This year for stravas festive 500 there are a few of us attempting to finish it in one ride. The main issue I can see (apart from riding 300 miles) is being able to eat enough to keep going for that time. The longest I have done is 230 miles and the last 50 of that was purely haribos so don’t think it would be sustainable for an extra 70. Anyone done that sort or distance in one? And does it just come down to drinking litres of double cream
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I’ve done 285 miles in 24 hours and a bunch of other 400k or thereabouts rides. The key for me is to keep nibbling cereal bars or similar, at least one an hour, chocolate milk or similar whan I can get it and proper food (at least a sandwich/crisps/banana) every 3 hours or so. Around 3 hours is a good time for me to have a short break, but not a full sit-down, if you do those you never want to get moving again! Good luck with the 500!
My long range fuel is Hammer Perpeteum. 270 calories per bottle/hour is my sweet spot. Never gone 300 in one ride, but I don’t doubt that it would be enough.
big fan of Science in Sport beta fuel since one bottle has almost enough carbs to fuel an entire hour of cycling.
coke and snickers bars are a favorite as well.
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The times I’ve enjoyed long ride the most are the times I’ve stopped for half an hour to eat at meal times and let my guts catch up properly. I’d try and eat very carb-heavy normal-ish meals, plus regular topping up with sugary snacks.
The times I’ve not enjoyed are the times I’ve tried new things. Like the 12hr TT I did where I made bacon and egg rice cakes for the first time the day before. They were very tasty, but HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO that was bad for the guts.
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I’d suggest a nice break for a meal would help a ton with the calories. Since you’re riding your own pace and for your own reasons (not tied to an event) find a 24/7 place and stop in during the darkest hours of the ride (mentally or environmentally, whichever) and grab something substantial.
Intensity will be low given the duration of the effort so you should be able to do something like this without a huge impact
Tailwind supplemented with a third of an energy bar (one bite) every 20 minutes (one bar per hour).
Can you take in that many calories an hour?
Yes, sometimes a little more. For me Perpeteum seems to deliver the energy without spikes or crashes. Ratio of macros is ~.5-9-1 (fat-carbs-protein), so it works out to around 60g carbs per hour. I may eat a half of a stroopwafel per hour and dial back drinking Perpeteum to stay at about 250 cal/hr after hour 5. I have also been known to eat pretzels to change up and add a little salt.
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[Me] Resist… resist… resist…
[Inner Chimp] Is that UCI legal?
You’ll want to mix up your food. On real long rides I’ve usually preferred to start out with gels for the first 150 miles or so, then I seem to tolerate real food better after than. This is highly antecdotal so your results my vary. I also like SIS Beta Fuel and Maurten quite a lot. You’ll never be able to keep up with the calories, but if you’re riding 55% of FTP or so, regular hourly snacks and drinks should be okay. Make sure to eat whether you feel like it or not.
Longest for me was a 200 mile double century, it was well supported with water/food stops every 20-30 miles. Packed some Perpeteum, but stomach will start rumbling around mile 70-80 if I make a steady diet of it. Have since switched to Gu Roctane, much easier on digestive track.
For 300 miles I’d definitely factor in three longer stops for real food, roughly every 80 miles.
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The perpeteum/SiS powders sound good, I hadn’t seen anything with that amount of calories in. It’s been decided we are doing laps of a lake, at 11 miles a lap it’s going to be alot easier to have food at correct times, as it can all be stored in the cars along with every item of cycling clothing we own. It also means it’s going to be mind numbingly boring