Nutrition on the road - What, How and Why?

Yeah. I like jam and butter pitta breads. But I've eaten far worse!

I like beer, kebabs, pizza and apple pie so I'll stick with bars and gels when I can control input.

PB, jam / honey / marmalade, mashed banana sarnies for the ultimate win.

PB on anything but don't be mixing it up with that other shit (okay with honey is nice).

PB and Marmite.

Just try it.

Hopefully there is anything but McD on the route.

I have.

Well, PB and Vegemite.

It's bad.

we've had this discussion before, I think we concluded PB with banana and honey was the best combination. I'm hungry already.

Done it for years. So good. Love the horror reaction it engenders in others too

Can anyone recommend some hydration drinks (tablets/powder) that are suitable for a sensitive stomach!? Currently using High5 tablets which are nice but I'm sure they're giving me a dodgy belly out on rides. Try to avoid using energy gels and stick to bars for the same reason (but feel more 'energy boost' from the gels) so any good gel suggestions would be good too.

You could try going completely natural. Add a pinch of salt and a dash of lemon juice to your water bottles.

I've replaced gels with maple syrup.

This stuff

https://eletewater.co.uk/

Stealth and OTE big up their natural and well balanced ingredients etc. Worth trying?

I was out doing some long rides in mallorca last week (along with every MAMIL in the world by the looks of it) and started just saying cheese and chorizo sarnies for stodge and then gels and energy drink for quick snap energy. Worked well.

Admittedly i wasn't in a super high intensity environment, b ut training pretty hard. So, sandwich at the top of a col, descend, sugary shite on the way up / between. Really helps on rides over about 5 hours. I find bars / bananas etc etc just don't put enough of a brick in my gut for long efforts.

Torq for gels and bars.

I don't really use hydro tabs. It's England, it's not hot enough to need electrolyte replacement.

Is there any value to be had in taking vitamin supplements during ultra events? Lets assume I'm eating shit convenience food for 2 weeks. Could a multi-vit pill a day make up for the deficiency in the food I'm eating?

Based on a large meta-analysis someone did I think you're more likely to die sooner if you're taking multivitamins, but for a one-off thing like an ultra race rather than prolonged use, I'm not sure there's been studies that show benefit or harm.

Yeah, I can't imagine there's been a mass study of vitamin use on ultras - but from a purely nutritional standpoint, if I'm eating shit designed for maximum calorie intake (mcDonald's, pizza) rather than proper nutrition, are there certain vitamins I should be looking to 'take up the slack'?

I don't really use hydro tabs. It's England, it's not hot enough to need electrolyte replacement.

Depends how sweaty you are. I used them otherwise I end up needing a piss stop every 30 minutes. With the hydro tabs I can go for hours without needing one.

I can't really answer that. Have a look for studies that show what nutrients are lost during such events? Bare in mind the human body is pretty good at homeostasis - if you're lacking something you will likely crave something that will help fix it.
I didn't take any vitamins with me on TCR.
Bare in mind your "mcDonald's, pizza" diet is used by many people who aren't racing across Europe and they all live until they're at least 50... or can't get off the sofa to feed...

I presume you're inferring the salt content is allowing you to retain more fluid?
If you're drinking water and pissing too much, you're probably drinking too much.
You can get salt from sources other than hydro tabs - cheaper and/or tastier.

I bonked big time today, despite eating a lot. However, some of the stuff i had was a few months out of date (I'm not precious...)

Does out of date stuff lose potency? Does maltodextrin etc 'denature' or anything? It was a gel and some drink powder.

P.S. I've not shit myself as a result. So far. Will report back if so. :-)

anyone else make their own maltodextrin/sugar drink? looking at recipe #2 here - https://cyclingtips.com/2013/05/diy-sports-nutrition/

Are you still making kefir? Have just ordered some grains and will be using goats milk.