Eat yer beets and spinach, to cycle faster.
06-03-16, 12:31 AM
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Eat yer beets and spinach, to cycle faster.
A mention in the blog Inner Ring led to this fascinating article.
Boosting Athletic Performance With Beetroot Juice, Nitrate and Spit - Kinetics
To summarize, eating foods rich in nitrate raise nitric oxide levels in blood, which temprarily improves cycling performance. These foods include leafy greens, beets, beet juice, and some others. The food should be eaten a few hours before cycling. No antiseptic mouthwashes, please.
Note that beet juice also temporarily lowers blood pressure, because the nitric oxide has the effect of increasing the diameter of blood vessels.
Boosting Athletic Performance With Beetroot Juice, Nitrate and Spit - Kinetics
To summarize, eating foods rich in nitrate raise nitric oxide levels in blood, which temprarily improves cycling performance. These foods include leafy greens, beets, beet juice, and some others. The food should be eaten a few hours before cycling. No antiseptic mouthwashes, please.
Note that beet juice also temporarily lowers blood pressure, because the nitric oxide has the effect of increasing the diameter of blood vessels.
06-03-16, 04:15 AM
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Been doing it for some time now. Just don't get too upset when the rental time ends. 
06-03-16, 05:10 PM
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Eating healthfully is always good. But I mostly commute about 9 miles each way over 45 minutes including lights, traffic, etc. and a 45-60 second savings isn't going to make much of a difference to me.
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