what foods are best to eat before a 20 mile cross country ride and what foods are best for mid ride and recovery ?
please mention actual foods and don’t blind me with carbs, starch blah blah blah ! LOL

Don’t eat anything before. Although that depends on your definition of before.
Malt loaf and jelly babies.
Chocolate milkshake.

Cake and tea or coffee.
Flask of tea and more cake mid ride or whenever it’s cake and or tea stop.
Depending on the time of day it’s cake and tea for recovery or just a beer or 5 depending on the level of hydration required.

before: nothing, meal several hours before.
during: Water with blackcurrant and apple juice in, jelly babies/chocolate
after: full strength Stella, crisps/nuts.

Before (like a few hours) something light. Breakfast if it is early a light lunch otherwise (whatever you’d normally eat but don;t go mad).

try to limit eating just before. I’d normally have a banana about 30 minutes before the start.

20miles is short so you could get away with eating nothing. But I’d suggest some water would be an idea. More bananas. Some sort of cereal bar (go look in the supermarket to see what is on offer) – I like nutri grain elevensies and quaker oat bars.

After. Normal food. Maybe have something ready so when you finish you don’t eat junk. Glass of milk, Fruit juice or can of coke will stave off the worst of the hunger.

Pies, the answer is always pies.

Nobody going to suggest a protein shake?

Before? Depends if there’s a mcd’s on the way.

I’d take a sandwich to have half way round, a bit of water in the camelbak, plus jelly babies for emergencies.

Afterwards? Depends if there’s a pub at the end.

As others have said, 20 miles isn’t all that much of an effort, unless it’s a strava segment/real life race so you can eat as much or as little as you like, it won’t make a massive difference.

What time are you riding, do you want to do the same again the following day? Yes, it’s a serious question btw

It’s important to remember that it’s only going for a bike ride; when you were a kid, you didn’t need all that stuff, you just had your breakfast.

I personally wouldn’t bother talking anything with me for a 20 mile ride – even if going for it at a pretty decent pace.

I used to work off porridge as a pre-ride meal, or pasta for an afternoon ride. Still would for a proper long one. For a 20 miler though, (and it of course depends on what sort of 20 miles, I can do 20 miles round here on panyagua, and have done 20 miles on Exmoor that destroyed me), I tend to have a protein rich meal (ham and eggs for breakfast) and only start on carbs while riding and then if needed.

After – what you like, surely that’s the point of riding, to be able to eat what you want after!!!

Before? Scrambled eggs on soya toast, three is the magic number.

During? Zip.

Afterwards? The limbs of a bunch of chickens.