| Eat To Win |
| Wednesday, 18 July 2007 | |
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Planning an epic ride and don't want to bonk? The MBA wrecking
crew offers a number of ways to eat yourself to the best back country
experience you've ever had. We don't require you to measure your
portions, strain your cottage cheese or eat tofu. Just follow these
tips and keep on pedaling. There are no magic meals that will cause you to blast over the toughest climbs, stay mentally sharp for hours and get off your bike after an epic adventure feeling fresh. That's because to get those results, you need to eat and drink properly all week long, not just the night before your ride. TIME IT RIGHT The stuff you eat has to be digested before it is going to do you any good. The poor sap who downs the menu's "Hungry Man's Special" (a full stack of pancakes smothered in syrup, four eggs, hash browns, sausage links, bacon and biscuits and gravy) before a ride has a good chance of getting a second look at what he's consumed by the first climb. "A riding partner said he was hungry and wanted to grab a bite to eat before we hit the trail," remembers Jimmy Mac. "He ordered a cheeseburger, fries and a coke. I sat there watching him down all this stuff and knew our ride was not going to be much fun. Sure enough, on the first climb he complained of stomach problems. Our ride was over before it began." So how much time is needed to properly digest a meal? That depends on the meal. Foods high in fat, protein and fiber take longer to digest than other foods, and the quantity of food determines digestion time. Big meals take longer to digest than snacks. Plan your meals three to four hours before your ride or munch a lighter snack one hour before your ride. EAT SMALL If your schedule permits, try eating six small meals a day instead of sitting down to three big meals. Eating smaller amounts more often will keep you satisfied and you won't be tempted to stuff yourself. This type of eating is great if you usually ride after work or school and before dinner. EATING ON THE BIKE Intense riding (like cross-country or downhill racing) causes blood flow to be diverted from the stomach to the working muscles. That's why you can't hammer after a big meal. It takes three to four hours for that type of meal to be digested. If you go out hard on a full tank, you can expect discomfort or even the dreaded "blowing chunks" on the trail. However, your body can digest food during a moderately paced epic ride. You still want to eat properly before the ride, but you don't need to stress about it. MAINTAINING FUEL LEVELS When taking off on an epic ride, pack three or four energy bars and some Gu packets. These will allow you to maintain adequate fuel levels throughout your adventure. If the pace is fast or if you are doing a lot of climbing, eat one of your bars every 60 minutes--even if you don't feel hungry. If the pace is moderate, you can probably go two hours between bars. Even if you wear a hydration pack, add a waterbottle cage to your bike before you leave on your big ride. The bottle can be filled with a sports drink or soda. EARLY MORNING MEALS Your ride is scheduled to leave at 7 a.m. (that's 7:32 a.m. wrecking crew time), and the thought of setting your alarm for 3:45 a.m. so you can eat a decent meal and give it time to digest is reason enough to quit mountain biking. Don't do it! Sleep in, eat a snack before the ride, and make up for the missed meal by consuming energy bars during your ride. DRINKING AND RIDING Avoid drinking alcohol 24 hours before your big ride. Alcohol will hurt you in two areas that are very important to mountain biking; alcohol dehydrates you and it will impair your ability to make and store glycogen. CARBO UNLOADING Elite athletes use carbo loading for big events because that is what their trainers tell them to do. You probably don't have to worry about it. You'll do just fine continuing to eat your normal, balanced diet, with slightly more emphasis on carbohydrates the last three days leading up to your ride. CANDY IS DANDY A nutritional study found that athletes who ate a big breakfast four hours before and a candy bar five minutes before hard exercise improved 20 percent during the exercise test compared with when they ate nothing. The results of the study also suggest that candy alone (without a breakfast) before exercise improved performance ten percent in comparison with eating nothing. That's all we needed to know. Pass the Snickers! BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE Munching that Snickers bar is better than nothing, but it's not what would be considered premium fuel. Your body (not your taste buds) will be better off in the long run if you substitute cereal, a banana, apple, yogurt, or pretzels for that candy bar. The urge to devour a candy bar as an energy fix is a sign you didn't eat enough earlier in the day. To prevent cravings, try the multi-meal suggestion. THE NIGHT BEFORE Get yourself a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce and a reasonable portion of lean beef, a slice of garlic bread and a few glasses of water the night before your epic ride. Treat yourself to a slice of apple pie or a frozen fruit icepop for desert. THE MORNING We assume you are leaving for your epic ride early in the morning. That eliminates the chance of eating a large breakfast. Instead, eat a bowl of oatmeal with banana slices, a piece of whole wheat bread with jelly, and a glass of juice an hour before you leave. If you can't cook before the ride, a muffin or whole wheat bagel with a banana and juice will do the trick. DURING THE RIDE You have your energy bars and Gu packed, but that stuff can get old. Tasty substitutes include bananas, raisins and our favorite, Payday candy bars (because they taste great and don't melt). If your ride is going to be longer than four hours, you need to pack a sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread is tough to beat. If you decide to carry a sandwich made with lean meat (like turkey), be sure to steer clear of mayonnaise which may spoil in the heat. SHOPPING LIST Cut out the our Shopping List and keep it in your wallet. You don't have to buy everything on the list. The list is a guide so you won't forget something. SHOPPING LIST Raisins Bananas Energy bars Payday candy bars Whole wheat bread Peanut butter Jam Gu Whole wheat bagels Muffins Fruit juice Granola bars Trail mix Toaster pastries Dried fruit Animal crackers |
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