Dealing with nutrition pre and post ride when bikepacking?

[flanagaj]

I wanted to post to see how others deal with nutrition when on a bikepacking trip and the only options are the junk that is available at a fuel / gas station.  When I do long day road / mountain bikes I am very meticulous about ensuring I take in 90g of carbohydrate (gels / energy bars / energy drink) / hour and have a protein recovery drink when I finish riding.  I find without these things I either blow up on the ride or really struggle the next day as a result of running the glycogen stores down too much.

If you go on a 4 day bike trip and you are going to be cycling 8 hours / day, then that equates to 32 * 50g = 1.6kg of energy powder alone.  Given we try and keep weight down to a minimum having to pack and carry around 1.6kg of energy powder is not something I relish having to do.

Interested to understand how others ensure they are fuelling correctly whilst they ride.


Thanks

[THE LONG RANGER]

So,

This topic is full of opinions, and mine is just going to be one of many different ones.

But, the idea that you need to eat (and only eat) sugar/maltodextrin/carbs for 8 hours doesn't make sense to me. What does make sense is just to eat fairly regularly. People racing the Tour de France are eating Ham Sandwiches on the long stages, you know? So that's honestly my suggestion. If you do up anything, up fat. Luckily, peanut butter can be found in most gas stations. When I get fancy, I go with peanuts mixed with M&M's.

Someone asked me what I brought along on a 8 hour run. I told them "raisins and ginger snap cookies!". I'm not sure if they believed me

Do you have GI issues? If so, then it is time to experiment in what foods causes them. Unless I'm redlining it on a sprint, not much food gives me too much trouble cycling. Running can be a little bit of a different scenario. Strangely, gels aren't a magic bullet, but warming up, before eating does help quite a bit.

[flanagaj]

When riding, I never feel really hungry and tend to lose my appetite.  Gels, bars and energy drink are an easy way of being able to take in the carbs you need easily and without having to eat much.  Saying that, I am partial to fig roles!

Agree that the tour riders do eat sandwiches on the longer stages, but they will also be consuming bars / gels and energy drink as well.

Getting used to savoury foods when cycling is something that has never appealed.  I once tried eating peanuts whilst cycling and I literally had to force them down.  Peanuts with a cold beer, now that's a different story!

[adelorenzo]

My strategy is to eat junk food and crap in great quantities, year round. That way my body is optimized for it.

Also seriously sugars and protein powder aren't enough. You need fat for all day riding. Try some pocket bacon on your next ride.

[THE LONG RANGER]

I can totally relate with not finding too savory of foods super appealing. One trick is to add something sweet to the food - kind of like those M&M's with the peanuts. On the two Tour Divides I did, I didn't use one gel (except the one given to me at the Outdoorsman!), or energy bar - after a few days, they get prohibitively expensive to buy, for what they are - and a big reason to buy them is convenience.

Rather, it's just a challenge to find that doesn't come from a lab. Most gas stations around here have some sort of selection of nuts in different forms, fruit, yogurt - that sorta stuff. I've been trying to cut down on dairy, but string cheese is another thing that is usually available. I def. go on price too Sometimes a simple item like string cheese can be marked up by 300%. Same with energy bars. Jerky is a great one too, found at gas stations around here - not too much fat (unless you find BACON jerky!) but loads of protein - a little pricey, though but keeps well in weird situations (can't be smooshed). Only have had problems with fish jerky - that didn't sit right.

A lot of supermarkets here now have bulk food isles. A godsend.

[sashax]

I havent found a fat solution, but I tend to eat regular junk food when I'm on bikepacking trips/touring. Specifically: skittles and/or sour patch kids and chili cheese fritos. I've never done a trip longer than a week, so I assume this stuff'd get old after a while, but so far it's been my go to for 4-6 day trips. This stuff definitely needs to be supplemented with actual food, where available, but for on the bike food works for me.