What do you eat before an early morning ride? - Page 2

If I'm planning to ride within 30 minutes, then I have a banana smoothie. If it is going to be at least one hour before I go riding, then I have porridge, with some chopped up prunes and pecan nuts added.

get up at 5.30am, drink a good amount of water, get dressed then out on the bike for just over 20kms. (would like to do more but lack the time and don't want to get up much earlier on a weekday)
i then eat when i get back - protein shake, bowl of multigrain weetbix with milk n milo.
no issues with the "refueling" method...

oats with cocoa sugar and dried fruit and a pb and jam toast about 1 hour before then i spank a 3hr ride. or on occasion ill do up to 90 mins then eat. if its gonna be more than 90 and i oversleep i stash a couple of torq bars and slam a bannana and bread on the way out.

In order of consumption:

1/2 Litre water
1 Banana
1 fruit smoothie
Organic muesli (no sugar or salt added) with soya milk, fresh blueberries, chopped strawberries and rasberries.
Rye bread with chopped boiled egg on top.
Cup of herbal tea with soya milk and honey.

(I get up pretty early!!)

good info. bear in mind also that the meal in the evening before is likely to have more bearing on the level of performance for a early morning ride than the breakfast on the morning of the day of the ride.
the body stores glycogen in both the muscles and the liver but there is a key difference between the pupose of muscle glycogen and liver glycogen. liver glycogen is largely used to mantain blood sugar levels when blood sugar levels drop, whereas muscle glycogen is used to provide a ready energy source to fuel exercise being undertaken by that muscle. this difference is key as over night, due to an 8 hour abstenance from food, liver glycogen is low; however, because muscle glycogen cannot be used for the purpose of maintaining blood sugar levels (the exception being the indirect case of lactic acid from the muscles being converted back into glycogen by the liver), the muscle glycogen stores are still intact. that obviously assumes that the athlete has properly replenished his/ her glycogen levels following their last ride, with this being especially important in the 2 hours after exercise where the enzymes linked to glycogen replenishment are at their most active. a heavily actiev endurane athlete need to be aiming for 65% of their calories from carbs to be confident of replinishing glycogen effectively befor the next ride if rides occur every day, although if ride are only a number of times a week then this percentage can be less as there is obviously more time to replinish glycogen.
eating breakfast is important in order to restore liver glycogen and blood sugar levels but in regards to high muscle glycogen levels, the meals of the previous day (esp. the post work out meal and dinner) are more so.

alex.

Porridge with lots of sugar and milk, a cup of tea and some fruit.

You can eat some complex carbs the night before (like oatmeal) and in the morning just take some power bars or gels with you on the ride. I like to eat one before leaving.


For me it takes at least two hours to digest a meal, usually three is better. It effects by performance so much that I don't even bother to get on the bike if I've eaten too recently.

Yoghurt and Fruit and I usually have Nuts and more Fruit with plenty of water in my backpack

3 Weetbix with honey and milo.

NO protein, muesli, nuts or anything else hard to digest thats gonna divert more
blood to your stomach lining.

After an hour or so snack on banana and/or power bar. (no protein)

When you get back from your ride get into the protein etc

Works for me!