Mountain Biking - how do you fuel yourself for biking?

I have monster energy, the best drink ever!!! then gatorade + water afterwards.

A glass of milk.

Water.

If I'm gonna do a lot of miles I'll eat a lot the night before and the morning of my ride. I'll keep a couple of granola bars a cliff bar( Cookies and cream) and a couple of gels in my pack.I make sure my hydra pack is full.If its a shorter ride Like 10 miles or so I'll just hit a granola bar before the ride.

I have a 3 part plan for energy and hydration:

Step 1 - Good night sleep and a low fat diet
Step 2 - Before and during the ride I drink water
Step 3 - Right after ride my recovery includes beer...not all the time but most of the time. :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:

Quaker oatmeal & banana about 2 hours before riding works best for me. 1/2 a Clif bar & lots water on the ride (do without the Clif bar if the ride's under 2 hours).

haha, sandwichs and pop... maybe juice of some sort

cliff bars, nature valley bars are good but not as good as cliffs. water alot of it. gator aid right before i leave and when i get back.

someone said to eat lots of twinkies and drink strong kool-aid so you have sugar to burn. do people actually do that???

is power bar still around i have not seen them in a while>?

Vitamin water!! I drink about 3-5 bottles every day.

Whatever food is availble before biking, then water while biking.

My diet, does include plenty of Carbo-Hydrates to keep up energy levels before the rides. On the ride energy supplement in the bottle and a Breakfast after 3 hours riding. If no breakfast and it is a long ride, then plenty of cereal bars, dried fruit or Fruit cake.

B-a-n-a-n-a-s :)

I start with an energy drink, loud music to the trailhead and about 3 days worth of mental preparation for what I'm about to do. heh If I'm going to be in the saddle all day, I usually carboload the night before with a 6 pack only...don't wanna be hung over!

Not for every ride but the following can be thrown in the pack if I have them:

Clif Bars
Skippy Squeeze Stix - the chocolate flavor is awesome
Pringles
Orange slices
Accelerade
Water
Fig Newtons
Gatorade
Crystal Light Peach Tea or Rasberry
Clif Shot
Hammer Gel
Man I love food!!!

1 hour rides - water
2 hour rides - Cytomax ( if available, if not gatorade or water will do)
3-4 hour rides - cytomax and Gu
4 plus - Cytomax, gu, clif bar, fruit of the day

I water down my cytomax though.

For a regular ride I just make sure to eat something like an hour before I go out. Doesn't matter what so much as long as it's not a lot of dairy.

Longer rides I eat oatmeal and fruit with some OJ about 2 hours before I ride. I am always pretty well hydrated but I make sure to drink lots of water the day before and during the rides.

During the rides I will bring a powerbar (buy them 50 at a time at Costco), some gu that doesn't usually get eaten, and 2 bottles for long rides. A 20oz with just water and a 24 oz mixed 50/50 with water and gatorade.

Oj and some gatorade afterwards.

someone said to eat lots of twinkies and drink strong kool-aid so you have sugar to burn. do people actually do that???

Before I got a real job/going to school I used to do the Kool-aid thing. I didn't eat the twinkies, I would get the little Debbies oatmeal creme cookies. The larger ones have something like 240 calories each. Little easier to eat on bike than the powerbars.

Nowadays, I carbo load the night before. Something like the Chipotle chicken burrito. I get a Mt.Dew for the way to the trails. During the ride, gu and water. Post ride I hit the store for a Gatorade. Then start on the post ride beer.

Setting things up to go back and finish getting a degree. But with the gas prices going up, looks like I might just go back to the Kool-aid(or generic variant)/ Oatmeal cookies. Will not give up the beer.

I love monster, but it's too sweet. Water + Gatorade.

I like to carb load the night before with pasta of some sort (usually pizza cause it's easy). I have a good breakfast and usually a harvest bar right before I go. I down a lot of water before, during, and after the ride. I still get those hunger pains at the end of long rides, I run more primitive trails anymore (got tired of slashing tires on beer bottles) so I almost never eat once I'm on the trail.

i dont do the carb thing because if i did i would be a fat slob considering i ride every other day most of the time.

this might be kinda off topic but does anyone put gatoraid in their (i just lost the name of what it is called) the thing that holds liquids and goes on your back(best explanation i could muster)

i dont do the carb thing because if i did i would be a fat slob considering i ride every other day most of the time.

this might be kinda off topic but does anyone put gatoraid in their (i just lost the name of what it is called) the thing that holds liquids and goes on your back(best explanation i could muster)


One brand is CamelBak. I only put water in the bladder. I have water bottles for the gatorade.

I use a Hydrapak (http://www.extremetrek.com/111500006.htm) and put mixtures in it. It works better than the camelbak because the top opens up completely making it much easier to clean. I have used accelerade, gatorade, powerade and crystal light peach tea in it.

1 hour rides - water
2 hour rides - Cytomax ( if available, if not gatorade or water will do)
3-4 hour rides - cytomax and Gu
4 plus - Cytomax, gu, clif bar, fruit of the day

I water down my cytomax though.

lloll fruit of the day ha

I use whole wheat and peanut butter crackers 45 min. before a ride as well as 2 salt tablets called Thermotabs. then a pack of crackers every 2 hours of riding. I eat yogurt or drink a glass of milk within 20 min. ,when possible, of finishing for refueling. I stay away from fatty foods the night before I ride as well as the day of a long ride( KFC chicken does NOT make a good biking fuel, barf on side of trail city). Ive read where hamad cheese on whole wheat is an excellent preride meal. also beer has a lot of what your body sweats out so a couple after a ride is an excellent way to get back what you lose but dont over do it

48 oz. of beer just before the ride, plain water during the ride....

I remember most of my rides.

Go figure.

(PS, try drinking 4 beers just before you ride sometime & see how much harder it is....)

Amazing what you can make it thru/across when you have less inhabitions....

I Just eat whatever I feel like At The Time, I don't like it when I'm forcing myslef to do something That I will feel wierd about later. What ever i feel like I'll do, cause I get all wierd when I'm doing the oppostie of what my body is telling me to do. If it's in the morning I'll go out and get some energy juice. (Pimp_juice Works The Best Out Of Hype, Red Bull, Monster,Sobe, Sobe Arush, Hype Gold.) But that's only in the morning when I need a pick me up.