Pre Ride Food.
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goonas
Posts: 205
Planning on going out for a 50 miler (first time) at the weekend during the day (starting mid morning) and looking for good ideas for a good breakfast to have before hand.
Cereals?
Eggs? Toast?
What do people find the best thing that would tide them over for a good few hours.
I am guessing this ride is going to be around 4-5 hours (at a leisurely pace -ish), its not a race, and its just a couple of mates going out to explore more than anything and put down some miles - but want to make sure am properly fuelled, but don't want to overloaded and bloated if you know what I mean.
Also how long after eating would you go out riding? leave it an hour for the body to digest?
Any advice is very welcome - please treat me as a complete novice
Cereals?
Eggs? Toast?
What do people find the best thing that would tide them over for a good few hours.
I am guessing this ride is going to be around 4-5 hours (at a leisurely pace -ish), its not a race, and its just a couple of mates going out to explore more than anything and put down some miles - but want to make sure am properly fuelled, but don't want to overloaded and bloated if you know what I mean.
Also how long after eating would you go out riding? leave it an hour for the body to digest?
Any advice is very welcome - please treat me as a complete novice
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Replies
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Health warning! I'm no expert but am doing the same kind of fairly relaxed long rides.
What works for me is a bowl of porridge followed by some peanut butter on toast about and hour before setting off.
It's important to eat as you ride as well - I try to eat something small every hour or so. Flapjacks, malt loaf etc.
Jelly babies are great to nibble on as well
Some people like nuts and dried fruit.
I tend to drink a mostly 50/50 mix of water and sports drink like Powerade.
I'm stepping up the speed progressively and will start to take carb gels with me as well as distance increases.0 -
Whole grain things before hand for sure.
Porridge is a classic.
I also like scrambled eggs (protein) on brown toast (whole grain carbs) with avocado (good fats).
Complex carbs are what you are after really.
While riding:
I use a carbs/electrolyte drink mixed to 50% of the instructions. The problem with carb drinks is that if they are too strong then your stomach will actually "suck" the water from your body to deal with them dehydrating you.
Bananas.
Small bits of flapjack but regularly. Sometimes to much in one go gives you a sugar high that you then crash from.
I also boil up new potatos, let then cool, peel the skin off and then roll them in salt, olive oil and grated parmesan cheese. Put 2 in some tin foil and its a great little trail snack.
Some times take a small bag of cashew nuts and just have half a handful once an hour.0 -
Mixing chia seeds and agave with your water will keep you fueled. It is healthier than Gatorade which has carcinogenic brominated vegetable oil in it. The agave is for a quick energy boost in the beginning while the seeds wait a little longer to to give you a boost. This is due to how fast they digest in the body, glycemic index, and all that.
Plus oatmeal and gluten free waffles are great to eat about 2-3 hours before your ride. Enjoy!0 -
Thank you for the varied responses, gives me something to look into.0
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Look into the book "The Feed Zone". It's a great cookbook for endurance athletes. My personal favorite is the Overnight Museli:
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
1/4 cup water (use only if using chia seeds)
1/2 – 1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of all spice, cloves, and nutmeg (optional)
1/2 apple, diced
2 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds
1/2 – 1 serving of protein powder (optional)
sea salt, to taste
Mix it together before bed the night before and stash it in the fridge. I've taken to mixing in frozen mixed berries instead of apples. If you need a sweetener you can mix in honey, agave, or real maple syrup.0 -
As the ride is so close - I would suggest you eat what you normally have (avoid greasy food though) - it is really not a good time to try anything new (not new new but trust you see what I mean ). Maybe a little bit bigger portion but no need to be huge - better to keep snacking on the ride.
Food/drinks during the ride the posts above carry great advice already.
Have fun with the 50 miler, let us know how it goes!0 -
I'd second (third/fourth??) a good bowl of Porridge, maybe with half a banana or similar sliced into it, and a couple of slices of toast and nutella or peanut-butter & jam.0
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I usually eat a bowl of steel cut oatmeal + chia seeds with a healthy portion of blueberries.
Re. the oatmeal, I always make my oatmeal in the microwave the night before, bringing the water + oatmeal to a boil, and let it sit overnight (so in the morning, I simply have to warm it up and I am good to go.) The water oatmeal ratio generally is 4:1 (1 cup of water and .25 cup of dry oatmeal). I usually make it 8:1 (2 cups of water and .25 cup of oats). I then add a tbs of chia seeds which absorbs any excess water.
Add a little fresh fruit on the side - a banana and or a couple of tangerines, and I am good to go.0 -
Look into the book "The Feed Zone". It's a great cookbook for endurance athletes. My personal favorite is the Overnight Museli:
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
1/4 cup water (use only if using chia seeds)
1/2 – 1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of all spice, cloves, and nutmeg (optional)
1/2 apple, diced
2 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds
1/2 – 1 serving of protein powder (optional)
sea salt, to taste
Mix it together before bed the night before and stash it in the fridge. I've taken to mixing in frozen mixed berries instead of apples. If you need a sweetener you can mix in honey, agave, or real maple syrup.
That sounds really good.0 -
Before a long ride I'll have a normal meal, then maybe a couple of shakes (ensure, boost, etc.) with a decent mix of carbs and protein. On bike, eat some carbs every 30 minutes or so. But I'm slow. You might want to do the opposite. LOL0
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Porridge before I ride and depending on the length of ride one or two bananas and plenty fluids.0
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Well it was a great ride, hurt a bit afterwards but we didn't stick to the proposed timings.
Anyhow, breakfast was 2 poached eggs on toast and some tea - that was it really food wise, both of us felt contented with the eggs and toast and any more would have made us feel a bit bloated. So 750ml of High5 Zero around the same time and we felt prepared.
In the future we may plan it a bit better I think, we didn't really take food with us on the ride, just the hydration and that was it - better planning next time me thinks.
We covered 45.2 miles in a moving time of 2 hrs 44 mins giving an average of 16.6 mph. We probably rested for about 30 minutes in total.
It was good fun 0 -
Just to add, this is the furthest I've travelled on a bike.
Hoping to be able to get up to the near 100's in the not too distant future.
The biggest thing I feel I need to work on is a good average pace, rather than just going out and going for it.0
