Nutrition before riding
 

I am 65 and eating very low carb in order to lose weight. I am basically starting to train but it has been hit and miss. I have a trail nearby that is paved and goes around a small lake. The trail is about 6 miles in length. Yesterday I did 2 laps but my arms and quads were getting sore. This isn’t a flat trail. The climbs aren’t really bad but they sap my speed-down to about 5 mph in my lowest gear.
Would eating 2-3 eggs a couple of hours before riding help give me some energy?
If I do need a carb I need something that will be used immediately so I don’t mess up my weight loss. A banana?

Perpetuem.

I find a couple of eggs and 1 piece of toast gives me good fuel. You will no doubt burn off the toast,, but watch the butter.

I was honestly hoping for bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers. 😎

We use Country Crock instead of butter. I also eat Sola keto friendly bread.
I am starting to understand that I love adding variables to life.

No one needs three eggs at once. Eggs are a protein source, not what is usually thought of as energy food. You should be able to do 12 miles on nothing. That you cannot (yet) is not an indication that you need to do anything other than keeping at it. I like to keep bottles of 'Boost' nutritional drink on hand. The 'High Protein' (green highlight) formula is 20gm per serving and 240C. That's energy. And it doesn't take 2 hours for it to hit you. Bacon wrapped ... ... tsk tsk. That ____ is dead to you now. Become familiar with the "Mediterranean Diet". Allow some carbs at breakfast, lunch, maybe, but none at dinner. Invest in an Elliptical Machine and/or Concept 2 Rower. The cardio from anything less than 30 miles of hard cycling is negligible. You need a reliable handy source of cardio that you can pound away on without worrying about off leash dogs or loose gravel.

I don't follow any special fuelling strategies before my rides... Since my rides are early in the morning I just eat the same breakfast as I would on any other days when I am not riding. My breakfast includes 6 whole eggs and a large chunk of bread.

I eat 6 whole eggs daily all in one meal.

Long time low carb/keto rider here...

Few things:
-It takes a long time, 6+ months or so, to be really fat adapted and to have the ability to ride well in a reduced carb state. In the mean time you may have some good rides and some bad rides.
-You start your ride without a bunch of carbs stored in your body. Advice from some people that eat a carb rich diet may not apply - they have carb stores built in and may not need to eat at all.
-This is the biggest factor - intensity. Low intensity riding, riding at a conversation pace (or Zone 2) pace or lower burns mostly fat. Riding at this pace you should not require any extra food. Go above this pace on punchy climbs and the body needs carbs for fuel. And since you don't have many carbs stored up... things can go bad in a hurry.

In short, low and slow = fat burning. Climbing/wind/riding hard = carb burning.

If I know that I will be doing some climbing or just going out and giving it the beans, I will add a small amount of carbs before the ride. Just 20-30 or so, and I may take on 20-30 carbs per hour when riding. Just enough to keep me going during the efforts.

If I'm riding in the mountains or doing a century - I eat whatever I want.

Most young bodies store enough carbs (glycogen) for about 3-4 hours of hard exercise, without eating. I don't know how age affects this, but I suspect not much. Bonking (running totally out of energy, i.e. 'hitting the wall') happens when those stored carbs are depleted, in people without their fat metabolism already trained.

You could certainly experiment to see if a couple of eggs before riding lessen your soreness, but I suspect it comes more from oxygen debt during more intense portions of your ride. I would be interested in your results.

Otherwise, you could just regard going without food beforehand as a bit of beneficial stress. My 65-year-old body can go two hours on an empty stomach without any problem, and I think a banana, for me, in the third hour is psychologically comforting, but not really necessary.

Well trained athletes on a normal or high carb diet can store about 2 hours worth of glycogen for "hard exercise". Varys from person to person, and how hard you are going, but the dreaded bonk during intense exercise comes in at 1.5-2 hour range.

Low carb people, like the OP, are in a glycogen depleted state all the time. Very little stored glycogen. And if the OP is not truly keto and fully fat adapted , he will have even bigger energy issues - and eggs won't help.

I often ride with a low carb guy. He bounces on the edge of eating a full keto diet, he isn't really fat adapted, and he refuses (well used to refuse) to supplement with carbs. Things would often go very bad for him at the 45 min to 1 hour mark of intense rides. His blood sugars would drop into the low 60's and the man would nearly collapse. Nor was he good at sustained low intensity efforts - he was not efficient at burning fat.

Where did you get that info from? I thought 90 mins was about the point where most people run out of glycogen during “hard” exercise without fuelling. 3-4 hours sounds more like the limit for “moderate“ exercise without fuelling.

A banana an hour or two before your ride is a great idea. But eggs are not really going to help with this. You would be better off eating a couple of eggs after the ride to boost your protein intake, but it’s not critical.

I'd say skip the nutritional nonsense and just keep eating a regular healthy diet. As for the soreness I'm thinking its just normal as you start working out, so either take rest days or start with a lower mileage; maybe switch off bicycling with some walking?. As your fitness improves and you get in better shape you can extend the mileage,

Muscle soreness when tackling a challenge at the limits of your fitness level is normal. So is slowing down to 5mph. I don't think eating eggs or carbs before your 12 mile ride is going to get rid of the soreness or increase your speed.

Be patient with yourself. If you keep riding regularly, stick to your diet, and move towards your weight loss goals, those hills will get easier. Be sure to give your body time to recover. Take days off. Listen to your body. There will be days when 1 lap is enough. And there will eventually be days where your can do 3 laps.

Best of luck to you.

Out of the blue, about 18 months ago, I started to bonk on rides and after only 30 minutes or so. Then it started within the first couple of miles. Some days I would just get weak late morning/early afternoon when I wasn’t exercising.

I see a doctor regularly and went through all the tests and there wasn’t anything conclusive. Needless to say, my first thought was to find something to eat to combat feeling so weak; nuts, granola, bananas, etc. Without riding very much and adding more calories, I put on some weight.

I ended up trying a bottle of Ensure High Protein. I have no idea if it will help you. I’m guessing there might be responses saying how unhealthy the stuff is. But it has gotten me back on the bike, and solved my weakness issues. It is only 160 calories and I’m within 5 lbs of my weight when all this started.

John

My muscle soreness is coming from not having my bike setup correctly-I think.

The pace I usually ride gets my heart rate up to around 147 but that includes the hills. On what little flat pavement there is I am usually around 15-17mph. There are so many ups and downs I am constantly changing gears.

Mix it up. Add days of hiking around the lake.
A 10K will activate other muscles and improve your endurance.

What is your goal?
Overweight can mean different things to different people.
I would like to drop 20 lbs to improve my power to weight ratio and make climbing easier/faster.
Portion control and free time to ride/hike/lift are my nemesis.
What is your chief objective?

I normally do long rides weather permitting of 60-100 miles I will eat a couple of eggs and piece of toast an hour or two or three before I head out. I really have never bonked. I will eat a power bar of some sort ie Cliff bar or some generic brand bars. drink a couple of beers, and I can maintain almost 20mph for 100 miles and can maintain 20 for say up to 75 miles. I do a weekly 14-16 mile power hike trying to be around lower 16 minutes a mile ie try do the 16 miles under 4 1/2 hours. now that there is snow those are slowed to 17-18 minute a mile pace. on those power hikes my routine is always the same. two cups of coffee, one or two pieces of toast with raspberry jam no butter and an hour before starting take 3 ibuprofen (1500mg) I Usually drink one 16-24 oz bottle of water with a packet of Liquid IV mixed in at the half way point. I have never bonked. I am a clydesdale and 65y. bottom line I think you need to find what works for you.

I was 305 at the beginning of February. I got down to 228 by the end of September but my weight has plateaued.
I want to get to under 200 pounds with 175 being an ultimate goal-if I can get there.
I retired in ‘20 and was a supervisor for the last several years. That was when my weight started going up. I simply wasn’t working as hard but at the end I was almost literally dragging my feet. I was exhausted.
I want to get my speed up enough that I can do some group rides, maybe a fun race.

sounds like we are similar, how tall are you?

5’10”

I don't intentionally eat anything prior to a ride. I do try to ensure I have drank a glass of water or other hydration just prior. Sometimes just downing a 12 - 14 fluid ounces water immediately before going out the door. My body has everything it needs to start out and I supplement the fuel requirements with carbohydrates during the ride. I tend to side with the articles that claim carb loading prior to a ride is bunk. Certainly if you exercise at anaerobic levels every day, then you need to stay on top of your carb's. But that really isn't carb loading. That's replacing enough of the lost glycogen to be at your max for the next day. If you are going a day or so between rides, you'll have repleted your lost glycogen quick enough and binging on carb's will be for naught.

^^^^^ Pepperbelly, congratulations on your weight loss and better fitness.
I have plateaued at about 210 lbs at 6'2" with a high of about 260 lbs.
For me, to get down to 190 lbs, I will have to continue to downsize my portions and sneak in more short burst exercise routines.
Too much going on right now to escape for 6-8 hour bike rides on the weekends.