To cycle 100 miles

[Labarum]

Has anyone cycled 100 miles on Atkins?

What was your nutritional intake at and around the time of the excercise?

(Info would help discussion on another forum.)

[2big4mysize]

I know 2 folk doing Atkins OWL who did just that in charity rides. they fueled with their Atkins and did just fine. One did a 2 day 100 miler for charitry too. One rode this ride http://www.actc.org/tbphoto_04/report_js.html

Are you doing it with a group as a race, or as a fundraiser? You will have enough fuel stored in your bodywith your normal Atkins eating to do an aerobic ride already. if you are going like the tour de France folk you will need to be refueling more often with OWL foods. Fluid hydration will be your biggest need.

Have a great ride. Where are you going?

[ttdriver]

Hope you got some of those cushioned butt shorts or a gel seat ... Holy smokes, I could never sit on a bike seat that far!! :yikes

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Betty

[Piasabird]

Re: To cycle 100 miles

Has anyone cycled 100 miles on Atkins?

What was your nutritional intake at and around the time of the excercise?

(Info would help discussion on another forum.)

Are you talking about 100 miles in one day?

Are you planning on doing this yourself or just using it as ammo on the other forum?

I'm not sure if we have any marathon bikers here. That would be around 7 or 8 hours on a bike. :yikes I did 30 miles on a mountain bike Tuesday after having worked all night. I felt like I could have done more. But I think I would need to work up to 100 miles.

[Labarum]

Some have read me wrong. I have no immediate plans to cycle 100 miles.

The orthodox nutitionists on a biking forum are quite adamant: you will bonk. (Their term for exhaustion due to glycogen depletion which in the worst case can lead to blackout)

2big and others are equallly firm - if your metabolism is well esablished in the low carb lifestyle you will not bonk - the reserves of energy will be there for endurance training.

Read the whole (long) thread here

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=82422&page=1&pp=30

And if you want to comment here or by signing up to the bike forums please do.

The matter might be resolved if someone could say - "I have cycled 100 miles one a diet of no more than (say) 100g carb per day."

I say might, because the response might easily be "I don't believe you."

[Labarum]

Here is a cycling low carber - 400Km in 25 hours

http://www.low-carbdiet.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31281

[2big4mysize]

see fat burners don't run out of fuel like carb burners do. Check your PMs

[cajunthunder]

Not sure if this helps, but here's an interesting article on Team Atkins.

http://atkins.com/advice/teamatkins.html

Monica

[Labarum]

Just PMed this to 2big, but it may be of more general interest and the thanks should be extended to all:

Cycling

I do about 15 miles a day - finding time for more is difficult. I have done 20 and guess I could do 50 without distress.

My average speed on the flat is up from 14mph to 16-17mph in a month on a slow mountain bike that has city tyres fitted.

I am ready to graduate to a fast touring bike - still surveying the market - probably

http://www.ridgebackbikes.co.uk/bikes/bike.asp?bikeID=133

I bought the mountain bike (Trek 800) 12 years ago when the kids were small so I could cycle with them, but when I was a teenager in York I had a cheap Falcon Racing bike and when everywhere on it.

Living on the borders of Berkshire and Hampshire the country lanes are very attractive. We have a small lake 2 miles down the road and it is possible to cycle round that. There are many tracks in the woods which I will still be able to access on the Trek, but the Touring Bike should put Windsor Great park in range.

I have lost 2 or 3 pounds in the last month but my trousers tell me there have been more significant changes - and I am eating very well. Must go easy on the high quality dark bitter chocolate (its only 30% carb!)

Anything sweeter I can't handle anymore - out for a meal yesterday I left the little tomatoes "on the vine" - far too sweet!

My original Officer's Mess Dress trousers are now 28 year old and fit me very well; my kharki service dress needs substantial retailoring, all my combat uniforms have been downsized; and last week I put on a formal dinner suit I had not worm for over 20 years!

And thank you for all your support.

[Piasabird]

Good for you on being able to fit into clothes from 28 years ago!

It's great that you've gone from 14 mph to 16-17. I average around 12 mph by the end of my rides. The most I've done is 30 miles so far but I'm ready to try for 50 soon. My problem is finding the time to just do it.

I registered at the biking site you posted and have already posted there a few times. I was afraid that it would be full of hard core cyclists but there seems to be people from all levels. Really I just consider myself a beginner.

I have a Fuji mountain bike that's probably 4 years old now. I would like to have a better bike in the future. I plan on visiting the biking site and learning all that I can before investing in a really good bike.

I read the whole thread that you were posting in and it's obvious that there is alot of ignorance about the Atkins WOL. And not just ignorance but prejudice. Some of them seem adamant that sometime after riding 50 miles a person doing a lowcarb plan will bonk, or as I use to hear it put, hit the wall.

This has my curiosity peaked and I'd like to put it to the test this summer. I'm wanting to extend my milage anyway and now I'll have something to look for. I also think I read in that thread that bonking is an experience that every cyclist should live through at least once. We'll see.

Thanks for providing the link, Labarum.

Have fun cycling!

[Labarum]

. . . I would like to have a better bike in the future. I plan on visiting the biking site and learning all that I can before investing in a really good bike.

I have PMed Piasabird with a much longer list, but hte most practical advice on cycling I have found here

http://www.battewell.freeserve.co.uk/bike.html

[jade]

Re: To cycle 100 miles

Hey "Labarum"

[quote]Has anyone cycled 100 miles on Atkins? What was your nutritional intake at and around the time of the excercise?[quote]

Yes, I have. I do a bike tour across our state each year. A few years back I did a century and was on BRAN. For that particular day and for most of the tour I ate eggs/bacon in the morning. I also packed beef jerky (my hubby makes the best!)some string cheese and nuts. I was on full program at that time so was able to eat an occasional apple. I drank tons of water. Dehydration was more of a concern than food. When we would stop at host cities for lunch I might have a hamburger steak with a salad and dressing. But on the road I stuck pretty much to the beef jerky, cheese, and nuts. Ocasionally, some yogurt and cottage cheese too. For supper I would look for a steak house and have a T-bone with a salad and a cooked vegetable. I might try to find a grocery store in town to see if they had any berries I could purchase for dessert.
I am getting ready to go on tour in three weeks. I plan on doing the above. Our third day (I think ...second or third) is a 109 mile day. So I will be packing alot of extras so as not to get hungry. I also made sure I took all of my supplements. That helped as well.

Be well-
jade :wave

[Labarum]

Thanks for your answer, Jade.

I have copied it here

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=1166450#post1166450

What is your consuption of calories and carbs on the 100 mile days?

Maybe you can contrast with a resting day and with a less demanding cycling day.

[jade]

Hey "Labarum"

"Thanks for your answer, Jade."

You're welcome. I was surprised that folks at a bike forum would say that bonking happens when you're carbs are too low. What a load of bull! You bonk because you are hungry, OR dehydrated OR very hot. As long as you have food in your stomach, are hydrated and cool your body can go forever.

"What is your consuption of calories and carbs on the 100 mile days?"

*You know, I've never really paid too much attention to that but I think the last time I did Atkins on a tour I was consuming like 60-90 carbs. I have a very low resistance level and I was riding anywhere from 40-100 miles a day. But I was fine.

"Maybe you can contrast with a resting day and with a less demanding cycling day."

*On a resting day or when I'm just riding around here at home I will eat less carbs not because I'm cycling less but because I tend to ride the trails which are flat vs tour which has lots of hills and demands more of my body. So I would probably eat only 40-60 carbs a day.

Nice talking cycling with you! What kind of bike do you ride? I ride a Cannondale road bike. How long have you been cycling?

Be well-
jade :wave

[jade]

Hey Labarum,
Could you please post this in response to the guy who responded to the post you put on that contained my post from here. He has made some critical errors in his ranting and he really needs to hear from the other side. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, then let me know and I'll delete this post.
This person is just basically uninformed.

Be well-
jade

I'm always amused when I read the 'naysayers' of a low carb food plan, be it Atkins or any other food plan.
What amuses me is that they have so much to say about something they have not experienced themselves.
I would suggest that they try low carbing the next time they go on a bike tour for example. Then at least they would have some credibility to their 'naysaying'

"And you can really hurt yourself if you're a novice cyclist and you go out on a longer than usual charity ride and bring the proverbial "beef jerky" low-carb snacks along with you. You will bonk, you may fall off the bike and get hurt, you will need sag transport, you then become something of a casualty to the ride organizers, and no one wants that."

I can't imagine a 'novice cyclist' doing the above. They would be told to do otherwise by the so called 'experts'
I know as a long time cyclist, I tried it the way this person maintains. I remember so well eating 4-5 pancakes drenched with syrup and butter because 'ya have to carbo-load' to get through the first set of miles. So I ate up. An hour and a half later I'm starving and so sleepy I'm about to fall off my bike. That didn't happen when I had eggs and bacon for breakfast.
And your 'snacks'? Again, I went with the PowerBar/Gatorade duet. Again, they simply drained me and I was hungry very soon after I ate them. That didn't happen when I had my beef jerky and nuts.
Supper? Oh yeah, PASTA!! with lots of bread and butter and a little salad. Carbo overload!!! What a nightmare that was! I felt hung over in the morning from all of that starch! No thanks! Now, I have a steak, salad and I'm content. I wake up with energy to spare.
So your diatribe doesn't flow with me. I know better. YOU WILL NOT BONK. You only bonk if you haven't eaten at all or have eaten very little OR you are dehydrated (which is more likely to happen than anything) OR it's blazing hot and you get over heated. So if anyone is a 'casualty' to a ride it's people who don't get all of the nutritional facts before they ride.
And the entire quote below. Sorry...people said the same thing when Atkins discoverd this way of eating back in the 70's and there are still some who are saying it now. But it's not panning out. Again, this person shows how uninformed he is about low carbing and Atkins in particular.
By the way, pal, exercise is mandatory on Atkins. So if you're doing Atkins and not exercising then you're not doing Atkins.
The quote below again gives credence to the fact that this person has obviously never read Dr. Atkins book because Dr. Atkins DOES talk about matching the food plan to the persons' activity level.

"What you seem to refuse to accept, is that Atkins would suggest that people match their diet to their activity level. Diabetes Interview magazine regularly reprints parts of his book as articles, and Atkins DOES NOT suggest not adjusting carb intake to match a persons activity."

Instead of wasting your time on magazines that 'quote parts' of Dr. Atkins book, do everyone a favor and read the book yourself. Then you would understand where we are coming from. What you seem to refuse to accept is that there are thousands of people who have adopted the low carb way of eating as a life style, not simply a diet to go on and off of. But then....if you read the book, you'll know about this. (Read the book

Be well-
jade :wave