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What to eat before/during an 8 hour bike ride?I'm doing an all night bike ride/scavenger hunt this coming Saturday (info here: http://gomeansgo.org/?page_id=10 if you're interested!) and while I'm good at feeding myself before/during/after shorter rides- this is going to full on kick my ass, and I know it. So I'll be fighting exhaustion against hunger against pure sleepiness, throwing in a sore butt for good measure. I'm not a fan of caffeine or loads of sugar. I usually eat whole/natural foods and cook most of what I eat myself. Suggestions? I've never done any strenuous physical activity continuously for more than 4 or so hours.
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There are foil packs of tuna that would hold up well in your bag - they don't have any water in them, so you can just tear it open and eat it with a fork.
I'm training for a half marathon and have used the GU packets. There are a couple flavors w/o caffeine and they taste alright. I also eat whole and natural foods and cook just about everything from scratch, but (at least for me) there comes a time when it makes more sense to just do what's easiest and convenient rather than trying to cook up my own home-made goo, you know?
If you want to try cooking something yourself, consider a breakfast cookie sort of thing. Include dried fruit, nuts, and a whole grain like oatmeal. I really like the Alton Brown lentil cookies - they sound weird, but are moist and delicious and actually have some protein. I put coconut, walnuts or pecans, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, and rolled oats in them.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lentil-cookies-recipe/index.html
Whole Foods also sells a more natural alternative to Gatorade or other "sports drinks" called Recharge. It's in bottles in the juice aisle and isn't bad. The tropical flavor tastes like fruit punch, but it's basically 50% juice and 50% water with some salt thrown in and no added sugar or HFCS. I've used it on my long training runs and it has been great - I haven't felt sick or had any gastrointestinal distress.
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staffBefore - Pasta is a solid choice. Load up on carbs the night before. Pasta sauce or pesto will treat you right. Also, don't forget to hydrate before you ever start to sweat. It's a good idea to drink plenty of water in the days leading up to the ride so that your muscles are already well-watered. Vitamin I (Ibuprophen) is good to have in your system before the exertion if you're grampsy at all. Get a good night's sleep.
During - Power bars and gatorade (or that whole foods electrolyte water) will treat you fine. You'll be able to feel yourself running out of fuel along the way so you'll know when to eat. It's pretty simple, keep eating and rehydrating. Baked potatoes, bananas, peanut butter -- all good. Keep the food mild while you're exerting so you don't upset your stomach. Also, I've heard said that pot is a great ally for both mental clarity and minimization of the aches and pains of sitting on the bike, as well as lessening the monotony of the songs that will get stuck in your head for miles and miles on end.
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baked potatoes are super-yummy, not too hard to digest, and will help fill you up.
gu and bars are good for getting the energy fast, but on a ride that's that long, you need something to make you feel full!
make yourself some potatoes, cut them up into cubes, and pack them in foil for your ride! a little bit of seasoning, and it will fell a lot less like you had to skip a meal.
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As far as the weird foods go, I'm a big fan of Lara bars. I use them for cycling and hiking and find they work great. You do need water to eat one though.
Getting into the more weird foods, some of the goo packs aren't bad, You have to be pretty hungry to eat them, but generally the chocolate, vanilla, plain, citrus and mango flavored ones are decent. The goo packs are best at or around body temperature so keep them in a pocket if that's possible. I've never had a berry flavored one that was anything other than horrible. Clif Shot Blocks I find to be phenomenal - the cola and margarita flavors are probably my favorite, but I haven't found a flavor yet that I didn't like.
Bananas and peanut butter sandwiches are great. Bagels with cream cheese are also up there. Tuna fish sandwiches also work well. Salami, cheese and bread is phenomenal as a power food, that's probably my favorite. Any sort of jerky mixed with dried fruit is also very good; my favorite is beef jerky and dried blueberries and you can throw in some nuts to get a better balance.
I've not tried them, but the powders for water are supposed to help greatly. A bottle of regular water and a bottle of some sort of athletic powder mix.
Mostly though, I'd say be sure to bring a few different things. Performance athletes like road racers or endurance runners spend years figuring out what they can eat and continue eating for 8 hours at a time and not throw up. Being able to "eat well" is a big part of being able to finish something like that. As you don't have years to figure this out, bring a few different high energy foods you already know you like.
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Peanut butter sandwiches and bananas. Easy to digest and full of energy. Gummy bears are good for snacking as well.
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