I’m contemplating a first Knighthood attempt in April. I’m starting to come up with a list of rides and an order (though I’m sure I’ll have some questions about that eventually), but I’d really like to get some info on nutrition during the attempt. I’m concerned about not managing food and water properly and running out of gas mid-way. I imagine it’s a little different for everyone, but any tips or guidance in terms of how much to eat before the ride (and when), how often to eat during the ride, etc., would be much appreciated
First, welcome to the forums and what an auspicious way to make your first post!
You’ll get loads of advice here, and if you search the forums and read through some of the quests/reports/suggestions you’ll find under nutrition you’re sure to get some great ideas.
If you’ve done loooooong rides before you’ll know it’s really not that complicated.
For me: 30-60 grams of carbs each hour. 1 bottle of water each hour, and keep an eye on your electorolytes. Some like to drink em, others like to eat em.
My food was a mix of salty and sweet, mostly gels as they were easily measured and I knew I’d tolerate them well on a long event. I had prepared WAAAAAAY more food than I’d ever need but I had a great mix of real and prepared stuff. M&M peanuts, sesame rice crackers, corned beef sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, rice krispie cakes, Clif Shot Bloks, mix of powerade/gatorade and water in pre-filled water bottles, a couple bananas.
The standard advice is to not try anything new on the day, drink before you’re thirsty and eat foods you like and know you can tolerate especially nearer the end when you might not feel too much like eating.
I ate on the bike mostly during the warmups and cool downs and hydrated regularly thoughout the event. I used the allotted breaks for nature breaks, kit changes and stretching. Also for me, having a history of cramping on long events, I made sure I was throroughly well hydrated in the days leading up to the event as well as took preventative HotShots at the start of each video throughout my quest.
Keep us posted as you create your menu d’suffering.
I’d recommend loading up the KoS Preparation plan in SYSTM. There’s one long day with five back to back workouts - that’s a great chance to test your nutrition plan, as well as testing what you’re going to do in the ten minutes available between each workout.
When I did it, I used a mix of gels, fig bars, and some PB&J sandwiches for fuel, some electrolyte tablets, and plain water in my bottles. Having a few different food items at hand and in reach from the bike is a good plan so you can eat while riding, and you can pick and choose what you feel like at the time.
Good luck with the preparation, and we look forward to seeing your planned route!
I’ll see your recommendation and raise you one recommendation against doing that
Of course there are lots of folks out there who have used the KoS prep plan with great success but my brain would not have me doing 5 videos back-to-back and not just hunker down to get it over with. Something similar happened with my first virtual Everesting
Back in my day, there were no KoS prep plans laid out like there is nowadays. I practiced my break timing by doing something like Open 15 or something back to back. And only needed to do 3 short vids to see how much o could get done. End the ride, start an 8 minute timer, saving the vid, snapping a pic, loading up the next vid, making sure everything was connected, taking a nature break, changing kit, stretching and getting back on before the timer went off.
Fair enough! I personally liked the five long workouts back-to-back in preparation. I can totally see the temptation just to keep rolling with it though - you’re almost half way after five. And I agree that you can practice the ten minute changeover using much shorter workouts.
@Justin_Litun , there’s lots of commentary about number seven (out of ten) being half way during the KoS attempt. And to put your favorite workout at number seven.
Thanks for the warm welcome and for the advice! Definitely a big help, and as you suggested, I’ll do some more reading through the forums for some additional suggestions. I’ll keep you posted as I get closer to the day.
Yeah, @Glen.Coutts and I discussed on my ride too. I also used the prep plan and thought it really helped me, but yeah - like he said - that one loooong, five hour prep ride was mentally tough in that I’d just have soon as kept on and finished it all. But I had a plan (@Justin_Litun, I documented my prep and ride here, if it helps you at all)…
Personally, I found eating more works better. Between 60-90g of carbs per hour. Always keep extra bottles of water handy. And I like a mix of solid and liquid nutrition. Bottles of Maurten help give you fuel, electrolytes, and water, and then add a mix of sweet and salty snacks to go with it like gels, m&m’s, fruit snacks, crackers, pb&j, and extra LMNT or Gatorade if you need more salt or electrolytes. But it’s a personal preference, and you want to practice what you plan to use to make sure it works for your body.
And you don’t have to only practice by doing the KOS Prep Plan 5 ride. Whenever your plan calls for a long ride of 2+ hours long you can do 2 or 3 videos instead. And any ride of 90 minutes or more is a great time to practice your nutrition plan. My first prep was a metric century ride. My second was a full century. Both indoors.
I only have one tip on nutrition…set it all up next to you on an ironing board and eat while you ride. The 10min between videos goes really fast and is more vuable saved for toilet breaks, changing bibs/socks and lying on the floor, contemplating what a stupid decision this was. Its all worth it at the end tho…vid 10 feels like a victory lap.
And vid7 is the one that breaks most. Get thru it and youre home and dry.
