Nutrition on Bike Spins

[Noel b]

Hey Folks,

Looking for some advice on what type of energy drinks and bars you would recommend on bike spins. I realise that product choice is probably down to personal preference. However it would be great if you could let me know what works for you, it would give me a starting point anyway?
There are so many products on the market, its hard to know what to go with.

Cheers

Noel

[Kevin L]

Noel,

It depends on what sort of distances/effort you are putting in.

If you are going long, bidons with electrolytes are a must particularly in the Summer when you will sweat more. Personally I like to use dioralyte but others use High5 mixes. Really that is down to personal preference.

Long also means making sure you are getting enough calories on-board. Cycling is a long slow burn not like what you might experience in running. Unless you are getting sustenance on board regularly you can empty out (bonk) without much warning. Anything that is easily digested that doesn’t take to much effort to get down the hatch is good. Again speaking personally I like to have a few Elevenses bars or Nature’s Way bars, a pocket full of mixed dried fruit and maybe a few jellies in the event of an emergency sugar requirement. Others use gels (something I am not a fan of) but you need to get used to using these before you try them in races. These can be quite severe on your stomach if you are not used to them and even different ones from the same brand can have a different reaction.

I am notoriously bad for not eating enough on the bike and some guys use alarm reminders to tell them when to eat. Often times it’s not what you eat on the day of a long cycle that matters but what you have eaten on the previous day that will set you up nicely.

It goes without saying that shorter cycles mean that you don’t need to worry so much about nutrition, however you do need to pay attention to hydration all the time.

Post cycle nutrition is equally important. Get something with protein into your system within 15 to 20 mins of completion.

I hope this helps

K

[alanduggan]

What sort of distances are you talking about Noel?

I think you can train yourself to manage on almost anything, its probably a good idea to experiment with different things.
I try and stick with everyday food, so bananas and a ham sandwich, especially for longer spins. Water with some mi-wadi through it. I find too much sugar a bit sickly.

As Kev says you can go from feeling great to bonking in minutes, having a granola bar or soemthing like that is a good idea

[AnthonyM]

Hi Noel,

As you said, it’s completely down to personal preference. For me, I’m training for National Series so on longer rides I try to stick to real food (bananas, dried fruit, naked bars, homemade flapjacks/rice cakes) with water as much as possible as I wouldn’t be racing over that duration or at that intensity so having more “easily digestible” products is not an issue. I also feel that real foods are more satisfying and help keep my spirits up when out for a long time on the bike.

For shorter sessions with high intensity I try to practice my race nutrition so I like to take High5 isogels with water (with electrolyte tab if it’s very hot). If I was training for longer distances I’d probably go more towards the gels/drinks/bars on longer rides as that would be what I’d be consuming on race day.

At the end of the day you’ll have to experiment to find out what’s right for you. The one thing I would say is to start eating/drinking early in the ride and make sure to always bring out more than you need. You might end up riding for longer than planned or doing a lot of climbing which will force you to burn more calories.

Hope the is of some help to you!

Anthony

[Noel b]

Thanks for the answers lads…..thats been really helpful. I was actually referring to both short and long distances and your answers covered both.
Really appreciated 🙂
Noel

[Author]

Posts