Cycling Forums - View Single Post - On-bike nutrition advice sought

07-21-2004, 12:16 PM

I generally aim for around 200 calories per hour (50 calories every 15
minutes), and you'd be pretty close to that on your ride. If your stomach
isn't tolerating the clif bars, it may be that you're eating too much at
once, you're working too hard to be able to digest much of anything, or they
just don't agree with you. I'd suggest trying some other bars.

Given that it's summertime, it may be that you're down on electrolytes. On
one of my long rides last month, I happened to buy a package of beef jerky
(over a gram of sodium), and felt much better later in that ride. I'd
suggest exploring something like that, given the amount of water you're
drinking.

It's possible you bonked lightly, but my experience in that is that it takes
a long time to recover (ie days, not minutes)

--
Eric Gunnerson

Visit the C# product team at http://www.csharp.net
Eric's blog is at http://weblogs.asp.net/ericgu/

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
"Dave Stallard" <stallard@bbn.com> wrote in message
news:2m5rc4Fijna3U1@uni-berlin.de...
> I did a 90 mile ride on Saturday. I finished pretty strongly, but hit
> the bonk in a couple of places in the middle - no power in my legs,
> feeling unequal to any gradient, etc. Strangely, the same places I did
> the last time, and not even steep hills.
>
> I take Clif bars and Powerade in my water bottle. I love the taste of
> Clif bars, but they don't sit well in my stomache while cycling.
> Towards the end of the ride, I'll step up to one of the caffeinated "Ice
> Series" Clif bars. I also use a GU gel pack for that one most
> difficult moment. Total for the ride: 2.5 Clif bars, one 100 calorie
> GU gel pack, and 40 ounces of Powerade, supplemented by probably 40-60
> ounces of regular water.
>
> Questions: Am I eating enough?
>
> Are there more digestible bars than Clif? I really want something that
> digests and comes online as soon as possible. (I don't like the GUs too
> much).
>
> Does anybody use one of those "musette" bags for food? (I bet if food
> was easier to reach, in smaller bites, I would eat more regularly during
> the ride.)
>
> Dave

07-21-2004, 12:16 PM	#32 (permalink)
Eric Gunnerson Guest Posts: n/a	Re: On-bike nutrition advice sought I generally aim for around 200 calories per hour (50 calories every 15 minutes), and you'd be pretty close to that on your ride. If your stomach isn't tolerating the clif bars, it may be that you're eating too much at once, you're working too hard to be able to digest much of anything, or they just don't agree with you. I'd suggest trying some other bars. Given that it's summertime, it may be that you're down on electrolytes. On one of my long rides last month, I happened to buy a package of beef jerky (over a gram of sodium), and felt much better later in that ride. I'd suggest exploring something like that, given the amount of water you're drinking. It's possible you bonked lightly, but my experience in that is that it takes a long time to recover (ie days, not minutes) -- Eric Gunnerson Visit the C# product team at http://www.csharp.net Eric's blog is at http://weblogs.asp.net/ericgu/ This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. "Dave Stallard" <stallard@bbn.com> wrote in message news:2m5rc4Fijna3U1@uni-berlin.de... > I did a 90 mile ride on Saturday. I finished pretty strongly, but hit > the bonk in a couple of places in the middle - no power in my legs, > feeling unequal to any gradient, etc. Strangely, the same places I did > the last time, and not even steep hills. > > I take Clif bars and Powerade in my water bottle. I love the taste of > Clif bars, but they don't sit well in my stomache while cycling. > Towards the end of the ride, I'll step up to one of the caffeinated "Ice > Series" Clif bars. I also use a GU gel pack for that one most > difficult moment. Total for the ride: 2.5 Clif bars, one 100 calorie > GU gel pack, and 40 ounces of Powerade, supplemented by probably 40-60 > ounces of regular water. > > Questions: Am I eating enough? > > Are there more digestible bars than Clif? I really want something that > digests and comes online as soon as possible. (I don't like the GUs too > much). > > Does anybody use one of those "musette" bags for food? (I bet if food > was easier to reach, in smaller bites, I would eat more regularly during > the ride.) > > Dave