Does anyone have any pointers on what to eat before a big ride?
I'm very "time poor" at the moment care of baby duties, but as well as a few late night road rides I'm trying to haul my a55 out of bed early on Saturday mornings for a 3-4 hour ride in prep for a century ride in the spring.
As I've got to do the ride and be back by 10:30 at the latest there's not much time to prepare / eat breakfast before leaving, so what's the best thing to have before I go?
At the moment I'm eating a 4 egg omelette with some cheese, tomatoes, a bit of leftover chilli and then eat 2-3 soreen "lunchbox" bars every hour of riding - each one has 19g of carbs so probably the max my body can absorb.
This is almost certainly not the right thing to be eating so what is?
Mince pies.
Protein isn't a good pre ride fuel. It's harder to digest and covert than carbs
In reality it starts the night before, you want to something to replenish glycogen storage (carbs like pasta etc being good at this) but not too many as there is a limit to what you can process and store.
Morning something slow release like musili or porridge, save your protein for after.
Porridge
Wow. I'm surprised you can still ride after eating all that. I'd just have a bowl of muesli, maybe add some berries and yogurt. Might nibble on a cereal bar of some sort after a couple of hours.
additional disclosure - I also have fish and chips the night before a big ride.
All i can say is "less".
[img] 
[/img]
Porridge, possibly with a banana. Take another banana to keep you going.
2-3 soreen bars every hour, good grief!
I can attest that full english breakfast is definitely wrong.
Porridge is the default answer. Or you can soak some oats in yogurt overnight for a similar effect if you don't want to have to use the microwave.
I'd also say you're eating too much over the course of the ride too. For a 60 miler (a guess at the distance you're doing) I reckon I'd normally have a banana or 2 and carry a gel in case I bonk.
bloody hell, how hard/fast are you going for those 3-4 hours?
I did the CYB enduro yesterday on a bowl of rice krispies a bacon butty and a handful of tangfastics
I did the CYB enduro yesterday on a bowl of rice krispies a bacon butty and a handful of tangfastics
Or more realistically you got it from the day before, or from stores you already banked.
Porridge is the default answer. Or you can soak some oats in yogurt overnight for a similar effect if you don't want to have to use the microwave.I'd also say you're eating too much over the course of the ride too. For a 60 miler (a guess at the distance you're doing) I reckon I'd normally have a banana or 2 and carry a gel in case I bonk.
This - for 3-4 hour rides I'll usually have something like a banana or a cereal bar halfway round, then maybe a gel when there's 45min to go. Depends a bit on how fast I'm going, for example if it were a race I'd have more gels, but for a normal ride that'd be more than enough.
and if you don't like porridge,a couple of weetabix and a banana
[img] 
[/img]
Going out with a full stomach means your body's resources/bloodstream is being diverted from delivering glycogen to your muscles to digesting the contents of your stomach - you have about 2 hours of energy already stored in your bloodstream and simple strategy is to keep topping-up as you ride rather than over-loading at the start. Optimum carb intake is estimated at 1g carbs/kilo bodyweight/hr, but this can be different due to intensity / training. Taking some energy drink and energy-dense food throughout your ride should be sufficient, otherwise current regime is a good recipe for putting on weight!
[img] 
[/img]
Is this just Binners daily food instagram feed?
Porridge.
And then half way through the hardcore hike-a-bike you'll be far more thankful of the pork pie in your pack than some sort of squeezy NASA gel. The only reason NASA didn't take pork pies into space is they're too dense and might cause a black hole.
3-4 hr ride isn't that long. As others have said I'd just have a small amount of carbs before going out Croissant / cereal / bacon roll and maybe a handful of jelly babies or a tracker bar type thing on the ride with some diluted fruit juice to drink
I'd have to go back to bed after a big breakfast like that
[img] 
[/img]
you'll be far more thankful of the pork pie in your pack than some sort of squeezy NASA gel.
There is a middle ground - again protien is taking energy and effort away from what your doing - lots of better things to be eating.
I'm also worried how over excited Binners is getting
Bowl of Porridge, Insulin shot, and other nasties, and I'm (good) to go.
Albeit slowly.
I think I'd like to ride with Binners. Thanks all.
2-3 soreen bars every hour, good grief!
Amateur! I once ate 3 full-size loaves in the first 8 hours or so of a 15 hour ride. Didn't fancy them much for the rest of the ride - changed to pies. It's important to keep a balanced diet you see.
[img] 
[/img]
Aye binners has the physique of a God
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.Unfortunately its Bhudda!
Wow do you have a dump halfway,
I eat two slices of toast and take a banana and apple my regular is about 3.5 hours.
Just in case anyone is confusing them with the full size soreen loafs, the soreen lunch bars are pretty small - between 80 and 90 cals each depending on the type.
So eating 2-3 an hour gives a max of 270 cals / 57g of carbs for around 600 cals of energy expenditure.
Over a whole ride I'll burn 1500 cals and will have eaten < 800 cals.
From the advice above I'll switch to porridge before the ride and a kebab afterwards.
You don't have to replace the calories you're buring as you're riding.... It's fun.... but not mandatory 🙂
I'm a big lad and can put the food away, but I'd just need a lie down after the OPs food ritual. I'd never get on the bike.
From the advice above I'll switch to porridge before the ride and a kebab afterwards.
The fuel will probably come from the breakfast and the night before, the eggs are good the in the after too. No need for the Kebab
I think the point people are making is that you don't need 800cal for that length of ride.
I can (and do) ride for 30 miles without breakfast or food during the ride and only very occasionally do I bonk. I'm not suggesting this is a sensible strategy for most rides but it's definitely possible and proves you don't need to eat as much as you may think.
Saying that, you might love maltloaf and so use the ride as an excuse to eat loads of it. If that's the case ignore me and others and scoff away.
Poached eggs & bacon on toast with some cherry tomatoes & spinach.
Or leftover curry.
No need for the Kebab
Its not about need. look at the size of this blokes knife, and his manic grin. He wants you to have a kebab.
Have a kebab....
[img] 
[/img]
a 4 egg omelette with some cheese, tomatoes, a bit of leftover chilli and then eat 2-3 soreen "lunchbox" bars every hour of riding - each one has 19g of carbs so probably the max my body can absorb.
I'd change that to 2 eggs, drop the cheese and chilli and add a couple of slices of brown toast, or even better, Danish dark bread.
Porridge gets rated for riding but I find it's too easy to eat a large does of carbs that then cause an insulin spike and a crashing feeling a couple of hours later. If you go for cereal make it a small bowl.
Soreen etc as you ride is ideal ime, try a few less though as 60g of carbs an hour is a fair bit and for long rides you need to get used to using reserves rather than fast food>fuel conversion.
If you're riding early am, try eating a good carbs-based meal the night before then riding within 8-10 hours of eating. You may only need the food during the ride so you can skip breakfast - ride steadily and rely on carb storage for the first hour.
Also,
3-4 hour rides can be done as 'base' miles much of the time, just ride steady on minimal fuel (ie try no breakfast if you're riding early) and get used to fat-burning over carb intake. Means that some weeks you could do 2hrs at a brisk pace, others do 4hrs at a slower (Z2) pace. Ideally, 3-4hrs at Z2 every weekend over the winter, 1x 1hr really fast ride mid week. By Spring you could be a far more efficient fuel burner with a better top-end as well as a brisker base pace. Much depends where you're starting from really.a 3-4 hour ride in prep for a century ride in the spring.
For big rides, i usually have a decent carb load the day before so the muscles and liver are full of glycogen.
The morning of the ride, a bowl of porridge that provides about 60g of carbs, ideally the decent Scottish rolled oats, not the powdery instant stuff, about 90 mins before the ride to give it time to absorb in to the blood stream, add honey/ seeds/ blueberries etc to give it a bit more taste.
Then once on the bike i aim for 60g of simple carbs an hour usually cereal or energy bars and from drinks, with a gel in pocket in case. If the ride is going to exceed 5-6 hours, then i usually introduce a bit of protein back in, usually in the form of 4:1 High 5 drink which just seems to work for me.
Then after the ride, decent quality recovery drink (SiS Rego) or proper food, such as egg or beans on toast to get some carbs and protein within 30 minutes.
Fuelling in that way has got me through some 250-300 mile rides. You will hear a lot of people say, especially on audax websites, nothing but a pork pie and a sandwich, but if you are taking on fats etc whilst riding then you are just having to digest them as you ride, something some people seem to be able to do, but which i can't without feeling heavy legged.
Generally a bowl of cereal or porridge (one sachet of oats so simple) and a pint of juice.
Saying that on Sunday I did 72km off road after 3 slices of toast with nutella and a snack half way round.
So not a lot really, too much food pre-ride isn't good for you as your body will be too busy digesting it as opposed to fuelling your muscles.
Can I just point out that people's metabolisms and energy usage are different?
So whilst now I can ride a long way on a couple of gels, I couldn't when I was younger. Changes in diet and training changed that.
So all those 'oh just eat a few tangfastics' people - great that works for you, but others will probably bonk. However it's probably a good idea to try to change that, if you want to be doing long rides.
In general though I would suggest eating normally before a big ride and eating during - rather than stuffing my face beforehand.
soreen "lunchbox" bars every hour of riding - each one has 19g of carbs so probably the max my body can absorb.
Rule of thumb is 1g carbs per kg body weight. But that's simple carbs - soreen is probably full of fat and some protein so probably not ideal riding food.
But there's riding and there's riding. Your body responds to 3 hours smashed diffently to 6 hours steady. At least mine does.
Agreed, best avoided. I read that fats need to be digested first and are slow to digest, so they cause a 'plug', that ill-feeling. Chilli and cheese early am before a ride will simply slow the take-up of anything worthwhile eaten with it if that's the case.If you are taking on fats etc whilst riding then you are just having to digest them as you ride
Gels cause similar issue for me, an upset gut that can't take in other food for a few hours without feeling ill.
True, also changes with your pace ie 12hr steady pace vs 1.5hr race pace. Developing efficient fat-burning metabolism seems to be the thing that helps people ride for longer, if you have ~5-6 months to prepare then that's a change you can work towards.people's metabolisms and energy usage are different
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
Binners ont he way to his next sportive
Me [u]after [/u]several months of training for the century ride
[img] 
[/img]
Actually if it's a 4hr non stop XC style ride by yourself with no pratting around waiting for people etc I think you're on the right track just with the wrong ingredients.
Pre ride meal - convert to carbs - ie porridge and toast
Ride snacks - assuming some drinking then use an energy powder in your bottles. That's a lot of solids to eat so consider changing one of them to a gel an hour and possibly intersperse with half a banana.
A decent 4hr ride is going to be in the region of 2,000-3,000kj. It's generally accepted that that's the same number of calories expended. Doing that on a decent base and topping up is both wise and accepted practice.
I do the same on a Saturday morning - I neck a bowl of porridge have a couple of bits of toast and head straight out. I'm generally doing Z2 for the first hour so I don't feel sick.
@adsh don't you mean "KCal consumed"? The body is somewhere around 20-25% efficient at converting food to energy and it just happens that there's approximately 4.2Kj per KCal so it's relatively easy to work back from energy expenditure to required intake.
Regarding the comments around fat, have a look at the suggestions for 'long day in the saddle' in this article
[url= https://cyclingtips.com/2016/11/breakfast-for-cyclists-what-to-eat-when/ ]Cyclingtips - Ella[/url]
Specifically this bit
“As the ride gets longer and at a lower intensity, I recommend upping the fats. Fats provide a long, slow release fuel source that can keep us going for hours and hours,” said Marsh. “It is important to consider though, that we do need to get used to running on them and many people are very reliant on carbohydrates and sugar instead. This transition can take some time for the body to adjust to.Marsh’s suggestions: Roasted sweet potato, mixed veggies and eggs. Or something like a high quality toast with smashed avocado and eggs. For a bonus probiotic, you can add some fermented veggies or Kim Chi.
Now when she talks about fats, clearly she's not talking about the sort that leeches out of a Big Mac. But makes interesting reading..
It's funny to read the above comments... especially the ones highlighting 'you're eating too much'.
I suppose it all depends on teh rider. I ride with people who don't eat ANYTHING before or on a ride, and manage just fine.
Me..I'll eat tea, then probably have a bar or two, and some sweets, and STILL be hungry.. I'm known for being a hungry rider...
I think it's (surprise surprise) all individual - yes, there are generic suggestions, but each to their own..
DrP
@adsh don't you mean "KCal consumed"? The body is somewhere around 20-25% efficient at converting food to energy and it just happens that there's approximately 4.2Kj per KCal so it's relatively easy to work back from energy expenditure to required intake.
Nope I mean KJ of energy expended as measured by a power meter. My understanding is that the body is inefficient enough at converting food to forward motion on a bike that the 4.2 goes out the window and it's parity. So 2,000KJ of work requires approx. 2,000Kcal to fuel if you don't want a deficit.
http://mccraw.co.uk/powertap-kilojoules-and-calories/
Porridge is the one - half water, half milk, some fruit, nuts and honey.
If I'm in a rush then I make some birchermuesli the night before. All you've got to do is grate an apple into the muesli in the morning, wolf it down and away you go.
3-4 hour rides can be done as 'base' miles much of the time, just ride steady on minimal fuel (ie try no breakfast if you're riding early) and get used to fat-burning over carb intake. Means that some weeks you could do 2hrs at a brisk pace, others do 4hrs at a slower (Z2) pace. Ideally, 3-4hrs at Z2 every weekend over the winter, 1x 1hr really fast ride mid week. By Spring you could be a far more efficient fuel burner with a better top-end as well as a brisker base pace. Much depends where you're starting from really.
So whilst now I can ride a long way on a couple of gels, I couldn't when I was younger. Changes in diet and training changed that.
Both kind of saying the same thing.
I used to eat like a horse before exercise, because that's what you need to do? Well now I don't and feel much better for it and ironically can go further.
I think its definitely getting used to using body fuel rather than relying on food taken immediately prior or during exercise.
In to much of a hurry to make a bowl of porridge? Really.
In to much of a hurry to make a bowl of porridge? Really.
To be fair I cheat and have one of these, no faff.
[img] 
?1461075376[/img]
Most important thing to remember is not to 'eat' when doing serious sport. What you need to do is 'take-on' - it's far more efficient, has far-reaching outcomes and will elevate your performance by up to 7%.
Some interesting reading aloft there, most noticeably the OP, that's not bad going donkeying that for bkfst after Fish N Chips, my guts swilling around just thinking about that,
As others have said everyone's different, I personally cannot stand porridge and don't usually feel like anything to eat until mid morning. So if I go out for a 45 miler at pace on the road bike I take a gel incase I bonk, a Cliff bar incase I bonk spectacularly and need to Sleep in some ones front garden, only happened once but it'll stay with me forever.
And the thing that's gotten me through most rides, Bergen bread with Peanut Butter and Jam, crusts cut off to aid digestion and cut into quarters so they fit in nicely. 4-6 hours usually double fluids one High5 4:1 and the gel goes with about 15 miles from home.
I don't pay much attention to carb loading, especially after the pasta parties throughout the 90's? I tend to eat mostly white meat and fish, veg, rice etc. Not through choice but because I cannot cook and the Wife cooks relatively healthy food which I never complain about, apparently.
It really is this simple:-
Porridge = rocket fuel, light the blue touch paper and go.
Why not replace the fish & chips in the evening with the 4-egg omelette?
Then in the morning you have porridge / cereal / banana which will probably save you an extra 30 minutes over making and eating that massive omelette!
Seriously, it's a 3hr ride, not an expedition to the North Pole!
One energy bar or some homemade healthy granola should keep you going on the bike instead of all that fat & sugar in the malt bars.
http://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/videos/sec-how-to/how-to-make-energy-bars-gcns-food-for-cycling/
Has anyone ever seen the legend that is 'binners' ?
If he does really exist, just how massive is he??
Pasta the night before then 2 eggs 2 wholemeal toast and a banana in the morning for a 4 hour ride with a few gels and a pork pie mid ride usually does me up to a 5 hourer. The pork pie is slow release and lines the stomach to stop yo-yo blood sugar that gels sometimes give me.
I wouldn't take everything too literally chopper 😉
Banana and peanut butter sandwich, made with wholemeal toast.........try it, its better than doping!
Also good recovery snack.
And an espresso obvs.
What's wrong with a chilli (the fruit, freshly chopped in whatever you're eating) before a ride? Doesn't have to be blow your head off hot or anything. Half the food I eat I frequently add a medium heat chilli to.
Before a 3-4hr road ride: homemade muesli with lots of nuts, seeds etc. Plus apple or banana and yoghurt (mango if I'm treating myself). I find I burn through porridge too quickly.
During: one Clif bar (with another as back-up). Have tried training myself to eat less on rides, with some success. For a century or more then I would eat every hour or half hour.
6-10 olives, each washed down with a martini
I often go out for a 2h30 sunday run off a bowl of cereal/porridge with a couple of breakfast bars and bottle of water in my bumbag. I'd have more if I was racing (ie a marathon) but for a steady run I'm carrying a lot of calories round the waist anyway.
Before a long ride I generally have two rashers of bacon, two eggs, mushrooms and then go. Train your body to burn fat more efficiently (lots of stuff out there about it), and don't worry about it. I'm a little eater, I'll have two flapjacks see me through a 4 hour XC ride.
more efficiently than carbs and glycogen? As said early doors if your relying on breakfast you have done the night before wrong. Easy enough to head out for a few hours on a bar and tea if you had a decent evening mealTrain your body to burn fat more efficiently
A horse, or a banana, depending on how hungry you are. 😉
Eggs benedict, the food of enduro champions.....
Anyone got any good links to ways of altering metabolism to be better at burning fat when riding? I'm presuming fat burning stops being feasible at higher intensities?
Look up fasted rides, the benefits of zone 2 'base' miles and the arguments for base miles for endurance riders. I posted something basic along those lines above. I found 1-3 rides a week before breakfast, black coffee only first, for 1-2hrs at a steady pace made a real difference over time but it's not something that happens quickly - maybe 12 weeks plus needed as part of a training cycle that includes fuelled rides of 4-6hrs in Z2.Anyone got any good links to ways of altering metabolism to be better at burning fat when riding? I'm presuming fat burning stops being feasible at higher intensities?
Fat burning does become a lower (near zero? unsure) percentage of your energy source as the intensity goes up, how much / when I'm not sure, probably depends on the individual and training?
Fuel can depend on the pace and most 'normal' rides will involve a mix of both fat and carb stores. Use fat more readily and you have more glycogen left, makes a difference on a long ride.Train your body to burn fat more efficiently
more efficiently than carbs and glycogen?
Ketogenic diet?
Pasta night before, scrambled egg on toast in morning and a whole sliced Soreen loaf with butter in final 30 mins of the drive to the event. Generally get by on 3.5 hour race then with a single gel or a baby-food pudding pouch.
sure this has been done before, but...
At the moment I'm eating a 4 egg omelette with some cheese, tomatoes, a bit of leftover chilli and then eat 2-3 soreen "lunchbox" bars every hour of riding - each one has 19g of carbs so probably the max my body can absorb.[\quote]WTF?
3 bars every hour?
on a recent ride with 1200m of climbing i had pumpkin soup with a bit of bread the night before, then 6 or more beers and several ciggies. that morning i had a schnitzel roll and a bananna. during the three hour climb i had a croissant and about 4ltr of water (was a bit dehydrated!). a musli bar at the top and that was it.
however the two guys i was riding with were constantly munching on pastries, energy bars and some wierd "power balls" his mum made.
surely you'll come back weighing more than you did before setting off?
I eat what I would normally eat. Maybe a little extra carbs. Nothing too heavy or massively over normal as I'll just need the toilet half way through.
Nibble on stuff as I'm riding. Up to about 3 hours (little ride) a cereal bar or something to give me a little boost. Anything longer and I'll eat a variety of things depending on how long the ride is and how hard I'm riding.
Full on races and I tend to go for drinks and gels. Long endurance rides and it is more normal food - ideally junk.
Longest ride this year I manged this year had a cake stop, pasta stop, pasty stop, macdonalds stop, sandwich stop and about 20 cereal bars, some flapjack, few bottles of energy drink, a gel or two, some jelly beans plenty of coffee and some redbull. Got to the end and was so hungry I could have chewed my arm off. But I was out for 36 hours and over 440miles so I worked up an appetite.
Two hour's before a big ride I eat brown rice with tuna and Worcester sauce. Can't eat a lot of pasta, but no such problems with rice.