Bike Fuel

Cycl0tr0n

While I've lost a fair bit of weight by counting calories and riding my behind off (literally! ), I'm now trying to focus on improving the overall quality of my diet. As you can see if you check out my food diary, though, I'm not doing all that well -- first, I need to get back to eating lots of fruits and veggies; second, haven't figured out how to eat well on campus and not go completely broke. The idea is to improve performance by improving my fuel sources -- sort of like putting high-octane gas in your sports car's tank (says the boy who doesn't drive).

Anyway, I'm curious about everyone's bike fueling strategies. Do you eat differently before hard workouts or long rides? What do you find works best for you as day-to-day fuel? If you commute by bike, do you find that what you're eating significantly impacts how you feel on your commuting rides?

I will, of course, chip in with my own strategy, but I'm going to do that in another post to try to keep this one from getting too long

Cycl0tr0n

My Current Fueling Strategy (such as it is):

--Commuting--
Fuel quality does seem to make a difference for me. Using complex carbs (whole grain breads instead of white; oatmeal with fruit instead of oatmeal with sugar) and stuffing myself with veggies both really seem to help. I've noticed that as my commutes have grown longer (from 4 miles one way to between 7 and 17.5 one way, depending on the day's destination), fuel quality has become much more important in terms of how I feel over the course of the day and, in fact, over the course of the week. How hard I ride on the weekend also really depends on how well I eat during the week. I am hoping to work on improving this area now.

Tomatoes seem to be my personal 'secret weapon.' My body seems to love, love, love them. That or else it likes the stuff I eat *with* them (spinach, pasta, chicken, cheese).

I also find that if I don't take in enough protein, I feel it -- specifically in the form of unrelenting hunger. Sometimes it takes me a while to figure out what's going on, during which time I'll stupidly graze on everything I can find while forgetting that I've eaten nothing but oatmeal, bread, and vegetables all day ... LOL. Usually, a couple eggs, a chicken breast, or a can of tuna gets me back on track.

On hot days, I'll close out a long commute with a tall glass of Ovaltine (I usually use 2 tbsp per 12-16 oz of milk, depending) or, if that's not available, chocolate milk.

I used to eat a 40/30/30 ratio (40% carbs; 30% protein; 30% fat) with great success; as my daily mileage increases, I am finding that it usually benefits me to increase the carbs (as well as fruits and veggies) more than the protein and fat. I'm assuming that's because the body uses carbs as its primary fuel source. Ideally, I'd be eating about the same amount of protein I was in the past (when I actually had my dietary stuff together); it would just be a smaller proportion of my overall food intake.

Lately, though, I've been subsisting too much on crappy pizza and stuff like that at school and chicken-and-potatoes at home. This week, we've done a bit better on some days, but on the balance I really need to improve. I'm losing weight, but I'm not feeling as great on or off the bike as I could be.

--Long rides--
I tend to carb-load the night before if I know I'll be doing 50+ miles -- pasta, whole grains, etc. -- though I do try to couple carb-loading with plenty of good fat and protein.

On rides under 3 hours, I may or may not eat anything. These are the rides that I'll bring along a bar or something like that (which stands as good a chance at being left in a jersey pocket and washed as it does being eaten). The ones that aren't too sweet work best for me -- Clif's Builder bars are good, as are some of the weird vegan things made of seeds that our local coffee shops offer. I'm allergic to most tree nuts, so KIND bars are out of the question -- too bad, because they look delicious. Sometimes I make my own, using oats, dried cranberries, and so forth, but right now I'm not usually that ambitious. My schedule this semester is pretty demanding, so my homemakerly duties are playing second fiddle to some extent

For hydration, I'll either drink plain water, water with a little electrolyte blend added (Morton's Lite Salt works well), a home-brew sports drink (water, a little lemonade mix, and Morton Lite Salt), or something like Gatorade or Powerade if I really need it.

For rides over three hours, I try to plan ahead. What I bring to eat depends on the weather and so forth. If it's really hot, I get weird about texture, and I find that teriyaki jerky chunks and chocolate gels work best (if there's a lunch stop, I'll generally choose a wrap over something on bread if such an option exists). I haven't tried the little gummi 'power-shot' type things, but those might work for me, as well. Most conventional bars are too dry for me in really hot weather.

In more tolerable weather, I like to make a batch of what I call 'pizza rolls' -- pizza dough rolled around diced tomatoes and a bit of cheese or meat, then cut into manageable portions and baked -- the night before and bring those with me. I tend to also bring a couple bars or some gels as a sort of backup food, because 'nothing succeeds like excess.'

In cold weather, it's sort of 'anything goes.' Really cold weather demands extra calories. Sometimes I'll bring a hot drink, though I haven't had occasion to do so this winter (an insulated bottle full of hot cocoa was often a lifesaver when I was working as a bike courier last winter).

I tend to throw back some Coke or Dr. Pepper-like substance at some point near the end of a really long ride -- caffeine and quick sugar FTW, heh On anything longer than a metric century, I might allow for something like that at lunch, then again in the last 20 miles; on shorter rides, it has to be within the last 20 miles only. That's just about the only time that I drink non-diet* soda, so it's both a source of caffeine and quick fuel and also a treat (which is consistent with my upbringing -- we never had soda in the house, so I tend to think of it as something like dessert, only fizzy ).

My recovery drink of choice, as always, is Ovaltine. Once I'm settled down enough to be hungry, post-ride fare often includes basically whatever will hold still long enough to be eaten, LOL. I think if I had to do long, hard days back-to-back, I would do well to refuel carefully, with an eye towards quality. I made the mistake last winter of inadequate refueling after long days out riding for a living in the cold, and I paid for it with near-constant colds and fatigue. I hope I will be able to avoid that mistake in the future.

For the record, I find that running makes me absolutely ravenous. I can't even think about food *during* a run; after, I think about nothing else and will pretty much eat anything you put in front of me. Riding is a little different. I am sometimes hungry *during* a ride, but only sometimes. Usually, I start to feel weak and 'puny' (as my best friend's Mom puts it) long before my stomach sends signals to my brain indicating that we could use some input (this is a bit of a problem for me off the bike as well -- I won't necessarily notice the sensation of hunger, but my blood sugar gets low and I get cranky).

After a long ride, I am sometimes hungry, but usually not. I make myself eat, regardless. Sometimes, my appetite returns while I'm eating and then I want to eat everything that isn't nailed down. Sometimes it doesn't. Either way, I rarely manage to put back anything approaching the number of calories I burn on a really epic ride.


*Sometimes I'll drink diet soda if we're out for dinner, though mostly I drink unsweetened iced tea or water with lemon, lime, or cucumber (my favorite!), and I do tend to snag an enormous Diet Coke when we go catch the Met Opera Live in HD broadcasts at the cinema. I love opera, but it is definitely its own kind of endurance event!


--Projected Changes--
Now that I'm getting close to my goal weight, I'm really hoping to focus on better nutrition. I've transitioned from a sort of 'no-holds barred, winner-take-all' strategy to something a little more refined. The goal is no longer just to take off fat, but also to improve performance -- including, I hope, the performance of my immune system, which tends to be a little lackluster.

When I started losing weight, my diet was actually pretty awesome. I lived mostly on whole foods -- chicken, fish, whole vegetables raw or lightly steamed, sweet potatoes, tons and tons of salad, fresh fruit for breakfast -- with some good fats (especially olive oil) and so forth in the mix, as well as some dairy (mostly milk and yoghurt). I've really let that slip since I moved in with my fiance, Denis, who is still learning to like vegetables, which also put me further from school (the longer the commute, the less I want to carry on my bike).

I'm riding enough now that I really feel the difference when I'm eating well, so my goal is to bring back the more whole-foods oriented approach as much as possible. We're part of a food buying club that gives us year-round access to good, humanely-produced, organic foods, so we're working on making those the bulk of our diet. We're also eating out less, which is a big weakness for both of us. We do tend to eat reasonably when we go out, but sometimes the endless baskets of rolls are too tempting (and our favorite place serves fried green-chili wantons, which are obscenely good: DD always orders them, and I try not to eat more than a couple, since they're appetizers and really just add lots of calories without making me feel any less hungry).

I don't have plans to make major changes to my long ride fueling strategy, though, which seems to be getting the job done just fine.

DantheMan2517

Hey man, how's it going? What's your pace when you ride approximately 3 hours? What do you do on your longer rides? I used to bonk every time when all I had was water. On my longer rides, I supplement with Carbo-Pro, it glycogen in a powder. 2 scoops equals ~ 200 calories. It's tasteless and colorless when mixed with water, but I use Nuun, which is an effervescent electrolyte tablet. It's rocket fuel brother. I ride an A pace and that keeps me going essentially. You gotta do whatever works for you to keep from bonking, though. Good luck in school. I admire you.

Dan

bethlikesbikes

Fueling is a little different for everyone. Most people are fine with electrolytes and water for rides less than 90 minutes. Add some carbs and a bit of protein for longer rides. Eat no later than 2-3 hours before a ride.

Check out the Feed Zone cookbook by Allen Lim for great, tasty, easy to prepare recipes. Some are packable and handheld (good for taking to school). Book is also full of good info on nutrition and riding.