Rode my bicycle 54 miles and am exhausted

[MrGreenJeans]

I think I may not be getting enough calories? I finished the ride O.K., though a tad slower than when I started out. But I sure am tired the next day. I rode my age.

What I'd like to know is what I can eat before and take on my bike trips to really get lots of carbs both from fats and non fats.

Aybody?

[Sugar Snap Pea]

Well, MrGreenJeans, I think that is pretty impressive, and I think most people on this raw food board would also be exhausted!! You did good!! Off the top of my head, dates for energy? Fresh fruit like nectarines?

[Veganforlife]

Green smoothie leather. Cut into bite size pieces to stick in your jersey!

Question - how far had you gone previously? 54 miles is rawsome dude!!!

[beckx]

that is fantastic! i'd be exhausted too! did you ride trails or streets?

i'd probably do green juice/smoothies before and after; maybe dried fruit and seeds (because they aren't as heavy in your stomach as nuts) while you're riding... you could make your own bar-type-things with dried fruit and seeds for easier snacking. i like the green smoothie fruit leather idea a lot, too.

[MrGreenJeans]

My tires are so narrow I can only do paved roads.
I'm thinking next time to take a bunch of sprouted wheat then ground up and make dehydrated flat bread with honey etc for energy.

I am learning though that the body can go longer on fats rather than carbs. But one needs both.

Maybe if I made some dehydrated coconut mixed with dates and seeds too?

[Raspberry4]

Is that 54 miles non stop or do you get breaks too? I don't think I could ride 54 miles in 54 days!:o Sounds like a great feat to me. :)

[Patsy]

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/chia.html

I read some here and more elsewhere (couldn't find the more at the moment) but chia seeds are supposed to be extra helpful to athletes for endurance.

The gel is tasteless and would be like consuming one of those meals-in-a-toothpaste-tube like things that bikers suck down during long trips and races...

[beckx]

chia gel is really good with mashed banana, chopped figs and cinnamon and coconut. not the most convenient thing but i bet it would be great for energy.

or what about sundried olives?

[spicyfull]

CONGRATULATIONS

[robhealthy]

Funny that you rode your age, I did that two years ago on a trail here in Florida. Rode 57 miles and I was 57. At the time I was not raw so used energy bars and drinks.
I would think that Lara Bars would have about the right ingredients for the stamina that you need though.
Main thing as you probably found out was to keep hydrated.
By the way I did my ride on a recumbent trike so I got a lot of strange looks from the 2 wheeling lines going by me. Took me a little over 4 hours to complete the 57 miles.

[MrGreenJeans]

O.K. I ordered 3lbs. of chia seed!

Thanks for the tips!

Now if I can just find different ways of incorporating the seeds into my diet.

Mr.GJ

[Eva]

Alissa sells some bars that are supposed to be good for exercise -- they're basically a lot of sunseeds with some honey and a tad of dried fruit. I have made a recipe to mimic it with success by looking at the ingredients. I can't remember the name, but it's the only bars she sells.

It definitely was a good filler and good to keep along with a long bike ride, though.

[unbent]

Great job on the bike ride. You should try out a few recumbent bikes. They are great for long rides. I bought a low end bike about 4 years ago and put anywhere from 1800 to 2500 miles on it each year since. With the right bike you should be able to do century (100 miles) and metric century (62.5 mile, I think) with out nearly the amount of pain and agony as you experience on what we call a wedgie bike. During sponsored rides there are always bananas, apples, peanut butter and jelly sandwich spreads, various cookies, etc.. I would recommend making your own energy bars made up of some form of sprouts, fruit, nuts and grains. That way you get some sugars, fats, proteins etc.. I would also recommend adding a pinch of sea salt to each bottle of water you take along and maybe a squirt of lemon or lime as well. This will help keep you hydrated better than plain water alone. Hope this helps and keep on biking.

Andy

[MrGreenJeans]

Thanks for all the tips Andy and everyone.

For some reason my left knee, on top behind the knee cap is now painful while riding (pedaling) but not walking or sitting. I must have strained it somehow. Wish there was some way of speeding up the recovery.

Mr.GJ

[Bananna]

I'm sure you've heard of carb loading by now? You should do some rough calculations, calorie-wise in vs. out.
Also I would skip the dehydrated food as that means you'll only need more water to compensate. Juicy fruit and water.

If the rationale for putting salt in your water is to retain water, I would skip the salt and just drink the water.

[Snownoir]

Oranges do a phenomenal job at helping the body transport oxygen more efficiently do your muscles. Proper oxygen deposits help prevent high lactic acid buildup which causes fatigue.

=]

[unbent]

Thanks for all the tips Andy and everyone.

For some reason my left knee, on top behind the knee cap is now painful while riding (pedaling) but not walking or sitting. I must have strained it somehow. Wish there was some way of speeding up the recovery.

Mr.GJ

Your welcome. One thing to remember when cycling is to get used to spinning the pedals in a circle using as even pressure as possible. A lot of cyclists, especially upright cyclists, make the mistake of mashing the pedals using more of an up and down motion than a circular motion. This puts more stress on the joints and muscles. The more you can pedal by using constant pressure in a circular motion the more efficient you are pedaling and the less wasted energy. Once you do this long enough you build up a memory in your leg muscles and it becomes second nature. Happy cycling.

Andy

[carolg]

Super impressive. Tired at doing the treadmill, in great shape I believe, 30-45 minutes later. Wow! Great job!!

carolg

[Patsy]

Thanks for all the tips Andy and everyone.

For some reason my left knee, on top behind the knee cap is now painful while riding (pedaling) but not walking or sitting. I must have strained it somehow. Wish there was some way of speeding up the recovery.

Mr.GJ

I don't remember what a trainer I talked to called it, but that location is an injury that can get surgery-serious if you push it because of constant inflammation. Cycling seems like a simple/straight forward form of exercise, but for some people it can cause repetitive stress like injuries in the knees and such. It's good to balance with weight training or other forms of exercise. I used to bicycle a lot until my right knee gave way. I pushed it too far pulling a burly with 2 kids behind me on a 24k. That was 10 years ago or so. I never had surgery, but I could feel a bit of a twinge the other day when I was doing cardio on an elliptical trainer. I'm working with a personal trainer on weight training and he's helping me to take it easy on the knee while strengthening muscles around the area to balance things out.

Unfortunately with that, there's no quick healing. You could try a brace on your knee, but while it's inflamed, you will need to shorten your time on the bike and/or take easier routes (fewer mountain climbs ;) )