Anything lasting longer than about 90 minutes…during endurance exercise, your energy stores become depleted so it is vitally important to replenish these otherwise you will run out of fuel.
Just exactly what you eat and drink on your bike will depend on many things including how hard and how long your ride is. Also, everyone is different so what works for you, probably won’t work for the next person so make sure you test all your food out in training first before using it in a race or competitive environment.
Carbohydrates are your primary source of fuel during exercise so you need a constant supply of these during a long ride. Fluids are also extremely important, especially when it’s hot, however, no chance of that happening very soon!
In order to supply your body with enough fuel to last the distance, you should get into the habit of eating and/or drinking regularly, i.e. every 15-20 minutes. Foods that work well are those that get digested really quickly like jelly snakes & jet planes. But this doesn’t mean you can have half a bag in one sitting because if you do, I guarantee they will come straight back at you! One or two will do. Other foods that we often use are gels, muesli bars and bananas. If you’re anything like me, you get sick of chomping sweet things pretty quickly so a savoury item like a marmite (or vegemite) sammie usually does the trick.
On the fluids side of things, it’s always good to have both sports drink and water so a bottle of each. Alternate between sports drink and water (every 15 min) and every time you have water (every 30 minutes) have some food to help top your carbs up. If you eat and/or drink every 15-20 minutes from the beginning of your ride, you shouldn’t run out of fuel.
Once you are in from your long ride, it is important that you replenish your stores but this doesn’t mean that you can eat the decorations off a Christmas tree. A meal that is high in carbohydrate with moderate amounts of protein should do the trick, e.g. baked bean toasted sammie + fruit. Don’t forget about your fluids, make sure these are topped up.
