It might be challenging to remain strictly Paleo - but I'm sure remaining gluten free won't be that difficult? Gluten lingers in the body for a long, long time - are you really happy to have that in your system?

Who controls the lunches/ food? Can you speak to the organiser and at the very least say you cannot have gluten? I'm sure they are used to dietary requests.

Otherwise have you explored providing your own food? Larabars would be far better than Cliff bars for starters. You could bring egg muffins/ boiled eggs/ jerkey/ nuts and fruit for snacks. Fruit would probably be one of the best things to replace your glycogen stores anyway - much better than peanuts.

If they are making sandwiches and pasta Paleo foods aren't exactly harder to produce, definitely worth asking if they could accomodate.

Make your own paleo bars (dried fruit, jerky, beef etc..) Lots of organic pepperettes, coocnut milk (good amount of fat and calories to keep you going)and you can easily cook up sweet potatoes or dehydrate them as well as bananas, apples etc.. to get good carbs that are totally paleo. If you want to go there, lara bars would be good since your burning up your glycogen stores pretty quickly. There is no need to have gluten/wheat etc.. in your diet to meet those requirements.You will definitely have digestion issues if your reinstating gluten/wheat, especially in combination with intense sweating. Also a jar of coconut oil, coconut butter is always handy (120 calories a tablespoon, 14 grams of heart/brain healthy sat fat).Hard boiled eggs can also keep well.

Have you tried contacting whomever is running this ride to ask whether a person who is celiac could be accommodated? (Even if you're not). Seems like they'd have to make some kind of arrangements.

Also, is diarrhea how you normally react to gluten? Maybe it won't be so bad for you. I disagree with a lot of people on here in that I think many people can tolerate gluten pretty well, it's not necessarily the dietary catastrophe everyone makes it out to be. But that's just my two cents.

If you are going to re-introduce it pre-race, I'd probably start 2 weeks ahead of time and avoid the whole-grain stuff, or start with sourdough (which is fermented, easier to digest) and work my way up.

Have you had stomach issues that have been fixed by a paleo diet? Although it's considered the devil's food in paleo circles, gluten does not seem to be a problem for everyone. Okay, I know everyone may produce Il-15, which can be taken as gluten is bad for everyone, but aside from that some people can tolerate it just fine.

I did that ride 3 or 4 years ago and it is a great experience, though some serious inflammation by the end of the week is what made me go full on paleo, rather than 85%.

Id suggest making some of your own bars and packing them in your luggage, or stick up on larabars. You should be able to find rice and potatoes, as well as lots of meat. Are you staying in the tents or in hotels? In hotels you may be able to be a bit more flexible for breakfast and dinner.

Hope you enjoy it!

oh and also, you'll probably be burning more like 5500-6000 kcals/day, not 8000. Though it doesn't really matter.

When food is provided for athletic endeavors, work conferences or anywhere else, I always pack my own. Sometimes those running things will even chill it and keep it on hand for me. Times where you are stressing your body physically are not the right times to toy with nutrition, in my opinion.

Agreed. You've gotten so healthy already, you should fuel properly without gluten.

It is a hard call though, eating Paleo on the road.

If you absolutely have to introduce it back (please don't!) just titrate it up, and start as far as two months back...introduce some wheat/bread and slowly titrate more and more into your diet.

It pains me to say it, but I still think you should keep off wheat.

I echo all the other answers. Don't eat gluten or any other crap. Bring your own food or see if they'll accomidate you. I always just bring my own food to events. Free food isn't worth it.