Nutritional Sups/Meals During a Long Distance Event

[dlovett]

Hey Folks,

I am hoping to be able to start events again this summer after an enforced break due to a bad accident I had at work. I have recently started exercising properly again and I'm aiming to get back to full fitness in time for the NYM300 in July and then on for the BB's etc. I've not been on the bike for a long time now but have properly started hitting the bikes in the gym and have been given the ok by quacks to actually hit the trails again.

In the previous BB's YD's, B150, Cabin Fever etc, that I participated in, I tended to carry both snacks/sweets in a bar bag and some proper food with me. I was thinking this year about trying to avoid that and rely instead upon resupply opportunities and taking meal replacements/sup powers such as Huel/Athletic Greens etc to fuel me. I'm in the process of cleaning up my diet to a much healthy low meat diet and cutting out all the rubbish stuff i used to eat and as part of this I will be using these kind of things going forward. Can anybody offer feedback on if this kind of fueling actually works on events, or are they just a gym/home type thing?

Many thanks

Duncan

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'm in the process of cleaning up my diet to a much healthy low meat diet and cutting out all the rubbish stuff i used to eat and as part of this I will be using these kind of things going forward.

I'm a big believer in that the more processed something is, the more rubbish it likely is. I generally put supplements and meal replacements in this category. Not much help, sorry.

[ton]

not sure about anything scientific regarding refuelling But, i used to ride a fair bit of audax, and the group i rode with had some very handy, fast capable riders.
1 lady in particular who was a veteran of 10+ PBP events used to refuel whenever possible, on sloppy carbs in cafe's and checkpoints.
rice pudding, porridge and mashed potatoes with gravy were the staple of her riding diet.

[vegancheese]

Tesco Vegan sausage sandwiches in Warbies pre-slices burger buns. Proper (for a vegan) food that is easy to eat on the bike and slides down nicely.
Also Biscoff spread (or the Aldi equivalent) in the same buns. Loves to be squashed in a bike pack.
I had 6 of each that fueled me round this year's BB300.
Supplement with Soreen bars and bananas from shops on the way.

[Lazarus]

Edit : sandwiches in a bun? It's so much better now as vegan now i dont need to carry all my food as I can buy stuff. Any supermarket just pig out . I like cakes and biscuits personally with some savoury pastry
ORIGINAL
Personally I think for the short duration of events you just need to make sure you get enough calories and easily processed carbs / sugars work quickly.
By all means take some Huel or some such with you but calories are what really matter , easily consumed and released ones.
I prefer to constantly eat rather than have massive meals but YMMV

Stu there won't be a professional athlete not using supplements and processed does not mean Turkey twizzler and natural( booze and fags are natural ) also does not mean good for you.

[redefined_cycles]

Hi Duncan. I'm currently recovering from a few things and went on my bike after a long time today. I recently went and made the subscription to Veloforte and can confirm it seems to be really good stuff... minimally processed but does contain cane sugar in some bars/gels.

Itsso good that I've also started using it as a work-meals replacement too (kindof) and hoping to increase my subscription from 6 weekly to 2 or 4... Glad you've made a full recovery and ready to get back out

[redefined_cycles]

*my mention of the cane sugar was just that, even though they probably thought that's the pnly option. I'd have gone with honey or at least brown/demerera sugar or the sort. Especially at their prices and supposedly USP...

[whitestone]

Have a search for "Feed Zone Portables" for a list of recipes to use for on the bike nutrition.

Pro peloton riders tend to have energy bars because they are easily handled and better suited to the high energy demands of the race. For steadier, longer rides such as we do I'd go with "normal" food combined with a dirty raid on whatever convenience store you happen upon.

[dlovett]

I've always carried home made nuts, trail mix and jerky on one side of the bar and sweets and gels on the other. In the frame bag were some pies or sausage roll type things. Every Spar etc was grap a sausage roll etc or bacon roll at a cafe. But I find on the longer rides I really struggle with eating unless I was grazing occasionally. Stopping for a quick snack/small meal always make me feel awful after I get going again. If I could avoid feeling like that and also the time on the stops, that would be great. As Jen is vegan, I've stopped eating a lot of meat these days and I've also pretty much cut out most junk/process foods these days and I'm feeling much better for it. I agree with what Stu says about not eating processed foods, but the kind of nutrient sups I am taking are pretty natural (Organic Wheatgrass Powder, Organic Barleygrass, Powder Organic Spirulina Powder, Organic Moringa Powder, Organic Chlorella Powder etc). Huel is a new thing to me but I am hoping it might work for this kind of thing. As soon as the weather starts to head towards spring, I'm aiming to try my local ITT and see if it's possible to do it on this kind of fueling rather than whatever is available on route.

[dlovett]

Tesco Vegan sausage sandwiches in Warbies pre-slices burger buns. Proper (for a vegan) food that is easy to eat on the bike and slides down nicely.
Also Biscoff spread (or the Aldi equivalent) in the same buns. Loves to be squashed in a bike pack.
I had 6 of each that fueled me round this year's BB300.
Supplement with Soreen bars and bananas from shops on the way.

That's kinda what I did and for this year wanted to avoid, due to the issues it gave me. But perhaps that's the excuse I am giving myself!

[dlovett]

Edit : sandwiches in a bun? It's so much better now as vegan now i dont need to carry all my food as I can buy stuff. Any supermarket just pig out . I like cakes and biscuits personally with some savoury pastry
ORIGINAL
Personally I think for the short duration of events you just need to make sure you get enough calories and easily processed carbs / sugars work quickly.
By all means take some Huel or some such with you but calories are what really matter , easily consumed and released ones.
I prefer to constantly eat rather than have massive meals but YMMV

Stu there won't be a professional athlete not using supplements and processed does not mean Turkey twizzler and natural( booze and fags are natural ) also does not mean good for you.

Yep I've read about using multiple huel meals to boost cal intake, but can't find any real info about if it would actually work for something like this. I tried an experiment a week or so ago and ate a couple of tubs of cream over a few hours, serious cals, but it just made me sick!

[dlovett]

Have a search for "Feed Zone Portables" for a list of recipes to use for on the bike nutrition.

Pro peloton riders tend to have energy bars because they are easily handled and better suited to the high energy demands of the race. For steadier, longer rides such as we do I'd go with "normal" food combined with a dirty raid on whatever convenience store you happen upon.

Just got a copy of the first book for £1.05 from a shop in Yorkshire. Looks like the 2nd book protables is full price everywhere. Seen a pdf preview and it looks good, almost real looking food.

[fatbikephil]

Not much more to add. I find gels, energy bars and drinks powders just knot my stomach up on long rides and so tend to stick to normal foods. More protein than normal and plenty of carbs but it's a case of working out what goes down well. I'd also take the oft mentioned "eat 200 Calories an hour, every hour" with a pinch of salt (see what I did there) as it doesn't always work for everybody and forcing food down is a recipe for a stalled gut. Again it's all about figureing out what works for you. I tend to stick to meal times but have a few snacks in between and a supply of snickers and / or haribo to deal with any energy dips.

[dlovett]

Hi Duncan. I'm currently recovering from a few things and went on my bike after a long time today. I recently went and made the subscription to Veloforte and can confirm it seems to be really good stuff... minimally processed but does contain cane sugar in some bars/gels.

Itsso good that I've also started using it as a work-meals replacement too (kindof) and hoping to increase my subscription from 6 weekly to 2 or 4... Glad you've made a full recovery and ready to get back out

I've just had a look and agree totally with what you said about the sugars. Thanks for the kind words, the first couple of months were sheer hell, having never been injured or sick before, and I lived on very strong pain killers whilst I healed, which really upset my stomach. Still I'm becoming pain free now and at least I can get back to starting sports again.

[dlovett]

Not much more to add. I find gels, energy bars and drinks powders just knot my stomach up on long rides and so tend to stick to normal foods. More protein than normal and plenty of carbs but it's a case of working out what goes down well. I'd also take the oft mentioned "eat 200 Calories an hour, every hour" with a pinch of salt (see what I did there) as it doesn't always work for everybody and forcing food down is a recipe for a stalled gut. Again it's all about figureing out what works for you. I tend to stick to meal times but have a few snacks in between and a supply of snickers and / or haribo to deal with any energy dips.

I used to use gels etc and always found for me they just caused more problems than they solved. There isn't a one fits all solution, I guess it's going to come down to testing to see what plan works best for me on trial events.

[Lazarus]

couple of tubs of cream over a few hours, serious cals, but it just made me sick!

Once forgot all my food and all I could get was dark chocolate. Pretty much the same feeling by the second or third large bar

[jameso]

Aiden Harding took a recovery/meal replacement drink mix with him for the TD, enough for every day. But I think that was for recovery quality as he used the TD as prep for the full distance Idita event the same year. The food on the TD isn't good and perhaps that was his way to avoid being in too much of a hole afterwards.

rice pudding, porridge and mashed potatoes with gravy were the staple of her riding diet.

Would agree with this. I did a few rides out to Friedrichshafen over 4 long days and found rice pudding and (cold) ravioli in cans were a great shop stop snack, better than the bakery type food I'd gone for before. Mash potato is easy bivi food if you have a stove.

[techno]

Maybe do an experiment on yourself. Try your huel etc supplemented diet at home/work for a day or two and see how it feels?
Not "race" conditions I know but could show up any potential issues that may be exasperated on an event.

[Bearbonesnorm]

but the kind of nutrient sups I am taking are pretty natural (Organic Wheatgrass Powder, Organic Barleygrass, Powder Organic Spirulina Powder, Organic Moringa Powder, Organic Chlorella Powder etc).

The above list looks to be quite heavily processed?

A few thoughts perhaps worth considering but obviously do bear in mind that we're all different and not everything works for everyone.

Grains - some people just don't get on with them but often don't realise.

Refined sugar - tends to cause highs and lows and can cause havoc with insulin levels.

Protein contains the same amount of calories as carbs and fat contains over twice the amount - neither will cause the above.

Have you ever tried Keto? Once your body learns to burn fat, it's surprising how little intake you actually require.

[voodoo_simon]

Maybe do an experiment on yourself. Try your huel etc supplemented diet at home/work for a day or two and see how it feels?
Not "race" conditions I know but could show up any potential issues that may be exasperated on an event.

This! I tried switching diet for a race once and wasn’t ‘au fait’ with it, resulted in a complete lack of energy and consuming more calories with no benefit.

I’ve tried an alpkit drink food once, I was expecting a heavy milkshake type of drink but whatever it was, it was disgusting

[Lazarus]

The above list looks to be quite heavily processed

Do you consider flour to be quite heavily processed or ground seeds?


Drank 2 huels on le jog but mainly as I was aware my diet was not balanced and it had loads of vitamins etc
Think I would prefer to eat than just drink on rides YMMV

[Dyffers]

On the first TransAm race, there was an American guy who had done RAAM who was carrying a backpack full of powder to make up this liquid food stuff, which he planned to eat exclusively.

He was spotted buying a cheeseburger after about ten days.

My diet is reasonable semi-vegetarian in normal life but descends to rubbish processed food during day+ rides because that's what I crave. I tried eating what I thought I ought to and it didn't work for me, so now I just go with what I fancy which works well enough and also keeps my head in things. Caveat: I've got a cast iron stomach that copes with most short-term food abuse, YMMV.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Do you consider flour to be quite heavily processed

Flour - yes.

[Retiredtester]

Like others, I'm not a massive fan of gels and powders etc, but I did the south downs way double last year and needed to pack as much punch as possible into what I was carrying. I basically lived off flapjack, water and some fancy sis beta fuel. The latter is quite a tough thing to force down, but it is very energy dense and seemed to do the job.

[riderdown]

I'm toying with trying to make my own nut/seed/dried fruit bars then you know what's in it and how little it's been processed, add some spices to pep a few experiments up.

Headline calories are more than chocolate/100g

Still can't beat the shop/cafe/pub/takeaway for the main calorie intake