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Nutrition Advise: Eat To Ride, Ride To Eat.

It happens to all of us...from professional cyclists to recreational cyclists alike, we all make costly nutritional errors while training and racing. Read on for some tips on nutrition on the bike!

One of the great things about being an athlete is that a major component in our training is how we fuel ourselves in both training and racing.

Specific to cycling, hydration is the most important nutrition component. That’s easy, you think. Your water bottle is within arms length, your gels and bars are in your jersey, how could anyone mess up their nutrition on the bike? Well, it happens to professional, triathletes, and the average joe cyclists alike. They all make costly nutritional errors in training and racing. I’ve talked with my coach, Siri Lindley, my nutritionist and one of my exercise physiologist at the International Center for Performance and Health about nutrition on the bike and they’ve all touched on the following key points:

Hydration Fact #1: Your objective for every ride should be to drink the same rate as you sweat. For example, it’s 70F and you are riding at a moderate intensity (70% of your VO2 rate) for a couple of hours, your fluid loss would most like be a loss of 27oz per hour. If you carry a 24oz water bottle, you should be drinking at least 1 water bottle per hour.

Hydration Fact #2: Fluid empties faster from a fuller stomach. (I had no idea!!!) Drinking frequently throughout training or racing will keep your stomach volume, which continually goes from full to empty, at a high rate. So be drinking 4oz of liquid every 10-15minutes while riding.

Energy Fact #1: Energy intake should come from 80% carbohydrate and 20% protein. The reason protein is added to the mix is that protein reduces muscle tissue damage, delays central fatigue, and assists in a quick recovery.

Energy Fact #2: You should consume 250-350 calories per hour while riding. Obviously this varies for different rides (intensity levels) and differs individually (how well you can tolerate the caloric demands). This is in the form of sport drinks, gels, bars- whatever works for you!

Keeping these four facts in mind will significantly improve your performance and your recovery. What I have found and what can’t stress enough- staying hydrated before, during, and after you exercise works so well for me…and hopefully these little tidbits of information help you!

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