For what it’s worth, I did my KoS attempt today.
Had pasta the night before, and porridge for breakfast.
Over the course of the session I had:
My minion made lunch between session 4 and 5: Ikea meatballs with macaroni and a bit of ketchup
She also made me a cup of coffee for each of the last three rides.
I made my own sports drink with fresh pressed oranges, sugar and salt. Had about 4 litres of that. Plus another 4 litres of water.
Congrats!
Well done!
Well done! sometimes out of the bag isn’t good enough!
I had a recovery shake (mixture of protein/carbohydrate) after each workout. Got them prepared before starting the knighthood. Then during the episode had drinks containing electrolyte. Seemed to work okay. Key was to get it ready before hand; between the later sessions all I wanted to do is lie down by my bike. Put a camping mat down if it isn’t soft.
Stick to what you know works for you. Have a variety of tastes - savoury/sweet. Make sure all is easily to hand and have more than you think you’ll want… especially drinks. Good luck
I haven’t done a KoS attempt (yet!) but have done quite a few century rides (miles here in the US) and a few 70.3 Tris. The advice that has been given here is spot on. Having seen many people fail in the two endeavors I referenced, there is some commonality in why. So while this may be repetitive to what others have said, let me emphasis them again.
Like I said, lots of great advice from all the contributors here but if you forget everything else, remember my first point. An attempt like this is not the time to experiment.
Good Luck!!
Vinegar with some sort of spice. Mustard, Ketchup, and something called HotShots (supposed to be ground Habeneros). One thing is to test your body’s ability to tolerate before the quest. You don’t want to be practicing the 50 meter hurl in your Pain Cave while riding Thin Air.
I’m curious about eating on the bike. I’m riding rollers and I can’t even drink on the bike without grabbing the wall or post or whatever. Eating would result in a crash for sure!
With a lot of practice, I’m sure you can do it. There’s some good YouTube instructions videos around.
It took me ages though to be able to ride with both hands off the bars. (10-20 seconds is pretty much the max I can do… ) And then I got a smart trainer…
For a knighthood attempt, the rollers seem an extra challenge though. It’s so much harder to sit up or to stand up - there’s very little respite in the whole thing.
A good friend and local Knight did her quest on rollers, I will ask her if she has any suggestions for you. There are a couple others who have quested on rollers as well.
When I was young, I could ride without hands for as long as I liked. Unfortunately, that skill disappeared with age and some periods of years off the bike. While I’m sure I could retrain the skill with sufficient commitment, I have concluded that the lower risk alternative works fine for me: stop, do whatever I need two hands for, go.
Hey @jkorngold my Knight friend tells me the following:
My leading recommendation is that he EITHER get the no-handed riding skill OR set up supports on both sides of his rollers so that he has something to hold onto with one hand while he eats and drinks with the other.
Also have all foods pre cut into little bite-sized pieces so he can just pop bites into his mouth every few minutes and then get both hands back on bars.
We’d both say that a Knighthood quest is no joke.
Most people have done it on a trainer and it is hard AF and some have not succeeded for a range of reasons. Choosing to do it on rollers is another level of difficulty for many reasons (core engagement, focus, lack of respite, challenges with eating and drinking, sitting up to “relax”, getting out of the saddle for pressure relief, keeping the holy water out of your eyes etc). To test your readiness, try doing a few reduced intensity eligible vids back-to-back with an 8 minute timer (see how fast that flies by and what can get done in that time frame). Also, see rule #1 of the
Rules that must be obeyed
Thanks for all the positive feedback and encouragement Sir Glen!
Always happy to help others in their suffering 
Another rule: You must SUFFER.
My interpretation: When finished you must feel like you will NEVER ride again, although you will. If your house is equipped with stairs/steps you must look at them with dread.
Haha Sir James, ANYONE who spends 10ish+ hours on rollers is gonna SUFFER SUFFER SUFFER. All for the glory of our nation (and our enterpainment )
Sir Glen: Anyone who spends 10+ hours on rollers should follow rule #1 for Knighthood. Everyone else has to definitely SUFFER. I think Dame Karen Noel did her DO on rollers and she said never again.
It was too expensive cause she had to replace all her furniture!
Ok I loooove my rollers, but anyone who would go 9-10 hours for a KoM on rollers is certifiable (in the best possible way, of course).