79pmooney

I've discovered food that just requires opening two containers, a large glass of ice water and what's left from my water bottles. (If they are empty, I refill one with my electrolyte - always Vitalyte.) I can eat as much or little of this food as I like and feel great (to the extent that ride allows!) after. Corn chips and hummus. Specifically, Garden of Eatin' Red Hot Blues and good, flavored hummus. I like the King Harvest Black Olive and a local hummus I pick up at the farmer's market. Hydrating comes easy. Those chips are hot! And with just water/electrolyte, no 'super-cooler" like milk I have to drink a lot just to keep the fire down. The combo is so good I may eat half or more of a 10 oz container of hummus and the chips needed as shovels. Sometimes I eat so much I have no desire to eat again, especially if I arrived home late. Blessing is that I can go to bed and wake up feeling like I ate well the might before.

For me,the biggest post hard ride challenge is preparing something that is actually good for me when I just want to sit down. I often don't eat or drink enough riding. (I know. I don't have as good a 'coach' in my head as I should.) Raced in the day when most of us didn't have hand-ups so I raced whatever distance with two bottles (got a one bottle hand-up once) and what I carried in my pocket. Still have that mindset. Good philosophy for riding fix gears when you have to pick and choose where you are going to eat and drink. (Doesn't happen on fast descents or hard and standing climbs.)

I have also always been prone to being light-headed after rides. Recently I've been reading of the ancient India practice Ayurveda. It points out that there are 3 primary body types. I fall into the Vata type. Long and skinny. Light, airy and air-head, Sadly, it's not a force fit! That's the life I've lead since birth. Lightheadedness is also a Vata characteristic. I've always had the tendency toward feeling faint after getting up quickly. OK, so my struggles to eat well after riding hard, given that I do not have a spouse or cook - not a surprise. But finding something I like that much and that is so easy? Feels that good to my body and hydrates me so emphatically that I WILL get up when that glass is finished and get another (hot peppers have this wonderful gentle persuasion); wow!

And off-topic but funny and bike related. My racing days, late '70s Boston. I was in the form of my life. I was also a year into giving blood platelets every two weeks. (Dad was a life-long whole blood donor and had closely ties to Boston's extensive medical research and industry.) I was a regular at the Red Cross pheresis center. Platelet pheresis for cancer patients was very new. Just a few of us donors. 3 beds and 4 nurses who knew us well. I'd been doing the routine over a year and it was becoming second nature. This donation was done. I"d sat up and was on the edge of the bed. I'd raised my return arm (you "give" through one arm. the blood is separated with a centrifuge and all but the platelets return to the other arm), the nurse had bandaged it and I was holding the bandage tight with my other hand, Just as always. Now about a year after I started coming, they had recently remodeled the space, added beds (actually very comfortable adjustable recliners) and had just added nice carpet. The nurse's sink was across the room.

As I sat there with my arm vertical, it started to leak! And not just a drop or two. My first thought - that brand new carpet - this wasn't going to be pretty! I ran for the sink. In my cycling shoes and aluminum cleats skidding over the linoleum floor. Got there in time; not a drop lost. And my light head caught up to me in full! Had to lean over the sink, both hands by the faucet and just hang on while my head did circles. So faint I was barely aware of the commotion going on around me.

Well, I caused general panic! They were losing a donor! Passing out with blood pouring out! They quickly stopped the bleeding and gently returned me (arm in arm with two nurses!) to the bed. That I was feeling like "mission accomplished!' was beyond their comprehension. I was so proud I'd done that and completely spared the carpet. They were thinking they were witnessing a catastrophe. Sadly, that ongoing joke was erased a year later with my head injury. I never knew how they learned but donor info protection wasn't on anybody's mind yet so they probably just looked up my my phone number and asked when I missed my appointment. One of them visited me while I was in coma.

So, a better thread title - How to eat well as a post-ride air head

Ben

richardwilson

It is always good to have a heavy meal after every ride. This will help you to get rid of your tiredness and keep yourselves healthy.

lyf

Creatine in case you haven't considered it! On very strenuous rides I find it helps to supplement mid- and post-ride.

Mulberry20

[QUOTE=lyf;21565007]Creatine in case you haven't considered it! On very strenuous rides I find it helps to supplement mid- and post-ride.[/QUOTE

Creatine is a must especially for middle age riders and older.

Miele Man

A really good post ride recovery drink is chocolate milk.

Cheers