Sandwiches While Riding?

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Ask your MD if you could possibly eat one while riding, so as to burn the glucose as it hits your blood!;)LOL. Modern medicine. And then power away in a solo 50km break at 48kph... :D

Monroe, how long are the rides you go on without any breakfast, just out of curiosity.

I would never go riding without eating something beforehand... but of course YMMV...
I usually do either 80 or 150 km when training. So the longer ones take somewhere between 4- 4.5 hrs ( depending on the wind and who else is out on the road :) ).
Its interesting that there seems to be a general feeling here that you should eat breakfast (or at least eat within 3 hrs of riding) - I'll dig out the information I have regarding this if you're interested.

I usually do either 80 or 150 km when training. So the longer ones take somewhere between 4- 4.5 hrs ( depending on the wind and who else is out on the road :) ).
Its interesting that there seems to be a general feeling here that you should eat breakfast (or at least eat within 3 hrs of riding) - I'll dig out the information I have regarding this if you're interested.Use whatever works best for you, but remember, not everyone is the same. The wisdom behind not eating within 3 hours of exercising is that some of the energy that you would be using exercising is actually be used digesting the food. If this really were the case, then eating when you are riding would also be bad. What they should be saying is not to eat a large meal within 3 hours of exercising.

Now about your inability to ride and chew at the same time........:D!

Now about your inability to ride and chew at the same time........:D!

Haha - Well I fell into that one. :rolleyes: I can actually chew gum and walk at the same time - but those 'give you jaw cramp' power bars, the only thing I've experimented with (chewing wise) while riding, didn't work out too well - I think I scared some people.

I think your right in saying 'each to his/her own.'
FYI some of the other info I have on this breaks down to something like this;

Eating (either simple sugars or complex carbs) = elevated blood sugar and so insulin release leading to low glucose levels in the blood.
= reduced ability to utilize stored fatty acids.
= higer insulin means faster muscle glycogen depletion

Unless you waited three hours

It does seem counter intuitive - but I have noticed the difference ( for me). All I can suggest is that if you've not tried just jumping out of your bed and into your cleats and away - find out. Just make sure you have some fuel to take with you, sandwiches or otherwise.

Haha - Well I fell into that one. :rolleyes: I can actually chew gum and walk at the same time - but those 'give you jaw cramp' power bars, the only thing I've experimented with (chewing wise) while riding, didn't work out too well - I think I scared some people.

I think your right in saying 'each to his/her own.'
FYI some of the other info I have on this breaks down to something like this;

Eating (either simple sugars or complex carbs) = elevated blood sugar and so insulin release leading to low glucose levels in the blood.
= reduced ability to utilize stored fatty acids.
= higer insulin means faster muscle glycogen depletion

Unless you waited three hours

It does seem counter intuitive - but I have noticed the difference ( for me). All I can suggest is that if you've not tried just jumping out of your bed and into your cleats and away - find out. Just make sure you have some fuel to take with you, sandwiches or otherwise.

You've got to be careful using generalities as such. It's better to think of foods in terms of how quickly they metabolize. The glycemic index does just that, indexing foods according to how quickly/how much they metabolize/raise blood sugar.

Gels and other "high performance" foods or supplements don't do anything that the right foods won't. Some, like gels, are intended for delivery of quick energy, which means having a high glycemic index, which means that in the absence of exercise or high intensity work of some sort, they would cause a spike in blood sugar. Some sport "foods" do exactly what you don't want, and some are nothing more than packaged sugar.

A good idea might be to find a diabetic friend. Diabetics get by doing exactly what you alluded to: managing blood sugar levels so as to avoid sharp spikes and lows. And diabetics do that without gels and the like.

I usually do either 80 or 150 km when training. So the longer ones take somewhere between 4- 4.5 hrs ( depending on the wind and who else is out on the road :) ).
Its interesting that there seems to be a general feeling here that you should eat breakfast (or at least eat within 3 hrs of riding) - I'll dig out the information I have regarding this if you're interested.
Interesting, for rides of more than 100 km I usually have a rather sizeable breakfast (usually coffee, muesli, yoghurt and maybe some toast with jam). I do not carry food but usually stop about halfway for a snack (cappuccino with sugar and a pastry of some sort) and I do fine with this.

For longer than 100km I usually pack small sandwiches and/or fruit - ham and cheese, jam, honey, whatever. And/or bananas and apple slices.