's pretty much instinctive. Food when you're hungry, and drink when your thirsty. Depending on the temperature you might need more fluids, electrolytes, etc. I'll bring snacks, a sandwich, and 1/2 gallon of H20. Then I plan on stopping in the towns for larger meals and more drink. Helps to have cargo room (2 milk crates).

 

Exciting!

Permalink Reply by wigner on May 24, 2011 at 3:32am

my route last friday was the first half of oak lawn to champaign - champaign is a great bike town. are you taking the train back? i can get you to C-U from homewood or thereabouts on some great country roads (no gravel roads) with some interesting stops along the way, if you'd like.

my route is 5 years in development - my inlaws live down there so i attempt the ride a couple times a year. the first few pitstops (if you want them) are grocery stores, but the last couple are bars, as it gets pretty thin down there...

if you need spots in C-U let me know what you are looking for - i went to school there for 8 years and go back all the time.

PS carb loading is a little more involved then eating noodles the night before - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate_loading#Procedure

but i wouldn't look to fast food or restaurants (especially in central illinois) for healthy options. gas stations would do you better with stuff like nuts, granola, bananners, beer, etc

Permalink Reply by David on May 27, 2011 at 8:49am
Thank you so much for all your suggestions.
Permalink Reply by David on June 3, 2011 at 8:39am

Hey everyone,

 

I did my long ride on Sunday. Thanks for all your tips.

I wound up having cereal, fresh vegetable juice, and a bagel in the morning; two sandwiches and a smoothie in the middle of the day; and a bunch of Cliff bars, Pro bars, and GU gel packets throughout. if I had been able to buy more real food, I would have eaten it, but the route was mostly rural.

From Joliet to Urbana/Champaign, I planned to do 105 miles. But between having to detour, going out of my way to look for water, and getting lost, it wound up being 123.27 miles!

It was terrific overall. The first 100 miles or so were relatively easy. But by the end, the head- and side-winds (plus fatigue) brought my speed down from, like, 12-14 to 8 or 7 mph., reducing my overall average from 11-some-odd to 10-some-odd mph. I've got a Trek hybrid with Continental Gatorskin tires-- which I love. I suppose if I had a road bike I could have gone faster. On the other hand, I rode mostly over country backroads, and they weren't always paved. At those times, I was glad to have the thicker tires.

For the future I want to learn about what to eat & drink afterwards to recover. I forgot to bring whey protein powder, but I was able to buy water, orange juice, and chocolate milk. A kind stranger offered me a bottle of Gatorade as I pedaled among farmland with no gas stations or other commerce open.

It's always the nice gestures of help from strangers or friends that make for some of the best memories of a ride.

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