Common-sense ride fuelling

A reminder of how to eat right on your rides…

SAVING YOURSELF FOR THE POST-RIDE FEAST

It’s common to head out for a ride with minimal food, salivating at the thought of getting home and hitting the fridge. The first issue with this is that you’re probably under-fuelling the session you just did, increasing your heart rate and reducing average power. The second problem is that the sheer number of calories you can eat in a short space of time from the fridge can easily take up most of your daily requirement. This happens more if you’re trying to drop some body fat, you tried to do a fasted ride or low-food ride and you come back and ‘once you pop, you can’t stop’.

FUEL FOR THE WORK REQUIRED

Let’s move on to fuelling for the work you’re doing. If you’re riding more than 90 minutes fuelling becomes integral. The amount you eat varies with duration and intensity – as either increase (particularly in combination) so should the amount you eat per hour. This ranges from 40-90g carbohydrate an hour. For shorter (two to three hours), lower-intensity sessions (~Z2) aim for 40-60g an hour and add more as necessary if you increase intensity.

HIGH-FAT FOOD ON THE BIKE

So what to eat on rides? Most of us look at the carbohydrate content, brand and flavour of products, but if you opt for a bar check the fat content as many contain a significant amount of fat, which will only slow down digestion and add unneeded calories. Some bars have 8-15g fat and while one might be okay, eating two or three can quickly make up most, if not all, of your day’s fat intake. Peanut butter sandwiches and dried fruit are good on-the-bike fuel.

“IT’ S COMMON TO HEAD FOR A RIDE WITH MINIMAL FOOD,

SALIVATING AT THE THOUGHT OF HITTING THE FRIDGE AT HOME”

Will Girling MSc sports and performance nutritionist; willgirling.com