Tuesday, July 7, 2009

the need for food and hydration


From time to time I bike with ladies who have not eaten breakfast prior to a bike ride and do not have enough high calorie food with them for the ride at hand. I have no idea how you can get on a bike in the morning without having eaten breakfast. Make time for it, get up a half hour earlier so you can eat a big bowl of cereal with bananas and orange juice too or eat a nice stack of pancakes.

In the summer on your ride, I recommend TWO large bottles with something other than water, try diluted Gatorade if you hate the taste or some such beverage. YOU NEED calories to ride.

Snacks should be high sugar food, nuts or high protein bars are not necessary either. Just good oldfashioned sugar, candy bars, twizzlers, bananas or any kind of protein bars on the market providing they have a good sugar content as well. Some ladies carry just regular candy bars.

On a ride you need food that will make it to your system fast, protein will not, so eating nuts on a ride will not give you the quick sugar blast that your body needs.

Most of us can bike 20-25 miles without food but with a good drink. But once we start doing 40-50 miles, you need FOOD.

Feel free to add a comment here of what you have found works for you on a ride.

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