shagohod

I did a quick search and didnt find an answer for this, so i was wondering if anyone had a concrete answer for it? 1 hr? 1/2 hour?

benjamin_s

Jump up and down, if don't feel like throwing up then your good to go.

HWS

Probably depends on how much you have eaten. I'll get on the bike 10 minutes after eating a banana. A full meal (+400 cals) and I'll wait an hour.

ericm979

It depends on the person, what and how much they ate, and how hard the ride is.

If it's a race that I know will go hard from the start (like a hillclimb) I will try to eat breakfast 3 hours before the race. For a training ride, I can do intervals two hours after breakfast, or a long endurance ride with an hour or less. I eat a pretty good sized breakfast but I don't stuff myself. And no meat. I'm vegetarian so I don't eat it ever, but you should be careful about eating significant amounts of meat and then riding right away. I have seen riders eat a meat sandwich during a lunch break on a long ride and then get ill on a climb later.

DataJunkie

I eat small meals that agree with my stomach. Plus, I frequently eat while riding.
I have no limit.
The level of activity does change according to how close I have eaten to what I am doing. Ex: no intervals after eating spaghetti for 30 min or so.

Machka 

You can eat while riding a bicycle, so ......

chrisvu05

everyone is different...if i have full meal before i ride I have to wait an hour or so to make sure my stomach is settled...otherwise it's bad news.

GirlAnachronism

I'm the same way. I do most of my shorter rides on an empty stomach or a banana or cereal bar. I'm okay with a bowl of cereal or a PB&J sandwich right before my long rides, but last week I made the mistake of eating a huge bowl of pasta with cheese, broccoli, and an english muffin and felt like complete crap for the first two hours of my ride. Luckily the climbs are on the way back!

Just experiment and you'll learn what your body does and doesn't like. If you feel good, it's probably working.

rumrunn6

Depends on what you eat. for example if I'm doing a morning ride I'll eat breakfast (2 eggs with 2 small sausages) at 5:00 am, then at 6:30 I'll eat a small box of raisins as I'm leaving the house.

If I'm riding home from work I'll eat a banana at 3:00 pm and then the box of raisins as I'm leaving at 4:00 pm.

Carbonfiberboy 

2-3 hours before is best, with 3 hours preferred. If that's not going to work, then immediately before is 2nd best. 1/2-1 hr. before is the worst. Eating during is completely different because your whole metabolism shifts into exercise mode, so eating immediately before is about the same thing.

jayhev

Agree on 3 hrs! Check Hammer nutritions website, there has been a good amount of research into this. I recently(6 months ago) started to follow this and have seen a noticable difference. If you go out right after you eat you will feel a little sluggish. It also allows you to prime the body up for those quality carbs you are going to digest during exercise. Do a search on Steve Born, He is your man for this subject!

Machka 

If I ate 3 hours before a ride, I'd have to eat again moments before I got on the bicycle ... my blood sugar would have dropped to nothing by that time. In fact, many times that's exactly what I do ... I eat 3 hours or so before I ride, and I eat right before I ride. I need to eat about 10-15 minutes before my rides in order for the energy from the food to still be around by the time I'm warmed up and really starting to ride.

nivekdodge

Wait an hour or you'll get the cramps and sink....

youcoming

This is one of those things iin cycling you will have to learn for yourself. Myself I can jump on the bike a minute after eating and have no issues except a few belches then everything is good but I only eat what works for me. I love pancakes before a ride or ceral, or fried egg sandwhich or ah heck I'll eat anything except breakfast sausage I find it repeats to often. Seriously I can eat almost anything and ride but prefer simple carbs like pancakes and real maple syrup. What has a bigger affect on me is what I had the night before, anything heavy or greasy like a burger and I struggle at start of ride.

Carbonfiberboy 

Exactly right, as usual. I do the same.

LaurettaFetta

I've read in some cycling books that one approximation is 200 calories per hour before your ride. So, for example 200 calories 1 hour before, 400 calories 2 hours before, 600...3 hours before...that is IF you want your stomach cleared by the time you start. (If there is food in your stomach when you ride, your stomach and muscles will be competing for your blood supply and your muscles will win, potentially giving you an upset stomach). Of course, everybody's metabolism is different, so perhaps try starting from there and see what works. Carbohydrates, and particularly sugars, are digested much more rapidly than a meal consisting of more protein and fat. So, I would think that would need to be taken into consideration, also.

When I go on my weekend longer rides (typically 40-60 miles on average, give or take), I'll wake up an hour and a half or two hours before the ride and eat 2-300 calories. I have found that the 200 calorie/hour rule has been a good rule of thumb for me and I haven't had any stomach problems starting out a ride. Make sure you hydrate before the ride also

LaurettaFetta

Oh yeah, also, I've seen in some books that the rules change depending on the type of ride....ie. if it's a typical training ride, race, longer, shorter, etc. It doesn't seem like it changes THAT much. If you are going to be going a shorter distance at a faster pace, then I think you can work with the glycogen you have stored in your muscles, liver, and blood. If you are going on a longer ride, eat more and wait a bit longer for it to digest depending on how much you ate. Experiment with yourself to figure out what works best with your system

jmess

For me I generally ride in the early AM and need 10-15 minutes after my PB&J or clif bar, + banana to see if my bowels are ready for a 2-4 hour ride. I don't like unplanned pit stops.

melkman

strong reply

vermilionx

i was fine riding right away after eating a 3x3 w/ fries and soda from in n out.

10 Wheels

Eat while you ride...I do.

BadBurrito

wait time? we don't need no stinking wait time!

Garfield Cat

On some organized century rides, the well organized ones, you will notice what they provide at each of their rest stops. Then at around half way point or more, there is a longer break.

At that longer break, you might notice that there is more sandwiches and stuff and the rest stop may be longer.

chasm54

Guys, the OP left the building seven years ago...

rumrunn6

what I did last saturday worked out fine. had a big breakfast with eggs toast and sausage. didn't get my act together for a couple hours and then road for two hrs. so by time I got back home it was about 4 hrs between meals