Fuel for Long Rides: Cycling Nutrition and Fuelling Guide | FTP Endurance Fuel
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Fuel for Long Rides: Beat the Bonk on Centuries & Gran Fondos
The three-hour-plus playbook: how much to carry, which pocket it goes in, and how to keep the carbs flowing all the way to the finish.
Shop Long-Ride Fuel1kg bulk packs — decant what you need, leave the rest at home
Quick answer: on rides over three hours, budget 60–90g of carbohydrate per hour — and riders with a trained gut can push 90–120g. For a five-hour century at 70g per hour, that is roughly 350g of carbs: about 24 FTP pastilles (2 ≈ 30g) plus whatever you pick up at café stops.
The bonk is a fuelling failure, not a fitness failure
Every rider who has bonked remembers it: the hollow legs, the crawling speedo, the sudden obsession with petrol-station pasties. It happens when glycogen runs out — usually two to three hours in — and it is almost always preventable. The riders who finish gran fondos strong are rarely the fittest; they are the ones who ate on schedule from kilometre ten.
Long rides also punish vague plans. "I'll eat when I'm hungry" fails because hunger lags glycogen depletion by an hour. You need a number per hour, fuel you can count, and a pocket system you can run on autopilot when you are tired.
A worked fuelling plan for a 4–5 hour ride
| Ride stage | What to do | Carb target |
| 2–3 hrs before | Carb-rich breakfast, easy on fibre | Top up glycogen before rolling out |
| Hour 1 | First pastilles by 30–45 min, even if you feel fresh | 60g — 4 pastilles |
| Hours 2–3 | 2 pastilles every 25–30 min, sip electrolytes throughout | 60–90g per hour |
| Final hour | Keep eating — do not coast in on empty | 60g minimum |
| After | Carbs within the first hour off the bike | Restock glycogen for the next session |
Pocket logistics: carrying five hours of fuel
This is where pastilles earn their place over gels. Twenty-four pastilles fit in one jersey pocket in a small bag or reusable pouch — no foil corners, no sticky fingers, no litter to stuff back in your pocket. Run a simple system: right pocket for fuel, middle for tools and jacket, left for phone and rubbish. Decant from the 1kg pack before you leave and you know exactly how many carbs you are carrying.
Bottles do double duty on long days: one with an electrolyte tablet, one plain for refills at stops. Eating small amounts often also spares your gut — four pastilles across an hour is far kinder than a whole gel slammed at once.
One 1kg pack fuels a month of long rides
Count out your ride's carbs from the bulk pack — no single-use sachets.
Train your gut like you train your legs
If 90g per hour sounds like a stomach ache, that is only because your gut is untrained. Absorption is trainable: add 10–15g per hour to your long-ride intake every two to three weeks and your gut adapts, the same way your legs adapt to volume. A 1:1 glucose:fructose blend helps here too — the two sugars use separate transporters (SGLT1 and GLUT5), supporting up to 90g per hour of absorption, with 90–120g possible for well-trained guts on big days. And whatever your plan, lock it in during training — never try new fuel on event day.
The long-ride kit list
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Common Questions
How do I avoid bonking on a long ride?
Start eating in the first 30–45 minutes and never stop — 60–90g of carbs per hour, in small regular doses. The bonk is caused by running out of glycogen, and by the time you feel it, it is too late to eat your way out quickly.
How much should I eat on a century ride?
For a typical 5–6 hour century at 60–90g per hour, plan for 300–500g of carbohydrate in total. Count it out before you leave — at 2 pastilles per 30g, the maths is easy to do at the kitchen table and easy to track on the road.
Can I really get to 120g of carbs per hour?
Some riders with well-trained guts manage 90–120g per hour on long rides. Build there gradually: add 10–15g per hour every two to three weeks and let your gut adapt. Do not attempt a new high on event day.
Should I rely on café stops for fuel?
Treat stops as a bonus, not the plan. A mid-ride flapjack is great, but your hourly carbs should come from fuel you carry and can eat while moving — stops are too far apart to keep blood glucose steady on their own.
Ride further, finish stronger
Stock up on bulk-pack pastilles and make the bonk a story you tell, not one you repeat.
Shop Long-Ride FuelKeep reading: How to Fuel a Century Ride · How to Avoid Bonking · The Glucose:Fructose Ratio Explained. Related guides: Carb Loading Guide · How Many Carbs Per Hour.
