food, drinks, and energy bars?

[isoemo]

what are some things you guys try to eat or drink before a race?
how long before a race do you start thinking about what you're eating?
what are the best energy bars or drinks you've come across?
any advice would be greatly appreciated. i'd like to kick you're butt next thursday!

jordan

[gopherhockey]

Good question - however, in case nobody answers you here - I think there are a few other threads on this similar topic - things people eat before a race, the night before etc.

[zerpy]

I tend to eat a lot of meat (couple of pounds a day min) and cheese. Moderate green leafy veggies. No starches, fruit, sugar, etc... Lots of water...

Oh wait, I don't race! Nevermind... :)

[jaybird]

Like John said, if you go back you will find a lot of information on this. The best advice is go to your local bike store and talk to some of the guys there about what they have to offer - you may want to go to a larger store like Penn or Erik's because of the larger variety. Tell them what you like and don't like as far as tastes, consistency, etc. For example, I love Powerbar's gels for long rides and racing. But the consistency of the gel is somewhat like thick Miracle Whip. :sick: I have a riding buddy that cannot handle the thick consistency of the gel when he's racing, but also needs the energy I get from the gel. So he's chosen to stick with the standard bars or some thinner consistency gels for his energy source.

Just remember to look at the nutritional information on the package. Compare what most people say they use to what you've finally chosen. You'll want to see that the carbohydrate levels per serving are equivalent in both products. Or else your competition may be getting more energy per serving than you.

[fsrslug]

My suggestion is to try a bunch of them before you try them in a race. 3 years ago I did the Spring cup and had the clif shot that I got in my goodie bag, it made me puke, same with the clif bars. The clif products just dont sit well in my stomack when I am riding hard. Other people love them.

My choices:

Gels:
1. Power Gel vanilla is the best
2. Gu - green apple is good(if you can handle the extra caffine ones get those)
3. Clif Shot - tastes good, but doesnt sit well with me

Bars:
1. Pria bar stawberry creme or cheescake is awsome(so what if its a girlie bar)
2. Power bar peanut butter
3. Power bar Harvest toffe
4. Clif Bar once again tastes good, but doesnt sit well

Maybe this is not new to you, but the gel stuff can be difficult to get down when riding hard, I seem to have a hard time breathing and eating this stuff at the same time. Drink lots of water with it too.

[nigel]

Im with John on certain things not sitting right when racing. For me I've found that the best is

Strawberry Cream gels
Chocolate Gels
Nature Valley Trail Mix Granola Bars

Those three work the best for me, I also use Accelerade Lemon Lime drink powder stuff. A 21oz bottle of that +gel and half a bar for a 15 mile lap at a race works great for me. Then water when they have it setup too.

It also depends on race length.....while I mainly do endurance events I eat a ton more than I usually would in a short race and my body also does not react as well to food during 24 hour events so I had to really trial and error my food for that type of race.

[funky-funky-chicken]

Mr. Holtz, you sound like a possible good source for info.

I have done the 24 hours of Afton with a team a couple of times; I am going to attempt it solo this year. With a team, there is plenty-o-time between rides to eat. I would be curious what you do for 24 hour events if you participate solo...

I know for 12-14 hour road rides, I eat just about anything that will stay down and not cause too much discomfort. After about your second energy bar, almost all of them are unpalatable and regular food is a welcome sight. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches go down pretty well. I find that a flat Coke once in a while is a nice boost. Oh, and another one of my favorites is Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies... Ummmmm. It is much easier to eat on a road bike though... I am a bit nervous about trying to get food down while bouncing around the course at Afton.

[nigel]

Hey Ken......wanna train with me for Afton????? I am doing it solo as well. It would be nice to have someone to ride long mtn rides with. I mainly do road training for endurance races but also try and get a few 40-60 mile mtn rides. So if your interested gimmie a holler!!

Douglas

[ice ice baby]

Suck it up, drink some water, and don't eat chalupas before a race.:crazy:

[Trevize1138]

Another good topic. Sometimes people forget about taking care of your MTB engine.

In addition to eating enough carbs, potassium and sodium before, during and after rides, examine the weight situation.

How can I say this gently ... hmm ... are you FAT? I mean, have you recently taken a power drill to add another notch in your belt?

Actually, you don't have to be outrageously obese for weight to seriously affect your riding. A year ago I was at 215 and I'm now at 187. I never thought of myself as really "fat." I was certainly a bit chubby and had a 2nd chin well on its way, but I was active and burned a lot of calories, so I could afford to eat McDonald's M-W-F and Wendy's T-Th, right?

Sure ... I was also 30 and fooling myself into thinking I had the same metabolism I did when I was 17, Back then I had to eat high-calorie, high-fat foods 'cause I was growing like a friggin' weed and running at least 5 miles a day (cross country and track state qualifier every year).

So, if you're OLD and FAT (and you know who you are) you may certainly be enjoying riding as-is, but try a serious diet, even just for a couple months. Personally, I couldn't believe the difference it made. I didn't quite realize how much my weight and diet were ... uh ... weighing me down. I didn't know how crappy I was feeling until I found out how good it felt to be a bit more svelte.

Now, based on the names I see on here, it's a safe bet to assume over 90 percent of you reading this are GUYS. Considering that, here are what I consider the biggest mental blocks toward dieting for GUYS:

* "A real man doesn't diet!" Amen, brotha! That's why you're "cutting weight." That's what wrestlers do to remain competitive.

* "Salad isn't food, salad is what food EATS!" Whatever, Red. You don't have to cut out meat from your diet entirely and go 100% health nut. But, try filling up on greens. You really can't eat too many vegetables. The more vegetables you eat the more fiber you get and the harder your body will have to work to digest, so very often the net calorie gain is either 0 or even negative. Gain nutrition but lose weight. It's all in the metabolism.

* "A man's supposed to have some heft!" That's what weight training is for. Lose the fat and replace it with muscle if you don't like your rapidly-thinning arms. I remember when I got under 195 last spring and looked down at my arms as I was riding Leb. I couldn't believe that I could see they were thinner! A side-benefit: steering and bike handling got easier because I had less weight there.

One last word of encouragement to you guys out there. Being a man *and* being already active in biking means that if you cut your calorie intake way back you'll see that weight drop fast. I used the Weight Watchers points system and lost that 30 lbs in under two months. Not difficult: just eat less and if you're hungry: go for a ride! That'll earn you the right to eat another whole meal! Riding to burn calories so you can eat more is also great incentive ... to ride more :).