Bonking on long rides
I did an 84 mile ride Saturday and completely hit the wall at about mile 70. I ate a gel at :30, :60, :90, then a stinger waffle at the 2 hour turnaround. Then repeated on my way back. By mile 70 I wanted nothing more than to be off my bike. My buddy says its cause I didn't eat enough and I'm hoping that's the case. I'm 6', 175. Is there a way to know how many calories you need per hour, vs just guessing at 200, 300, etc? Any ideas or comments on anything else?
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I assume the gels are about 80 cals so you were taking in about 160 cals per hour.
As a bigger guy, you proably need to have more. If I weighed 175, I would try about 80 gms of carbohydrate per hour and see how that works.
BTW, there are about 4 cals per gram of carbohydrate — so you might need as much as 320 cals per hour.
1) Stat with 60 grams of carbs and hour. See how your body and GI tract respond then move up/down from there.
2) Use 1 gram per kg body weight which would put you at 80 grams of carbs per hour.
Research is showing the upper end that most people can absorb is about 90 grams/hour. However, others are saying that you can go up to 1.5 g/kg as long as you are using a mix of carbohydrate sources (2:1 of glucose:fructose).
All you were taking in was about 50 grams per hour. Sounds like you definately need more.
Honetsly, I'm not a fan of gels. It seems like most people top out on them and their stomachs just can't deal with them after a while. If you are going to do gels, you need to be sure you take down enough water with them - at least 12 - 16 oz or more with each one.
Sports drink, honey stinger waffles, PBJs, beans, blocks, Infinit's NAPALM, etc. The key is to find something your stomach can process over the long term as well as you like the taste of.
You should be able to fit at least 4 bottles on your bike. I have bottle cages on the seat and down tubes. For training, I also put a behind-the-seat bottle launcher on the bike and a bottle between the aerobars for a total of 5 bottles. I always use 28 oz bottles, too. That gives me 140 oz to split between water and sports drink. I usually have 3 bottles (84 oz) of Perform and 56 oz of water. That will usually get me through a 4-5 hr ride no problem. If it's particularly hot, I'll stop to refill as needed (particularly the water). I carry gel in two gel flasks that can hold ~6 gel packs per bottle and I'll usually have at least 3-4 additional gel packs in my pocket. I always get hungry and need some solids, so I'll also take 2-3 Honey Stinger waffles and a pack or two of gel blocks.
Sounds like a lot, I know, and it is. But I'm a bigger guy, too (6'4, 175) and I have found I need more calories. I try to target ~300-350 calories/hr among the gels, Perform and solids. I seem to be always eating. But... after almost 10 years in the sport, I know what I need. I have also found that the hotter/more humid it is, the more I need to drink water with my calories.
Keep in mind that these are training rides. Use whatever you can t carry what you need. extra bottle cage carriers, multiple bento boxes, whatever. Speed and aerodynamics really don't matter, and who cares if your bike looks like a rolling buffet. You'll pare all that stuff down on race day because you have other options. My race day setup has 2 bottles on the bike and 2 gel flasks and some stinger waffles/gel blocks in my pocket, and that's it. Everything is replenished on the course.
If you can't take the gels, try mixing it up. More sports drink, sports beans, gel blocks, Clif bites, banana.. whatever. That's what training is for, to practice and find out what works and what doesn't.
For a 4+ hour ride I'd be gunning for about 500 calories for breakfast and then 300/cals/hour on the bike and I'm a 6' 160# dude. I do a super-concentrated single bottle of Infinit with all my calories for the 4 hours and then my 2nd bottle is for water only to chase down the Infinit and hydrate. I also would eat a Bonk Breaker (255 cals) after the hard Z4 intervals are done.
For my TT bike I use this http://www.invisciddesign.com/standard.htm which is 40 oz and I use a concentrated version of the 2:1 (as described on their website) and take a sip every 10 mins and wash it down with straight water (I pick up water on the course).