Fuel

Unless you have an electric bike, the fuel for your ride is what you eat and drink. For a gentle ride of two hours or less this is not very significant for an average healthy rider, but if you’re going further or faster it definitely needs to be considered. Dehydration can be a problem, even when you think the weather is not very warm, so that’s why you see most cyclists with one or two water bottles on their bikes.

The classic advice is “drink before you feel thirsty, eat before you feel hungry”. Keeping hydrated is particularly important in warmer weather. Cycling UK has good advice on How to fuel your ride.

Non-cyclists may giggle when they hear cyclists talking about bonking, but it’s just the same as “hitting the wall” in athletics. It’s not to be taken lightly:

“It was a route I’d done plenty of times before. Normally, I’d stop halfway to have a drink and snack but this time I pushed on. After an hour and half of riding at a brisk pace, I wasn’t expecting my legs to feel so tired but I put it down to lack of recovery from a weights workout the previous day. Then, suddenly, without warning, I felt like I was cycling through treacle. Despite mustering up every bit of strength remaining, I had nothing left – the road ahead was starting to blur and I was barely holding a straight line.” Read the full article by Anita Bean in Cycling Weekly.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to carry some emergency food, such as an energy bar or two. These can be bought locally at The Goring Grocer, which also sells lots of other yummy food.

For many recreational cyclists, the social coffee stop is a key part of the ride, as is the ability to enjoy cake (or a sausage roll) without putting on extra weight. goringgapcycling.co.uk has over 100 cafes on its map, all of which have been road-tested by The Gromils.