We’ve all experienced it, that awful feeling of getting hungry on the bike and knowing what’s coming next if we don’t do something about it – QUICKLY. The hunger is first, followed by a feeling of weakness, and finally experiencing the total inability to turn the pedals. There’s no worse feeling in the world than the BONK!
What’s sad is that it’s easy to avoid bonking. It simply requires the rider to eat and drink on a regular basis. Read more about your strategy here:
The 2 most important considerations include consuming enough water and carbohydrates. Depending on weather conditions and your personal sweat rate, you should consider taking in 16 – 24 ounces of water and/or sports drink per hour. And this should begin immediately after you start. A sip every 10 minutes will ensure you are taking in the liquid and carbohydrates at a rate that will keep you properly fueled.
Liquid carbohydrates (sports drinks) are absorbed quickly and efficiently, and will replace some of the expended glycogen (your body’s storage form of carbohydrates), thus delaying the onset of fatigue. Sports drinks are the preferred choice, but gels can be consumed as well.
One important point to note is that if you use gels, be sure to drink 6-8 ounces of water – NOT sports drinks – with every 100 calories, which a typical gel pack contains. Gels are highly concentrated, and require a great deal of water to digest. Gels with too little water can lead to dehydration as a result.
In a long duration ride such as a century, the intensity will be relatively low. As a result, stored body fats will become a prime source of fuel, with carbohydrates playing a smaller, but still very important, role. There is an old saying that “fat burns in a carbohydrate flame.” This means that if our carbohydrates run low, our body will have difficulty converting fat to fuel. The result of this is the dreaded “bonk” or “hitting the wall.”
For this reason it is critically important to maintain a consistent intake of carbohydrates. If we fall behind the intake versus expenditure curve, it is difficult, if not impossible, to catch up unless we slow down or stop.
So the question is how much carbohydrate should be taken in during the course of the ride. At very high intensities, athletes may burn 1000 calories per hour. Of this, 60% or 600 calories) may come from carbohydrates. Since a century is longer and will be ridden at less than peak intensities, the average calorie usage per hour may be in the 400-700 range. Assuming 50-60% of this energy is provided by carbohydrates, we may burn 200-400 carbohydrate calories per hour.
Studies have shown that our bodies have the capability to absorb approximately 1 gram of carbohydrate per minute (or more), which is 60 per hour. At 4 calories per gram, this means that we should take in AT LEAST 240 carbohydrate calories per hour. While this figure varies among athletes, this provides us with a good starting point.
So our goal should be to consume a minimum of 60 grams of carbs per hour for a long ride of 2 hours or more. As mentioned above, this may come from sports drinks, Clif Bars and Clif Bloks, Power Bars, Bananas and Fig Newtons, to name a few.
Keep in mind that each of us tolerates sports drinks and foods differently, so experiment as your training progresses. You should go into your long ride/race with a very good idea of how much you can eat, whether you can take in all your calories through liquids or if you need solid food and just what your system can handle. Don’t experiment during your event.
Tell me about your nutrition strategies in the comments section below.
RIDE RECAP:
The is recovery week, so I’ve been taking it easy this week, and it’s progressing well. Yesterday I did a very easy 1 hour ride which included some pedaling drills. Today was more of the same. I’m feeling fresher, as my power output was creeping up today with no increase in perceived effort, so I had to force myself to slow down. That’s a good sign. I’ve riding in The Brute this weekend (www.spreetouring.com), so I’ll have a good idea as to just how much this rest week benefitted me. Stay tuned!
GET OUT AND RIDE!
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