What do you like to eat whilst on long cycling tours?

Question

i.e. cheap light but high on energy etc

Answer 1

Pasta and Banana's, lots of Carbohydrates, slow releasing energy.

Answer 2

40 oz of malt liquor is the energy drink of choice down here in New Orleans

Answer 3

Milky Way?

Answer 4

Twix

Answer 5

Sometimes I bike all day, sometimes I walk all day.  I take plenty of water, some fruit, some sandwiches, occasionally some chocolate.  But mainly it's water and plenty of fruit.

Answer 6

Bananas are excellent for slow long energy sustainability - it works for me anyhow! and secondly chocolate bars such as cadburys Boost which is high in carbs and protien. hope this is helpufull.

Answer 7

I used to start with a big fried b/fast then 3-4 pts beer lunchtime with a curry, fish and chips in the evening washed down with another 4-5 pts of real ale. Maybe not healthy food but fuel for 80 mls a day.

Answer 8

To carry? & if diet's not a concern - your favorite candy bar.

While riding - best healthy foods are bananas, dried fruit like figs & dates. Peanut butter sandwiches & fig newtons.

Answer 9

For long distances you need carbs.  If you are racing, you want sugars that you can access quickly.  So if you are sprinting for an hour, you want to burn your carbs quickly (Very strong coffee before hand will help to convert carbs into quick burn energy).  However, for long tours you want to access this energy over several hours.

Before your journey, especially the night before, you want to munch on foods like pasta.  Have cereal for breakfast (you will still need proteins, etc.  So a bit of bacon and mushrooms with your pasta.  You might also want some nuts and raisins with your cereal.  Chop up some bananas to add with your cereal (the chemicals within the banana are very good at preventing cramps)

Once you start cycling you need a mix of carbs.  Energy bars are good, but the alternative is to make your own.  Think of a flapjack with nuts, raisins and honey and you are on the right track.  Munch on this as you ride and you will be able to gain access to a steady, slow release energy food.  Have another banana.

In order to get up that next hill, or to aid your flagging legs quickly, you want to access your sugars right now.  Jelly babies and mini Mars bars.  Chomp these by the hand full.

You really need to keep hydrated.  Half a litre will need to be consumed every half hour of exercise.  This means a Camelback with at least 3 - 4 litres capacity for a days riding.  However, you are not just losing water, you are losing salts as you exercise.  If you drank nothing but water, you stand the risk of water poisoning.  This will kill you, as happened to a London Marathon runner recently.  

You lose salts.  These need to be replaced (thats what the banana is for). The best way to do this is to introduce salts into your drink. You also want a few sugars as well.  High carb, isotonic sports drinks will do this.  I use SIS Go.  However, Ribena with a spoon or two of salt in it will provide a cheap alternative.  However, you might want to spend a bit of time trying out the quantities of Ribena and salt for your weight before embarking on an epic adventure.

Let us assume that you have carb loaded yourself to the eyeballs the night before and have had a reasonable breakfast.  Unaided, your legs have about two hours of energy in them, with a further half hour for your liver.  By eating and drinking as you ride, you prevent rapid stripping of your energy researves, and prolong hitting the wall, where you are effectivly blown and no longer able to continue.

Once you have finished exercising and want to sit down for a bit of lunch or tea, you need to take this opportunity to re-fuel.  After exercise you have upto an hour when your muscles will act like a sponge, rapidly absorbing any fuel you put into it, replacing all that you have stripped.  During this period, look at introducing more protiens, especially if you are settling down for the night.

One of the main problems is that, after a heavy work out, you may find your appetite has hit the floor.  Many companies have now introduced sports recovery drinks, that you can gulp down quickly to replenish your researves.  I am a bit of a traditionalist here and opt for beer and crisps.

Hope this helps.

Luck

Answer 10

On a typical 6 to 8 hr ride, I eat a Powerbar Performance about 1-2 hrs in, then about the halfway point I like to hit Taco Bell for a chicken wrap.  Mix in a few gatorades, water,  and some dt. dew and thats about it.  Sometimes a second Powerbar on the all day rides.

Answer 11

A full English breakfast - bacon, eggs, sausage, black pudding, fried bread, mushrooms and tomatoes followed by toast and marmalade.

A light snack during the morning - perhaps tea and cake.

A light lunch of perhaps a shepherds pie or similar.

During the afternoon another snack and then perhaps high tea at about 5 o'clock'

A nice evening meal is always a good idea. Depending how I feel it might be a Chinese or Indian meal and perhaps a beer of some kind to help me sleep.

I don't eat supper as I don't want to put on too much weight.

Answer 12

have a break. have a kitkat