That's what I've gathered thus far. I aim for a balanced diet regardless of my cycling plans (duh), but as for "feeding my ride", I feel like my body tells me carbs before the ride (with a little time to settle) and protein right after the ride. Protein before seems to sit heavy in me, whereas carbs have never kept me full for long. I might try to do a single hardboiled egg before a ride to see what happens, as I am kind of a fan of protein.

A reckon it depends on what you like and can stomach for breakfast and also how long it is before you are going to be able to get something to eat after getting into work.

I eat a small tin of salmon, some nuts and some fruit before heading out. I can go without anything to eat as well, but choose not to as when I get in at 07:00am the time I actually get to properly sit down and eat something is usually around 10:00am minimum, so with getting up at 04:30, that is a long time without food.

Mind you I get bored of stuff and swap my breakfast around a lot, so breakfast can be anything really

Man, I feel like i'm odd in that I eat a rather large bowl of cold cereal with milk (usually 2%). No coffee.

Course, my commute is a scant 6km, but I am up at 2am to get there...bloody baker's hours!

A bowl of warm oatmeal (200ml) works perfect for me. Only found out about that 4 weeks ago, never had oatmeal before that.

Oatmeal waffles with a little butter and syrup, coffee and fruit. A 13 mile commute will use all the energy you are eating. Just don't overdo it. Waffles are yummy. Ok, butter and syrup are yummy.

Hope I don't gross anyone out but I usually eat a bowl of chopped bananas, oranges and raw tofu with soja milk... my coffee is mixed 50/50 caf/decaf... :D

no commute, but i ride 15-20 every a.m.

banana, bowl of 1C skim, 1/2C granola (Mona's) and 1/2C of:

http://www.usmillsllc.com/stuff/cont...ce_highres.jpg

(or sometimes half a plain bagel with some form of smoked fish [whiting, mullet, eel, or salmon])

Another vote for oatmeal. I seem to get less hungry later in the morning when I eat it. I make up a big pot at the beginning of the week and then nuke individual servings in the microwave with a half cup of frozen blueberries and a sprinkle of sugar under it. It comes out as this island of oatmeal floating on a lovely dark purple sea of blueberry juice.

I like whole hard boiled eggs. They tend to fill me up without the "weight" of meats and/or milk. I think the fat content helps as well. I can also make a protien shake with just water and be fine. I usually give it time (15 minutes or so) before I ride.

Like another poster mentioned you might also want to think about how soon you will eat after arriving at work.

I like something with complex carbs so I don't get hungry until later combined with some quick sugar for the actual ride. I find good, old fashioned cold cereal with skim milk works well (frosted mini-wheats). If I had more time, I might go with hot oatmeal with brown sugar or maple syrup.

I eat breakfast soon after getting up, but I get bored eating the same thing every day. So, some days I have milk and cereal (bunch of different brands), others oatmeal with dried fruit and pecans, others frozen waffles with yogurt and light syrup. I crave carbs when I get up, so I seldom have eggs, which also take longer to prepare. I have ridden to work with no breakfast when I've overslept, but where do you guys work where you can eat breakfast on the job?

For a healthy carb breakfast that will stick with you, try steel-cut oatmeal. I make mine the night before. Just bring the water to a boil, add the correct amount of oats, stir, cover the pot with a lid, turn off the stove and leave it sitting overnight. In the morning, all you will have to do is heat it up. I add dried cranberries, raisins and cherries to mine, along with pecans. Delicious with a small amount of brown sugar and milk, and it keeps me full until lunch time.

Oatmeal or a bagel here.. Shredded Wheat if my son hasn't snorfed the whole box :P

stick with foods you trust and that you know digest well. I like scrambled eggs and toast about an hour and 1/2 before I leave, and then a small box of raisins just before I leave

Lots of oatmeal eaters here. Every combination of oatmeal (steel cut, regular, with nuts and fruit added, etc.) I've tried leaves me starving after a couple of hours. Even worse when I eat cold cereal, regardless of whether I throw in fruit, yogurt or anything like that. Doing something along the lines of toast or a Nutri-Grain bar isn't even funny. Maybe my metabolism is weird.

But then again the two eggs, toast and meat thing tends to leave me gnawing on my desk by 10:30 or 11 am, unless conditions are such that I had to ride in like a granny. Luckily there's a good bagel place just around the corner for those times I don't bring anything and really can't wait. Normally I bring something snacky I can eat before and after lunch.

Right now I eat around 5:30 - 6:00 am, get to work at around 7:00 for the 7:30 start time. So yeah, it's good to wait a bit between eating and riding, but I really don't need that time. I've eaten a spicy Dante's Dog with everything then hoped on my bike and hauled ass for a few miles.

Milwaukee's Best Ice.

Three of 'em.

This thread makes me want to go out and buy some oatmeal.

I do software development. It takes my laptop forever to boot up and then there's all sorts of terribly important email / corporate website postings to sift through. That's plenty of time to nuke and slam down breakfast and coffee at my desk.

Oatmeal and frozen fruit.

Not much beats oatmeal for breakfast because it is "slow burning" so it keeps you feeling full for longer. Add the fruit for taste and nutrition.

It's really easy(5 minutes) if you have the boiling water ready for coffee or tea.

Hmm you all eat alot before work...

I guess it matters how early you wake up to go to work. Give your self at least 30-45 min after eating.

I try to get out of the house as soon as I can so I dont eat for my 15mi trip, then eat at work. Usually fruit, quinoa, oats, flax, dates, nuts and some vega powder.

I do either steamed oats and raisins with some flax seed and cinnamon thrown in; or a finely chopped salad with several kinds of greens, tomatos, peppers etc.

I like a granola bar or energy bar in the morning before I ride. Something that will stop my stomach growling but will also not make me feel sick. Just a little fuel. Then I normally have like a bagel or something when I get to work.

This thread reminds me that I've been meaning to try basically everything in this Mark Bittman article about whole grain breakfasts.

I usually have high fiber whole wheat bread toasted with peanut butter. Two slices of that and a glass of juice or some water and I'm good to go. Occasionally I'll have oatmeal instead or cook up an egg and eat it on toast, but the PB toast is my go-to breakfast.

Oatmeal usually or an occasional peanut butter on wheat toast. Washed down with a nice French Roast. Cardiologist gets a little stressed when I tell her I've had a big fat sausage biscuit swimming in butter!

I'm curious:

Do all you folks in here who eat and swear by oatmeal ride into work hard or pretty leisurely? I generally like to push myself, get my heart rate up, arrive at work out of breath and feeling like I couldn't ride much further (which screws me over sometimes when I think I'm going to work but then realize I'm actually going much further).

Also, how much oatmeal are you eating? I find I get sick of it after a cup or so (cooked), regardless of what I mix in or how I cook it.

My pace is 15-17mph in and 13-16 home as there's a 500 ft difference in elevation. Would consider my pace as moderate.

My oatmeal portion is about .5 cup. Also, I have a protein powder mixed in my 'gruel' as well. NEVER eat raisins in the AM unless I'm going to be working by myself WAY away from others...:innocent: Varying the cereal helps w/t boredom factor. Anything EXCEPT Raisin Bran. It took a while to get used to a large breakfast, but found I eat less in general as a result.

Food consumption/metabolism is a very individual thing. Just happened to luck into a diet that works for me. Conversion to soymilk took a leap of faith as it's rather expensive when compared to 2% or whole milk, but the numbers don't lie. My combined cholesteral was 254. Now it's 174. And it keeps for 3 months instead of 10 days.

Breakfast like a king, lunch like a merchant and dinner like a pauper. :thumb:

For me it's oatmeal with rasins and brown sugur or scrambeled eggs with some good bread. And a strong espresso coffee.

I'm all for the steel cut variety of oatmeal. But I eat after I my ride in. The ride in only takes about 25 minutes. I find myself eating cold cereal in the middle of the night. I should follow that suggestion about pre-cooking the SCO's and get away from the trash from Battle Creek.