WHAT SHOULD I BE EATING ON RIDES AND WHEN?
We ask the questions that beginners are dealing with and get answers from the experts...
NIGEL MITCHELL HEAD OF NUTRITION, EF EDUCATION FIRST!DRAPAC PRO TEAM
“When you first start out cycling you’ll hear tales of superfit endurance cyclists whose metabolisms are such that they can ride all day having only had a suck on a teabag for sustenance. The reality for newbie riders is that you’re going to need a decent amount of energy – especially if you’re joining a group with more experience than you. The novice is more likely to ride into the wind, to accelerate irregularly, to ride less efficiently. All of which means they need more energy. You can’t go wrong by having a pre-ride breakfast of slow-release energy in the form of porridge, with some fruit. When you’re out on the bike you should be taking on around 40g of carbs per hour – from a banana, or a couple of rice cakes, or a jam sandwich, or a purpose-built 40g snack bar such as the OTE Duo – if you’re cycling for two hours or more. When you finish the ride, wait until your regular mealtime to eat again. There’s no need to add more meals or have huge recovery meals in your day unless you’re doing long rides back-to-back.”
DR ADAM COLLINS HEAD OF NUTRITION, FORMNUTRITION.COM"
“As with most things involving nutrition, it depends on the goals. If it’s a ride for leisure of less than an hour, there’s really no need to ‘fuel’ if you’ve been eating normally, as you’ll have plenty of glycogen stored to complete the ride without issue, most likely even for up to two hours. If it’s a longer ride, there is some logic to taking on board some high GI carbs to keep blood glucose topped up and eek out your glycogen for longer. But bear in mind you can only really deliver about 1g/minute into the system from the gut. And don’t forget that includes the slice of cake you might stop for! If you are training with an emphasis on increasing endurance adaption you may want to consider ‘training low’, a strategy favoured by many pro teams, especially if a ride is of low intensity and/or of an hour or less. The concept of ‘training low’ can be defined as training with limited carbohydrate, whether that be training ‘fasted’ (without any food, such as first thing in the morning), or training ‘depleted’ (after a session that has depleted some muscle glycogen). The rationale here is that undertaking exercise with limited fuel amplifies the cell signalling associated with energy depletion, which, in turn, gives rise to greater responsive adaptation – causing changes within muscles that fundamentally improve their oxidative capacity and, therefore, endurance.”
“IF IT’S A RIDE FOR LEISURE OF LESS THAN AN HOUR THERE’S REALLY NO NEED TO ‘FUEL’”