- Most of us are aware of the need to eat
when we're doing longer bike rides.
Try surviving on water alone,
and even a seasoned pro is likely to come unstuck.
(mumbled talking with mouth full of food)
But when exactly is the best time to eat?
(more mumbling)
(upbeat music)
- You can break this down into two parts,
terrain and timing.
So let's start with the latter.
- Yeah, for any rides at 60 minutes or less,
you're probably not going to need to eat anything.
Anything longer than that though,
and you probably will do.
So a good place to start is about 30 minutes
into your ride because just like hydration
and drinking before you feel thirsty,
it's a good idea to start eating before you feel hungry.
- [Narrator] From there it's a matter of keeping up
with regularity, depending on how much
you can stomach at any one time.
You may want to opt for something small every 20 minutes.
For something more substantial, every hour or so.
This is where practise and experience will come into play.
Finding out what works best for you.
The recommendation is to consume between half
and whole gramme of carbohydrates per kilogramme
of body weight per hour of riding.
So you'll have to do a bit
of number crunching before your ride.
- Once you've decided on your strategy,
it's a good idea to set yourself some kind of trigger,
which is going to remind you to eat
while you're out on your bike.
That could be something as simple as the duration
you've been riding, trying to eat at regular intervals.
Or after an alarm that goes off on your phone
at regular intervals.
Or maybe something you're going to see on the side
of the road very regularly that you associate with eating,
like a town sign.
Having this trigger in place should mean that you don't
forget to dip into your pocket while you're out.
- Yeah, it's really important that you maintain
that pattern throughout your ride, often when you
sense that the end is near, it's very very easy
to forget, but the last thing that you want to do
is end up crawling to the finish line
or to the end of your ride.
(upbeat music)
- The second consideration is terrain,
because eating while cycling isn't without its hazards.
Because if you want to eat while you're riding
you're going to have to take one hand off the handlebars.
Unless of course you want to stop.
- [Narrator] So it's important to think carefully
about where you're going to eat.
And there are a few obvious places to avoid.
First the technical descent because going at high speed
with one hand on the bar is definitely not easy.
Even on straight descents, you should use extreme
caution simply because of the high speed.
Climbs too can make things difficult
since you're going to be going hard enough
that you'll struggle to breath and eat at the same time.
Another place to be cautious is when you're
behind another rider or riders.
Unless you know them well, and you're confident
they won't randomly break or swerve without warning.
So if you're at a big sporting or gran fondo or group ride,
try to get some clear space between yourself
and the strangers around you before you
start reaching into your pockets.
- Crosswinds could also pose a problem
in terms of handling your bike,
especially if you're riding deep section rims
like we are today.
So it's another thing that you need to seriously
consider before you take your hands from the handlebars.
- So the best place to eat, and you've already
guessed this by now, when you're on a bike ride
is on a nice straight descent road that either flat
or every so slightly uphill.
So whenever you get to a road that matches
this description, give yourself a mental reminder
that now is a great time to fuel.
- Before we finish with this video,
we should also say that if you are new to the sport
and you're just currently building up your
bike handling confidence, there really is no hard
in occasionally stopping your ride
at the side of the road in a safe place
to do your eating before you carry on.
I'll just finish this video on my own.
(mumbling)
Right, if you have yet to subscribe to the
Global Cycling Network, please do so
by clicking on the globe.
We've got two more videos right now
which might also help you.
First of all, in the bottom corner down that way
is how to drink on the bike.
And in the bottom corner in the other direction
is how to improve your recovery.
- Want a bit?
- I thought you weren't going to offer.