Training & Nutrition - Post-ride snack?

What's the first thing you eat/drink after riding about 2-3 hrs?

My rides usually start about 1 hour car drive from home. When the ride is over and I get back to the car I'll have a high-carb energy bar and a gatorade/powerade type drink, then drink 1.5 liters of water over the next hour. I'll have a proper meal when I get home.

I'm curious to hear what others are eating/drinking to rehydrate and restore their energy?

Whatever I can get my hands on in the fridge that's nutritious- usually fruits, or some kind of fruit juice (100% only!!!). Sometimes, I have milk.

I also do have some powerbars that I buy a whole bunch of whenever I am between snacks when I haven't been grocery shopping in a while (like now).

Koffee

I guess I'm pretty lucky to have all of our trails a 10-30 minute drive from my house. So I just wait until I get home and prepare an actual meal because it's about that time of day, whether it's breakfast from an AM ride or dinner from a PM ride. I also don't eat 3 square meals a day; it's more like 6 times a day and smaller meals. I usually can't go more than 3 hours without eating something. So it's a combination of snacks and a meal within 2-3 hours after riding.

So after AM rides, it's usually cereal w/ soy milk (lactose intolerant), with yogurt. Shortly after that, I'll have a banana an hour later, then my lunch another hour after that.

After PM rides, it's dinner which will be anything from green salad with pasta/sauce, chicken and bean enchiladas, to a tofu stir fry. I'm usually eating dinner within 1 hour of after I leave the trailhead, because I have to drive home (10-30 minutes) and prepare the meal.

I buy the Gatorade powder mix and make a Nalgene bottle of it and have it in the car for after the rides. I always eat a pre-ride snack too. Usually toast and peanut butter and honey. I'm going to add juice or fruit or simple carbs to my pre-ride snack to see if it helps with my "Elvis legs."

I don't think I could just rely on a "snack" 2-3 hours after a ride. I've got to eat a real meal or else I'd be starving. I'm also looking into making my own power bars rather than buying them. It will be a whole lot cheaper, so I'm sure that will be added to my ride and after my ride. I've got a few recipes to try I found on the web.

Originally posted by Shannon-UT
......anything from green salad with pasta/sauce, chicken and bean enchiladas, to a tofu stir fry.......... I'm also looking into making my own power bars rather than buying them....
Mmmmmm...enchiladas...set another place at the table for me :)

A friend of mine made some sort of energy bars, it's a great idea, you know what you're eating and you get what you want at a fraction of the price.

Lately, after riding, I've been wondering if I've been eating the proper food and drinking enough of the proper fluids that'll help restore what I lost during the ride. I sweat quite a bit, so I've been suspecting that I haven't been drinking enough during the ride and afterwards.

This week I made a conscious effort to drink more water and Gatorade/Powerade before, during and after the rides, along with more high-carb snacks. I've been riding 50 km a day for the past 4 days. I felt great on today's ride, I went faster, had more energy and felt stronger than I have on any 2 hr ride.

Better physical condition?...I don't know, but I'm not discounting the possibility that proper eating and drinking were contributing factors.

It really depends with me. Sometimes I really just want to dive into a big slice of watermelon. At other times I'd like that watermelon slice replaced with a big hunk of dead cow.

After a hot ride I usually will have a tall glass of water. Then I'll go to the fridge, grab a cold one (i.e., bottle of beer), and plop down into a chair. Food can wait! :)

First thing after a ride I have a 1/2 pint of water followed by a banana, then 3 oranges blended into a thick juice. If I rode hard I may follow this with a sandwich, else I wait until dinner.

Happy riding, Portent.

After a ride I go for protein to start repairing muscle right away. I've read that carbs are great for energy while riding, but protein is what the body needs after the ride. Eat a can of tuna or a burger without all the gooey stuff on it I've also been using Cytomax the past few weeks. It a gatorade type powder that you mix in water. I fill my camelback with 2 liters and this lasts a few hours. Cytomax is also a recovery drink and can be used after the ride. I got it on sale at Performance and its actually cheaper and better than gatorade. I also take fig bars along on the ride.

A can of Boost. It has an 80/20 carbohydrate/protein ratio (supposed to help recovery) and tastes pretty good. It's not very large but it helps control my urge to eat the first thing I find which typically ends up being too fatty.
I also finish off any Cytomax I have left.