Protein from whole foods or supplements?

I have recently been looking at regualting my protein intake as many sources seem to suggest keeping daily protein intake at around 100 grams which is then best split into four meals which are said to be most nutritionally effective spaced apart by three hours.
At the moment i am managing to do this by eating a meal containing around 25g of protein every three hours from my breakfast at 6.30am and then having a main meal at night that usually includes some sort of pasta. My sources of protein currently are from whole foods such as peanuts, shredded wheat breakfast cereal, milk, chicken and clif bars but i am wondering if it would be more effective for me to get my protein from another source such as a specially formulated powder or another product that may have benefits over consuming whole foods. Also if anyone has any siggestions of other protein rich foods to try i am all ears.

It is always preferable to get your nutrition from whole foods because the bioavailability is higher. That said, as someone who eats "mainly" vegetarian, I take protein shakes to ensure I meet my needs. Add some cold water fish to your diet such as salmon and albacore tuna as they are great sources of pr- and have EPA/DHA for heart health, etc, etc.

You can consume boiled eggs or omlette form , as far as i know chicken eggs amino acid profile much like human amino acid profile, nonetheless some call egg protein as perfect protein. Spend your money on good food as you can. Bioavailability is an other important factor.

Average egg - 6gr. protein, 3 gr. comes from yolk, 3gr. from white.

Ohh, by the way, max. 2 yolks in a day ..

I think that all depends on what level you are training and what part of the season it is for you. So I guess I would say bolth

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Cliff bars and peanuts are perhaps not your best source of protein per se. Cliff bars are mainly carbs and will pack the weight on fast, unless used in conjunction with riding-- i.e. during for fuel or after for recovery. Nuts are a good source of protein but hardly the most potent source out there. Chicken & fish are great, though Tuna is loaded with mercury and the current medical advice is not to eat it more than twice a week. Salmon can be eaten much more frequently because it is not a deep water fish that gets big and lives as long as Tuna, causing Tuna to accumulate more mercury.
There is always turkey breast, sliced and many stores sell it ground with various fat ratios-- 93/7 is good. The 100% is very dry, expensive and balls up when it is being cooked. There are also many good protein bars out there. One good one is "Pure Protein"
Finally, protein powder,made with either skim milk or water and/or whatever fruits you might want to add, frozen or otherwise, is an excellent source of whey protein. Bodybuilders inhale the stuff and probably are more nutrition conscious than you can imagine. I always add at least a scoop ( 30 g. or more) to my recovery drinks and consume more later. I have used Optimum whey powder for years and have found it to be excellent and very reasonably priced.
Take a look at http://www.carbboom.com/education/recovery.php for a great discussion on protein and carb needs for endurance athletes.

Try nutritiondata.com.

I tend to prefer vegetarian sources because they are low in fat and you need some carbs as you recover anyway. I like potatoes because they are a high enough quality protein for people to live on, if maybe not as perfectly balanced as egg, and they don't make you fart like beans do. They are good diced, boiled, and lightly salted. Some of the protein-to-calorie ratios of things like potatoes, oatmeal, broccoli, etc are not too far from a Clif bar. Plus, your body stays more alkaline and perhaps that's why there seems to be a bit less fatigue.

What the source of the protein is, isn't that important. My preference is to eat real food and use powder to fill any dietary gaps

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