whats your pre-ride meal?
 

Just curious.

For me, if its a 50+ mile ride, a Tim Hortons plain bagel BELT (bagel, egg, lettuce, tomato) with sausage, and a small iced cap about an hour before I start.

Shorter rides 30-40 mile weeknight group rides, a PB&J sandwich

I know my nutrition could be way better, but I mainly do casual group rides, and I've found the following to keep me feeling pretty decent on rides. Im not necessarily looking for better suggestions as I've had no issues with this (except the number on the scale not moving down, but it doesnt move up, so im happy :)), but curious what others eat before hand to have available to burn off during the ride. Maybe ill try something and see how i feel.

A pop tart and water.

short morning ride= hand full of almonds, banana, and bottle of water
longer ride=turkey on whole wheat one hour before, gel 15 mins before

I know it's weird, but . . . 2-3 hours before the start of a long competitive ride or event I drink 400 calories of a 7:1 mix of maltodextrin and flavored whey protein, dissolved in a pint of water. Then I start eating almost as soon as I start riding.

Before ordinary training rides, I might eat anything at any time or nothing at all. In these cases, it depends more on training goals than on what's going to stay down and fuel me best.

No eating for me for at least 2-3 hours before any serious activity.
Drinking ... yes ... but eating ... no.

Normal food. For a morning ride, it's standard breakfast foods like oatmeal, eggs, or cold cereal with fruit. Then, depending on the length of the ride, I'm refueling on the bike. Gels and bars are fine, but so are cookies, fruit, and nuts. Your stomach can only hold so much food and your liver can only store so much glycogen so it's pointless to eat a gigantic meal before a ride.

nutella on toast

same here

Either some apple cinnamon oatmeal with a banana, or Nutella on toast.

One of these:
http://katesrealfood.com/

And a bunch of water, with a diet coke chaser...

Refried beans, cabbage, and lentils. Maybe throw in a few serranos for flavor.

Either that or the same thing I'd eat if I didn't ride. 100 miles plus, I tend to favor Ensure Plus and avoid solid food at the beginning of the day.

I usually ride in the morning, up at 7 get kids ready and packed up, 8:00 have a protein shake with frozen fruit with oatmeal thrown in mixed with milk. On the road by 8:30, if its a huge ride I like to start off with pancakes.

No food before serious riding, else I'll puke it all up!

Your bike must be jet powered.

I thought I was the only one :) and a banana

The usual.

A cliff bar or a corn bread muffin. I don't generally eat much, if anything, during the day, but try to eat a little something before I ride.

tons of oatmeal

OJ, sachet of oatmeal and tea if it's a weekend group ride. Early AM workout before hitting the office it'll be some OJ and possibly a latte in the hour before I ride from my office. Solid food when I'm done.

+1 on a bowl of oatmeal 1 hr prior to my ride followed by GUs or a Cliff Bar after the 1st hour in the saddle and an additional GU every 40 mins thereafter.

Before riding to work - cereal and juice.
Before riding home from work - sandwich, fruit, cake.

where's RichinPeoria when we need him?

If I'm going for an organized ride I try eating home made spinach ravioli with roasted tomato sauce. (possible a few bits of Italian sausage). I found I was running a calorie deficit by trying to digest my usual oatmeal and hemp seed breakfast.
Not everybody can stomach that kind of breakfast.

I'm not hungry when I wake up early for my 6:30 a.m. rides, but I force myself to eat half a bowl of cereal and half a cup of coffee, just to have a little sustained energy.

2 eggos, lightly toasted.