Cycling Fuel

Ricky91t

First of all, apologies for this somewhat odd/confusing thread, I'm not sure if it'd be better suited somewhere else so please move it if so!

I regularly do a 20km cycle, usually every second day, sometimes everyday. I do it for a number of reasons, to keep fit, get away from the area I live for a bit and for the scenery.

It's usually in the morning(say 8am) after I have some breakfast. Today I noticed something quite odd, my time improved by 12 minutes, it usually takes me an hour but today It was 48 minutes. According to MapMyRide I 'burn' between 600-700 calories.(That's probably horribly inaccurate)

The only difference is; I binged on some toffee popcorn(well quite a lot) last night and wondering did this act as 'fuel' for the cycle? There's a few common spots where I feel the need to either relax/slow down after some toughish climbs but today that wasn't a problem. If anything I spent more time peddling harder than usual.

I'm not really in the know with the whole calories thing, I probably eat around 2000 a day so this would have been on top of that, was it used as fuel for the cycle?

Does anyone else plan food intake before big/quick cycles and have you noticed changes like this?

Thanks!

seamus

Short answer is yes. If you binge on carbs 12-18 hours before any exercise your body will have a more readily available store of glycogen with which it will help fuel you for shorter efforts.

There's a lot of fluff science and argument about it, but I've found it works for me and there is a definite difference in my output/stamina if I carb load than when I don't. Maybe it's psychosomatic, maybe not.

A 20% improvement sounds like a lot though. It may have been a convergence of factors for you perhaps - an ideal tailwind, a few nights consecutive good sleep and perhaps a 3/4 day interval since your last session, on top of the carbs last night?

Brad768

This sounds quite similar to what happened to me. I go on a 20km spin during the week. I usually average around 24/25kph on these spins if there is no crazy winds. But I went out on Wednesday and averaged 28kph! Haven't a clue how it happened...I just felt like I was completely on form. Obviously a banana and a big maryland cookie is the secret pre ride fuel!

Arthurdaly

I'd ignore Seamus advice here, no need to binge on food before a training ride or race for that matter.

Nutrition is important, keep nibbling away on a energry bar or whatever you like and keep slugging on energy drink during your ride.

Unregistered.

Arthurdaly wrote: »

I'd ignore Seamus advice here, no need to binge on food before a training ride or race for that matter.

Nutrition is important, keep nibbling away on a energry bar or whatever you like and keep slugging on energy drink during your ride.

Disagree. I binge on carbs the day before a race or long ride: (extra bowl of cereal or pasta during the day and a pbj before bed). I definitely notice the difference on rides when I haven't followed this routine.

seamus

Arthurdaly wrote: »

I'd ignore Seamus advice here, no need to binge on food before a training ride or race for that matter.

Nutrition is important, keep nibbling away on a energry bar or whatever you like and keep slugging on energy drink during your ride.

Actually I didn't give any advice

You're correct, no need to carb binge before a training ride. It's counter productive. It's only really something you should do before a race or possibly a sportive if you're worried about beating a specific time.

Don't waste your time eating on a normal training ride unless you're planning on going particularly hard. If he ride is two hours or less you only need a good breakfast and some water on the ride. Over two hours a single bidon of energy drink and a small amount of simple carbs will do the job.

petethedrummer

Ricky91t wrote: »

The only difference is; I binged on some toffee popcorn(well quite a lot) last night and wondering did this act as 'fuel' for the cycle? There's a few common spots where I feel the need to either relax/slow down after some toughish climbs but today that wasn't a problem. If anything I spent more time peddling harder than usual.

Sometimes you have good days, some times you have bad days. often you can never figure out why. Keep binging on popcorn and see if the good times never end.

pepperfoot

sure. eating pasta or somthing with lots of carbs gives your body enegry. carbs are the fuel. i used to ride a lot too and im now working out in the gym. totally diferent things but overall your body needs carbs to burn to be able to stand for the effort. its idle to eat carbs all day long...like..a good breakfest then pasta for launch or maybe chiken...after cycling or workout you need to eat eggs or some other dairy product for the protein...your body burns the muscle during the effort. so you need to make up for it or you will loose muacle tissue. so...in a nutshell.

5-6 hours ( or in case you go out really early the night before ) eat carbs..pasta .
immidiatly after until 45 minute after the workout eat protein. eggs dairy products. and 4-5 hours after eat carbs again.

Lumen

pepperfoot wrote: »

...after cycling or workout you need to eat eggs or some other dairy product for the protein...your body burns the muscle during the effort. so you need to make up for it or you will loose muacle tissue. so...in a nutshell.

5-6 hours ( or in case you go out really early the night before ) eat carbs..pasta .
immidiatly after until 45 minute after the workout eat protein. eggs dairy products. and 4-5 hours after eat carbs again.

That is totally wrong advice for an endurance sport. The most important time to pile in the carbs is directly after a hard cycle, but then it's only necessary if you are trying to recover as fast as humanly possible before the next training session. If you've just done a long Sunday ride and aren't going to touch the bike for a couple of days, it makes no difference - you can replenish glycogen stores from fat, protein, whatever.

Whether or not to eat before or during a ride depends on the sort of stress you're trying to apply. Sure, you can ride further and faster on one ride if you eat before and during, but that's not necessarily going to make you a better cyclist over the longer term.

There's a lot of ****e written about sports nutrition. IMO it is a mistake to take advice appropriate to someone who is perpetually right on the limit of recovery (e.g. a pro cyclist) and interpolate it for a recreational cyclist.

High Nellie

Yes, some recipes here for getting fat IMHO - like carb binging, energy drinks and gels for a 20k ride.

BofaDeezNuhtz

High Nellie wrote: »

Yes, some recipes here for getting fat IMHO - like carb binging, energy drinks and gels for a 20k ride.

+1