So you're preparing to go out for a ride, the first thing to think of is what time of day is it and what have you eaten already?
If it’s first thing in the day you will have very little energy reserves stored and if you set off on a big ride you'd likely feel dizzy and lack power after 15 or so miles.
I commute to work Monday to Friday and leave the house before 7. I don't have time to do a full breakfast before I get to work, but being a slim lad I need some calories before I go otherwise my body will start using fat as an energy source ,which not only is in-efficient it also means I'd lose more weight!
What I like to do before the ride is eat a banana and cereal bar. The banana is packed with potassium great for muscles and stops cramps. The oats in the cereal provides carbs for fuel. Once I've got to work and changed I have a big bowl of porridge to replenish lost reserves. If you're trying to lose weight though a 13 miles ride without food would help to burn some fat.
Sometimes I'll plan a bigger ride and this is when fuelling your body becomes even more important, imagine setting off on a long car journey with only half a tank of fuel you may run out at the side of the road and then you're stuck. Professionals say you should eat before you feel hungry which makes sense, you don't eat something and get immediate energy, it needs to be ingested into your system first.
There are lots of gels, tablets and sweets on the market which can make it convenient to take in carbs and sugars for fuel. The likes of Hi-5 are great and I do use them for emergencies but these can get expensive in the long term if you were to use 4 or 5 on a ride. The packet suggests one gel per 20 minutes of exercise, I quite often so 5-6 hour rides on that scale that would be 15-18 gels. One very hard to carry that many and 2 it wouldn’t be good for my digestive system. I much prefer natural Sources.
A few of my suggestions are below in the links and I’ll be doing new recipes or suggestions as and when I think of them, summers coming so that means the longer and more difficult rides will be too.
Pre ride:
Before a long ride, people often talk about carb loading. This is when you eat lots of carbs and basically fill up your carbohydrate reserves. This can only work so much however, your body is like a fuel tank. It will only hold so much reserves of carbs, sugar, fats etc. any more would simply overflow like a liquid out of a tank so don’t overdo it!
The night before your ride I’d recommend pasta for tea with a tomato based sauce for sugars and also meat for protein, spaghetti Bolognese would be perfect for a pre ride loading meal.
The morning before your ride you need to eat a few hours before you leave to get the nutrients into your system, Porridge or Muesli is an excellent start with natural yoghurt and a banana. Or a good quality wholemeal seeded bread with a good jam.
I admit I’m rubbish at eating before a ride, sometimes I’m excited or nervous, but I know I need to take fuel on board. This lead me to develop an oats based protein drink, my friend also suffers not being able to eat before his running so this is a great alternative as it digests quicker than a porridge.
If it’s first thing in the day you will have very little energy reserves stored and if you set off on a big ride you'd likely feel dizzy and lack power after 15 or so miles.
I commute to work Monday to Friday and leave the house before 7. I don't have time to do a full breakfast before I get to work, but being a slim lad I need some calories before I go otherwise my body will start using fat as an energy source ,which not only is in-efficient it also means I'd lose more weight!
What I like to do before the ride is eat a banana and cereal bar. The banana is packed with potassium great for muscles and stops cramps. The oats in the cereal provides carbs for fuel. Once I've got to work and changed I have a big bowl of porridge to replenish lost reserves. If you're trying to lose weight though a 13 miles ride without food would help to burn some fat.
Sometimes I'll plan a bigger ride and this is when fuelling your body becomes even more important, imagine setting off on a long car journey with only half a tank of fuel you may run out at the side of the road and then you're stuck. Professionals say you should eat before you feel hungry which makes sense, you don't eat something and get immediate energy, it needs to be ingested into your system first.
There are lots of gels, tablets and sweets on the market which can make it convenient to take in carbs and sugars for fuel. The likes of Hi-5 are great and I do use them for emergencies but these can get expensive in the long term if you were to use 4 or 5 on a ride. The packet suggests one gel per 20 minutes of exercise, I quite often so 5-6 hour rides on that scale that would be 15-18 gels. One very hard to carry that many and 2 it wouldn’t be good for my digestive system. I much prefer natural Sources.
A few of my suggestions are below in the links and I’ll be doing new recipes or suggestions as and when I think of them, summers coming so that means the longer and more difficult rides will be too.
Pre ride:
Before a long ride, people often talk about carb loading. This is when you eat lots of carbs and basically fill up your carbohydrate reserves. This can only work so much however, your body is like a fuel tank. It will only hold so much reserves of carbs, sugar, fats etc. any more would simply overflow like a liquid out of a tank so don’t overdo it!
The night before your ride I’d recommend pasta for tea with a tomato based sauce for sugars and also meat for protein, spaghetti Bolognese would be perfect for a pre ride loading meal.
The morning before your ride you need to eat a few hours before you leave to get the nutrients into your system, Porridge or Muesli is an excellent start with natural yoghurt and a banana. Or a good quality wholemeal seeded bread with a good jam.
I admit I’m rubbish at eating before a ride, sometimes I’m excited or nervous, but I know I need to take fuel on board. This lead me to develop an oats based protein drink, my friend also suffers not being able to eat before his running so this is a great alternative as it digests quicker than a porridge.
During the ride.
If your ride is up to around 20 miles the above breakfast should be enough to see you through. The mix of carbs and sugars with your bodies’ reserves will see you through.
If however you are going longer than this you need to start thinking about refuelling, you have 2 options:
The cyclist’s favourite, “the café stop”. Most social cyclists will plan a circular route. They will meet their friends and agree a halfway stop to stop for a drink and cake. To some cyclists this is what cycling’s all about meeting mates and socialising, some cyclists however use this as a more serious refuel stop. Like a formula one car coming into a pit stop!
Coffee is known to be excellent at opening the capillaries on the heart whilst the carbs and sugars in Cake serve a purpose for fuel as well as being a tasty treat! If you want to take it serious, ignore the sugary iced cakes and go for something like a scone with jam or a carrot cake. These will have lower sugar content so you don’t get that massive hit of sugar energy followed by the dreaded “café legs” when your bodies sugar level drops!
This should see your route up to about 50 miles, if you’re going further you need to decide, more café stops or carry fuel and a stop? When I ride to my girlfriend’s house on my own 50 miles away, I take 2 drink bottles, one has Water with juice and an Electrolyte tablet in. The other has a carbohydrate drink in from hi-5 called 4:1. This is excellent stuff that I can highly recommend, get a sample pack and give it a go. It’s been engineered to offer the correct mix of carbs and supplements your body needs.
There’s a calculation of grams of carbs / kg of bodyweight needed for prior ride this is stated as 1-4 g of carbs per kg of weight 1-4 hours before a ride. Therefore if you weigh 70 kg you would need between 70-280g of carbs before the ride, this is a big range but it gives you an idea on minimum and max. Experts recommend 30-60 grams of carbs per hour of a ride.
What if you don't want to stop or can't? (racing on a long time trial or event where time counts) The best thing is easy to eat foods, think along the lines of flapjack pieces, a banana is a great source and quite easy to carry, Gels as a back up, Jelly Babies are great for a boost but not a long term fuel. What you don't want is bulky items or things with lots of packaging that will take up space . I will be developing a high carb based flapjack for my rides soon which will be shown in here when its done.
If your ride is up to around 20 miles the above breakfast should be enough to see you through. The mix of carbs and sugars with your bodies’ reserves will see you through.
If however you are going longer than this you need to start thinking about refuelling, you have 2 options:
The cyclist’s favourite, “the café stop”. Most social cyclists will plan a circular route. They will meet their friends and agree a halfway stop to stop for a drink and cake. To some cyclists this is what cycling’s all about meeting mates and socialising, some cyclists however use this as a more serious refuel stop. Like a formula one car coming into a pit stop!
Coffee is known to be excellent at opening the capillaries on the heart whilst the carbs and sugars in Cake serve a purpose for fuel as well as being a tasty treat! If you want to take it serious, ignore the sugary iced cakes and go for something like a scone with jam or a carrot cake. These will have lower sugar content so you don’t get that massive hit of sugar energy followed by the dreaded “café legs” when your bodies sugar level drops!
This should see your route up to about 50 miles, if you’re going further you need to decide, more café stops or carry fuel and a stop? When I ride to my girlfriend’s house on my own 50 miles away, I take 2 drink bottles, one has Water with juice and an Electrolyte tablet in. The other has a carbohydrate drink in from hi-5 called 4:1. This is excellent stuff that I can highly recommend, get a sample pack and give it a go. It’s been engineered to offer the correct mix of carbs and supplements your body needs.
There’s a calculation of grams of carbs / kg of bodyweight needed for prior ride this is stated as 1-4 g of carbs per kg of weight 1-4 hours before a ride. Therefore if you weigh 70 kg you would need between 70-280g of carbs before the ride, this is a big range but it gives you an idea on minimum and max. Experts recommend 30-60 grams of carbs per hour of a ride.
What if you don't want to stop or can't? (racing on a long time trial or event where time counts) The best thing is easy to eat foods, think along the lines of flapjack pieces, a banana is a great source and quite easy to carry, Gels as a back up, Jelly Babies are great for a boost but not a long term fuel. What you don't want is bulky items or things with lots of packaging that will take up space . I will be developing a high carb based flapjack for my rides soon which will be shown in here when its done.
Post ride.
So you’ve just got back from your ride and want to raid the fridge for anything you can quickly lay your hands on, Don’t! The body processes food most efficiently after exercise, so don’t just cram it full of sugary drinks or crisps etc., take on a more complex meal that will be absorbed and used more efficiently.
Think along the lines bread for sandwiches if its lunchtime or pasta if its tea time. This will help you recover quickly. Also make sure your meal includes protein as this helps repair muscles and should stop you from aching as much the next day. My high protein and carb soup with some bread is excellent and is what I created it for.
So you’ve just got back from your ride and want to raid the fridge for anything you can quickly lay your hands on, Don’t! The body processes food most efficiently after exercise, so don’t just cram it full of sugary drinks or crisps etc., take on a more complex meal that will be absorbed and used more efficiently.
Think along the lines bread for sandwiches if its lunchtime or pasta if its tea time. This will help you recover quickly. Also make sure your meal includes protein as this helps repair muscles and should stop you from aching as much the next day. My high protein and carb soup with some bread is excellent and is what I created it for.