EASY BIKE FUEL RECIPES

Long bike sessions are a key part of tri training, but how, when and what should you be eating on-the-fly? BBC Good Food contributor Katie Hiscock explains

For bike rides of of an hour-plus, it’s wise to consider how you’re best going to fuel on the move in order to top up the glycogen stores in your muscles – the body’s main source of energy during intense exercise. The most common source of fuel is the processed energy gel, which contains a concentrated source of carbohydrate, the key nutrient to provide glycogen. But while they might be easy to transport and deliver energy to the muscles quickly, energy gels can also play havoc with the digestive system and become pretty unpalatable after a few. So, what are your other options?

The beauty of the bike is that, compared to swimming and cycling training sessions, it’s far easier to transport food and to eat it on the go. For most cyclists, a good guideline to aim for is roughly 30-60g of carbohydrate per hour, though needs vary depending on bodyweight and how hard you’re exercising. When you pick up the pace and intensity, it’s important to start fuelling before you feel the effects of energy depletion – this can be in the form of whole food options or supplemented with energy drinks and gels.

The golden rule, however, is to trial eating whole foods during your training sessions before you try them out during a race, in order to find the type and amount of food that suits you best.

As well as these four, superquick and easy recipes outlined here, other options could include: 6 jelly babies, 45g raisins, 1 banana, half a bagel with yeast extract or jam or 2 slices of malt loaf. Katie Hiscock is a health and fifitness writer with diplomas in personal training and sports massage. With an interest in sports nutrition and injury prevention, she also works as a soigneur for cycling teams.