What to eat before a ride?



LA7

New Member
Oct 3, 2005
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I need to know what the best thing to eat is before going on a long ride. I've made the mistake of eating the wrong thing, and also eating too late, so I get on the bike with a full stomach.
 
In the morning, I like either waffles or oatmeal, with a banana. In the afternoon/evening, a peanut butter and honey sammich works fine for me.

The quantity depends on time of day, also. I tend to eat more before a morning ride since my body's effectively been fasting for the ~10-12hrs previous.
 
frenchyge said:
In the morning, I like either waffles or oatmeal, with a banana. In the afternoon/evening, a peanut butter and honey sammich works fine for me.

The quantity depends on time of day, also. I tend to eat more before a morning ride since my body's effectively been fasting for the ~10-12hrs previous.
Carbs, carbs and more carbs for long rides. I like a dinner of pasta, bread or pad thai if it's not too spicey. In the morning I like to top of my carb stores with a bagel or cereal. After a ride, a peaut butter and banana sandwich is good, or else I go for some turkey breast or some other form of protein to aid recovery. Read "Eat Right to Train Right" by Chris Carmichael. It's loaded with good information.
 
LA7 said:
I need to know what the best thing to eat is before going on a long ride. I've made the mistake of eating the wrong thing, and also eating too late, so I get on the bike with a full stomach.
I like something like oatmeal or spagetti. Plenty of carbs and both are easy to fix.
 
I get stomach cramps quite easily and I've found a new favorite pre -hard- ride food -Congee - its a chinese rice soup. It's really easy to make, simmer cooked rice in chicken stock until it's nice and soft - the consistency of pretty runny oatmeal (the rice will soak up a lot of stock), I like to add a tablespoon or so of grated ginger and some sliced shitake mushrooms too, while its cooking and top it off with a handful of peanuts (green onions taste good on top as well, but the come back to haunt you if you eat them before a ride :p ).
 
Eden said:
I get stomach cramps quite easily and I've found a new favorite pre -hard- ride food -Congee - its a chinese rice soup. It's really easy to make, simmer cooked rice in chicken stock until it's nice and soft - the consistency of pretty runny oatmeal (the rice will soak up a lot of stock), I like to add a tablespoon or so of grated ginger and some sliced shitake mushrooms too, while its cooking and top it off with a handful of peanuts (green onions taste good on top as well, but the come back to haunt you if you eat them before a ride :p ).
I might start calling you "emeril." Ha! That's downright fancy cookin!
For me, it's a large bowl of raw oats, topped w/ sliced banana and trail mix, in a bowl with milk like cereal. The only way to fly. Don't forget the coffee.
 
Usually a slice of toast on top of a small latte (nonfat milk). I'll try and drink a little water before I start he ride too...
 
How long is a "long ride " ?

Personally, I perscribe to the "Fluidity" model ........ and strickly stay with liquids on my rides, and even 1-2 hours before hoping on the ride(even for a longer ride of 3-4 hours). If you eat anything... keep it super light( toast w/ light jam). Maybe a powerbar before the ride. During ride = liquids (gateraide, jet-fuel, possibly a gel).

Now after the ride..... thats the time to chow down ;) :D
 
my stomach is very finicky when i ride long distances (for me, that's more than 40 miles).

night before: pasta/rice/polenta: that type of thing
that morning: little bit of fruit, yogurt, some oatmeal or whole wheat toast at least an hour before.
during: weak gatorade and half a powerbar sucked on in little bits until its gone
after: water, water, water
way after: time to CHOW DOWN!
 
Night before veggie pizza. morning oatmeal or life ceral and a gel. during Hammers HEED drink, water and Hammer gels. i like Hammer because they use no frutose or sugar, they use long chain maltodextrin. another that works well with me is Carbo Pro.ingredients are only pure glucose polymers extracted from food grains. it has no taste, mix with water juice etc.
 
Spagetti and meatballs the night before. The morning of a baked potato salted with a teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar plus 50mg hyaloronic acid (keeps the hamstrings hydrated). Whole wheat toast, fruit, roasted salted almonds... etc
 
Carbs take about 8-9 hours to get converted into anything usefull, so I usually load those up the night before. Same with water. Morning of is usually something light, toast with jelly or oatmeal and of course coffee. I like bananas while riding because they're soft and don't take too much water to digest. I'll start out the ride with water, and depending on how hot it is maybe grab some Gatorade going into the third hour. After the ride, pb&j on whole wheat with chocolate milk. And more water.