Coach’s Corner: How to Maintain Your Energy for Long Rides
Our Coach’s Corner series is your chance to have your biggest cycling questions answered — right from the expert, Coach Darryl MacKenzie. In these short Q&As, Coach Darryl speaks from his 35+ years of cycling and coaching experience to help you become a stronger, smarter cyclist.
Serious Cyclist:
Coach, on my long weekend ride, I drank lots of water but seemed to have much less energy for the last hour or more. Is that normal on bike rides, or is there something I can do to keep up my energy level better?
Coach Darryl:
It’s always good to stay hydrated, but longer rides require a different strategy than shorter rides for getting enough fluids and keeping your energy level up. I’ll give you an easy way to remember that strategy — Coach Darryl’s “Rule of 90 Minutes.”
Here’s how it works:
When you ride for less than 90 minutes, there’s no need to replenish any energy your body uses. Most cyclists have 90 minutes of energy stored in their muscles, so you can get by with water on these shorter rides. Any calories you consume while pedaling won’t get into your bloodstream in time to help power you until after the ride anyway.
But in general, your muscles are fueled by what you ate or drank within the last 90 minutes — and thus need more carbs for energy for workouts that last longer. So, on rides of 90 minutes or more, water isn’t sufficient. For these long rides, you should bring a sports drink instead of water.
Essentially, you should continually consume calories, starting early in the ride, to have energy approximately 90 minutes later. If you don’t keep those calories flowing into your bloodstream, your energy levels will start to drop after 90 minutes — and they can get dangerously low if you’re not careful.
In short: Drink water for rides under 90 minutes, and sports drink for rides over 90 minutes.
Click here to subscribe and get cycling tips like this delivered to you every week.
Do you have a suggested topic for our blog? Send us an email here.
