What To Eat Before A Bike Ride?

Let’s do some riding, after all, why wouldn’t you miss this fantastic form of exercise in the form of cycling. Long rides on a bicycle are an excellent form of aerobics as well as fun. Nevertheless, you have to prepare yourself before a long ride, say 100-120 km. It’s not easy to tour 200 km on a bicycle and that’s also in one day.

Some people do long ride sipping some energy drinks like Gatorade, and people with high BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) need to recharge with light carbohydrate-rich snacks every 30 minutes or so. If you feel tired after paddling for a while, stop and take a rest. Eat some light snacks, sip some drink and then ride again.

So what’s your plan for a long ride? Let’s read some tidbits on food habits for your long bike ride.

A Few Days Before Your Ride

Start carbohydrate loading 4-5 days before your ride. Carbohydrates and fats are the “pushy” nutrients that move your body on long rides. Your diet must have 70% of pure carbs. This will increase glycogen storage in your body and help to maintain your energy level during your ride. Avoid sweets and other carbs, instead rely on whole-grain pasta, cereals and whole grains in general.

The Day Before Your Ride


The meal before your ride is as important as your prepared meal. Eat a low fat but high in carb before the day of your ride. Give a gap of 2-3 hours before your start riding; this will help to digest the food and avoid nausea and cramps in the stomach. An appropriate meal would be a pair of toast, any fruit (banana recommended), some nuts and dried fruits. You can also include one omelette in it for a protein boost.

Food on the ride

On the long ride (more than 150 km), you have to eat after 1 hour to keep boosting your energy level. Regular eating will make your sugar level stable. You need to pay attention to your energy level and avoid high fibre and high protein diet that will be hard to digest at the time of cycling. Eat a high carb diet like raisins, nuts, figs, bananas, and energy drinks.

Rely on energy gels

If you don’t want to carry all types of food with you, carry energy gels. These small packs of gels come in small plastic packets, containing thick syrupy liquids. The gel is not high in calories but a mega carbohydrate booster. So, you will instance energy from them. Some gels even contain caffeine, some herbs and amino acids.

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