Fuel for faster rides home?

[Crankarm]

I'm probably going to upset a few here but cycling a piddling 12 miles one way compared to 20 miles with hills is a walk in the park. A daily 40 miles round trip is verging on hard work. It's easily doable but to do so you need to be meticulous with fueling, hydration and get quality sleep which doesn't leave time for much else. A good breakfast is a must. The saying, Eat a breakfast fit for a king, a lunch fit for a prince and supper fit for a pauper is pretty spot on. You want to have energy when you need it and get leaner and stronger at the same time pushing up you power to weight ratio. Eating refined carbs such as white bread or Mars bars gets you no where.

Eat a healthy balanced diet and keep hydrated. Just up your portions and see how you go. Get lots of quality sleep to aid recovery. When regularly cycling longer distances you have to factor in the time aspect you are actually on your bike. Some feel that they just don't want to spend 2-2.5 hours commuting each way to and from work and doing a full days work especially if you have a very active physical job rather than sitting on your behind all day. 2-3 days a week I drive half way then ride the remaining 17 miles one way (34-35 miles round trip). The other the 3 days I ride the whole way front door to work nearly 30 miles one way (60 miles round trip). Be prepared to be constantly eating and off days spent sleeping. But you end up very fit. Some days at lunch or early evening I have a meal carb loaded with pasta and a tomato wild mushroom basil sauce or similar. Then broccoli, beans and chicken or two pieces of fish. Beetroot, carrots, dried fruit and nuts, lots of chicken, fish, veg, fresh fruit and potatoes are all essential foods for your diet. Frijj chocolate milkshake, yoghurt and milk and muesli, maple and pecan slices and some times fig rolls. Porridge, yoghurt, bacon and eggs and beans, toast and marmalade (wholemeal bread) grapefruit juice, bananas are all good for breakfast which keep me going until lunch about 2pm.

Riding for longer and further more frequently you also need to spend a lot more time maintaining your bike. A clean fesh lubed chain offers far less resistance than one that is not which means you potentially expend less energy. Also work on your cycling technique to maximise your efficiency. Don't push heavy gears. You might need to either buy better components or a better bike (n+1), kit or accessories. You also spend a lot of time washing cycling clothes unless of course you like being dirty and smelly.

 

[Twilkes]

If you've spent all your money on a king's breakfast, no wonder there's not much left for supper. 8-)

But different people do it differently - if I've had a good dinner the night before I don't need anything in the morning to get me going. I do all my heavy eating in the evening when it helps me sleep, this wouldn't work for some people.

I've noticed recently that my lungs go by the wayside before my legs do.

 

[Mile195]

Monitoring this week’s intake, I’ve realised that what I eat directly after a ride is far more important than what I eat before a ride #GoldengrahamsDoritosSteakandonionsChocolateflapjack #notallatthesametime

I'm probably going to upset a few here but cycling a piddling 12 miles one way compared to 20 miles with hills is a walk in the park. A daily 40 miles round trip is verging on hard work. It's easily doable but to do so you need to be meticulous with fueling, hydration and get quality sleep which doesn't leave time for much else. A good breakfast is a must. The saying, Eat a breakfast fit for a king, a lunch fit for a prince and supper fit for a pauper is pretty spot on. You want to have energy when you need it and get leaner and stronger at the same time pushing up you power to weight ratio. Eating refined carbs such as white bread or Mars bars gets you no where.

Eat a healthy balanced diet and keep hydrated. Just up your portions and see how you go. Get lots of quality sleep to aid recovery. When regularly cycling longer distances you have to factor in the time aspect you are actually on your bike. Some feel that they just don't want to spend 2-2.5 hours commuting each way to and from work and doing a full days work especially if you have a very active physical job rather than sitting on your behind all day. 2-3 days a week I drive half way then ride the remaining 17 miles one way (34-35 miles round trip). The other the 3 days I ride the whole way front door to work nearly 30 miles one way (60 miles round trip). Be prepared to be constantly eating and off days spent sleeping. But you end up very fit. Some days at lunch or early evening I have a meal carb loaded with pasta and a tomato wild mushroom basil sauce or similar. Then broccoli, beans and chicken or two pieces of fish. Beetroot, carrots, dried fruit and nuts, lots of chicken, fish, veg, fresh fruit and potatoes are all essential foods for your diet. Frijj chocolate milkshake, yoghurt and milk and muesli, maple and pecan slices and some times fig rolls. Porridge, yoghurt, bacon and eggs and beans, toast and marmalade (wholemeal bread) grapefruit juice, bananas are all good for breakfast which keep me going until lunch about 2pm.

On both counts, there's alot of truth. So again yesterday I was careful with what I had for lunch. Again, a big-ish meal, but not one that involved white bread. Avoided refined sugar. Tried Fig Rolls just before I set out from work. Stayed hydrated all day (I drink plenty of water anyway) BUT only had a cup of tea, and a cup of coffee over the entire day - I usually have alot more, which obviously drives the water back out because of the caffiene. Dinner at home this week has been mostly pasta based which has made alot of difference I think, and I've been eating very soon after getting home, much sooner than normal anyway.

It may just be coincidence, but day-before-yesterday the ride was better than usual. Then yesterday, I flew home. The warmer temperature probably helped, but I just generally felt more "on-it".

I tried dried apricots after my usual bowl of porridge this morning, and my average speed was nearly 1mph faster across the whole distance than it usually is coming in. Obviously traffic plays a massive part in this, but I was generally keeping up a much higher speed on the parts of my journey where I have time to get up a bit of a pace without hinderance from traffic and red lights etc - about 23mph along the embankment, and 25mph along the A4. These speeds are usually about 19-22 and 20-24 respectively, depending on the weather etc.

So I'm going to carry on monitoring how this goes anyway. Average speeds, logged against roughly what I've eaten and how well I've slept and see if the trend continues. Then I'll report back in a while, for anyone that's interested...

Thanks all for your input so far.

 

[Crankarm]

Sounds like you are taking your nutrition seriously.

On both counts, there's alot of truth. So again yesterday I was careful with what I had for lunch. Again, a big-ish meal, but not one that involved white bread. Avoided refined sugar. Tried Fig Rolls just before I set out from work. Stayed hydrated all day (I drink plenty of water anyway) BUT only had a cup of tea, and a cup of coffee over the entire day - I usually have alot more, which obviously drives the water back out because of the caffiene. Dinner at home this week has been mostly pasta based which has made alot of difference I think, and I've been eating very soon after getting home, much sooner than normal anyway.

A litre of water, a small bowl of muesli and ss milk, Frijj milkshake when I get in. Pasta also makes one tired/feel full. I tend to have protein as well of carbs at meal end of day so when I go to sleep as protein helps with satiation and muscle repair and strength. Don't forget eggs. They are very good source of protein and raising endurance.

It may just be coincidence, but day-before-yesterday the ride was better than usual. Then yesterday, I flew home. The warmer temperature probably helped, but I just generally felt more "on-it".

A rise in temp does help a lot as muscles work better. Plus you are probably getting a lot fitter. You will soon think nothing of riding your commute.

I tried dried apricots after my usual bowl of porridge this morning, and my average speed was nearly 1mph faster across the whole distance than it usually is coming in. Obviously traffic plays a massive part in this, but I was generally keeping up a much higher speed on the parts of my journey where I have time to get up a bit of a pace without hinderance from traffic and red lights etc - about 23mph along the embankment, and 25mph along the A4. These speeds are usually about 19-22 and 20-24 respectively, depending on the weather etc.

You're becoming fitter.

So I'm going to carry on monitoring how this goes anyway. Average speeds, logged against roughly what I've eaten and how well I've slept and see if the trend continues. Then I'll report back in a while, for anyone that's interested...

Yep.

Thanks all for your input so far.