Many years ago as a new Club member and cyclist I became a regular on the Club’s Saturday group ride. One Club member training for a 140.6 race (remember Patrick K?) would show up to the rides with a veritable cornucopia of food on his bike. We’d joke and ask about all the food, and he’d detail his nutrition plan and rationale. At the time, it boggled my mind to even think about riding 100 miles, but to see gels taped to the top tube, bars and bananas stuffed into pockets, bottles of this and bottles of that…it all seemed crazy.
Fast forward to today and now you’ll find me doing just that. At the start of a ride my back pockets are laden with fueling options. I have fuel squirreled away in my truck, tool, and gear bags. I go fuel shopping with a specific list of brands and ingredients.
How did I get to the point where I know what I need to eat and when? Lots of testing and experimenting. Asking other Club members what they like and works for them. I read labels and do online research. (Haven’t decided yet if my training in biochemistry is a help or hindrance on this topic).
There’s no one answer to nutrition questions. But there a number of general ideas and stories we can share to get you started. With that goal in mind, we’ve planned a nutrition clinic open to all Club members. This clinic will be an Ask Me Anything format with 4-5 seasoned veterans leading the discussion and answering questions. We’ll review the basics — what is a gel, what are Nuun’s used for, how biking differs from running how to use race course nutrition — and share stories about how we optimized our nutrition, what has worked, and what has failed.
Please note, however, that while we can suggest what to eat before a race or what to try when you feel a bonk coming on, we can’t tell you how many carbs to eat, which gels will work best for you, or other individualized info regarding your nutrition. That is outside the scope of this clinic and will be up to you to work out during your training and racing. But we’d like to help get you started.
So bring on the questions! Post your questions below in the comments section so we can start preparing and get as much information shared as possible. And follow this link to RSVP for the Nutrition Clinic.
