What do you eat during a race

[Per ElmsäTer]

Today I tried to do a 130 km race without stopping at the depots. I had two bottles of sportsdrink,
Extran, and four packs of Maxim Energy Gel. The weather was rather cool so I didn't sweat much. I
was doing really fine until about 90 km where I just hit the wall. I had to slow pedal 15 km to the
last depot where I stuffed myself with bananas and buns before I could pick up my speed again. It
was not a pleasant experience and I don't want to do it again. Normally I stop about halfway, but
I'm starting to feel that I wanna do the race all the way on my own so to say.

I do have a problem with a lot of the bars. I seem to run out of breath when eating them because I
can't breathe through my nose during the meal. Therefore I'm looking into liquid energy, if
possible. Well OK I can eat a banana underway ;-)

So what do you guys stuff in your jerseypockets?

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

 

[Jeff Jones]

"Per Elmsäter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> So what do you guys stuff in your jerseypockets?
>
For a 110-120 km race, one packet of dextro energy (47g of glucose tablets), a muesli bar and one
bottle of sports drink, one of water. I start eating around the 50 km mark usually [plus I have
breakfast/lunch before]. I find this is more than sufficient. Having enough water is very important.

Was this the first time that it's happened to you in a 130 km race? Or are you just not used to
going that hard for that long? You also need to train so that you're less reliant on carbohydrate
and more on fat as a fuel source.

Jeff

 

[Per ElmsäTer]

Jeff Jones wrote:
> "Per Elmsäter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> So what do you guys stuff in your jerseypockets?
>>
> For a 110-120 km race, one packet of dextro energy (47g of glucose tablets), a muesli bar and one
> bottle of sports drink, one of water. I start eating around the 50 km mark usually [plus I have
> breakfast/lunch before]. I find this is more than sufficient. Having enough water is very
> important.
>
> Was this the first time that it's happened to you in a 130 km race? Or are you just not used to
> going that hard for that long? You also need to train so that you're less reliant on carbohydrate
> and more on fat as a fuel source.
>
> Jeff

It's the first time it happened in a while. I've been doing several this summer with no problems. At
one point I was doing a six day stage of 120-145 km. per day. The difference today was that I was
not stopping at the feedzones and that, I suspect, Maxim Energy Gel alone, really doesn't take you
through a race. Oh yes another thing was that I had to work pretty hard in a strong headwind, that
seemed to break up all pacelines. I was alone for about 30 k. This accounts for working at a higher
pulse but I should still be able to get through if I eat right.

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

 

[Gwhite]

"Per Elmsäter" wrote:
>
> Today I tried to do a 130 km race without stopping at the depots. I had two bottles of
> sportsdrink, Extran, and four packs of Maxim Energy Gel. The weather was rather cool so I didn't
> sweat much. I was doing really fine until about 90 km where I just hit the wall. I had to slow
> pedal 15 km to the last depot where I stuffed myself with bananas and buns before I could pick up
> my speed again. It was not a pleasant experience and I don't want to do it again. Normally I stop
> about halfway, but I'm starting to feel that I wanna do the race all the way on my own so to say.
>
> I do have a problem with a lot of the bars. I seem to run out of breath when eating them because I
> can't breathe through my nose during the meal. Therefore I'm looking into liquid energy, if
> possible. Well OK I can eat a banana underway ;-)
>
> So what do you guys stuff in your jerseypockets?

You can pack 500 Cal into one large waterbottle with maltodextrin -- it won't be too sweet. I don't
know if Twin Lab still makes Ultra Fuel. It has flavoring so is a little nicer than plain
maltodextrin. Home brew beer supply order houses sell calories for much cheaper than the "sport
drinks." You can get glucose too, but it will be too sweet for a high calorie drink.

 

[Per Elmsäter]

Per Elmsäter wrote:
> So what do you guys stuff in your jerseypockets?

Hmm....... Not many answers on this one. Either you guys don't eat or you don't race. Or are you
just ashamed to tell everybody that you're stuffing your pockets full of pizzas. As a matter of fact
I heard of a dude that already had his jerseypockets full so he put pancakes in plastic bags and
taped them around his top tube ;-)

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

 

[Nick Burns]

"Per Elmsäter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Per Elmsäter wrote:
> > So what do you guys stuff in your jerseypockets?
>
> Hmm....... Not many answers on this one. Either you guys don't eat or you don't race. Or are you
> just ashamed to tell everybody that you're stuffing your
pockets
> full of pizzas. As a matter of fact I heard of a dude that already had his jerseypockets full so
> he put pancakes in plastic bags and taped them
around
> his top tube ;-)
>
> --
> Perre
>
> You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.
>

It is just not interesting (IMO) because most people have to figure out for themselves how to
satisfy the caloric needs. There are some guidelines but personal preferences and idiosyncrasies
take away a lot of the benefit of "sharing" that info. I used to eat Powerbars and the like but now
I am trying the "Balance Bar Gold" and similar. Your mileage will vary, I guarantee it.

 

[Benjamin Weiner]

Per Elmsäter <[email protected]> wrote:
> Per Elmsäter wrote:
> > So what do you guys stuff in your jerseypockets?

> Hmm....... Not many answers on this one. Either you guys don't eat or you don't race. Or are you
> just ashamed to tell everybody that you're stuffing your pockets full of pizzas. As a matter of
> fact I heard of a dude that already had his jerseypockets full so he put pancakes in plastic bags
> and taped them around his top tube ;-)

If you want to do that you can just use Powerbars, as they have the texture and taste of
handlebar grips.

Your question is kind of broad to answer. Everybody eats different stuff. I'll also guess that the
race you were doing was a kind of cyclosportif event, because it had rest/feed stations. In the US
there is more of a division between amateur racing and cyclotourist events ("centuries," etc).
Feeding depends a lot on the length of the ride.

Did you eat all your food, run out and bonk, or just succumb to fatigue? Elsewhere you said:

> Oh yes another thing was that I had to work pretty hard in a strong headwind, that seemed to break
> up all pacelines. I was alone for about 30 k. This accounts for working at a higher pulse but I
> should still be able to get through if I eat right.

My limited experience is that if you ride over your head for a long time, eventually you'll fatigue,
crack and suffer like a dog. No amount of feeding will prevent this.

 

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>, Benjamin Weiner <[email protected]> wrote:

> Per Elms?ter <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Per Elms?ter wrote:
> > > So what do you guys stuff in your jerseypockets?
>
> > Hmm....... Not many answers on this one. Either you guys don't eat or you don't race. Or are you
> > just ashamed to tell everybody that you're stuffing your pockets full of pizzas. As a matter of
> > fact I heard of a dude that already had his jerseypockets full so he put pancakes in plastic
> > bags and taped them around his top tube ;-)
>
> If you want to do that you can just use Powerbars, as they have the texture and taste of
> handlebar grips.

A few years ago, I tried Powerbars. The first one was at work and seemed pretty ok. The next one
was out on a ride: taste, texture and consistency of moist particle board. Bad idea. I like Clif
bars much better, they sort of have a cookie-like feel. But now I use Rasberry Newtons (tip from
Warren) and those are good.

> My limited experience is that if you ride over your head for a long time, eventually you'll
> fatigue, crack and suffer like a dog. No amount of feeding will prevent this.

I'd agree with that. Pacing is important: too frisky too early and you blow up, whoowhee, you
blow up REAL good. At that point, you just have to tone it down until you can sort of recuperate.
--
tanx, Howard

"Gentlemen! You can't fight in here! This is the War Room." George C. Scott, Dr. Strangelove

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Per ElmsäTer]

Benjamin Weiner wrote:
> My limited experience is that if you ride over your head for a long time, eventually you'll
> fatigue, crack and suffer like a dog. No amount of feeding will prevent this.

When looking back at my HR graphs it may very well be just working too hard. I averaged a HR of 162
for the race which is about 5 beats below what I average for a 30 km TT and 10 beats above what I'll
averrage for the same distance at 35 km/h. Now I averaged 31 km/h. I was way over my LT for the last
30 minutes before I bonked. It was probably having to work alone in a strong headwind that did me
in, not having enough experience to pace myself there.

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

 

[Steven]

"Per Elmsäter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Benjamin Weiner wrote:
> > My limited experience is that if you ride over your head for a long time, eventually you'll
> > fatigue, crack and suffer like a dog. No amount of feeding will prevent this.
>
> When looking back at my HR graphs it may very well be just working too hard. I averaged a HR of
> 162 for the race which is about 5 beats below what I average for a 30 km TT and 10 beats above
> what I'll averrage for the same distance at 35 km/h. Now I averaged 31 km/h. I was way over my LT
> for the last 30 minutes before I bonked. It was probably having to work alone in a strong headwind
> that did me in, not having enough experience to pace myself there.

I would say you were over your limit then and it is less food related also:

#!/usr/local/bin/perl
...
s/DOT/\./ig; ...

would pretty much get me and the spammers your email address. Enough people try to use DOT that I am
sure most spam software does something simliar to this.

 

[Jtn]

mountain spring water. unfiltered of course......Eddie always said, a mineral a day will keep the
others at bay.

 

[Iocat]

[email protected] (Steven) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> "Per Elmsäter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > Benjamin Weiner wrote:
> > > My limited experience is that if you ride over your head for a long time, eventually you'll
> > > fatigue, crack and suffer like a dog. No amount of feeding will prevent this.
> >
> > When looking back at my HR graphs it may very well be just working too hard. I averaged a HR of
> > 162 for the race which is about 5 beats below what I average for a 30 km TT and 10 beats above
> > what I'll averrage for the same distance at 35 km/h. Now I averaged 31 km/h. I was way over my
> > LT for the last 30 minutes before I bonked. It was probably having to work alone in a strong
> > headwind that did me in, not having enough experience to pace myself there.
>
> I would say you were over your limit then and it is less food related also:
>
> #!/usr/local/bin/perl
> ...
> s/DOT/\./ig; ...
>
> would pretty much get me and the spammers your email address. Enough people try to use DOT that I
> am sure most spam software does something simliar to this.

If the race is going to be over 60 miles, I'll pack a plain simple hamburger, in addition to the
assorted bars, and eat it at about 60 mile mark. It works wonders for me.

 

[Per Elmsäter]

iocat wrote:
> [email protected] (Steven) wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>> "Per Elmsäter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:<[email protected]>...
>>> Benjamin Weiner wrote:
>>>> My limited experience is that if you ride over your head for a long time, eventually you'll
>>>> fatigue, crack and suffer like a dog. No amount of feeding will prevent this.
>>>
>>> When looking back at my HR graphs it may very well be just working too hard. I averaged a HR of
>>> 162 for the race which is about 5 beats below what I average for a 30 km TT and 10 beats above
>>> what I'll averrage for the same distance at 35 km/h. Now I averaged 31 km/h. I was way over my
>>> LT for the last 30 minutes before I bonked. It was probably having to work alone in a strong
>>> headwind that did me in, not having enough experience to pace myself there.
>>
>> I would say you were over your limit then and it is less food related also:
>>
>> #!/usr/local/bin/perl
>> ...
>> s/DOT/\./ig; ...
>>
>> would pretty much get me and the spammers your email address. Enough people try to use DOT that I
>> am sure most spam software does something simliar to this.
>
> If the race is going to be over 60 miles, I'll pack a plain simple hamburger, in addition to the
> assorted bars, and eat it at about 60 mile mark. It works wonders for me.

Now this is what I wan't to hear ;-) With plain do you mean plain as in not all the way?

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

 

[Gwhite]

Howard Kveck wrote:
>

> But now I use Rasberry Newtons (tip from Warren) and those are good.

For long training rides I use the Safeway whole wheat fig bars. (The whole wheat doesn't crumble.)
These are on sale once in a while for $2/lb. You can't come anywhere close to that cal/$ ratio with
sport drinks and bars. I find them pretty easy to eat on a ride -- much easier than Power Bars. I
also eat beef jerky on those long training rides too. I get it at Costco since thet have a regular
good deal on it. I like how easy it is to just fill my water bottles with water rather than energy
drink mix. For races, I'd use maltodextrin and glucose tho, since it is so much easier to deal with
and digest in a race.

 

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>, gwhite <[email protected]> wrote:

> Howard Kveck wrote:
> >
>
> > But now I use Rasberry Newtons (tip from Warren) and those are good.
>
> For long training rides I use the Safeway whole wheat fig bars. (The whole wheat doesn't crumble.)
> These are on sale once in a while for $2/lb. You can't come anywhere close to that cal/$ ratio
> with sport drinks and bars.

I could give that a try. I have never really liked figs (which was why I tried the Rasberry
Newtons), but in the last few years, I've found that I can eat many of the foods I never used to
like. (Which is a good thing if you like to cook.)

> I find them pretty easy to eat on a ride -- much easier than Power Bars. I also eat beef jerky on
> those long training rides too. I get it at Costco since thet have a regular good deal on it. I
> like how easy it is to just fill my water bottles with water rather than energy drink mix. For
> races, I'd use maltodextrin and glucose tho, since it is so much easier to deal with and digest
> in a race.

I really like diluted Gatorade (about 60%), as it tastes ok when it's warm. Warm water is hard to
take but if I run out of 'rade on a hot day (like last Sunday), then it works just fine. A friend
suggested (info he got from his coach) that a couple of Omega 3 pills with breakfast seems to
help. I'm not a nutritionist, but was curious if there's any validity to this. Any thoughts?
--
tanx, Howard

"Gentlemen! You can't fight in here! This is the War Room." George C. Scott, Dr. Strangelove

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 

[Suz]

> I do have a problem with a lot of the bars. I seem to run out of breath
when
> eating them because I can't breathe through my nose during the meal. Therefore I'm looking into
> liquid energy, if possible. Well OK I can eat a banana underway ;-)
>
>
I drink Accelerade, about 1-1/2-2 scoops per bottle and rarely if ever have to eat solid food in
races under 80 miles or so (I think that's about 130 km?) It has a good mix of protein and carbs. If
it's hot, I put a dash of salt in each bottle, when i remember to. I like orange flavor best, tastes
kind of like Tang, but, um...thicker. I'm getting kind of burned out on the stuff though, and have
been sometimes using good ol' fashioned Gatorade for shorter races (under 60-90 minutes).

 

[Iocat]

"Per Elmsäter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> iocat wrote:
> > [email protected] (Steven) wrote in message
> > news:<[email protected]>...
> >> "Per Elmsäter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >> news:<[email protected]>...
> >>> Benjamin Weiner wrote:
> >>>> My limited experience is that if you ride over your head for a long time, eventually you'll
> >>>> fatigue, crack and suffer like a dog. No amount of feeding will prevent this.
> >>>
> >>> When looking back at my HR graphs it may very well be just working too hard. I averaged a HR
> >>> of 162 for the race which is about 5 beats below what I average for a 30 km TT and 10 beats
> >>> above what I'll averrage for the same distance at 35 km/h. Now I averaged 31 km/h. I was way
> >>> over my LT for the last 30 minutes before I bonked. It was probably having to work alone in a
> >>> strong headwind that did me in, not having enough experience to pace myself there.
> >>
> >> I would say you were over your limit then and it is less food related also:
> >>
> >> #!/usr/local/bin/perl
> >> ...
> >> s/DOT/\./ig; ...
> >>
> >> would pretty much get me and the spammers your email address. Enough people try to use DOT that
> >> I am sure most spam software does something simliar to this.
> >
> > If the race is going to be over 60 miles, I'll pack a plain simple hamburger, in addition to the
> > assorted bars, and eat it at about 60 mile mark. It works wonders for me.
>
> Now this is what I wan't to hear ;-) With plain do you mean plain as in not all the way?

Just a bun, mustard, a small dash of katsup and a couple of pickles. Oh yes, and the WELL COOKED
hamburger.

 

[Raptor]

iocat wrote:
> "Per Elmsäter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>
>>iocat wrote:
>>
>>>If the race is going to be over 60 miles, I'll pack a plain simple hamburger, in addition to the
>>>assorted bars, and eat it at about 60 mile mark. It works wonders for me.
>>
>>Now this is what I wan't to hear ;-) With plain do you mean plain as in not all the way?
>
>
> Just a bun, mustard, a small dash of katsup and a couple of pickles. Oh yes, and the WELL COOKED
> hamburger.

I don't feel quite qualified to contribute much here, since I don't do any races of distance and not
a ton of long riding outside of races. But I've found with the occasional supported century that the
grazing and sugar food bores my stomach after a few hours. It wants protein/flesh of beast. I'm not
surprised the hamburger works for someone. I'm planning on taking some beef jerky for these
longer-than-normal-for-me rides.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall "I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we
could to protect our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security." --Microsoft VP in
charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

 

[Gwhite]

Howard Kveck wrote:
>

> I really like diluted Gatorade (about 60%), as it tastes ok when it's warm.

I just think Gatorade is way too expensive for what it is. The carb is sucrose (table sugar). Check
the price on a 10 lb bag of sucrose next time you are in a grocery store. Sport drinks are little
more than low cost sugars with a few cheap salts thrown in, plus some flavor.

The markup on sport drinks must be very high -- I believe it is mostly a hype product. I quit buying
them since Twin Lab stopped making Hydra Fuel powder, since it was the only remotely reasonably
priced drink, and only then if you bought it from "mail order." I *might* buy Ultra Fuel for those
500 Cal race-day large waterbottles again someday. It is far superior to gels and junk like that.

> Warm water is hard to take but if I run out of 'rade on a hot day (like last Sunday), then it
> works just fine.

IMO, when it gets really hot plain water almost seems best after the calorie and salt demands are
met. Sugar drinks start tasting like hot syrup -- yuk.

> A friend suggested (info he got from his coach) that a couple of Omega 3 pills with breakfast
> seems to help. I'm not a nutritionist, but was curious if there's any validity to this. Any
> thoughts?

I have no idea. I never do that. A good breakfast that includes fat is always on my menu.

 

[Anonymous]

iocat wrote:
> If the race is going to be over 60 miles, I'll pack a plain simple hamburger, in addition to the
> assorted bars, and eat it at about 60 mile mark. It works wonders for me.

Either you're not racing very hard or you have a cast iron digestive system. If I ate something like
that in the middle of a hard race I'd be vomiting over everybody during the next attack.