Monday, February 14, 2011

Riding Fuel. Before

Although it seems counter intuitive to write about nutrition on a blog entitled Bonk For Fun, I have had a fair amount of questions regarding food choices.  Since I vary my answers depending on when we are talking about, I'll cover this topic in three different entries: Before, During, and After.

Before:
Personally, I believe that "before the ride food" is the hardest to dial in.  Why? If you eat a big meal, you generally need some time to digest it before hoping on the bike and if you don't eat a big meal and your ride runs on the long side, it seems no matter what food you put down on the bike, you'll still be borderline bonking by the time you are heading home.  The solution to this is simple, if you eat 2-3 hours before your ride, you should be all set.  Sometimes, however, this is easier said than done.  If your ride meets at 8am, who wants to wake up at 5am to get some food down?  On those days, I do everything I can to have the food ready before I go to bed, eat as soon as I wake up, usually a little after 6am, then, if need be, go back to bed for another 30 mins.  I generally just stay up and try to catch up on my blog reading or do some last minute adjustments to my bike. I have grown to like not rushing out the door as soon as I wake up.
Some people can plow down a big bowl of ceral and hit the road - that is awesome, but just know, you are running on fumes.  In fact, the word breakfast refers literally to breaking one's fast.  When you sleep, your body is using all the calories you have gathered throughout the day to rebuild and rejuvenate.  If you are like most cyclist I know, chances are you went to bed a little hungry to make sure you don't pack on any extra pounds.  That fine (I know I try to), but that means your body's glycogen stores (body's stored form of glucose) is pretty well depleted.    Anything you put down right away, will generally not be available for energy for 2-3 hours depending on the composition of what you are eating.
All that to say eat 2-3 hours before your ride.  Your body will love you for it.

What do I eat?  It depends.  I have to say my favorite amongst favorites is chopped up fruit in steel cut oats with nuts.  It has all the calories in the right distribution of fat, carbs, and protein to keep you going in the long. 


So here's the receipe:
Ingredients 
1/2 cup uncooked steel cut oats (you can get these in the bulk food section of your grovery store for $0.99.  They look like little pellets.)
1 cup water (Recipe is 1 part oats, 2 parts waterSimple math if you making more)
1/4 cup seed and nuts mixture (again I get this in the bulk food section and eat them fairly consistantly throughout the day.)
Apple, banana, or other fresh fruit (chop the fruit up into whatever size pieces you fancy.  If I am going on a shorter ride or watching my calories for the day, I tend to up the fresh fruit and reduce the amount of oats.  Not recommended for the long boys.)
1 tblsp Cinnamon (Cinnamon is awesome, add as much as you can handle!)
1/4 cup non fat milk (more or less depending on consistency you like.)
1 tblsp Honey or Syrup (this is totally optional.  I tend to add it if I know I am going long and want the extra calories.)

Directions
Combine oats, water, nuts/seeds, fruit, and cinnamon in large sauce pan the night before.  Doing it the night before is not crucial, but remember that bit about eating right when you wake up?  Prepping and soaking the oats and nuts the night before helps them to cook fast.  I also have a theory that they retain more water that way.  In addition, prepping the night before lets everything blend together - think apple pie!

In the morning, get the water going for your french press, plop the concoction mixture on the stove over medium heat.  Cook till all water has boiled out (5-10 mins).  Pull off stove, let cool, add milk, and enjoy a day of bonk free riding.  You'll still have to eat on the bike, but this is a pretty damn good base to put everything else on.

Hope you enjoy it.  If you are still hungry, or get hungry before you head out on your ride, chomp down on a banana or something that is quickly and easily digestible.   And for those of you wondering where all this good wholesome food puts you caloriewise, fear not:
Perfect ratio to keep you going in the long.  Next up: what eat on the bike!

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