Vegetarian Nutrition Question

Hello all,

I am new to the forum, so by way of introduction I am a relatively new cyclist. I bought my bike in late '09 and last season was my first full summer of riding. I did my first century in October and am gearing up for a few more later this season.

Since the weather finally broke I have been training in earnest. I have noticed that, on a good deal of rides, I am keeping up with the boys well for about an hour. After that, I start to feel a bit wonky. I think that I do a good job of hydrating throughout the day, but am maybe missing something nutritionally. Any vegetarian cyclists out there have any advice?

Thanks, Maggie's Sister

Do you eat and drink during the ride? I drink every 5 minutes (G2) and eat every 15 minutes (powerbar, usually). I'm not a vegetarian anymore; I've found that I have alot more energy and less body fat since I started eating meat again, but that's a personal choice so you need to do whatever works for you.

Eating and drinking during riding is critical. And afterwards, too.

As Tulip said, you likely need to eat something during the ride. Depending on intensity, I can generally ride for an hour to 90 minutes without solid food, but not much more than that. What else are you otherwise eating before and after your training rides?

I find I have to eat something every ten to 15 miles. It doesn't have to be much, a handful of trail mix is plenty. It's not just vegetarians, I have a friend who loves meatymeatymeatmeatmeat (her words) who rides with me, she and I snack around the same time.

I also add a Nunn tablet to one of my water bottles. In this heat, water alone does not cut it.

EDIT: I've experimented with amaranth pancakes (I make them half with amaranth flour & half with brown rice flour - have a wheat grinder so I grind both myself) and one egg for breakfast. Both times I tried it, I could ride 17 miles without bonking or getting hungry. I'm out of amaranth so I can't continue the experiment.

I've also played with chia seed - about an hour before a ride I set a tablespoon or more in a glass of water for 15 minutes, then drink it all (it makes a sludge, but it's good!). I think it helps *some* but haven't really put it to the test.

While I'm not a vegetarian - I did struggle alot with fueling during training for my century a few years ago. I tried every combination of food - usually carbs and not protein - nothing worked for me personally. But plenty of people on my team just stuck with things like PB&J, boiled potatoes, fig newtons, on their rides. I didn't see anyone focus on protein. So I would think if you are fueling while you ride sticking with carbs should be the best bet.

None of it worked for me - in the end GU with a dry bagel worked the best.

I drank and ate constantly on the bike - even in the very early miles my coach was hammering us to eat and drink.

I'm the opposite. I need protein during a long ride. If you eat eggs, those work well for me - if not, I've been successful with Perpetuem (soy protein).

I should clarify my eating strategy. If the ride only lasts an hour to an hour and a half, I may eat little to nothing during the ride, assuming that I ate sufficiently before the ride. For longer rides, I start eating at about the 15-mile mark and continue from there. The longer the ride, the shorter the intervals between bites of food. I can usually last between SAG stops, but I keep food on my bike just in case. For really long rides, I typically keep a bag of food in my top tube back, so that I can grab it really easily.

Yes Oak - I know that while most of the team didn't eat protein on the bike - since I did so much research I did read that some people do have better luck with protein than with carbs.

I was always told, and it seemed, that I had to figure it out for myself what would work best for me while I was on the longer rides.

(I also ended up eating way too much on the bike out of fear after a bad bonking episode.)

It may be that I am just not eating enough, both pre-ride and during the rides. I have a tendency to get home from the office and head out for a ride with one water bottle. I generally don't think about food on rides until they hit the 2 hour mark. Time to rethink my strategy.

Thanks.

You might try eating a small snack about an hour before your evening/late afternoon rides. Assuming I ate a balanced lunch, too, the snack really helps.

I've been a vegetarian for nearly a decade, and a cyclist for a couple of months

I make my own Lara Bars for long rides (There are HEAPS of recipes out there)
I started with this one:
http://trixareforkids.wordpress.com/...-them-at-home/

They are ridiculously easy to make
For small bites I pop a teaspoon or two of the mix into little taxbags, tiny little ziplock bags - which I can open using my tongue and suck out the tastybits
Or make the bars and freeze them so they're a little bit harder - and keep them in cling wrap
If you're concerned about feeling full though you could mix in some whey or protein powder - I've found them to be enough on their own though

Thanks for the recipe. These seems so easy and delicious.

I have eliminated most of the issue by simply eating more prior to rides and drinking/eating more often during longer rides.

Thanks.

:D:D:D
I hope you enjoy them!
The general rule seems to be that for most rides thart are around the hour mark - you don't really need to take food with you (obviously that depends on what KIND of riding you're doing)
but after that first hour or so - to keep up a steady intake of calories

Are you concerned about the gelatin in gels?