How I fuel a long ride to avoid bonking

Bonking out on the bike feels like someone has quietly pulled the plug. One minute you are turning the pedals at a steady rhythm, the next your legs are full of sand and your mood has dropped somewhere near your shoes. I have spent enough summers in Brisbane and winters in Melbourne to know what my stomach will and will not accept across a long day in the saddle.

The trick is to start the day already topped up rather than trying to catch up after you have emptied the tank. A long ride means anything over three hours for me, often an out-and-back along the Yarra or a loop out through the Hills. Treat the kitchen like a co-rider: prep before you head out, and the body will look after itself once you are rolling.

What follows is what currently works for me. Take it as a starting point, not gospel, because everyone digests things a little differently.

The night before

A solid ride day begins at dinner, not breakfast. The night before a long ride I lean heavily into familiar carbs: a big bowl of pasta, or rice with whatever curry is in the fridge. Nothing too adventurous or fibrous, because that tends to backfire around kilometre 80. A glass of water with an electrolyte tablet in it sits on the bedside table so I wake up already a little ahead.

If I am up early for a winter start, say a 6am roll out from South Bank, I usually keep the dinner modest and add a small snack an hour before bed. A banana with peanut butter, or a slice of toast with honey. The point is glycogen, not indulgence.

A slow start to ride day

About 90 minutes before I clip in, I eat a bowl of oats cooked with milk and a sliced banana, plus a long black made on the stovetop, never the pod machine. Coffee too close to the start and I am visiting every toilet between home and the first hill. The oats give a slow release of energy and sit light enough that I can still drink a full bottle on the way to the ride meeting point.

If the ride starts later in the morning, I shift the meal closer to an hour before and keep it slightly smaller. The exact timing matters less than the habit of always eating something. Skipping breakfast because you feel nervous is the fastest way to bonk before the coffee stop.

What goes in the jersey pockets

For a four-hour ride I aim for roughly 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour, split between food and drink. That usually looks like two gels in the back pocket, a small bottle of concentrate mix in the cage, and a couple of rice cakes wrapped in baking paper. On hotter rides in Sydney or the Gold Coast hinterland I swap one gel for extra electrolyte mix to cover the sweat.

The pockets also hold a banana, because bananas are the one snack that never goes wrong. No chew that tastes like lawn clippings, no tube of paste that bursts. Just a fruit that every Australian service station stocks year round.

Mixing real food with race fuel

Pure gels work, but my gut prefers a mix. Half the calories come from processed fuel because it is easy to eat on the bike, and the other half comes from things I could almost serve at home. Date and almond balls rolled in cocoa, jam wraps on supermarket white bread, even a small container of mash left over from dinner the night before. It saves money, and it usually tastes better around the third hour.

The line I try not to cross is anything high in fat or fibre mid-ride. Avocado and bean salads taste great at home, terrible at 35 kilometres an hour.

Handling a hot Australian summer

Long rides in December and January mean energy has to compete with heat. I drop a water bottle into the freezer the night before, and I keep two bidons on the bike: one plain, one with electrolytes. Salt is the bit most riders underestimate, especially on a coastal loop around Byron where the humidity sneaks up on you.

Heat also changes what you feel like eating. In summer I find gels harder to stomach, so I lean on soft real food and watery fruit, watermelon pieces in a freezer bag. In winter, something warmer like a filled scroll from a bakery stop becomes the reward that keeps the engine turning.

When the legs finally stop

The window after a long ride is short, roughly 30 minutes before the body stops absorbing nutrients efficiently, so I try not to faff about. A big glass of plain milk, a piece of fruit, and a proper meal within the hour. Usually that is eggs on toast, or leftovers if the fridge is generous, plus another litre of water than I think I actually need.

Recovery food gets talked up, but for everyday riding it does not need to be elaborate. The job is to replace what was spent, not to win a chemistry prize. The nflsociallab.com note on habits like this is worth a read if you want a simple framework rather than a strict protocol.

Steady habits that keep me out of the bonk zone

• Eat a carb-led dinner the night before any ride over two hours.
• Always have something in your stomach before you leave the house.
• Aim for around 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour on the bike itself.
• Carry both processed fuel and at least one piece of real food.
• Match your salt and fluid intake to the day, not the calendar.

Riding long is mostly a matter of tiny boring choices repeated often. Show up fuelled, eat on time, drink on time, and the day opens up in a way no kit upgrade can match. The next time you stand at the front door wondering whether to bother with breakfast, bother with breakfast.