Picture this: You’re three hours into your Saturday long ride and the biggest climb of the day is coming. You’re starting to feel a little tired, and you know you’re perilously close to bonking—running out of available fuel to make your muscles keep pushing on the pedals. But when you reach into your pocket and pull out your fifth gel for the day, your taste buds rebel. It’s not that you hate the gel.
You actually love the flavor, it’s your favorite. But right now, you’re just not interested in eating. You’ve got food fatigue on the bike, and that feeling can wreck a ride. If this sounds familiar, we’re here to help. Food/flavor fatigue can make fueling properly on the bike feel like a chore, but there are a few simple strategies you can adopt to ensure that you never bonk again.
Don’t Get Attached to One Flavor
Remember when you were a kid and you’d have food ‘phases’ (like the time you only ate peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches on white bread cut diagonally for a month straight)? Funny enough, athletes tend to get into their own fueling phases, and can burn themselves out of a flavor or type of ride food if they’re not careful.
Even if you deeply, deeply love Enervit’s tropical fruit gel, you should still be mixing up your fueling types and flavors a bit when you ride. Why does this matter? Because often, we have that one type of ride food, whether it’s a drink mix, gel, gummy or bar, that digests well and makes us feel great—and we want to keep that as our secret weapon, not get so sick of it that we hate the smell. Sometimes you just need a new flavor to kickstart your desire to eat. Bonus: this helps avoid burning out on one particular flavor after a few months, so that on race day, you can rely solely on that favorite gel.
Add Different Textures
If you’re always using gels, consider adding gummies and bars to the mix to change things up. We get tired of the same consistency, and especially if gels tend to be your go-to, your brain could use the stimulation of chewing a bar to feel more excited about eating.
Eat Some Real Food
While we love Enervit’s range of drink mix, gels, gummies and bars, we also love a good cafe stop with a quick espresso and a cookie or croissant for the road. A mix of real food—whether that’s a homemade rice bar you bring with you or a bakery stop mid-way during a long ride—can keep palette fatigue at bay.
And for longer rides, those bakery stops or homemade goods often can help you feel fuller for longer, since they tend to contain small amounts of fats and proteins. Fat and protein aren’t the ‘rocket fuel’ that your muscles need to pedal, but they do slow digestion and make you feel fuller for longer.
Add a Plain Water Bottle
Often, palette fatigue happens because we’re taking in a lot of sweet foods and beverages. Even your low- or no-calorie electrolyte mix in your water bottle has a hint of sweetness, and if you’ve been eating gels or bars all day and swigging an electrolyte or sports drink mix, you’re likely feeling a little tired of that sweet sensation.
If this sounds familiar, try to keep one water bottle reserved for just water in order to cut that sweet taste. (Did you know that carbohydrate-mineral drinks increase water absorption during exercise and help maintain endurance performance during prolonged exercise?)
Check Your Calorie Count
If you’re constantly feeling disinterested in fueling during your ride despite your best efforts, there is a chance you’re simply trying to eat too much. Many pros have started touting 120+ grams of carbohydrates per hour (600 calories) but for many riders, this is simply going to be too much for your body to process, especially if you haven’t worked your way up to it.
Aim for 90 grams of carbohydrates per hour (160-240 calories) if you haven’t been practicing your fueling for very long, and slowly start to work up from that if you find that you’re still hungry.
…And Check That You’re Drinking Enough
Finally, if you’re still feeling fuel fatigue, check that you’re drinking at least a bottle of water per hour, preferably a big bottle! If you’re not getting that 18 to 20 ounces of water per hour, your body won’t be as able to process the fuel that you’re giving it.
You need the water in order for the sugar from the carbohydrates to actually make its way to your muscles—otherwise, you’re more likely to end up with a grumpy gut and tired legs. Ultimately, your issue may not be that you’re tired of your fueling options, your body may just be struggling to process them!
Check out thefeed.com for an extensive selection of Enervit’s legendary performance products, including their groundbreaking new C2:1 Pro range.
