Originally Posted by
UnCruel
An update: I went on said ride, and I only consumed four energy gels. Instead of timing my pre-ride meal correctly, I ate a somewhat smaller high-carb meal a little too early, and then more a little too late. I just felt like I'd be force-feeding myself for the first 90 minutes or so, and after that, I was eating without feeling any particular need for more energy. I'm buying into the "if you feel hungry, it's already too late" argument here. The hip belt pockets on my backpack (with the water reservoir) turned out to be very functional for energy gels, partly due to location, and partly due to the zipper pull being easy to grab with gloves. Jersey pockets were basically inaccessible due to the jacket and backpack.
[Edit to add:] Apart from the rough start, this seems to have been a nutritionally successful ride. I ran down toward the end, but I have the sense that it was for other reasons than lack of energy.
It ended up being 47.65 miles.
If I stop for long, it ends up being some degree of excruciating to get going again. Subsequent comments about "café legs" or "lunch legs" are what I'm talking about. I guess if it was a ride where I wasn't really pushing myself hard ...
I have, and it hasn't worked well for me. Because protein and fat slow down metabolic rate, I end up not being able to take advantage of the energy fast enough. Even oat/granola bars do this to me. Energy gels and stroopwaffles are the only things I've found so far that seem to hit my system right away.
Essentially flat, paved MUP, 47.65 miles, 686 feet of ascent. This basically represents a paced but otherwise high intensity for me, a recovering desk potato. No power meter, but Strava estimates 77w, 919 kJ for this ride. 77w is low for me, but most of my rides are in the 25-35 mile range.
It's not my intention to come off as a dick, but I probably will, anyway - if I felt that I *needed* a constant feed of sugars to get through these kinds of efforts, I'd take the slow, but steady steps to train myself out of that rather than feed in to it more.
When I started cycling as an adult, I usually did 3 rides per week, all at a moderately high effort level for my fitness at the time. One ride was usually in the 45+ mile range, the other two in the 25-30 mile range. It was a rinse-and-repeat thing that didn't really get me too far, in terms of fitness progress, for several years. My biggest gains came when I started adding fasted (empty stomach, first thing in the morning), one hour rides on my "off" days - these rides were (and still generally are) very easy... like, brisk-walking-pace easy.
First, I realized that there's a difference between feeling hungry and needing fuel. My "needs," on rides short of 60 miles, slowly diminished. Second, I started losing weight, more so than the annual 20lb yo-yo between on- and off-seasons. Third, the additional time in the saddle, even though at low effort, helped both my strength and endurance pretty significantly. New cyclists shouldn't underestimate the efficacy of easy rides.
Now, I need to couch this with "everybody is different," "your mileage may vary," "I am not a doctor," etc, etc. but do keep in mind that humans are the finest endurance athletes in the world.