Food on your bike ride

wiredued

I like my potatos mashed with gravy on the days when I tape a roasted chicken to my handlebars.

__________________
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. http://www.earnharts.com/html/reala...ecific.asp?id=3

Arathald

I have read that study, and I find two inconsistencies in it.

Firstly, they fail to point out that although lactic acid is burned as a fuel, is IS a primary byproduct (although, in this case, one that has a use) of anaerobic metabolism of glycogen. The problem is that this releases significangtly less energy than aerobic glycogen metabolism (therefore, it is better for a cyclist or other endurance athlete to rely on aerobic metabolism), in fact, so little that anaerobic metabolism is completely incapable of even supporting human life for more than a few minutes (hence, if you stop breahting, you die). Secondly, lactic acid, even though it is a fuel, CANNOT be burned anaerobically. It must be burned through an aerobic system to get rid of it, and lactic acid itself causes a negative feedback loop in anaerobic metabolism, the body is unable to continue anaerobic metabolism once the amount of lactic acid has reached a certain amount. But since this can be detrimental, the body warns you about lactic acid buildup -- by making your muscles sore (not the kind of sore you get two days after working out, the kind of sore you get while you're performing the exercise).

Therefore, yes, lactic acid is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not something you want to keep around for a long time.

As far as drinking water to flush it out, actually, the best way to get rid of it is to lower the intensity so that your body returns back to aerobic respiration and burns off the lactic acid (this is often referred to as the oxygen debt-- you have to pay back the body later for the oxygen it didnt get for anaerobic respiration, although the analogy is somewhat flawed). Dehydration and hyponitration (usually opposite ends -- hyponitration is when your body is usually properly hydrated, but your electroltes are too low) can both cause the electrolyte concentrations on the outside of the muscle cell to be off, which can cause the muscles to not respond properly or to seize up. Early signs of this also imitatie lactic acid burn. However, that said, it is completely true that keeping properly hydrated and keeping the electrolytes balanced in your body is vital to keeping your matabolism, both anaerobic and aerobic working smoothly.

__________________
Regardless of what some of my friends may say, I don't know everything.

I will be learning for the rest of my life, so if I say something wrong, stupid, or absurd, please, don't hesitate to correct me.

"The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance." -- Benjamin Franklin

marengo

< 20 miles: water only
21- 30 miles: water with overstim.s (http://www.overstims.com/produit.php?id=6) + 1 power bar
35 miles: water with overstim.s (http://www.overstims.com/produit.php?id=6) + 2 power bar

May be too much, but I'm beginner

RickF

Don't you mean Hyponatremia (or hyponatraemia)? Hypo = low; natr from natrium, Latin for sodium; emia = blood

Rich8P

I see a lot of references to Power Bar and such products on this site. I prefer to make my own energy bars and drinks for my training.

An effective bar should release energy over the period of training but not much longer afterward. Therefore, I take a mixture of food stuffs with different release times but high energy content. I also mix products with certain minerals e.g. apricots. There are lots of recipies available on the internet.

The base of the bar is oats, which I roast to be warm. I mix the oats with a warm mix of margarine (omega 3, vit E), acalcien honey (slow energy), molasses (fast energy) and penut butter.

I then mix in chopped dried apricots, prunes, sultanas, coconut. I bake the thing in a flat sheet, pour chocolate on top to improve the taste, cool in the freezer and cut into small bars. Finally, go for a long ride with plenty of mountains and eat the bars.

When I started I used to compare the calories in the bar with those on my Polar CS200. I don't have the discaplin for that most of the time though.

On return I get through tuna in the can and lots of soya milk.

Isotonic drinks are much easier to make. About 10ml of glucose powder (sugar in the blender) and 3ml of salt to one litre of water. If you flavour it with syrup, just deduct the amount of sugar/Calories in the syrup from the amount you add.

I tend to drink only water if I'm eating the bars.

I also changed my eating habits to reduce the amount of calories with high glycemic index. This seems to result in better insulin/blood sugar management. I now need much less during training and don't get the sudden attacks of weekness from blood sugar drops. I know the science is a little weak here.

Arathald

er.... ya, that's what I meant
thanks for the correction

Yes, this may work, but I find it's easier just to eat Clif bars (I think they taste better than powerbars and they have an oat base). They are specifically formulated for jsut that: to release energy at different times so that you can get both a quick boost (simple sugars) as well as a long-term store (complex carbs) to keep you going for a long time. The advantage to making them yourself is saving money. But my parents buy the Clif bars for me, so it's not a huge deal. I like the Apricot one and the Black Cherry Almond one (I can't stand chocolate in an energy bar -- I love chocolate, but an energy bar is the wrong place for it for me; PB is ok).

As for drinks, electrolyte drinks don't just contain sodium. They also have potassium, and a few other electrolytes in smaller quantities, I believe. Although using sodium is better than just straight sugar water. I prefer gatorade myself, and the reason I like it better than sugar water is that besides sweetness, it also has flavor added to it (although, you can approximate this in a homemeade version, too).

When eating the bars, even though they do contain some electrolytes, in general, you should also have a gradual intake of electrolytes with your fluds to keep your body at a perfect balance, rather than short bursts of electrolytes followed by long periods of no intake but water.

What you're doing may not be perfect, but all that said, if it works for you, It's probably not doing you any harm.

__________________
Regardless of what some of my friends may say, I don't know everything.

I will be learning for the rest of my life, so if I say something wrong, stupid, or absurd, please, don't hesitate to correct me.

"The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance." -- Benjamin Franklin

musher

Hi, i don't use product with sugar( not very good for you),or solid food ( power bars etc...) it takes to long to be dygested.I use Dextrose & Maltodextrine ,glutamine, whey pro and electolytes,when i do a long ride ,i put the powder mix in a zipp bag( 75 gr of carb per 20 oz bottle per hour) (40 gr of dextrose +35 gr of maltodextrine ).For EACH hour of exercice, consume 1 grams complex carb for EACH kilogram bodyweight during exercice. The recommended ceiling for total carb intake 600 to 900 gr per day. For more info on nutrition go to : www.e-caps.com ,look for Knowledge-endurance library-details (carbohydrates 101 ) & (Endurance Nutrition) . It's loaded wiht great info, best of luck

RickF

Apparently someone has pulled the wool over your eyes. Dextrose, aka glucose, is as simple a suger as can be. It is a monosachride. Sucrose (cane suger) is a disacharide, one molecule of dextrose coupled to one molecule of fructose. Fructose (also a monosacharide) is the major sugar found in fruit.

jock.c

Word of warning Clif bars are loaded with caffeine

Gatorade is the most difficult sports drink to dilute. It still tastes too sweet even with over 50% water added. WTF???!!!?

You're better off taking small ziplock sachets of your fave powder and just buying water to mix with it along the way once you premixed supply runs out.

Arathald

really? I thought it was only some flavors. I'll have to check on that. Thanks for the warning.

edit: I checked the Clif website, and it is certain flavors:
3-5 mg isn't too bad, but I can't stand eating chocolate in association with exercise (i.e close to or during), save for the m&m's in my cross country team's gorp. 50mg may be too much, depending on the circumstances, but as long as I'm aware it's there and account fo rit, I see no harm in eating those flavors. That all said, I have never even tasted any of these flavors, axcept for a bite of the chocolate brownie (which I didn't like at all).

I mix it from the powder, so I really wouldn't know. I'm not even sure how much youre supposed to put in, but I've had no trouble getting to the level I like. I usually mix by taste.

I actually usually have a chance to stop my my old high school about 0 miles through and again another 10 or 15 through -- I usually fill up at the water fountain. But, somehow, it never occured to me to bring the powder along in ziplocks. Seems obvious but maybe it's not. I'll definitely start doing that. And I will look into other sports drinks -- gatorade may be the staple, but I know there's other ones out there.

__________________
Regardless of what some of my friends may say, I don't know everything.

I will be learning for the rest of my life, so if I say something wrong, stupid, or absurd, please, don't hesitate to correct me.

"The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance." -- Benjamin Franklin

li rider

I take water always.

for the hour ride, I eat raisins as i go.

for longer, i start to add clif shot drink (alternate with water, 1 bottle of either per hour), clif bars, and fig newtons.

Dexter1225

anyone hear of Chaser 5-hour energy shots? http://www.gnc.com/product/index.js...ource=QUIGO:PRC

i haven't tried it often. when i first started doing 30-40+ miles, i would chug one and go. it worked pretty well but i'd still need some gatorade and possibly a powerbar (water of course).

i've read in cycling+ magazine recently that caffeine is actually an alright thing to consume before working out as long as it's no more than 8oz. of coffee.

i've considered taking one of these shots on very long rides (50+ miles) and possibly sacrificing a powerbar doing so. (i am into cycling to increase endurance and mostly lose weight).

anyone have experience using these?

tdl123321

Anybody use HEED, if so what are your thoughts on it.

Rich8P

I've recently found a sports drink powder in the local drugstore. Very low cost and the content is pretty much isotonic sugars(Glucose, Fructose) and salts (Na, Mg, K). Some vitamins are added. I'm based in Germany and you can buy it in Norma or DM. I just did a four day alpine crossing and took some of the powder with me. It might be psychological but I really felt that the sugar helped on the big climbs.

For transportation, I started with ziplock bags but found that they weren't reliable enough and you can't dose easily.
I use the small plastic containers that you buy chewing gum in. They hold almost exactly 80g of powder, which corresponds to 1 litre of water, and are very light weight. I've changed to a 1 litre bike bottle and carry a camel-back with water for the cooldown part of the ride. I start with the mix drink and change to water later to allow the body to burn any excess blood sugar.

I've also seen that you can buy small containers for baby milk with a good screw top. They also hold 80-100g powder and are light weight plastic. I carry one in the tool bag under my saddle for long rides.