Training & Nutrition - Morning Breakfast before ride??

I am pretty new to the sport/cycling. For the most part most of my riding/training will be in the mornings for about 10miles+(and progressively add to the distance:thumb:).
I have heard good things about Oat Meal, Fruit, and Coffee. But basically looking for something my stomach can hold and not upchuck.

For rides under a couple of hours in the morning you can eat before or after the ride without a problem. I usually have oatmeal for breakfast but have also have had french toast, pancakes, bagels. Basically anything I would normally eat for breakfast. Since I never do very high intensity at the start of the ride I don't really pay attention to timing of when I eat before riding.

scrambled egg sandwich; or toaster waffles, or quick mix pancakes

scrambled egg sandwich; or toaster waffles, or quick mix pancakes

Speaking for myself, I can't eat eggs before a ride... I tend to taste them again after some moderate exertion. On the other hand...
Ten miles or so of moderate intensity should not - as previous posters have indicated - cause large gastronomic issues, unless you overeat. For a medium-intensity ride of under-35 miles, I will usually go with a banana and/or granola bar, if I am riding within an hour after eating; for longer rides, I bring food with me.

100 mile breakfast
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/10wheels/110milebreakfast.jpg

I avoid coffee or any other diuretic as it is dehydrating and makes me want to pee.

As far as nutrition goes, I'm on a ketogenic diet (LCHF: Low Carb, High Fat) and the great thing about it is you don't need to worry about "carbo loading" or eating GU etc. I like to tell my fellow riders, I burning diesel (fat) you're burning gasoline (glucose.)

A nice breakfast like 10 wheels (minus the coffee for me) is all you need. And I don't worry about eating along the way. I won't need it. A good hard ride burns 800 - 1,000 cals an hr. Even the an athlete with 8% body fat has over 40,000 cals of fat available.

The down side is a ketogenic diet is very dehydrating so LOTS and LOTS of hydration and electrolytes are required.

For short(er) rides, under 40 miles, I'll have oatmeal/cream of wheat, banana and coffee. For longer rides I'll be sure to eat a good and early dinner and maybe add wheat toast or pancakes to the breakfast, above.

Thanks for some of the tid bits. The 100 Mile Breakfast looks GOOD

I used to think I can't bike on an empty stomach in the morning - I'd have no energy and feel like death as soon as I hit any incline. But when I started eating more in general (especially for a few days before) I noticed that changed - I could easily get up, drink some water, and hop on my bike for the next half hour with full energy and vigor, even i my tummy was growling. So, in my experience, overall balanced and filling diet has a greater impact than just a pre-ride bulk.

But I am also talking 5-10mi morning commute, not 100 milers.

Everybody is different from you, what works for me may not
work for you. You may have to experiment a bit to see what
works for you. I get up at 5:30am and start riding to work at
6am for 17 miles, 4 days a week. I'm not hungry when I get
up so I don't eat anything before I ride. When I get to work
I usually eat a granola or protein bar. Just did a 106 mile
century ride last Sunday, just had 1 bagel with creamcheese
and some water for breakfast. Same thing with the last century
I did.

in the hot summer this worked best for me

Instant oatmeal with milk, and dried blueberries, cherries and cranberry for sweetness.

A Banana

1/4 cantaloupe or nice slice of watermelon.

If it is a weekend ride of a few miles I add 2 hard boiled eggs, with black pepper and salt.

2 strips of crisp bacon well drained.

You can substitute 2 slices of whole wheat toast with butter and jelly for the oatmeal. There is a Jalapeno Raspberry jelly I love.

I have allergies and often a bit of lung mucus and nasal congestion to get rid of. I have some very hot peanuts that I will eat 2 or 3 before I leave. They drain sinus I never knew I had.

I may cough up some stuff in the first mile if I have not ridden in a while. In the bad season I use antihistamines.

Rod

A nice breakfast like 10 wheels (minus the coffee for me) is all you need. And I don't worry about eating along the way. I won't need it. A good hard ride burns 800 - 1,000 cals an hr. Even the an athlete with 8% body fat has over 40,000 cals of fat available.If you're burning 1000 Cals/hr very little if any is coming from your fat stores.

For me it depends on the time in the morning. If I leave around 6 then all I have is a glass of milk, take a granole bar on the bike and have breakfast when I come back. Leaving around 8 I like to get a milk/yogurt shake with protein powder and fruit. Other times when the bread machine did its work, two slices of bread with egg, ham, turkey, cheese and a glass of milk is also good.

yogurt.

I am too and I bonk like he'll if I don't have carbs on my rides. Five hours in the saddle averaging 155bpm (41 and average conditioning) and I would be toast.

What are you eating on long rides?

The research that "I" buy into and works for "me" is as follows. Any ride under an hour requires no pre ride nutrition. Longer then that and you may need something (personnal choice). More important is eating afterwards (protein/carbs/fat) as soon as possible, which helps you recover faster which improves performance. Also, I believe riding on an empty stomach allows you to start burning your fat stores sooner, which is what many folks want out of biking.

For the most part most of my riding/training will be in the mornings for about 10miles+(and progressively add to the distance:thumb:).



Since we are NOT talking about going out and riding centuries (100 milers) ...



For your rides, and other rides under a couple hours, you don't need to eat anything. Ignore all these with their enormous breakfast suggestions. Your stomach doesn't have to deal with food. :) I would suggest a glass of fruit juice or something like that just for a few calories and, more importantly, hydration.

I used to commute to work a day or two a week ... my ride was 35 km and took me a little under 1.5 hours. I drank a glass of orange or apple juice before I rode, I had a large bottle of water on board (and would drink about half of it ... 500 ml), and when I got there I'd have a couple pieces of toast. Anything more than that was unnecessary.


However, one additional suggestion ... if you are going to follow my advice, bring a couple granola bars or oatmeal raisin cookies or something with you ... especially as your rides get longer. You won't be burning 800-1000 calories per hour as someone else suggested, 500-600 calories per hour is a lot more realistic, but if you feel quite hungry at the end of the first hour of riding, a granola bar or cookie can keep you going for a bit longer.

I am a big fan of the "pb&j" sandwich. Little simple carbs, little protein, a little fat. Easy to digest.

6-8 ice cubes
cup of milk.
Cup and a half of steel cut oats (non instant kind)
tablespoon of peanut bubutter

Put in blender.
Blend.
Drink.
Enjoy.

Healthy energy filled breakfast that is easy to make and easier to get down.
If you're like me, I have trouble getting breakfast down as soon as I wake up a lot if the time.

I personally live off of cereals such as alpen, cornflakes, beans on toast and chicken and chips. Alpen and cornflakes being my morning meal. Not sure what you guys would make of the content of these, but they've worked well for me.
But if you're looking for the 'ideal' 10-15 mile breakfast, Machka is certainly right, you don't need to eat anything. I'd stick to what you eat already (if at all), I would only change my diet from what I enjoy eating if it was exceptionally long duration rides. However, even for 10-15 miles, it won't hurt to drink a little more water. As for the on-ride-snack, I have a mars bar but I don't ride long enough to actually benefit from a snack IMHO (2-4 hours).

I've never been a breakfast eater, so for short rides I don't bother. If I'm planning 25+ miles, I'll eat a Cliff bar.

Personally, I find I don't need to eat anything unless I'm going out for 40+ miles (at at moderate pace). In that case, I will have cereal with milk or buttered toast, a little fruit, and coffee, then eat something starting at 20 miles and every 10-15 miles thereafter. If I know I have a good lunch stop coming up, I might skip one of those feeds, then take a break for lunch.

My wife, on the other hand, needs a substantial breakfast and then some food every 10-12 miles or her blood sugar tanks. We're all different. Keep track of what you eat and when, and how you feel, and adjust accordingly. One of the least pleasant rides I ever had was an 80-miler in the Berkshires where I had a black bean and chicken wrap for lunch (about mile 25). I'm not sure whether it was because the wrap had been prepared badly, or just the ingredients not sitting well in my stomach during all those climbs, but I could barely choke down Gatorade and shot blocks for the rest of the ride--a tragedy, since I passed a great ice cream shop on the way home (mostly downhill). I've decided to avoid so much fiber in the future. A good BLT, on the other hand, is an excellent mid-ride meal, if you pass somewhere that does it right.

scrambled egg sandwich but not right before the ride.

When I first started riding bikes I was extremely out of shape and riding without eating was completely out of the question. I would get sick. A lot of this advice is relative to your health level and how hard you are riding. 10 miles can be hard for some people. Also, even now if I go out for a ride completely empty it sometimes causes me to overeat later.
If you are fit I suggest eating whatever you normally eat like others have and see how you feel.

I'm a fairly high-metabolism type of person, and if I don't eat breakfast I really feel it even if I don't do any exercise. Unfortunately, I tend not to be very hungry right when I wake up, so it's a tough one to reconcile.

I've found that protein/fruit smoothies go down pretty easily even when I have to force it down, and they prevent the mid-morning crash that I would get otherwise. If I have a bit more time to wake up before breakfast (like an hour), then I like yogurt+granola+banana, sometimes with a bit of peanut butter if I really need nutrition (like before a race).

That being said, I've found that biking is much easier on the stomach than running, and as long as I'm not doing hard intervals or something, I can pretty much eat whatever and feel fine.

I will suggest you to have a glass of milk shake in the morning before going on training to get proper energy will you will lose there. Dont eat too much and avoid heavy food as it will disturb you during training

As with any nutritional advice, there is no one absolute correct response that works for everyone. Consider the options presented and do some experimenting and take notes about what works and doesn't work.

My nickle's worth of free advice is to get a mix of complex and simple carbs, don't eat too heavily, and give yourself a little time before going intense in your workout. Intense exercise shunts blood away from the digestive tract so if you push yourself hard on a full stomach, you won't digest the food well and may cause gastrointestinal upset. I personally like a light breakfast of something like oatmeal with a little honey or maple syrup and then carry some mixed carb snacks if the ride will be over an hour. Granola bars or oatmeal cookies work for me. While you need protein and a certain amount of fats in your overall diet, IMHO they serve little purpose in the pre-ride meal or as on-bike snacks unless you are touring or doing other long, slow, steady rides of multiple hours.

For 10-mile rides, you really don't need any special nutrition pre or post ride and shouldn't need additional calories during the ride. Just eat well and don't fill up right before your workout.

I'm no nutritionist but one time I had a half pound cheeseburger and a large order of fries from BunHuggers in Flagstaff and then mtn biked about 16 miles with an elevation gain of 1200 feet... Never again. I wanted to throw up the entire time.

I have a very simple routine. I buy flavored whey protein (Optimum Nutrition) in 10 lb. bags. I buy maltodextrin in 50 lb. sacks from a home brew supplier. I mix about 3 lbs. at a time of an approximately 7:1 ratio of malto:whey, in an old 5lb. whey protein container, a good reason to buy at least on 5 lb. container of the stuff. Yeah, so for bike food I put two cups of this mix in a 24 oz. or liter bike bottle and add water. That's 750 calories or 3 hours. Then for breakfast, 2 hours before ride start, I drink about 300 calories of the powder mix, or a little less than a cup, mixed into 16 oz. water. And I'll have a cup of coffee. That's it. I make it up the night before and put it in the fridge.

I'll start drinking from the food bottle 15 minutes or a half hour after the ride start, and continue with a sip or two every 15 minutes. That all sounds totally weird, but it works, it's cheap, and it takes no time at all the day of the ride. And I've never barfed it up, ever. For rides over 3 hours, I take more powder in Ziplocks. For really long rides, I'll get maybe half my calories from the powder mix and the rest from stores. On really long rides, the intensity is so much lower that one can eat sandwiches, fruit pies, and stuff like that.

One could simulate this with Ensure. Whack down a bottle of Ensure or Ensure Plus 2 hours before, and put either 2 bottles of Ensure Plus or 3 of Ensure in a water bottle to get the same 3 hour effect. More expensive and I don't think it tastes as good, but tastes vary.

A banana and some chocolate milk.

Breakfast for years has been fortified oatmeal(oats, milled flax seed, cinnamon, protein powder)sweetened with raw honey. Slice of whole wheat toast smeared with cream cheese and bit of Marmite. Do vary this occasionally with either oatmeal pancakes or 3 egg omelet. ~400 cals. Perfect blood lipids, and energy for 30 mile, no hurry, rides.

I'm no nutritionist but one time I had a half pound cheeseburger and a large order of fries from BunHuggers in Flagstaff and then mtn biked about 16 miles with an elevation gain of 1200 feet... Never again. I wanted to throw up the entire time.

LOL, thanks for sharing that

I eat according to the ride. I've been known to eat a 1000 calories or so before very long and intense team rides.
I do tend to eat more fat and protein than most but still a reasonable amount of complex carbs. Many years of playing around with my nutrition have shown me what works best but it does change every so often.
Ride food tends to be things like gels, energy bars, and the occasional coke. On longer rides I will throw in fat and protein during a lunch break.