One cannot think well, love well,
sleep well, if one has not dined well.
– Virginia Woolf
Back in the days of dinosaurs, when I started doing rides of more than a couple of hours, I very quickly started encountering various obstacles in the field of nutrition, i.e. intake of food and fluids in the body, both during the rides, as well as before and after them, e.g. both on and off the bike. At that time I was very young, cycling in our country as a recreational and sports activity was extremely underrepresented (much less than today, even though it is still at very low level now-days) and worst of all – the availability of information was based on knowing other cyclists, coach in the club and – here and there – copies of a foreign magazine article or cycling manuals.
Looking back on that period now, it makes sense to me that it was very difficult to find out any information in that field. However, now-days, where we are bombarded from all sides with information about food, supplementation, diets, proteins, carbohydrates, harmful things and so on and so forth, where there are people who deal exclusively with this area (nutritionists) and never more than half a meter away from you there is always a device on which you have access to all earthly knowledge – I am struck by the fact that many people, who participate in cycling in one way or another, haven’t got the slightest knowledge of this extremely important topic for efficient and enjoyable rides .
To say the truth, I didn’t even notice that there are many articles that definitely touch on this topic, so I decided to do something about it, that is, to share my experiences with you. Also, I will not play the role of a nutritionist, but I will present the basic concepts that every cyclist should know and the things that they should practice while riding and during the recovery period.
So, let’s begin!
Let’s look at the needs of a human body – like any internal combustion engine, it requires fuel in order to produce power. First of all, these are carbohydrates, simple and complex, but of course also fats and proteins. In different operating modes, the consumption ratio of these elements also differs. In addition, hydration is extremely important, especially the intake of water, which is the source of life and which, as an individual ingredient, makes up over 60% of a human body. But that’s not all, because the intake of electrolytes, i.e. basic minerals, is a very important element in the whole story.
Now that we have set some basic premises, we need to distinguish between two closely related elements – nutrition on the bike and nutrition off the bike, that is, on a daily basis, we can distinguish three periods – the period before, during and after a ride – so we would be able to achieve continuous and maximum performance on individual rides, but also during the season, without ever getting into a situation of “hitting the wall”, e.g. “bonk”. Unfortunately, the story does not end on an individual level – even if you are maximally prepared, if you ride with a colleague or in a group of riders and someone gets into trouble due to poor nutrition – it will negatively affect your riding as well.
So, in the next few articles, we will cover all the essential elements of a cycling diet, so stock up on snacks and sit back in your chair!
Of course, I’m kidding – don’t do that but do subscribe to updates using the form below :).