Food for 200 km and beyond

Food for 200 km and beyond

We know that nutrition is important for long bike rides. Beyond 2 hours of cycling, it's necessary to refuel with liquid and/or solid energy. But how should one nourish themselves? Are cereal bars enough, or is it better to stop for a proper meal at noon like on a regular day? What about on a 300 km, 400 km, or 600 km ride? Two situations must be taken into account: the cyclist is alone and eats as they please, or the cyclist is on a group ride with scheduled meal breaks (which is the usual case on a 200 km ride).

In the case of the 200 km ride

On a 200 km ride, which takes 8 to 9 hours of cycling, there is a scheduled meal break at the halfway point, thus dividing the ride into two 100 km segments. Depending on the organizer, there may be a meal tray with starches, bread, fruit, or dessert, depending on the budget. The cyclist just needs to take one or two cereal bars in the mid-morning, have the meal break, or eat a sandwich, and two other cereal bars in the mid-afternoon to complete their nutrition for the 200 km ride. Be sure to refill your water at the lunch break. This solution is correct, however, there is a catch. Even if the highest quality is used in the choice of food on the meal tray, one food item that doesn't agree with you, a sauce, or seasoning, can slow down digestion more than if you had eaten familiar foods. Moreover, usually, when we stop, it's to eat. Since we can't bring our meal tray with us, we try to finish it, and then we leave with a full stomach. The following two hours of cycling are then uncomfortable... and if there happens to be a hill to climb with a blazing sun like in a landscape of Provence, the cyclist will be in trouble. In this case, there is the option of self-sufficiency (which frees you from the meal tray).

The self-sufficient bike ride

This solution works from 200 km to 600 km, or even beyond. It consists of constantly fueling oneself throughout the ride. Since the energy stored in the liver will be depleted after two hours of cycling and a snack taken while cycling is digested more quickly than a 15-20 minute meal, it is better to eat regularly throughout the ride rather than every half or quarter day. This does not prevent the cyclist from eating pasta or rice, but if the portion is adequate, the stomach is not weighed down, and the cyclist can climb the hill, even under the sun. What happens if the cyclist stops eating? Like a steam locomotive that is no longer fueled with wood, performance drops, while a cereal bar allows, after a few minutes, to truly take off again (experienced during the last 200 km of Paris-Brest-Paris). Do you know how long it takes for a cereal bar to have an effect on an athlete?

Translation: Among the foods that can be carried along are:

• Cereal bars
• Dried fruits
• Honey cakes
• Gingerbread
• Bananas

In the bottle:

• Plain water
• Mineral water such as Vichy-Saint-Yorre
• Mixture of water and honey

In the bag:

• Sandwich to be eaten in several parts
• Rice cake
• Stock of cereal bars or honey cakes or cereal biscuits
• Liquid honey
• Wallet for shopping beyond 200 km

Finally, it should be noted that on a 200 km ride, one is engaged in a slow sugar diet.