Breakfast for Biking to Work

I usually eat when I get to work. Just a sandwich or a bagel & cream cheese. Something light.

I always ate when I got to work when I was bike commuting, usually a bagel or two and coffee.

Awesome that you're using your bike to get to and from work!

Personal preference.

My ride to work is about 11 miles and I never eat before I go. If I were to eat, I'd try to get a fair balance of fat/carbs, plus a little protein... probably something like an english muffin with peanut butter and a glass of OJ or milk. That would be my ideal. Realistically, I'd probably pop a handful of peanut M&Ms and take a couple swigs from the milk jug.

There's absolutely no need to eat before a short ride - you may want or like to but you certainly don't need to fuel the ride from what you've just eaten.

So it comes down to personal preference and what you can eat without it upsetting your stomach.
If that's your regular breakfast then have your regular breakfast.

Before a longish or hard ride then I would typically have a bowl of granola or muesli with milk and perhaps some whey protein in it. So mostly carbs with some protein and not a lot of fat works best for me.
Over 3hrs then I'm also fuelling during the ride - mostly carbs.

I eat the same thing I do any other day . I always eat at home.

The only difference is I don't make myself a bottle of tea. Hot tea in a water bottle is a no go for me

I bike commute, only 2.5 miles. But I then workout at my gym at my workplace. I am cutting fairly aggressively, with a planned weekly one pound loss a week, BMI 23 (normal range). I live in Florida, so heat can play a factor. I rise from bed and am on the road within 35 minutes.
I had to play around with breakfast a lot. I don't have much hunger or even thirst immediately upon waking but waiting until later left me with underfuelled. Also, quickly downing 12 ounces of water, plus a very fast meal then the exercise made me nauseous.
I am doing protein shakes now, made with almond milk and two raw eggs. That gives 42 grams of protein. I have recently started adding some frozen strawberries, which is super tasty, but was my effort to add some good carbs. Going to start adding a cup of spinach too. This mostly hits my hydration needs for my short ride.
I will typically have the exact same breakfast for every workday, so I pay more attention to this meal.

mistlechild wrote: »

Thanks for all your input, folks. I know it's not a far distance but this is my first time riding that far on a daily basis and was curious to know how other bikers eat prior to a commuting distance ride as opposed to a long distance ride.

If you're properly accounting for your activities, you really shouldn't have to do anything different...your normal diet should take care of things.

The only time I really concern myself with recovery food and whatnot is if I'm out for 30+ miles or I'm doing a 1/2 century or something. In those cases, I'm doing more than I normally would so I would need to account for it differently.