maxbicyclemax

What are some simple foods/drinks before and during a ride?

plain water i know.
sweet drinks?
sport drinks?
fruit cake?
nuts/cereal?
sandwich??

just want some simple, easy to get foods. any ideas?
Cheers

eb314

Post ride, whey protein.

If you want protein before/during the ride, take soy protein.

During my rides, I usually only eat clif bars or gels. I usually have 1 bottle of gatorade and 1 of water.

late

There is really no point in getting hung up on the type of protein.
I like casein he likes whey. Drama

Products like GU have BCAA, these are amino acids your muslces use during exercise. I have some BCAA caps that I bring on long rides as well.

One thing we like during a ride is pretzels. Pretzels are supposed to be fat free, avoid the ones with more than a tiny bit of fat.

You don't want to ride on an empty stomach, and you need to replace some of what you're burning on long rides.

How you do it is largely personal preference. In the old days they'd knock back some cheese, cold cuts and espresso, have a Gauloise and hop on the bike. I figure
about anything is an improvement over that.

gsteinb

BCAA powder is way cheaper than capsules.

https://www.a1supplements.com/BCAA-Po...s-p-16359.html

It tastes pretty bad though. I used to mix it with kashi vanilla powder.

Still, due to the way supplements are regulated by the FDA there is very little empirical evidence that any of this stuff boosts performance or health. In fact, recent studies of multi vitamins seem to indicate that there may be serious health risks associated with their use. Men who got prostate cancer, and had been multivitamin users, had a far greater incidence of death.

jesspal

For rides 2 hours or less I use Heed, all carbs no protein. For longer rides 2.5 hours plus I use Sustained Energy with a shot of Hammer gel for taste. That combo is mostly carbs with some protein. Post ride Recoverite and if I ride real hard I mix Recoverite and Whey protein. Plus I'll take extra L-glutamine capsules.

Machka 

You've listed some good ones there ... also add beef jerky & salted almonds for the electrolytes and protein, potato chips for the electrolytes and fat, and pastries for the carbs and fat.

Of course you wouldn't eat all that on a ride that was less than 2-3 hours ... but those are excellent fuel sources for much longer rides.

You might also ask this question in the Training and Nutrition forum.

mloywhite

I use Power Bars before I start a new thread, it helps my spelling.

Hezz

There is some conflicting evidence in the research but from what I have studied here are a few facts.

Some studies show that a small amount of protein in a sports drink helps with endurance. Studies from Hammer claim this. However, other studies in other sports do not seem to bear this out. But most of those studies that I have seen do not look at really long exercise sessions of over 2 hours.

So it might be beneficial to add a small amount of protein to an energy drink. Soy protein supposedly burns somewhat less acidic in the body while exercising so it is recommended. But whey and egg protein is better for you after the exercise session is over. They help you recover better.

Since exercise creates a lot of acid in the body you don't want to be drinking highly acidic drinks like soda pop while riding. Though young riders can usually get away with this it will catch up to you when you get older. Almost no sport drinks of any kind are alkaline which is what you want while exercising. Pure water comes the closest. Pure water with green power (a health food powder made from highly nutritious green grasses and vegetables) with some kind of mix of simple and complex carbs is probably the best drink I have used for long rides. You have to mix it yourself. I use grape juice to flavor the green water. It's kind of hard to take without. Better if the juice is freshly made and not bottled. But use what you have available.

For rides over 2 hours long you have to think about eating during the ride. Some can get by on powerbars and such. I prefer real food. A sub with some meat and veggies on is good. So long as it has a lot of veggies and not too much meat. Dried fruit and nuts are good and easy to carry. These are about the easiest to take along since you can buy big bags at the store of mixed fruit and nuts and put some in a small bag to take on the ride.

For racing you need faster foods to eat like gels and powerbars. You have to experiment.

The best recovery drink that I have found so far is to juice some fresh carrots and celery and an apple in a juicer and mix in a little fresh squeezed orange juice for flavor. Juice the orange by hand, not in the juicer. It should be about 90 percent carrot and celery juice. About 50/50 of carrot and celery juice. Put this in a blender at the slowest speed possible (the heat at high speeds destroys nutrients) with some ice and vanilla whey protein (the kind without carbs, it should be mostly protein) and a packet of Coromega orange flavor omega3 fatty acid packets. It tastes good. You can feel it going to your cells directly for recovery. Far better than any packaged stuff. Use organic veggies if you can. You can get a cheap juicer for 40 bucks that works good enough for this.