I find it’s better to gauge carbohydrate intake by a rider’s hourly kilojoule output. You only need to aim for the high end of the range – or train your gut to absorb up to 90 grams/hr – when your rides are long enough and/or strenuous enough to deplete carbohydrate stores. That doesn’t mean you always need to consume as much as you can possibly absorb. The standard sports nutrition recommendation of 30-60 grams of carbohydrate per hour of aerobic exercise is based on the fact most people can only absorb about 1 gram of carbohydrate per minute. Eat carbohydrate while cycling, just not too much Similarly, the interval workouts that build the fitness that makes those high-power efforts possible are fueled by carbohydrate.Ĭycling nutrition during rides is therefore affected by not only the length of the ride, but potentially by intensity demands as well. Cycling is an intermittent-intensity sport, meaning there are periods when of low- to-moderate intensity that are primarily fueled by fat, but there critical moments of group rides or competitions are higher intensity efforts that require carbohydrate. If you don’t have carbohydrate available, your power output, ability to repeat hard efforts, and likelihood of success all go down. However, when it’s time to go hard in interval workouts or competitions, those high-intensity efforts are fueled by carbohydrate. There is a time and place for training with low carbohydrate stores. Carbohydrate fuels high intensity cycling At first, the detriment is small, but it gets worse the more dehydrated you become. Dehydration slows gastric emptying and slows gut motility.

It doesn’t matter what you eat or how much if you are dehydrated that energy will either make it to working muscles more slowly or stay in your gut long enough to lead to nausea. Your nutrition strategy can only work if you are well hydrated. Cycling Nutrition Principles to Remember Hydration drives cycling nutrition strategy Once we discuss the principles, I’ll give you recommendations for short, medium, long, and ultra-long rides. However there are some key principles cyclists should use as starting points. Cycling nutrition and hydration are not one size fits all. Everyone fuels rides a little differently, which is perfectly normal. When you ask a group of cyclists what they eat and drink on rides, you’ll get almost as many answers as there are riders in the group.

Biking miles per hour calculator