Food - how long before a long ride?

digitalformula

Likes Bikes
Are there any nutrition gurus in here that can comment on how long before a long-ish ride you should eat the appropriate food?

Google brings up so many opinions that it's difficult to separate the good info from the stuff that's just someone's rubbish opinion (e.g. I read a post from a guy who eats Big Mac before a long ride ... not so sure I want to try that).

Cheers
 

Mywifesirrational

I however am very normal. Trust me.
It's been a while since I did a sports nutrition subject, but we were taught it depends on the meal size, and macro content of the meal, so a large brekky, lunch or dinner 3-4 hours, smaller meals 2 hours, snacks 1 hour.

Aviod fats and fibre.

AIS - always worth a read (1-2 hours)
http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/factsheets/competition_and_training2/eating_before_exercise

Food consumed before exercise is only useful once it has been digested and absorbed. This means you need to time your food intake so that the fuel becomes available during the exercise period. The time required for digestion depends on the type and quantity of food consumed. Generally, foods higher in fat, protein and fibre tend to take longer to digest than other foods, and may increase the risk of stomach discomfort during exercise. Large quantities of foods take longer to digest than smaller quantities. Generally, food is better tolerated during lower intensity activities, or sports where the body is supported (e.g. cycling) than sports such as running where the gut is jostled about during exercise. A general guide is to have a meal about 3-4 hours before exercise or a lighter snack about 1-2 hours before exercise. You need to experiment to find the timing, amount and make up that best suits your individual needs.

USA special olympics (same guidelines as regular)
http://sports.specialolympics.org/specialo.org/Special_/English/Coach/Coaching/Nutritio/Nutritio.htm

Pre-Competition Nutrients/Meal
The body's energy levels need to be high before training and competition. The high performance diet above will supply this everyday requirement. Athletes are individuals and require different foods and their body responds differently to certain foods. Generally speaking, the guidelines below will help your athletes consume the proper nutrients before competition.
Eat a small, easily digestible meal, usually less than 500 calories
Eat about 2½-4 hours before competing
Limit proteins and fats since they digest slowly
Avoid foods which form gas in digestive system
Drink small amounts of water often, before, during and after competing

During Competition Nutrients
Besides hydration, nutrients are not needed for events that last less than one hour.
For events that have more than one hour of continuous activity, carbohydrate drinks or fruit will supply the needed energy for continued effort.
During tournaments lasting more than two hours, let your athletes nibble on small pieces of banana, peanut butter sandwiches, noodles or plain pasta (complex carbohydrates) when they have at least a half-hour break before their next game. This will help them keep their energy levels up. Do not fast your athletes for the duration of a 6-8 hour event.

Post-Competition Nutrients
To replenish energy, foods with readily available carbohydrates (fruit, carbohydrate drink, granola bars) should be eaten in small amounts immediately following exercise.
Throughout the remainder of the day, meals should contain 65 percent complex carbohydrates to replenish energy.

brianmac has some basic but reasonable info
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/eatcom.htm

What should you eat in the week before a competition?

If you are an endurance athlete then in the week before a competition you should plan your meals around complex carbohydrate foods with a low glycaemic index to help boost your glycogen stores. Miller (2003)[3] suggest 500-600g/day as this will encourage muscles to store over 20% more glycogen.

What should you eat on the day of competition?

Your pre-competition meal should be high in carbohydrate and low in fat, protein and fibre. Try to eat complex carbohydrates and avoid simple carbohydrates as they trigger the release of insulin that can soon make you feel tired. Bean (1993)[1] suggests suitable types of food include: breakfast cereals, porridge, bread, rolls, toast, fruit juice, fruit, rice cakes, plain crackers, boiled rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, boiled pasta, dried fruit, oatmeal biscuits, plain wholemeal biscuits, muffins and carbohydrate drinks.

Should you eat just before the competition starts?

Bean (1993)[1] suggests eating a small amount of carbohydrate food (approx. 50gms) with high glycaemic index just before exercise will help delay fatigue and improve endurance.

Should you eat or drink during competition?

Make sure you are well hydrated before the competition having your last drink about 15 to 20 minutes before the start. Drink at regular intervals (150 to 300ml), ideally every 15 minutes or whenever you have a break during competition. Do not wait until you feel thirsty as you will already be dehydrated. Consider a commercial carbohydrate drink (Sports Drinks) as this will also refuel your glycogen stores.

What should you eat after competition?

Studies (Ivy et al. 2002)[2] have shown that consuming high GI carbohydrates, approximately 2g/kg of body weight, and 40g of protein within two hours after exercise speeds up the replenishment of glycogen stores and recovery time. It appears that the muscles are more receptive to and retaining carbohydrate during the two hours after exercise.

Referenced Material

BEAN, A (1993) The complete guide to Sports Nutrition. London: A & C Black
IVY, J.L. et al. (2002) Early post exercise muscle glycogen recovery is enhanced with a carbohydrate-protein supplement. J Appl Physiol, 93 (4), p. 1337-1344
MILLER, C (2003) Carbohydrates: the fuel of choice for serious athletes. Peak Performance, 176, p. 1-6
 

steve24

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I eat 3.5- 4 hours before a long race.
If i have to i set an alarm, eat breakfast and go back to sleep a bit...
Pretty much follow all the above posted guide lines.

If it's just an 80k + ride (as aposed to race) i'm not too fussed.
 

disappearin

Likes Dirt
I eat approx 3hrs before long ride or enduro race then try to eat/drink a little every 15mins or so while riding.
As stated above the idea behind the pre ride/race meal is to top up the glycogen stores in your liver. This in turn allows muscle glycogen stores to be held onto for the longest possible time which helps increase performance. The glycogen in your liver can be released into your bloodstream used throughout your body, the glycogen in your muscle is available only to that muscle and surrounding cells.
 
Last edited:

driftking

Wheel size expert
MWI as usual great information.

As mentioned it depends on the type of event but also the make up of the food, you want to avoid fats, protein or fiber that will be processing during the event so depending on the amount and types of fiber the times for this to digest will vary so your meal timing will be different.
Another thing is that on longer events it is also recommended to not only load up fluid but also carbs and nutrients a few days before the race. The amounts will vary depending on your own personal needs and the event.

MWI whats your consensus on whey with water before a event (30min ie whey peak)? fast absorption rate no fat or fiber. Throw in some simple carbs.
1. What would be the affect on the stomach.
2. would it change or affect the bodies energy pathways during exercise
3. would it be beneficial or detrimental to performance
4. Is there a difference in opinion to these on short say DH events vs long events?
 
Last edited:

Mywifesirrational

I however am very normal. Trust me.
MWI whats your consensus on whey with water before a event (30min ie whey peak)? fast absorption rate no fat or fiber. Throw in some simple carbs.
1. What would be the affect on the stomach.
2. would it change or affect the bodies energy pathways during exercise
3. would it be beneficial or detrimental to performance
4. Is there a difference in opinion to these on short say DH events vs long events?
I don't think I have answered these questions very well (might suggest a lack of knowledge), I wonder if there's any sports dietetics in RB land?

For fluid the general guidelines are

Before competition (5-10 min before the start) 8 mL/kg body weight (400-600mL) - drinking before the event 'primes' the stomach so gastric empting is more rapid - perhaps more efficient is a better term.
During competition every 15-20 min (every 5 km) 3 mL/kg body weight (150-250mL) - this is consider more for longer duration aerobic events, if it is hot and humid, it needs to be higher yet again.

If you are not used to drinking fluid like this, a bad time to start would be before a race, practice this in training to get used to it prior to competition.

For longer duration events around 8% glucose in the fluid is perfect (pretty much what gatorade has), any more than this and gastric emptying slows down, less than this and the performance benefits are diminished. Yes, doing this will alter the bodies use of energy systems, as maintaining blood glucose levels means we avoid (diminish the % it contributes - as all energy systems work as a unified system) utilising fat as an energy source, basic meaning can make energy faster (ATP) and go at a harder pace.

I'm not entirely sure what adding in a whey would do, with or without carbs on the energy systems, from an endurance performance view, probably make performance worse? as it is not aiding blood glucose levels (as it has to be converted during a somewhat complex process).

Was thing about this over lunch, I think the guidelines for nutrition and fluid intake probably relate to DH pretty well, while DH is typically a 3-6 (?) minute race, you need to take into account the all the practice runs you do before the event, so I'd probably eat a decent brekky around 8am (AT the track), start runs from 8.30/9am onwards and have a few snacks mid morning, a light lunch then race somethere around 1pm. I always made the mistake of eating early and skipping lunch at DH races, couldn't have been good for performance.... oh well I normally crashed x3 any way.

I'll see if I can find any specific guidelines for track and field athletes - various heats would mimic practice runs in DH and those events are ongoing for hours.
 

disappearin

Likes Dirt
For longer duration events around 8% glucose in the fluid is perfect (pretty much what gatorade has), any more than this and gastric emptying slows down, less than this and the performance benefits are diminished. Yes, doing this will alter the bodies use of energy systems, as maintaining blood glucose levels means we avoid (diminish the % it contributes - as all energy systems work as a unified system) utilising fat as an energy source, basic meaning can make energy faster (ATP) and go at a harder pace.
Don't forget about the electrolytes if mixing glucose in water. To absorb glucose in the small intestine you need sodium(the transporter(SGLUT-1) that carries glucose is sodium dependent). Without sodium, glucose will not be absorbed.
 
Top