What do you crave when riding???
 

Ok, I rode pretty long for my first ride on Sunday and yesterday I rode the bike at the gym cause the weather was crappy here in Denver. But since all the riding I have been craving pasta alot. I made pasta for dinner on Monday and again I'm eating it today for lunch. Just wondering if other people have this craving as well.
I ususally don't eat pasta but a couple times a month so it just starting making my wheels turn in my brain. Could this be from riding more???

Snowy,

The only time I have cravings are after a century. Then again, after a century, I could eat anything that doesn't try to eat me first. I do indulge in an ice cream sandwich after a century. :)

I think what you are seeing is your body trying to refuel. Especially if you didn't eat and hydrate right when on your ride. I just wonder how much, and what, you ate and drank on your long ride?

Well, Lord Opie and I rode 53 miles on Sunday and I had water on the ride, after the ride I ate a protein bar of sorts and then went home and had burritos for dinner (yummy by the way).
I know that I need to bring something on my rides with me, but I was a dummy and forgot my bars and left them in my car.
Your right my body is trying to refuel and this is something new for me and I'm learning so any suggestions would be great!!

Your on the right track from what I can tell. Just don't forget your eats in the car. :)
I don't know if your working on weight loss or not, but if you are, avoid over eating or giving in to those cravings.

Hope Opie took it easy on you! :rolleyes:
Or should that be the other way around? :D

No I'm not trying to lose any weight and I'm pretty aware of whats going in my mouth. Thanks

I'll let Opie tell you what he thought!!!

A Medieval table groaning under the weight of dish after dish of meats and fowle. A table laden with soup, and salad, and about a hundred yards of dessert :p

Last week I mistakenly ate more protein than carbs relative to what I need. My rides suffered. This week, I've done pasta each night for dinner, and my rides have improved. I replaced smaller helpings of green beans with bigger portions of sweet potatoes. That helped too.

But what I really crave lately: sweets. Don't know why. I usually don't care for cake, ice cream, or even cookies. I make fruit smoothies after rides, and that does me right, but maybe I need to mix in some fruit earlier in the day.

She's fast out of the gate! I struggled to keep up for the first two hours, but cuz I had a bigger breakfast and brought a bottle of cytomax, I finally kept pace with her as she started to bonk.

So, Snowy, don't bring food again next time :D

Makes me want to visit Medieval Times where they joust and sword fight in front of you :D

Oh no LO, you better bet I'm going to eat a bigger meal, that run was just off a bowl of raisin bran.

I crave a huge steak, with lots of rice pilaf, not the culinary type, but the stuff from the box, those little pink grains are soo GOOD!

Naked cheerleaders cheering me on down the road. Oh and snickers bars, but mostly naked cheerleaders roadside.

When I am riding longer distances, I get crazy cravings for anything sweet or salty, in the old days I used to quell this with beer.

When you are fit, you will crave what your body needs, but you need to listen carefully.

In your case, I'd say that the craving for pasta is either a need for carbs, or if you put some sort of sauce on it, it might be a craving for something in the sauce, like perhaps, salt.

Some other common cravings and their real meanings:

-- potato chips, pretzels, etc. ... you're craving salt.
-- chocolate or candy ... your blood sugar is low, and you need something to boost it quickly, and then you NEED complex carbs or protein to stabilize your blood sugar.
-- chicken (that's one of mine on long rides) ... you're craving protein.
-- oranges ... you're craving Vit C.

In order to figure out what your particular craving really means,
1. consider what the basic ingredients of the item are;
2. consider what you might be needing just then.

Chances are the two will match.

Craving sweet things means that you need more protein or possibly complex carbs. When your blood sugar gets low, the brain sends a signal out that something sweet is required because something sweet will quickly raise your blood sugar. Unfortunately, eating something sweet doesn't maintain your blood sugar and it will drop quickly in a short period of time, causing another craving. However, if you eat protein or complex carb instead of something sweet, your blood sugar will stabilize, and the sweet cravings will diminish.

BTW - you might want to do some reading on Glycemic Index for further information.

Whatever I remember is in my fridge. Beer is almost always included.

I get the total gummibear craving after a 45 minutes ride. my commute usually gives me the all day any food craving.

[Craving sweet things means that you need more protein or possibly complex carbs. When your blood sugar gets low, the brain sends a signal out that something sweet is required because something sweet will quickly raise your blood sugar. Unfortunately, eating something sweet doesn't maintain your blood sugar and it will drop quickly in a short period of time, causing another craving. However, if you eat protein or complex carb instead of something sweet, your blood sugar will stabilize, and the sweet cravings will diminish.]

Huh, interesting. I crave a cinnamon roll the size of a baby's head and I get up extra early to pick one up on my ride to work. But I'm curious, why could this really be a craving for protien if it was a blood sugar issue, and at what are good complex carbs? Whole grains, potatos, pasta- does that sound right. I was a bit confused by the Glycemic Index thingy.

It's like this ...

Sugar (or simple carbs, or something that's high on the glycemic index scale), causes the blood sugar to spike. Eat sugar, and the blood sugar level goes up. However, a sudden blast of sugar like that triggers the pancreas (I think) to eject more insulin, the insulin deals with the sugar quickly causing the blood sugar level to plummet. And there's a good chance your blood sugar will end up lower than it was before. At that point (probably 30-60 minutes later), you'll crave something sweet again. It's a vicious circle.

But if you eat something with complex carbs (low on the glycemic index) or something with protein, your blood sugar will go up (because anything you eat is converted to sugar by the body), but it will go up much more gradually because the conversion process of a complex carb or protein takes longer. Insulin will still come into play, but not as dramatically, and your blood sugar has a chance of leveling off for a while before going into a slow drop again. That is much healthier for the system, and that cycle can last for a number of hours, rather than less than an hour ... so you won't crave sweet things as often.


BTW - potatoes are very high on the glycemic index scale - they are almost completely starch, a simple sugar. Whole grains, on the other hand, are lower on the glycemic index scale.

The only tie I crave something is also after a century... like a big juicy hamberger... during the ride I am thinking of others things...

No wind.

More miles.

after a long ride, nothing hits the tummy better then a carne asada burrito and 5 rolls tacos w/ guac n cheese and down that w/ a horchata drink