What to eat before a metric centry?

[fitz4th]

I have heard and read much about how to prepare my bike for a ride but not much about what foods to eat before, during and after the ride. Any thoughts?

[John_A_Eldred]

You might want to look at some back issues of Bicycling Magazine or VeloNews, as well as their websites for nutritional suggestions - also check Hammer Nutrition.
http://www.hammernutrition.com/

[keithmo]

Before a big ride, I eat breakfast with a good mix of carbs & protein. Oatmeal (or waffles with fresh fruit), scrambled eggs, yogurt, and coffee of course. I always give myself an hour or two to digest before starting the ride.

Over the years I've tried many different foods during long rides: Cliff Bars, Shot Blocks, powered drink mixes, etc. Now, I've switch to regular Snickers bars. They're great portable road food. If I feel the need for something more serious, I'll stop at a place like Subway for a small sandwich and potato chips. (I normally avoid potato chips due to the salt, carb, and fat content, but that's exactly what you need on a long ride.)

Fresh fruit is also great if you can carry it with you or find it along the way. I don't have any "routine" for post-ride meal, but pasta seems to always hit the spot.

Don't forget to drink water before, during, and after the ride. I use Nuun tablets to add electrolytes to the water during the ride, and so far I've been cramp-free, even during hellishly hot rides.

We have many organized rides around here (the Seattle area), and most tend to have designated rest stops every 15 miles or so. My theory is: if i don't pee at every rest stop, then I'm not drinking enough.

[mudpuppy]

Ditto to what keithmo said regarding hydration. If you are not peeing, you're not hydrating enough. Before riding, I drink a high protein shake that I mix from milk, whey protein, a sweet chocolate drink mix (like Ovaltene). While riding I use an electrolyte replacement mix to which I add maltodextrin powder for extra carbs. I also carry plain water in a second bottle.

[Aushiker]

Hi

I blogged on my first metric century <a href="http://www.aushiker.com/2009/02/tick-imperial-century-100-miles160-kilometres-completed">here.</a>. Scroll down for my discussion of what I ate and drank on the ride.

Regards
Andrew

[bikingthings]

It depends a lot on what kind of food you get a lot of energy from. Just think of what food yo had the night before you kick some butt riding the next day. In my case it is cheeseburgers and fries. I need a lot of fat...

[Joe_W]

A triathlete wrote on his blog that he is fond of Snickers bars: chocolate + nuts + caramel = sugar + fat + salt. Cannot argue with that.

[richarra]

It's very important to eat and drink enough DURING the ride. For some reason fig newtons (or newmans) and Bananas hit the spot. My first century I hit the wall and had to really to push to finish. I lost 5 pounds and realized I didn't eat or drink enough. The next time I made sure I ate and drank a too much, had an easier time, and gained 1 pound during the ride. Now I usually shoot for somewhere in between.

[Bill]

If one is trying to loose weight from cycling then water should be the only thing on a ride right?