msu2001la

My point is that I'm not "skipping" any meals. I'm still gonna eat the same amount of breakfast, I'll just either do it before or after the ride, so I'm not sure why weight loss is being discussed as part of this.

I am not an expert on this topic, but I've always been taught that with a normal diet most people wake up with glycogen ready to burn before they'll be in a depleted state. I routinely do 2 hour rides in the morning with nothing more than a gel and some water, and I've never bonked while riding. I have bonked while running and know what this feels like, and have also learned how to manage my sugar/food intake over the course of 4-5 hours of running to avoid this state.

356C

I also am senior, 71, my morning ride is 12-15 miles on coffee. I eat after. I bring plenty of fluid on the ride.

holytrousers

fasting prevents muscle mass from being transformed into energy through ketogenesis , and forces the body to use long term energy reserves, fats. we have built-in mecanisms to deal with food and energy that our culture totally ignores. hage a look at this detailed article about fasting

DeadGrandpa

I don't believe in fasting or yoga. During the east Carolina heat and humidity, we've been getting up at 5:30, and on the road by 7am. We usually have eggs, grits and toast or biscuits. We take trail mix and protein bars with us, and up to 10 bottles of water/Gatorade mix between us. Daily rides vary from 42 to 60 miles, and it is good.

Leinster

Fair enough!

For my morning ride yesterday, I had 2 clif bar minis in my pocket, and a bottle of water on the bike. I ate the espresso Clif bar as I was rolling out, and kept the white choc macadamia nut in reserve. I rode for 1hr 05, and when I got home the kids were awake and demanding breakfast, so we all sat down and had granola with kefir, and I had a coffee.

Lscico

I mostly ride early mornings. 20-30 miles weekdays, between 16 (very easy) to 18 (brisk) mph.

I don’t eat anything. Maybe coffee and water.

If I’m going over 30 I pack an Rx Bar (that’s the one with crushed dates and nuts) and nibble.

Weekend rides over 50 to 70+ miles I bring pbj sandwich.

F308

Prepare your breakfast the night before. In hot weather overnight oats work wonderfully. There are lots of recipes on the net; personally I make a muesli mixture of oats, various nuts and dried blueberries 2 kg at a time. The night before I throw in some chia seeds, sliced apple and a banana and wet it down in a bowl. In the morning, throw in some yogurt and eat together with coffee and a newspaper. I try not to eat the newspaper though.

force10

How many of you are there? Ive lately been realizing that I am getting pretty dehydrated and I carry 48oz for for a 3 hour ride and run out in hot weather.

Just rying to figure out how to carry more.

DeadGrandpa

There are two of us, and we each have full frame bags in the front triangle, with a fabric bottle holder attached to the stem.

My frame bag is larger, so I can hold 3 tall bottles in the top compartment (plus spare tube, tire levers, pump and trail mix) and a tall and regular bottle in the bottom compartment. Plus one on the stem.

Yes, I have used a 3 liter drinking bladder in the top part, but I don't enjoy sucking on the hose. I also have a bottle cage on the bottom of the down tube, but I use that exclusively for alcohol stove fuel when I'm camping.

Her frame bag is smaller, as her bike is smaller, so she can carry 2 tall and 1 short bottle in the bag, and one in the stem bag up top. I would have included pictures but my camera isn't cooperating.

Frame bags are from Revelate, stem bags from Swift.

burritos

Since I've discovered road biking when COVID started, I've discovered for myself early bike rides. I wake at around 4:50, try to squeeze out number 2 and go. I am a strong believer in intermittent fasting. In an effort to up the metabolic stress for myself, I don't eat/drink anything before or during the ride. (last oral intake would be 8pm the night before, but no carb loading). My bike rides are around 50mi, though I have gone up to 65mi(to get the 100km challenge on strava). These rides are generally 3.5-4 hrs long. I bike through the Santa Monica mountains so I usually do 3500 to 4000 ft of climbing also. I bring 10 oz of water with me, but I generally don't drink during the ride. The first time I did this, I did eat 1/2 a watermelon after the ride.

gios

Took the pup to grooming this morning to catch the 7 am opening, so it wasn't until a quarter past 9 am until I started my ride. That's late for me (about 3 hours later than usual). Higher sun angle, already near 100F / 37.8C. Took me long enough to cool down after.

Troul 

mix about 4oz of dates with some cashew butter layered on potatoe bread. Have that 3x a day. One before the ride, the other two post ride. Consume other food as you normally would.

If you don't see gains after 2 weeks, consult a doctor.

FlMTNdude

I don't like riding in the heat either, and try to ride mornings 10 months of the year to keep the temp somewhat down. One thing I do not do before a ride is consume anything warm/hot. That includes coffee. It all raises my internal body temp and makes it all the worse. Most of the time I eat a small amount of oatmeal. My go to snack to bring along are Clifbar's White Chocolate Macadamia Nut. I also ice down my spare water bottle before filling, which helps some, as well as ice in the main bottle so I am not drinking warm water. The good news, 'winter' is coming. They say it will most likely hit below 50 degrees a few times.

AlmostTrick

Well, there you have it folks. Now, besides people eschewing food before or during a ride, we have at least one that skips even water! Waiting for a restricted oxygen post next. (your blood holds some reserves)

DrIsotope

As a person who openly admits to eating too much, I can say that many of y'all are eating too much-- before, during, and after. You know what you need to fuel 1-2 hours on the bike in the morning? You already have it. You could hammer your everloving guts out and not deplete what's already in you, unless you're hazardously thin, or have some sort of underlying condition. I'm old, I'm err... not skinny, and I can do 2+ hours on nothing but water with absolutely no ill effects. We're not hummingbirds, we don't need to constantly intake calories out of fear of death.

We won't see a day under 100º for the rest of August, so sometimes I like to get ahead of that. That means gettin' up, and gettin' on the bike, because by 7am it will already be in the upper '80s. I fill a water bottle and I go. There's also no rule saying you have to get out and hammer it every day. Take a nice Z1 cruise before breakfast. It's nice. Hell, when I do head out after breakfast, it's not unusual to finish 50-ish miles off of just that bowl of Raisin Bran Crunch, all 300kcal of it.

pdlamb

True for most of us, but remember O.P. had some medical issues that resulted in precipitous weight loss.

livedarklions

Generally, my morning start rides are going to be in the 50-100 mile range, and my routine breakfast is about 400 kcal and a really big cup of coffee. I've been doing the Saturday centuries with no food en route lately, and that breakfast seems to tide me over for the approximately 6 hours of riding. I don't question other people's eating habits, however, unless they are indicating they're having problems and want advice.

AlgarveCycling

I've had the same breakfast nearly every day for a year now - yoghurt, banana and a Red Bull Sugar-free (hate coffee). That's enough for a 2 hour HIIT session or Zone 1 or 2 Recovery ride. Longer rides I take gels with me. Hard long Group rides (or races) like I have tomorrow (2x a week) I'll take an Energy Shot (60ml) before I leave too. I have electrolyte tabs in my water as well for the longer ones.

Works for me.

burritos

While a human can't hold their breath for too long(22 min is the record) holding your breath or doing HIIT regularly can upregulate glycolytic enzymes. These enzymes can burn sugar to produce energy(ATP) without O2. When you need sudden power to climb a hill(HIIT energy), you're aerobically utilising sugar(w/o 02) to make a small amount of ATP. Yes eventually the breakdown products of that sugar will require 02 to give you additional energy. But next time you start to climb a hill, that burst of energy is energy derived anaerobically.

AlmostTrick

Thanks for the reply, burritos! Interesting stuff.

I don't believe many of the replies here, while interesting, are going to help the OP or people like me who eat plenty but have still always been thin. Riding on empty would be a big mistake for us. But that's ok, I'm glad I can eat whatever and whenever I want!

billridesbikes

For the long weekend ride (i.e. 4 hours or more) I get up around 0430a, make a pancake, some egg-white scrambled eggs and coffee, and right before go time at around 0600-0630 I eat a banana.
This keeps be going for the first 1.5-2h of the ride before I need to start stuffing energy bars, cookies, and dried fruit into my cake-hole.

For a one hour weekday morning ride, maybe only a piece of toast or fruit and coffee about an hour before and I'm good to go.

NomarsGirl

Sounds like a banana and protein bar will have to do. Gatorade in my water bottle.

fooferdoggie 

man you guys make me feel bad. All I can eat is protein an fat wit ha bit of veggies a few times a week. (medical problems) I don't even get fuel from carbs. so I eat bacon and eggs at 6:30 then hop on the bike and ride 35 minutes to work with commuting I average 30 or miles a day. but my weekend ride I have more energy a I don't have to ride right away I eat and have at least a couple hours to digest it. it does help that my stomach empties fast in the morning so by the time I get to work I am hungry again. I wish I had a source of fast energy I get cravings for carbs but they don't really do anything.