When to carb up?

[thekarens]

If you have a big ride coming up do you carb up the night before or two nights before or neither?

[ny biker]

Neither. My diet has enough carbs in it already.

[luvmyguys]

The advice that I had been given is to eat well two nights before, even up to lunch the day before, but not to go crazy the night before. The reasoning is that if you eat too much the night before, it'll still be digesting, which can drag you down the day of the event.

[ny biker]

Well, I'd say it depends on what you eat the night before. I learned the hard way not to have a Five Guys cheeseburger with fries the night before a big bike ride. And that dinner at the Mexican restaurant the night before my first-ever century was not a good idea, especially considering how nervous I was at the time. So you bring up a good point, which is to eat foods you know you can digest easily the day or two before the ride.

I will eat a slightly larger dinner than usual the night before a long ride, but it will be a tried-and-true meal that I've had many times before. Same with breakfast before the ride. I'll eat more than usual, but it will be the same waffles that I have most other mornings.

The trick is when the big ride involves a road trip with a stay at a hotel. That takes lots of planning to try to control your pre-ride meals.

[rebeccaC]

What you want to do is maximize the amount of glycogen stored in your muscles. I do it by eating my regular training diet the week before and backing off training so I’m not depleting my glycogen. I will do a very short high intensity interval ride two days before and also have a carb lunch the two days before. That and getting a good nights sleep the few days before and making sure I’m properly fueled and hydrated during the ride works well for me.

[velo]

When I did the 160 mile RAIN ride, I ate more carbs than usual the whole week before to up my glycogen stores, as Rebecca said above. The night before, I ate a light meal to not feel bloated and full. I had my on-bike nutrition figured out, eating about 200 - 300 calories per hour, a combination of carbs and protein with a little fat (peanut butter) and I started eating that around 5am for a 7am start. I usually ride about 200 miles a week and that week I rode only 100 or so miles Mon - Wed (not high intensity), leaving two full days of recovery (I did an easy walk on Thursday and Friday was no activity at all) before Saturday event. This worked out very well for me - and each person has to find what works best for themselves. Good luck on your ride!!!

[thekarens]

I appreciate all the advice. I've gone back on my diet which involves low cal/low carb, but I want to have enough juice for the ride, so I'll modify my diet that week. Hotter N Hell should be fun :-)

[shootingstar]

I don't deliberately carb up much. But make sure I eat a good supper and breakfast for long distance bike ride the next day.

The night before is to have a supper that's well balanced. Having nutritious pureed veggie soup the night before is a good thing for me plus other stuff. Breakfast which is eating stuff that digests easily, ie. waffles are great, scrambled eggs, etc. Besides I've reduced high carb in my diet long term for the past few years (very little rice now, only certain types of bread 1-2 small slices, certain types of pasta only, etc.).

[Boudicca]

I have been eating a pasta meal the night before any ride, let alone a big one, so I guess I've been doing it all wrong.

But there again, I like pasta, it's a meal that works for me, and my weight is within a pound or so of where I want it to be.

My pre-ride breakfast is oatmeal or muesli, with buttermilk and fruit (more carbs), and my in-ride meal is pb+j (or pb +_ home made marmalade) on home made bread, perhaps with a banana and sometimes an energy bar or two.

I am such a creature of habit.

[TigerMom]

I was told to carb up starting 2 days before. But you still want to try eating high fiber carbs, ie oatmeal, whole grain bread, Dream Fields pasta which has lots of fiber

Also, no fatty foods. No spicy foods. No sour foods (ie. pickled items/hot and sour soup)

Drink tons of water until your urine is a light yellow starting 1-2 days before.

[OakLeaf]

It depends on what you mean by a "big ride." If it's just a long ride that I plan to do at an easy pace, I can replenish on the road. I'd only do anything special nutritionally before a high-intensity event like a road race or gran fondo. I'll carb load before a full marathon, but not a half.

The latest I've been reading is that it's best to fat load first starting five days before your event, then deplete your body's glycogen and replenish it fully one or two days before the event.

[ny biker]

I was told to carb up starting 2 days before. But you still want to try eating high fiber carbs, ie oatmeal, whole grain bread, Dream Fields pasta which has lots of fiber

Also, no fatty foods. No spicy foods. No sour foods (ie. pickled items/hot and sour soup)

Drink tons of water until your urine is a light yellow starting 1-2 days before.

I would not eat high fiber carbs before a big ride unless my diet normally includes high fiber carbs. Otherwise the results could be extremely unpleasant.

Same with drinking water -- I don't drink more before a big ride because I drink plenty of fluids every day.

You should be doing training rides leading up to an important event, and the food and beverages you have before the event should be similar to what you have learned is best for you based on what you eat and drink before the training rides.

[shootingstar]

If it's just a long ride that I plan to do at an easy pace, I can replenish on the road. I'd only do anything special nutritionally before a high-intensity event like a road race or gran fondo. I'll carb load before a full marathon, but not a half.

High intensity...can also mean cycling 100+ km. with 2 loaded panniers of my own baggage with several hills along the way. In temp at least 25-30 degrees C. Then back to back each day for 3-4 days of same length, same temp. and cars whipping along ..

I think different people have different food tolerances. I have eaten spicy foods the night before and think nothing of it. As long as the same meal is counterbalanced by a healthy neutral carb and liquid. Then breakfast next day is not spicy.

If I eat a big breakfast...I try to at least finish 1 hr. before I start cycling a long bike touring ride with pannier weight. It works for me and I don't have to worry about the washroom ..

Oatmeal with some milk for me works well for breakfast plus other stuff.

[thekarens]

I know people who wouldn't blink at 100. At my stage of endurance 62 is a challenge, and I'm working towards 100. My longest ride so far is 54 and I bonked at 51, almost didn't make it back.

[OakLeaf]

But my point is, it isn't the distance, it's the intensity. One of the great things about cycling is exactly that as long as you keep the pace something that's easy for YOU, you can literally ride all day and into the night. When you're doing that, you can stay abreast of nutrition by what you eat and drink along the way. It takes a higher intensity before you start depleting glycogen.