ReptilesBlade

https://wobblyride.com/2022/06/16/be...dummies-guide/

Just found this article and it looks pretty good. What do you think?

PeteHski

Sounds good to me, but nutrition is very personal. What works really well for one person could be a disaster for someone else. I only skimmed through it, but seems like some good tips in that link.

Iride01 

I'm trying to get past this statement in the Wobbly Ride blog or whatever it is...
But I don't do Touring rides with lots of gear at a slower pace conserving energy. So maybe it's different enough from the riding I do.

On my rides, I wouldn't go ten or fifteen minutes without taking a gulp or two on a bottle. And if I didn't put any carbohydrate in my bottles, then I'd be snacking on some carbs every fifteen minutes.

Carbonfiberboy 

One thing I learned is that Snickers bars are available almost everywhere, including foreign. Chocolate coated peanuts are wonderful. We did eat a lot less often when touring that we do when sport riding. The article is good info. We tended to ride in thoroughly civilized places with towns every so often. We'd buy the evening and next day's lunch and snacks at a store and carry it in a very light day pack to our camping site. We tried not to carry much food at all. We often ate in restaurants. A friend of ours toured on the altoplano:

canklecat

Every time I watch a Chris Froome video that includes anything about his diet, I wonder whether everything we think we know about cycling and nutrition is wrong. The guy seems to hardly eat anything. I think he's 6'2" or taller, weighs 72 kg in the off season, and tries to get to 68-70 kg for competition. A typical boxer (my former sport) his height would usually weigh 80 kg or so in peak condition, and might walk around at 90-100 kg between bouts, without even looking fat.

On a recent video, he bought his entire weekend worth of food before Yom Kippur began in Israel (he's on an Israeli team now), before the shops all closed. His meals for an entire weekend might be one day of food for me.

I mean, I don't each much. Usually one full meal a day, either lunch or dinner. Small breakfast -- oatmeal, maybe with an egg in it. I go through phases of eating too much junk carbs, then quit for awhile, so my weight fluctuates about 10 lbs. I'm 5'11" and 160 lbs now, about 10 lbs over my optimal weight. I *could* get back to 145 lbs if I wanted to -- did so in 2018, although not voluntarily. But after surgery and recovery I kept that weight for several months and did fine, including some of my fastest Strava segments. But I'm not competing so there's no motivation to nitpick my weight.

I'm also not riding 5,000-6,000 miles a year like I did until 2021. After neck pain problems worsened I switched to more jogging. For whatever reason, the same hours exercising and perceived effort running don't equal the same calorie/fat burning as cycling. Other than marathoners and elite level medium distance pro runners, it's less common to see runners as thin as pro cyclists.

Also, I don't eat legumes or even rice if I can avoid them. I can't digest them, even with enzymes, and it's just not worth the bloating and gas. I don't eat many leafy raw vegetables either. I enjoy them, but they don't help my digestion, and it's hard to trust the safety of some US market produce. I do fine eating mostly meat and white potatoes or sweet potatoes, onions, a few veggies for color and flavor in stews and soups, like a little carrot, celery, etc. My diet is far less diverse than it was years ago. I enjoy all kinds of food and kinda miss a varied diet. But I don't miss having constant digestive problems. I get along fine on a simpler, limited diet: some beef, chicken, pork, white and sweet potatoes, onions, bananas, eggs, oatmeal, coffee. I have a bunch more varied food at home, mostly canned, that I used to eat, but don't anymore. I can't even enjoy beer anymore. Makes me bloated and headachy.

I suspect the most successful global hopping cyclists are those who can get along with a varied, even unpredictable diet. That would be a big advantage over folks who have chronic digestive problems.

Iride01 

I thought I was the only one that did that. I've gotten quite good at swirling the water just right to get the perfect poached egg.

pdlamb

The only downside to Snickers is that they'll melt in the summer and make a gooey mess. Of course, if I stop at a convenience store every couple hours for more fluids, there are Snickers available there! And strangely enough, the peanut protein, sugary carbs, and the fat in the caramel seems to have about the same proportion of macro nutrients as "energy bars" that cost three times as much and taste a third as good as the Snickers.

pdlamb

Nobody (not even me) mentioned ice cream:

https://www.adventurecycling.org/res...und-the-globe/

zandoval 

Fruit Cake... Oh Yea...

Ha... Ha... Just remember that this is coming from a guy who does not qualify as a Touring Cyclist. But I do remember on several military long Walkabout's fruit cake was a welcome staple...

GiAllen

I like ice cream but I never thought it might have any benefits.

ZHVelo

I think that nutrition is far too personal and tailored to the riding one does.

RH Clark

The best food for touring would provide the most complete nutrition. In my opinion that would exclude candy bars, energy bars, and ice cream. Enjoy an occasional treat but give your body good nutrition to build and heal most meals.

wolfchild

I am a huge big fan of Milk2Go, chocolate is my favorite. There are two types. One is just regular and the other has extra protein. Will keep for a while without refrigeration. Candy bars are great too, but they can melt in the heat or freeze in the cold, so you need to store them properly. Junk food seems to be the best source of fuel when out on the ride. Healthy meals are eaten at home.

RH Clark

Why ruin the benefit of doing something healthy by eating junk food? You can carry a healthy snack just as easily as a candy bar.

bluemule

Opossum.

RH Clark

I once strapped a roadkill wild turkey to the back rack on my Miyata and brought it home. I had been through an hour before, so I knew it was just killed. I found some wire where some grave decorations had been thrown away and wired his legs to the rack. As soon as I got up to speed his wings came loose and he flapped all the way home. I bet it was quite the site for the couple cars I met.

wolfchild

Everything gets digested very quickly and converted to fuel, so you not really ruining anything healthy.