Food for Riding

[The Spin-ster]

New rider. Most of the power bars etc. I see are very high calorie. I don;t do well with fruit while I am riding. What are alternatives that will keep me fueled without adding too many calories or being hard on my stomach?

[Roxy]

Whenever I ride more than two hours, I'll pack toasted waffles with peanut butter. They really keep me going and seem to be pretty easily digested.
I also love the Luna bars.
For shorter rides I'll just bring a Gu or Power Gel just in case I get pooped.

[Mary T.]

I always cut up a golden delicious apple and eat it when riding a century or metric century. Fig Newtons and soft granola bars are also good. Also the power gel is good for fast fuel.

[bikerchic]

Since I have to watch my sugar intake I find that string cheese works well as well as crackers with peanut butter. On long rides beef jerky helps, Gu sparringly, and I like using Revenge for drinking. Lots of H²O!!

[RitaL]

Hi,

Not all bars are high in calories. Depending on how hard and how far you ride, something like Balance or Dr. Soy might work well. I have used Balance for years. It's only about 200 calories and Dr. Soy is about 185. I'm a newbie too, and ride about 1 hour everyday. I take a bottle with 12 oz. Gatorade (50 cal in 8 oz) and eat half a nutrition bar a while before I leave. That's about 125 calories, which you will burn up in 20-30 min.

Rita

[DoubleLori]

I just happened to just read an article on the protein requirements of cyclists in last month's Bicycle Paper (the article was by dietician Cindy Farricker) and I was astounded by the protein requirements. She said that endurance cyclists could need up to 0.9 grams of protein per day, and that less well-trained cyclists actually need significantly more than well-trained cyclists. For me, this would translate into 115 grams of protein per day, which is WAY, WAY more than I typically eat!

I have been sick with a mysterious ailment on and off for the past 2 years that seems to get triggered by hard bicycling. Now I'm wondering if a large protein deficit could be contributing to my problem! For me, at least, it is hard to eat anywhere near this much protein, as I can't stand to eat much beef or pork due to the fat content. For the past couple of days I've really been gorging on fish and chinese food, and I've got my protein intake up above 100 grams per day. I definitely feel better, but only time will tell how much this might be contributing to my ailment.

Even though I've been bicycling regularly for 23 years, I had no idea that the daily protein requirements could be so high!

Don't forget the protein in your diets!

[RitaL]

Hi,

Interesting post on protein requirements for cyclists. I eat just about half of the 115 gm required. Seems like we're in a bind -- to ramp up the protein, we need to cut down on the carbs, which I really don't want to do. I'm just coming off a period of experimentation with higher-protein, lower-carb eating. I gained weight and didn't like the way I felt. I try to stick with a 40-30-30 division of carb-fat-protein. I eat 1200-1300 cal per day (I'm really small). That comes out to about 90 grams of protein. Right now I'm averaging 65 grams, so I'll try to take in more. Thanks for the info!

Rita