Forum menu
Hello peeps, hoping for a little insight.
After a big ride, what the hell should I eat drink to recover properly? For me, a big ride is about 3-4 hours, 20-40kms depending on severity of terrain, and these last few weeks, as we have increased cope of the ride, I feel really poo 1hr after finishing.
This is doubly challenging as I normally back to family life at this point and need to be up for it for the kids!
today, felt the same as last few weeks. Big headache, really washed out, nae energy at all. I am 36, 195cms and 115 kg (fat but surprisingly fit ish, and getting better, so YES in answer the the thread about fatties on STW).
Post ride, Should I:
1) just have my breakfast as normal (cereal, toast, banana)?
2) have beer? Maybe a cigarette? (non smoker for 9 years, but if it helps i'll do it!)
3) have some kind of protein shake?
4) improve what I intake during ride, at the moment 1-2Ls of diluting juice (coop tropical or blackcurrant- I believe recommended by all the pros...), if so, what?
5) sausage, bacon egg extravaganza?
Help! It's taking me 3-4 hrs ro recover and it is pap! Great ride this morning though, up the Blauen from Ettingen here in Basel Land. Bloody marvellous. I'm the big guy on the left, my sparkling chumba on the far right. Please excuse Alan's super white trainers, his excuse was that his riding shoes are in the wash, we think he just loves WHITE shoes. They match my bike nicely however.
I have a sneaky feeling it is my intake during ride, but as I feel good all ride it makes me think not. Help!
Kev
[img] 
[/img]
2) ..... Maybe a cigarette? (non smoker for 9 years, but if it helps i'll do it!)
Are you insane?
Anyways, rather than concentrate on post ride, have a big breakfast and eat while riding, banana/malt loaf, and you will be fine. Maybe have a choccy Yazoo afterwards just to be sure.
As you have said the time and distance is a big ride for you so you should prepare accordingly,
Have a good Bkfst, Try the good old Porridge that everyone goes on about, personally i think its rank but i do force it down my grid in the belief that it will keep me fuller for longer !
Which it doesent and when the hunger does come on i could devour the bike tyre SO !
As already said, Malt Loaf ! Fig Rolls, i take the good old mars bar and a couple of Bananas, i tend to leave the energy gells alone and dont bother with Protein or magic tablets that you add to water !
Have a good feed the night before with carbs and personally i'd leave the fags and beer well alone !
dont see any calories at all while your riding - so all your doing atm is depleting storage and trying to recover the stores after ....
fine for some purposes but if you want to fall straight back into family life you need eat during your rides so your not just depleteing as your bodys saying feed me afterwards - and probabal dehydration
Cake and beer.
Muesli with a banana works for me, then keep eating little and often during the ride.
Your body needs fuel while it's working, IIRC you only store 90 mins of useful energy no matter how big you are.
Experiment with what suits you.
i use 'for goodness shake' drink after a ride, and it works a treat.
oh, and nice bike too matey.......... 😉
Stop riding with xc whippets............and eat small amounts before and during ride. Asap after ride stuff yourself with the bacon, sausage egg extravaganza - no idea if the last bit will help but at least you'll enjoy it and it's all good protein 😉
Be well hydrated, this means don't drink too much (any) alcohol beforehand. Have a good breakfast and drink plenty beforehand.
Eat often (every 45-60mins) and drink regularly.
Post ride drink a fruitjuice/water mix with a pinch of salt and something to eat.
As a similarly challenged bloke I echo the above recommendations.
The biggest benefit to my riding has been preperation, not over the top but you get my meaning.
As said if you know your going out early in the morning carbo load at dinner time the night before and if you have time in the morning get some porridge down you, but like me I never seem to have the time so I resort to cereal bars/flap jacks etc
during the ride nibble on trail mix/fig rolls/malt loaf/banana
post ride defo Yazoo choc milkshake is awesome - just dont tell the kids 😉
then eat whatever you want or can get hold of.
Do people really 'carbo load' the night before a ride?
Not trying to put anyone down, just wondering if it actually makes any difference versus eating breakfast as normal and going out riding?
2) have beer? Maybe a cigarette? (non smoker for 9 years, but if it helps i'll do it!)3) have some kind of protein shake?
That's a tricky one.
After a big ride, get some food in straight away. Carbs and protein. Drinks can be good for this too, and help rehydrate you too. I don't like to eat a massive roast after a ride or anything, I'm talking about small snack type foods. Chocolate spread on some toasted waffles and a protein and carb recovery drink does it for me.
Stretching is very good too, helps you feel a lot better. Get in the shower, get clean, get some comfy clothes on, and chill out for a bit.
No alcohol.
Do people really 'carbo load' the night before a ride?Not trying to put anyone down, just wondering if it actually makes any difference versus eating breakfast as normal and going out riding?
What you eat the day before say a race is quite often more important then what you eat the day of the race.
post ride defo Yazoo choc milkshake is awesome
What is wrong with you? Frijj is the only option.
😀
I find having a big pasta meal the might before a ride makes a massive difference to both my ride and my recovery. Other than that a big old bowl of porridge and banana in the morning. At the end of a ride I always crave meat, usually end up with soup.
I really suffer after a long ride if I've not eaten and drunk enough during it.
I have to force myself to eat as for some reason even when on a ride of 4hrs + I never feel hungry.
I tend to eat jelly babies or similar.
I always eat porridge and jammy toast before a ride.
Do people actually know what carbo-loading is?
Have a decent breakfast prior to the ride, porridge with honey and some fresh juice is a good idea.
During the ride if it's of a decent physical exertion level you should consume 1g of carbohydrate per kg of body mass to maintain your output and body weight, therefore if you want to loose a bit you could consume say 80% of that.
How you consume this carbohydrate is up to you, cakes, bananas or other stuff, maybe couple with carbohydrate drink like SiS Go. You should consume on average 1ltr per hour of fluid during your ride too. Once you get used to it you can drink a bit less, especially if it's a bit cooler.
Post ride ensure you get some decent protein down your neck, full fat milk or a ready made recovery shake within 20mins of finishing your ride. Then have some proper food once you get home or at the trail head cafe if you're at a center.
I find a good bowl of porridge about an hour before I set off, and fig rolls during normally keep me topped up. Just eat normally for the rest of the day, if it's hot I'll have a milk shake.
Someone may well correct me on this but I seem to remember there is a 30 --60 min window after exercise where it is good to eat short chained carbohydrate as the body will use to replenish the glycogen in your muscles. This helps recovery and and minimise the weak muscle feeling. After this short window normal healthy food be consumed, back to the long chained carbohydrates.
Also remember dehydration is not just water loss but also salts. Potassium found in bananas, sodium found everywhere!, magnesium cashews. So during a long ride I like dried bananas and a load of mixed nuts, which also tend to contain the sodium based salts.
nickc - Member
and fig rolls during normally keep me topped up
Yum - Fig Rolls are definately recommended 8)
I like to feel a bit kanackered after a 'big' ride, it proves I've got stuck in and given it some! I usually wallop down a couple of peanut butter and strawberry jam butties with a couple of mugs of tea then fall asleep in front of the telly 😆
I am then fighting fit for the evenings serious carb replacement session (spag bol and beer/vino).
Protein/carb recovery drinks? Pah! Get some beer and cake down you 
I regularly ride events from 3 hour trailquests to 24 hour solo marathons.
I've found that how much I eat during a ride makes a huge difference to how I feel towards the end of the ride and afterwards.
I never feel like eating while riding, but if I keep forcing the fruit jellies, bananas and fig rolls down, I can keep going.
the headache part of what you're getting sounds like dehydration.
Carb loading works. Alcohol the night before is really bad. After a ride eat carbs immediately. Then really make an effort to rehydrate over the next few hours. If only I stuck to this!
What is wrong with you? Frijj is the only option.
Yazoo is half the price and has a shelf life of a squillion years 8)
...but yes Frijj is nicer....even if you do have to drink it with a spoon.
+1 for what buzz-lightyear says ^^
You don't need to think of it as "training", it's just a matter of keeping a reasonably healthy diet, not getting hammered the night before, making sure you have a decent meal of carbs (pasta/rice/baked potato etc) the night before, a good breakfast (I just have cereal but a lot of people swear by porridge) and then steady intake of snacks throughout the ride (mixed nuts/fruit works well, could always try an energy bar or similar) and staying hydrated.
Getting pissed and eating crap food is all well and good in it's place but not if it's going to ruin your ride the next day!
Fish supper and a beer usually for me
3 things will help
1/ Eat and drink properly before , during and after
2/ A choc milkshake afterwards cures everything
3/ And of course, what you really need is a new bike. This will increase your energy 10 fold
Eating before and drinking during is probably the most important for 3-4 hr rides. I regularly ride more than that on a couple of bottles of water and a bag of jelly babies. I don't do anything particularity for recovery afterwards. There is some evidence for the protein / carb mix afterwards but IMO its pretty flimsy - but a milkshake can't do any harm.
Hydration is the key I guess to your feeling crap.
YOu need a mix of carbs - long and short acting. Teh other issue may be salts
Cereal and a tin of rice pudding before. Loads of water, flapjacks and Haribo during. Toast , cake, sandwiches, anything tasty within arm's reach after plus a protein shake or choccy milk. I used to suffer the same as you but not now, unless I start with a hangover, which isn't totally unheard of!
have water and fruit juice with some proper carb based breakfast before you leave - something carb based as soon as poss after the ride. then some protien later on
other thing to try is an electrolyte like nuun if you have achey and stiff, excessive cramping muscles - try myprotien, they do an inexpensive powder version
If I was hungover, I would deserve to feel like crap, but that does raise an intersting point as that is how I feel, and what is hangover? - dehydration and lack of nutrients.
All advice good, but I'm only listening to raddogair. Another bike please!
Ton, Chumba still fabulous, I am so enjoying riding it. Now about that chip on the headtube... 🙂
So, mistakes made this Sunday: meal the night beofre was stodgy chicken pie with few carbs, still a bit dehydrated from previous week, only half a banana for breaky, no intake during ride. Probably not drinking enough either as it was cold and wet so didn't take that much on board (maybe 1.25 L).
Prep seems to be key -
good spag bol night before,
a porridge breaky (love it, so looking forward to that!),
some fig rolls or malt loaf (why those 2 in particular? I love them both, but interested as to why),
plenty of fluid intake and a choccy shake after (will a strawberry one do? I don't like chocolate - FREAK!)
Should I be careful about what I eat for breaky? Most of our rides start from the house (and ****ing UP too) so don't want to be dry-boaking (or 'puking' for our non-scots readers) into my mouth 15 minutes into the ride.
Thanks all, you lovely bunch!
Kev