# Timing food intake during ride, and recovery - newbie to this



## 67King (Apr 16, 2020)

All,

Appreciate any pointers on how to keep strong during rides. I am new to riding, I have taken it up as the pools have been closed. I normally swim about 1.25 hours 4-5 times per week. Mostly some HIIT type of stuff, but some more moderate pacing. About 3,000 yards per working, less for fly workouts, more for distance free. If that means anything to anyone.

Before I swim, I have granola and greek yogurt. Drink about a quart of water. Don't have issues.

But riding is different. Totally different type of workout, in that instead of equal amounts of time in the top heart rate to rest ratio, I get prolonged periods of rather elevated heart rate in climbs, followed by moderate heart rate in descends. Towards the end, I find I'm just out of gas.

Have tried taking some Stinger energy chews at very beginning. And during, I have granola on hand, but have done peanut butter/banana sandwich, as well as a protein bar. I don't know if my food choices are a big factor, or if I am getting used to things. But eating JUST granola was the best, followed by granola + protein bar, last the granola + PN&Banana. Drink probably 3 quarts of water. Did go through the whole Camelback one day when it got hot, and I was overdressed.

I'm also not sure if the "lulls" are a factor. The route I take has a few segments when I ride on the street to go from trail segment to trail segment. Any time I stop to eat, or like last time to try to find the owner of a lost dog, or even have a prolonged descend, I find it takes me a bit of time to get into a steady breathing pattern with stable heartrate.

Rides are about 13 miles, I'm down to 1.5 hours when conditions are good. I noticed on my last ride when I just had granola that I seemed to eventually recover, albeit probably 30 minutes after I ate.

So, any advice for me on timing thigs when I eat, or are my choices poor? Trying to look mainly at complex carbs, though much of what I have read indicates that protein is pretty important, too (i.e. lots of PB&J type references). Do I need to cut out those, and go for simple carbs throughout whole run, instead?

On recovery, I typically use a combination of a protein and a more complete recovery mix (which is a 2:1 carb/protein ratio), depending on the intensity level (i.e. sprint workouts, more protein heavy, distance, more carb heavy). I haven't been doing that right away after biking like I do after swimming. I've been getting home and making a smoothie with the recovery, fruit, greek yogurt, and milk.

What kind of recovery plan should I be using?

FWIW, the trail I have been following is the South Loop, seen here. I run clockwise. http://www.outdoorknoxville.com/images-outdoors/maps/UWfoldedmap2018.pdf


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## celswick (Mar 5, 2020)

I’m just getting back into mountain biking after many years, but for me a 1.5 hour ride does not involve eating during the ride. 

I have a small bowl of cereal or a boiled egg before the ride and that’s all. I drink water during the ride. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## milliesand (Jun 29, 2015)

I also don’t see a need for food on rides under 4 hours, but have 3 liters of water and a 24 oz bottle of electrolyte. 

The electrolyte might be what you are missing. Search this site for more discussion on this. 
fwiw, I use Ultima


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## 67King (Apr 16, 2020)

milliesand said:


> The electrolyte might be what you are missing.


That was it. Well, based off of one ride. Have used some while swimming, but didn't notice a difference. Made a huge difference this time.


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## abaughman (Aug 25, 2018)

How soon after eating are you ridding? The body has a hard time digesting hard to digest stuff while in a strenuous exercise. I have to keep light on the protein during a ride and about a hour before the ride. Apple sauce works great for me, energy chews, I do take a bar on the 3-4 hour rides but eat it slowly spread out.


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## 67King (Apr 16, 2020)

abaughman said:


> How soon after eating are you ridding? The body has a hard time digesting hard to digest stuff while in a strenuous exercise. I have to keep light on the protein during a ride and about a hour before the ride. Apple sauce works great for me, energy chews, I do take a bar on the 3-4 hour rides but eat it slowly spread out.


Well, that depends on when I ride. When I went Satuday, I kind of followed my "old" typical day. IN each case, I have almost a half hour drive from home to the pool/trail. SO I would eat granola and greek yogurt about 45 minutes ahead of the activity. WHile the protein may be harder to digest, that is actually a good thing, as it stays longer. I had my daughter (an elite swimmer) talk to a nutritionist about a plan, and he said that breakfast choice was about perfect. It has worked for me for a few years.

In prior rides, if I had not had either breakfast or lunch shortly before going, I'd grab some energy chews and eat them rigiht before I started, say 45 minutes after I had some form of complex carbohydrate.


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## NorCal_In_AZ (Sep 26, 2019)

Like the others said, 1.5-2 hour rides I don't need any food. I fast most days till lunch. On days where I know I'm going to do more climbing or a longer ride, Ill eat a toasted bagel or english muffin. 

What you described sounds like what I've gone through in the last year when I took up riding. Its taken me almost a year to get my fitness on a bike to the point where I don't have to stop and reset every 20 minutes. Now I'll do a climb and max my heart rate out, then just drop the back side into a downhill.


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## dave54 (Jul 1, 2003)

The rule of thumb is rides <1.5 hours generally do not require electrolyte replenishment during except on unusually hot/humid days when you sweat more. Otherwise plain water is sufficient. 
Post ride should get some electrolyte replenishment. Depending on the type of ride you may benefit from a 4:1 carb/protein snack or drink. No protein shake, that may actually inhibit recovery if taken immediately post-ride. Save the protein until the electrolytes and muscle glycogen are replenished. Then another protein heavy snack every couple hours and right before sleep.


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