Riders can burn 10,000 calories on hard mountain stages, about five times the amount an average person might consume in the course of a normal day, said Denise Demir, doctor for Landis’ Swiss team, Phonak.
Replacing those calories and the 20 pints of liquid they can also lose through sweat requires them to drink and eat in such large quantities that it frequently gives riders stomach aches and diarrhea, Demir added.
OK, so I don’t ride the equivalent of a tough Tour De France stage. But I find that even an hour or two of riding lays the groundwork for a pretty hearty meal.
This weekend I did a tougher ride in the mountains, then proceeded to a friend’s house for an overnighter. My friend subsequently wrote that I “ate up most of our food.” Ooops.
As far as eating while cycling goes, there’s a bit of a trick to that. Most of my rides are short enough that I don’t take food along. So I haven’t yet gotten a feel for how it’s best to eat on the long rides (organized centuries) were I have to do so.
That caught up to me on my last ride when I found myself battling not only a mountain and the heat, but also a bit of an upset stomach from bad timing with my eating/drinking. (Fortunately, however, no diarrhea.) I guess the best way of figuring out what works best is the process of trial and error.