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With only a few weeks left until Raiders Gravel, the anticipation is probably building; along with a healthy dose of nerves! When it comes to nutrition, the thought of planning and packing can quickly become overwhelming, especially with considerations ranging from travel food to on-the-bike fuel and everything in-between.
This guide offers a number of practical tips, based on the latest research, to help you prepare your nutrition from “travel to finish line”. Whether you’re in the “Race Wave” aiming for a podium spot, or the “Ride Wave” looking to complete the adventure, these tips will set you up for success; and enjoyment!
Travel Tips
Stay Hydrated
Most of you will be traveling a day or two before the event, and long car journeys can often lead to dehydration. Turning up to an event dehydrated is definitely not ideal, as it can take quite a concerted effort to re-hydrate; and worse still, if you don’t manage to do so, racing dehydrated can significantly impair performance. Bearing that in mind, make sure you pack plenty of water for the journey and sip on it continually throughout the trip. If the weather is hot, consider adding some electrolytes to maintain balance.
Plan Your Meals
As temping as it is to snack on chocolate and crisps during the journey, it’s important to think about what you’ll be putting your body through over the next few days. Instead think about trying to consume carbohydrates which will positively influence muscle glycogen. It’s this muscle glycogen which will give you the energy to go with the winning move, or make it up the final climb!
Unfortunately motorway services have limited food choices, and usually offer options high in fat. Instead of leaving it to chance, why not pre-make a simple pasta or rice meal and store it in a Tupperware for easy access on the journey. This doesn’t need to be anything fancy, some pasta in a tomato sauce would be perfect, or some leftovers from dinner the night before. Either way, carbohydrates are king in this instance!
Planning On-the-Bike Fuel
Test Your Nutrition
By this stage, it’s likely you’ll have a preferred range of products to use, and possibly even chosen your favourite flavours. However, it’s crucial to test everything thoroughly in training to ensure your body can absorb and digest the quantities you need it to on race day. Just as you would test a new saddle or tyres before an important event, trying out your nutrition in multiple scenarios is just as important.
To really put gels and drink mix to the test it’s suggested that you should try them out in varying intensities and durations. For example, you want to know that you won’t suffer any GI distress whether doing a VO2 max session or a Z2 endurance ride. Come race day you’ll then have piece of mind that you won’t suffer any GI distress whatever the race throws at you.
Pack Enough Fuel
The last thing you want to happen is finding out you didn’t pack enough gels and have to ration them on your last day! Instead, carry out a simple calculation before you leave to ensure you pack enough.
To do this, look at your previous ride or race times to calculate a predicted average speed. Separately, add up the total distance you will be racing over the 3 days (251km). Divide the distance by predicted average speed (making sure you have converted speed to km). This will give you a rough estimate of total ride time in hours.
From there, multiply your predicted hourly gel/ drink mix consumption by your total predicted ride time, this will give you the total number of gels/ drink mix portions you’ll need. While feed zones are well stocked with water and drink mix, and provide the opportunity to top up, having a solid foundation to start from is crucial.
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Race Days
Race Day Breakfast
Raiders Gravel will definitely have you covered when it comes to the morning caffeine fix, with a number of excellent blends on offer. But your usual toast and jam in bed might not be feasible, especially if you’re camping! Consider packing a small gas stove to cook porridge on, or if you’re more race-focused, opt for a pro’s favourite, rice and honey. The Event Village will have options for the more social of you, so don’t worry if you don’t have access to lots of camping equipment. The point is, make sure you’ve got a plan on where you’re going to get breakfast from because it’s incredibly important to top up your fuel tanks before the gun goes!
Know the Demands
Understanding the demands of each stage will help shape your nutrition and hydration strategy. Familiarise yourself with the location of feed zones and the duration between each one. Decide whether you are going to stop at each feed-zone to fill up, or carry enough water and food to adopt a no-stop strategy. The stop versus no-stop strategy has been debated, and will continue to be debated as to which is fastest, but ultimately it comes down to a few factors. How much climbing is there from the start? Will there be a group you can benefit from drafting, many of whom might not stop? Can you physically carry enough water to last the duration?
All of the above are very individual to a riders ambition and average speed, and there is no correct answer. Rest assured that with your nutrition planning and some strategically placed feed-zones you’ll be able to find a solution which fits your needs. However, as with everything, planning is essential!
Immediate Recovery
As the Tour de France has taught us, the next stage starts as soon as the current one finishes. Bearing this in mind, it’s important to plan your first recovery meal in advance, whether it’s an instant recovery shake you prepared in the morning, or a plate of pasta from the Event Village. Consuming carbohydrates and protein immediately after you finish will jumpstart your recovery for the next day.
This is arguably the most crucial meal each day, and often the one that gets forgotten because it’s so easy to get carried away with high-fives and post stage stories. Whilst these are absolutely part of it, your legs will thank you over and over again if you manage to re-fill the tank with lots of carbohydrates so you’re ready to go full-gas again the next day!
Off-the-Bike Nutrition
It’s easy to focus solely on on-the-bike nutrition, but considering the event's length as a whole, you’ll spend more time off the bike than on. Professional teams invest heavily in food trucks, chefs, and nutritionists to make sure riders are eating enough off the bike. They understand more than anyone it can be the difference between finishing, and not.
The festival atmosphere at Raiders Gravel provides the perfect backdrop for a big evening meal. If you can, opt for a carbohydrate-rich dish and save treats like burgers and sweet potato fries for the last day. Unless however you’re in a celebratory mood, in which case why not carry the good vibes from the day into the night.
Nighttime Snacks
This may sound obvious, but don’t go to bed hungry! You likely won’t have consumed all the calories you burnt, so pack some handy snacks like oat bars, fig rolls or rice cakes to have for emergencies! If you’re feeling a bit peckish before bed then definitely don’t be afraid to eat, you’ll be thankful of the extra energy in the days to come.
Embrace the Uncertainty
Finally, remember that some uncertainty is part of the adventure. If you forget something, fellow campers or the Event Village will likely have you covered. Do what you can, embrace the imperfections, and most importantly, enjoy the experience. Whether you’re winning or adventuring, the epic Scottish gravel will not disappoint.
Good luck, and happy riding!
