Hi Peak_ing. WTTF.

I am no nutrutionalist, but I will give you my 5 peneth worth.

When riding you will need easy access energy. Primarily the best tool for that job is Carbs. Those tricky hills will also need the occasional energy boost to get you up hills. That job is fulfilled by sugar.

Many athletes do a thing called carb loading. This is where they eat pasta the day before a ride, as well as making sure that they have plenty of fluids. So drink a lot and eat pasta. In the morning have a bowl of cerial. This will probably feel heavy and effect your speeds at first, but will help you maintian your energy for longer.

Now, assuming that you are full of carbs and wonderfully hydrated. That will give you about 2 hrs in the legs, you will then have about another half hour as your body uses the energy stored in the liver and then that is it. You hit something called the wall where you just run out of energy. I know a rider who likes to hit the wall at least twice per year and then just riding through it. This is because, once you are out of easy access energy, the only fuel available is the long stored fats in your body. So he uses it as a weight loss program.

Anyway, you have two and a half hours of energy. So your next job is to make sure that you don't hit the wall. A good source of energy is sports drinks. I use SIS Go. This is an isotonic drink that helps replace the energy you expend as well as the salts. I have this in the camelback.

In addition to a sports drink you want an energy bar. I use Mule bars, but pretty much any flapjack will be good. For quick energy moments you just need Bassets Jelly babies. They will get you up the hills. If you are using an energy drink, because they are slightly thicker than normal water, you may not be able to digest your bars and jellies as quickly as usual. So carry a normal bottle of water on the bike to help swig these down.

You can use jells as well, but the energy drink should be enough. However, you might want to steer clear of jells with cafien in them. An old racers trick is to drink two strong cups of coffee before the race. The coffee allows you to metabolise your carbs quickly, which is where you get the energy hit from. So if you access all of your carbs within the first two hours, you are going to start off well and run out of energy half way through your ride.

When you stop riding your body will act like a spong, absorbing anything you put into it at a very fast rate to repair the damage that you have done to your muscles. This is where products like re-go work. However, nuts, crisps etc. will probably do as well (Along with a beer). Primarily, your body needs protien at this point. The problem is that you might not feel like eating a great deal of food after you finish riding. But you need to fuel. If you stop for lunch, keep it light and simple. Nothing heavier than pasta. I would probably look at the same for the evening, although meatballs are going to help with the protien bit.

Hope this helps.

Luck