What to Eat Before A Long Ride
 

I'm a big guy ~300lbs, but athletic. I've been riding for 4mo seriously. My typical schedule is 3 week night rides 10-12mi as fast as I can go (strava has me at 14.5 including some stops major intersections max of 22mph on flat roads). I do one weekend ride trying to extend my distance. I've been going about 25mi and I am up to 30mi on my weekend ride. My riding goal is to increase speed and endurance by working up to a 50mi ride. My health goal is to loose weight. I am down 60lbs using CICO.

My current issue is with my long ride. I bonk at the end. Last week I got home, stretched, cooled down, ate and went to sleep for 3hrs. I use Nuun in my water and had 1 Gu packet about 1:15 into the 2:20 ride. I ate a Kind bar, a banana and 2 cups of coffee before I left. I live in a flat tropical climate, but feel that I hydrate well with the Nuun. I do need to start by 7:30a or it will get too hot and sunny.

I'm thinking my carb intake may be part of my issue. My fitbit shows me burning about 2000cal on this ride so I can afford to add some carbs and still be ok with CICO, but really don't know how to eat for doing cardio over that period of time. Any help from those in the know would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

100 mi breakfast

Totally wrong. Eat that before a ride and you will die.

Those eggs are over easy---eggs should be over hard.

Take my advice--it may save your life.

Also, rye or pumpernickel toast will help you generate extra power--- .o4 wats/per bite. White toast will weaken you. Google it.

Good job!

I lost 50 lbs using CICO in 2015. :)

Speaking from the perspective of a long distance cyclist who is trying to watch her weight ... I aim for about 500 calories before my long rides. So a couple pieces of toast, one with cheese, one with nutella and honey. Sometimes both with cheese.

Before my really long rides, I go with something liquid, like Ensure.

Any idea what that yellowish goop on the left is?

I was thinking ... a couple slabs of lard??

I think if ate that before my long ride, you could find it along side the road about 5mi from my house.

Calorie estimates are often too high

For your 30 mile ride calories, you should estimate 25 calories per mile. That's 750 calories, not 2000. You might be a little higher than that, but I'm guessing not more than 30 cal/mile. That's 900 calories in 30 miles.

(Riders with power meters can get a fairly accurate calorie estimate, by converting the kilojoules of work from the power meter into calories, with a simple formula. That's considerably more accurate than using heart rate. They often report anywhere from 21 to 25 cal/mile.)

"Zone 2" rides
I've experimented a couple of times with staying at a low Zone 2 for the whole ride. This is below where your breathing picks up speed. "Able to recite the whole alphabet in one breath". It actually wasn't easy to do, I even had to limit my usual mid 90s cadence. Any hill required the easiest possible effort, with light pressure on the pedals.

The theory is that this allows a high percentage of fat burning instead of carbs. It's supposed to train your body to use fat reserves, and adapt to long steady efforts. It's interesting, I rode 40 miles and wasn't hungry at the end. I'd normally want a meal after a ride.

Some olympic class athletes use this, 80% long and steady, 20% very high intensity workouts.

Let me know When you start riding 2,000 miles each month.

I am a Retired Baker. The White Bread Contains Vitamins required by the Feds.

Congrats!

Do you really bonk? Bonking is hypoglycemia. It can make you dizzy, weak, depressed and/or angry.

If you're really bonking during that ride, consume more sugar while you ride.

Oatmeal Oatmeal Oatmeal, some meat like turkey bacon

I eat oatmeal and coffee for breakfast every day, whether I'm riding zero or 100 miles. I just really like good oatmeal.

Organic steel cut oatmeal.

How long before starting out? I don't know how long it takes for one's body to turn that into energy.

This is very interesting. Maybe I'll try that this weekend. If doing this type of ride for 30mi, would you think that I still need GU?

that there is FUNNY! :lol: I can't eat too much otherwise, restroom issues. ;)

After two hours you should be out of water. Eat a Little Debbie oatmeal pie while you refill your bottles.

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1500648300

That's my kind of breakfeast. Except grits are missing. That's a man's meal. Miraculously, I've never died.

What does CICO mean?

I find a 2 egg omelette with green peppers, red onions, mushrooms, a bit of cheddar, and 2 slices of whole grain bread with a bit of peanut butter gives me good energy for rides of 20-40 miles.

Half-way through the ride I eat an orange or a banana with a handful of almonds to get me home again.

I've tried energy bars, "nutritional" gels, and other food combinations, and none of them give me the staying power of a good omelette and a few pieces of fruit.

Wait for it.


-Tim-

Oatmeal, wheat germ, berries or fruit.

Salt bagel. No butter.

Avocado. Tomato. Banana.

Fat free milk.

Stay away from the greasy garbage in the photo. It may give you energy but it will also give you clogged arteries and a triple bypass.

I would suggest eating a better breakfast, as others have mentioned oatmeal is great but any whole grain cereal with milk would be fine. For my 50 mile Saturday rides I don't eat any more than that.

If you are indeed bonking (which I'm not quite convinced of) you should start adding carbs earlier in the ride. I would suggest swapping Nuun for a sports drink and diluting it by 50%. That should provide enough to sustain you through the ride but you can add the Gu packet for a boost.

You really shouldn't need a whole lot of extra carbs for a 30 mile ride. Since you only recently started training seriously I think some of your fatigue is due to your muscles having not adapted to the higher stresses you have been putting on them. If you slow down a little or add a couple of short breaks you might have better results. Good luck!

OP speaks of high heat conditions. Hydration is just as important as consuming calories. Knowing I will be sweating a lot in high heat conditions, pre ride I drink a lot of water. For an hour before I start my ride I drink glass after glass of water. You want to start the ride fully hydrated.