Fuel for the #10in10

Stopping for a beer on an easier day

 First of all I would like to apologise for the delay in getting this post up on the blog.... Since we got back from the 10in10 ride life has been a bit hectic and there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done....unfortunately the blog has suffered because of it... 

Anyway I promised to tell you a bit about how I tackled the fuel for the ride.......

As I have already mentioned in a previous post, we were really lucky having Lorenzo with us....as a professional Chef he was able to prepare for us some fantastic meals. They didn't just taste good and have all the right nutrition for us...there was lots and lots of it as well.....
I took full advantage of this and made certain that I took on board lots of this superb food...pasta...rice..etc...
It really is important on a multi day challenge ride that you eat properly...ensuring that you eat the right kind of foods and have plenty of it...Thanks Lorenzo..!!

Before we set off I had told everyone that I intended to keep my alcohol intake pretty low...in fact it became a bit of a joke with the other guy's.....
I rarely drink a lot of alcohol when I'm at home because Anne doesn't drink any alcohol at all. Living with someone who doesn't drink any alcohol makes it pretty easy to steer away from it ....however it becomes more difficult when away on a trip like this because there tends to be more drink around.

I personally find that alcohol has an adverse effect on my cycling abilities so there is good reason for me to keep it to a minimum if I can.... 
My original plan was not to drink anything other than soft drinks until we had completed the ride and then during the final five days of the trip I would be free to drink whatever I wanted..... However I modified that plan....the plan I set off with was to have the odd glass of light beer on the easier days when we took a break....also I would allow myself to have just one or two glasses of red wine with my meal in the evening. 

In the main I did manage to stick to that. 
However, there was one occasion when the one or two glasses ended up as a fair bit more and I paid the price the following day......
I found that I didn't have my normal cycling legs and for about 2-3 hours I suffered....I just wasn't feeling comfortable with my riding and regretted those extra glasses of wine. 

I never made that mistake again and was annoyed with myself that I had made such a stupid error.

Sometime Lorenzo had a night off from cooking and we went out to eat...

 During the ride I was using ZipVit ZV1 Energy Drink - Fruit Punch Flavour. 
I find that this drink works well for me and also doesn't have any adverse effect on my stomach... When it was really hot I was taking a sip every 10mins and was getting through approx 900ml an hour.

I was also using ZipVit products for my solid fuel on the bike each day.....Over the years I have tried lots of various types and makes of energy bars, but again I have found that not only do I like the taste of the ZipVit bars but they are kind to my stomach as is the drink....

I was using a mixture of flavours so that I didn't get bored eating the same flavour all the time....In fact I have to say that there isn't any flavour of ZipVit bar that I don't like..... I got through on average five bars a day.......

I don't normally use gels because apart from being sticky and messy I find that my stomach doesn't react too well to them.. Mind you there was one time on the trip that for some reason....oh yes...it was following the too many glasses of wine episode....that I felt I really needed some. 

We were cycling up a hill in the Black Forest...as I came round one of the switchbacks I shouted out to JD who was with Dave in the vehicle at this point that I needed some gels.... they then drove past me and at the next switchback JD stuffed three gels into my hand.. As I said that was the only time I felt bad on the bike and the gels did seem to help.

One last thing regarding my daily fuel plan......each morning I started the day with a double helping of porridge....that's twice the amount that I would normally have at home....and usually I added a banana to it it as well. On top of that I would eat a couple of the ZipVit energy bars and to complete my breakfast I had a couple of cups of coffee to make sure that I was wide awake...mornings are not my best time.

At the end of each days ride I would also have a 'For Goodness Shakes' recovery drink within 20 mins of finishing the ride. If it had been a really hard day on the bike I had another of these recovery drinks about two hours later as well.... 
I really love the taste of these recovery drinks...they are the only ones that I have found that I really enjoy...they seem to work pretty well too..!

Not all of us were staying off the alcohol...!!

Looking back over the ride my fuel for the ride seemed about right....There is nothing that I would do differently on a future ride other than be stricter on my self imposed alcohol ban... 

I think that it's important to make sure that everything you use on a big ride is something that you have tested and have been happy with during your training rides. 
It's no good trying something that you have never used before because if you do have an adverse reaction to it you don't want to find that out on the BIG ride.......