Hi crew,
My goal is to step my riding up a lot this year so I’m wondering what recovery drinks you might use to help with muscle soreness after long and hard rides.
I normally finish most rides with a beer (which I don’t won’t to change to much) but what is the best way to look after yourself and really start to build on some fitness. I want to do the coast to coast MTB ride in June and would like to be in a good condition for it. Any advice would be great.

Cheers Shaun

Milk. No complaints, and it’s always cold as standard.

L Glutamine takes the edge off for me, difficult to get the energy levels back quickly as you get older and this seems to help a bit

salty chips and Mars drink then beer

Anything is better than nothing. Milk is hard to beat with something sugary to go with it. Basically grab anything straight away.
Real recovery comes over next few hours. A nap, proper food and feet up are priorities. Beer is ok but hold off for a while if you can.
8 hours solid sleep is the best recovery of all.

milk and a banana

Strawberry milkshake – gets some sugar in and a bit of protein.

Malt loaf to get some low fat carbs.

I always have a pint of skimmed milk after a long or hard ride, if I don’t then my legs are no good the next day. There’s plenty of sugar in milk already IMO

Can of Stella & a couple of bags of crisps.

Ordinarily, a smoothie made from: a banana, half a litre of unsweetened almond milk, a spoonful of peanut butter, and *some* Purition hemp powder (all organic, of course) work pretty well for me.

If I’ve been racing, I like a small bottle of tart cherry juice to help with [not] cramping. Might just be a placebo of course, but I find it helps.

Semi skimmed nesquik milkshake and a banana.
Maybe some trail-mix and a handful of other nuts..

If I’m at home then milk and something a bit sugary so I can then make proper food. If I’m out and facing a drive home then chocolate yazoo or mars mil because they are UHT so can sit in the car all day.

FWIW I don’t find what I eat that important. If I do a hard ride and want to be able to wake up the next day and do another then massage makes a huge difference. At home I have a roller. If I’m away I have a “stick”. Simple but very effective.

I didn’t realise there was so much goodness in a glass of milk.
What about the high5 protein recovery mix ?

If I’ve done a hard ride/race or turbo session and am not able to eat quickly I have a powerbar protein bar, I find it the easiest option compared to protein drinks etc. With turbo sessions I normally try to time it so I finish 10mins before supper if we are having something protein-full and just eat that.

Leffe brun. Carb drink

Wensleydale with cranberry cheese, on some nice crackers.

And a nice red, or a pint of wheat beer.. Depends on my mood!

Torq recovery is the best I’ve found for recovery. If I haven’t got any of that to hand then a pint (or 2) and a pie works pretty well too.

Beer and a bag of salted nuts.

Or banana milkshake if I’m trying to be “healthy”.

Wot mattyfez said!

One thing that I missed completely when I used to race was Protein to actually repair and strengthen after a ride as well as carbs to refuel.

My lazy way, especially as I want to save my appetite for binging on curry later, is protein drink but I like the cheese option too!

A bottle measure in a just enough water to liquify it and just slug it back straight after the ride … job done!

That said, apparently the protein “window” is open for 2 hours after a ride so a decent noshup that contains it within that time probably does the same job

Chocolate Yazoo or a SIS choc Rego (prefer the former but the latter is on discount more often).

Krusha choc syrup in semi-skimmed milk is alright too.

If I’m out for a big ride in Lakes or similar I’ll sometimes make an extra cheese, ham & pickle sandwich and eat it when I get back to the van.

Milk for me too, Salted nuts and or a bag of crisps, Maybe a lump of flapjack or a lump of screen, Sometimes a bottle of Malt Drink. Followed later with Steak and baked tater or chicken wraps then as said above a good nights kip,

I have found that these expensive drinks clap the weight on me, in a big way, not sure if its my body’s way of pissing me off but i cannot loose weight whilst taking any form of add in, either before during or after,

Multi day racing Torq recovery as it’s tasty, good and about the easiest thing to make anywhere and doesn’t need a fridge. It gets me past the too hungry/tires to decide what to eat phase. Makes the end of day bike sort easier too.