Hi Alex, thanks so much for the support! The main thing I’ve found is through trial with certain foods and bars. For my training rides mid-week and weekends which can be from 2-7 hours I only use energy bars, I use Torq bars which work really well for me, they are more natural and fruit based they digest really well and don’t have a overly sweet taste. For the really long rides 30+ hours, I use a combination of real food (potatoes, dried fruit, cereal, rice cakes) and energy bars. I tend to look at the quality of the food before the calories, as it’s more important for me to use as natural and organic a food as possible with very little processing. Over the years I have come to understand what my body needs with regards to quantity on longer rides, if I’m well recovered I eat less, but after a long week and if I’m fatigued, I can eat almost twice as much on the bike. It is pretty much all on feel rather than a scientific approach, your body is a clever machine when it comes to demanding what it needs, so I highly recommend listening out when it’s calling for nutrition, I’ve found it’s always best to eat and drink way before you feel really hungry, I’ve had far less blow ups this way. Ride safe! Mike.

Hi Ronald,

For hydration, we would recommend a drink with all 5 electrolytes presents, because you’ll need both fluid and electrolytes to hydrate properly.

Remember that hydration is only part of the equation and much greater performance losses will result from running out of fuel, so make sure that your drink also contains carbohydrate!

Isotonic (usually around 6% carbs) provides a very good balance between fluid and carb delivery. If perspiration losses are very high, you could look at going ‘hypotonic’ to prioritise fluid delivery over carbs, but this would be an unusual set of circumstances.

TORQ energy is actually hypotonic at 6% carbs (and the carbs are 2:1 Maltodextrin:Fructose), so if necessary, you could consume up to 1.5 litres per hour of this and still not exceed your carb tolerance levels and take on board a lot of hydration.

Remember in cooler conditions when you’re not drinking so much, you MUST eat.

For further information, take a look here.

Matt Hart - Founder Torq Fitness

Very happy to hear you’ve enjoyed some of my antics of the years and it has been helpful

When it comes to nutrition there are a few things to consider. It sounds like you’re sticking to the same things in training as you are on the day so that’s definitely a good start. Some more points that may be worth thinking about are:

1) Are you consuming more than you normally would over the same duration?

2) Is your exertion level higher than it otherwise would be in training when you didn’t have a problem? Working harder will mean more blood will be directed to your muscles as opposed to your stomach which will make digestion harder for anything you do consume.

3) Personally I tend to favour bars and fluid on mid length events (like a sportive) and real food and fluid on ultra endurance rides. I’ve found too much of the high concentration energy products can become sickly and hard to consume / digest.

4) I normally look to refuel at any given opportunity and keep it frequent. Little and often. Valleys between climbs or in the final kilometre of an ascent so that you can get some energy back in you before the descent is good. Nothing worse than flying down a mountain trying to undo a wrapper.

5) I’ve got on well with the Torq range. The vanilla energy drink is very mellow and I like the fact that the bars are more natural and fruit based. A lot of the folk I ride with have switched to Torq as they had digestive issues in the past and have now got on well with it. We’re all different though so best to experiment.

6) I’m not a huge gel taker. I prefer to stick to fluid (energy drink mixed up weaker than recommended normally) fruit based energy bars, dried fruit and real food wherever possible.

7) If it’s a lot hotter than you are used to riding in then this can play a big factor. In the heat it’s essential to drink more water to say hydrated and allow your body to stay in balance. It could be something as simple as consuming more water on the very hot days.

I hope that gives an insight into some areas to consider. Keep the training going and good luck in the future!

Mike

Hi Derek,

Prior to exercise there is little need for a protein drink as you can easily get a good serving of protein in through your normal diet. A good breakfast before a ride, say beans on toast (without the butter), or a bowl of porridge with skimmed milk, will provide sufficient amounts of protein and some good fuel too. You want to aim to consume around 20grams of lean protein 3-4 times a day to cover your needs. The most important nutrient to get in before a big ride is carbohydrate, as this is the main fuel you will use during exercise of any sort of intensity, i.e. riding up a col, so it is important to ensure your bodies Glycogen (the name for carbohydrate when it is stored in the muscle and liver) stores are fully topped up. You only really ever break down significant amounts of protein in the absence of carbohydrate, so ensuring you have enough carbohydrate available will reduce your needs for protein. Aim to have a good sized breakfast around 3-4hours before riding if possible to allow sufficient time for digestion.

During exercise protein is best avoided as there is little performance benefit to taking it on and it can take the stomach a long time to break down. This can cause stomach issues, particularly when exercising hard and compromise carbohydrate delivery. If you are aiming for a big day in the saddle (6 hours plus) then by all means include a bit of lean protein in a meal at your lunch stop, but there is little need for this to be in drink form.

Immediately after exercise (within 15-30minutes), it is best to consume a carbohydrate and protein drink, particularly if you are aiming to try and ride the next day or complete another ride later in the day. This should then be followed up with regular meals depending on how big the ride was. There is a short window after exercise where your body can very rapidly replenish its glycogen stores so consuming a drink with rapidly absorbing nutrients in will help kick start the recovery process. Here at TORQ we produce a recovery drink which contains a 3:1 carbohydrate to protein mix which is designed for exactly this purpose. After a big day in the saddle carbohydrate is the main thing that you want to replace, but including some protein as well will provide substrate for muscle repair and generally help with the recovery process.

Regards,

Ben at Torq Fitness.

That’s great to hear Raz!

The main thing that you will need to work on is your endurance (lots of kilometres and hours on the bike) so that you can improve your efficiency. I’ve spent years training this area. Keep it simple, if you plan to ride a long way then you’ll need to train to be able to ride a long way. Gradually build this up over the weeks / months and don’t forget to listen to your body and take regular easy or rest days so that your body recovers from the training load. I’ve always found that consistency is better e.g. lots of good quality rides building up to around 250km. If you can ride this far then a great deal after that will come down to three areas (1) Pacing: Don’t push too hard too soon (2) Nutrition: Make sure you take on regular fuel and fluid throughout (3) Mental Strength: I’ve found this is the most important element. How bad you really want it.

Further to your nutrition, everyone is different. I try to eat organic whole foods wherever possible in every day life (no processed foods). I also don’t eat any animal products. Personally I’ve found this clean way of fuelling has worked really well for me but again we are all different. Concentrate on good quality food that isn’t precessed and you will start in the right way. On the bike I also like to eat proper food (gels and energy bars are ok for shorter more intense activities but are too much for the stomach to handle during long rides like this). I make up things like organic rice wraps, sweet potato slices and cereal, along with coconut water for natural electrolyte replacement. Again, we’re all different so experiment in training to see what works best for you.

Hopefully that helps to get you going. Best of luck!

Mike

Hi Paul, as a rule of thumb it’s best to try and eat 3 hours before you ride to allow time for digestion. Having said that you also have to be realistic and if you’re an early bird that wants to hit the road at dawn at the weekend then getting up at 4.00am is a bit excessive! If you’re going for a long ride of lower intensity then you’ll be able to eat breakfast later. Try to have something that will give you a sustained release of energy. I personally start the day with porridge topped with fruit. When out on the bike I’ve found that Torq’s fuelling system works well for me (we’re all different so you’ll need to experiment). Little and often is the key. Overall aim to keep your diet as whole and natural as possible, refrain from processed foods if possible and you can’t go far wrong!