Cycling

[MeredithLee]

Does anyone do long distance cycling here? I've been reading Yuri Elkaim's Eating for Energy and it has some good advice for pre-workout, during workout, and post-workout foods and drinks. I am not doing the amount of biking that I used to, but I'm hoping to do a 30+ mile ride a week in addition to several short 10 mile rides a week. I always think I can justify more food when I work hard, so I usually gain weight during biking season. Hoping to change that this year.

If anyone has some good meal plans for what you do on ride day, I'd appreciate it! I'm skipping out on the 500 mile rides that I usually do because of lack of training, so it really is just for shorter rides. I have 2 days of 62 miles each coming up in a month though.

Also, I play soccer and same kind of thing. I feel like I deserve 2 dinners if I'm playing 90 minutes of soccer. I'm not sure how to get out of that mindset. It obviously hasn't been working for me for the past 3 years!

[streetsurfer]

This is good timing for your thread. I expect delivery of a bike this week and anticipate using it to work out on and improve my overall health. and physical condition. I've not done long distance work in the past but enjoy sprinting around the hood for a workout. Now I an in flagler county where there are many bike trails and it seems to be much more biker friendly than the chicago burbs. Hoping to get involved in some group rides or at least some ten twelve mile rides to/from the beach occasionally. What I learn in your thread will be very welcomed and valuable. I do like Yuri and his info as well but I haven't checked out his stuff for a while. You've inspired me to renew my interest. Thanks.

oh, btw, I chose a mtb based on the style of riding I will do when I return to Il. I am in a high traffic area and have nearly been hit on the roads so I tend to take trails and side streets there. I may wind up placing smoother tires on it, sort of supermoto style. I hope I didn't go wrong by not picking a road bike.

[dime]

I do, but not so much lately.

Most important thing: never ever leave yourself without any food and water while biking. Always plan to have enough for your ride. You can check online there are calculators that will tell you how much calories you'll spend approximately, so you can appropriately plan.

Pre workout make sure you're well hydrated, and well loaded on carbs. Don't eat anything 1-2 hrs before the ride.

During the ride best is to have fruit juice, e.g. orange, maybe with extra sugar/dextrose (and even some coconut oil for example) added so you can pack more energy in less space. If it's a longer ride than it's a good idea to include some fruits too. Basically anything that's loaded with carbs and is very easily digestible will be good. Just make sure in total it meets the calorie estimate. And make sure you have enough water.

If you've made sure to get in as much calories as you've spent during the ride this would be optimal, but it's quite hard to achieve both digestion and hard riding at the same time so probably you won't be able to meet calorie needs and glycogen will be used up. So post-workout you again need some carbs to quickly recover lost glycogen, but also you need protein to recover muscles.

As for specific meals I usually gather whatever fruits I have around and apricot juice with sugar (I think apricot juice is not quite the best, but I have plenty of this..).

[EZ rider]

I'm a year around daily neighborhood bike rider that loves to ride. During the warmer months I ride the bike trails in my area for fitness, relaxation and pleasure. There are two bike trails within a mile of my house. One trail is through a park on the lake and part way around the lake. The other trail starts at a different spot on the lake where a river meets the lake. The trail follows the river for at about 15 miles through a wooded area that the bikes and joggers share and is wide enough for all of us. Its a paved trail thats built over an old train track that is no longer used. Its a very scenic and beautiful trail with picnic tables at scenic spots along the river where people go to swim and have a picnic lunch. Each year I notice the same thing happen in regards to my riding. I start doing more and more frequent rides on the trails and my endurance and stamina make noticeable improvement. Then as fall fades into winer I settle down for a long winter's nap and dream of spring.

[MysticTree]

I'm giving up my car (cost reasons) and will be cycling to work and back every day. Not long distance - only 5 miles but once I get cycling fit, I hope to do longer rides as we have a lot of cycle routes in my area. This weekend will be my test runs for the work cycling part. I need to know what time I will need to leave in the morning and how far I get before I feel like death!

[streetsurfer]

Thats great mystictree! Not that you have to give up the car, but that you're committing to ride to work. You'll be fit in no time.

I did twelve miles last night after dusk on a paved rail trail. Below is a shot of it from a few weeks back-a short section of elevated deck over a low swampy area. I've started logging my rides and tracking my miles with google earth. Sticking to trails for the most part until I get a helmet, then may commute a little to stores, the farm market, and such.

I've installed lights to see with, and be seen, and a bear bell to be heard. I've not run across them yet but have had neighbors tell me of bear, boar and even a panther in the hood. I keep my Shuffle and a speaker in a small frame bag, and use a hydration pak on most rides. So far along this trail which flanks both sides of a canal, I've seen a turtle, deer, heard turkey, hawks, and owls, and saw a gator in the canal last night.

[MysticTree]

I've installed lights to see with, and be seen, and a bear bell to be heard. I've not run across them yet but have had neighbors tell me of bear, boar and even a panther in the hood. I keep my Shuffle and a speaker in a small frame bag, and use a hydration pak on most rides. So far along this trail which flanks both sides of a canal, I've seen a turtle, deer, heard turkey, hawks, and owls, and saw a gator in the canal last night.

That's some wildlife. I haven't seen any but I am doing an urban route at rush hour so it's not the most pleasant ride.

[Eva]

I'm now 6-months pregnant and my cycles are getting shorter altho usually they were "only" about 15-20 miles anyways for my longer trips.

Do want to add that Brendan Brazier's book "Thrive" is a great resource for recipes and info re: raw vegans (or at least high raw) cycling and exercising all around.

Be on the lookout for Jane's posts ("BlazinJane"). She is a long-distance cyclist and I want to say in her 60s? When she went raw her performance and recovery time improved like crazy!

[rpage]

We are lucky to have the "Great Allegheny Passage (http://www.atatrail.org/)" very close to were we live. My wife and I have started riding sections of it last week. This past weekend we did 25 miles. I have to tell you being RAW and exercising like this is awesome! I feel much better than I did when I cycled and was on a SAD diet. My goal is to build myself up to do a 70+ mile section this fall. And for me that will be huge :)

We are RAW and loving it!

[streetsurfer]

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I'm sittin at about ten or twelve miles per ride until I get a helmet. Then I can throw in some longer rides to include some mtb trails, or a trip to the beach. I've found a local chat forum and got some good tips for places to see. Heres a couple photos from todays ride.

[MysticTree]

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I'm sittin at about ten or twelve miles per ride until I get a helmet. Then I can throw in some longer rides to include some mtb trails, or a trip to the beach. I've found a local chat forum and got some good tips for places to see. Heres a couple photos from todays ride.

Lovely pictures. I got dive-bombed by a large dragon fly on my way home yesterday. That was a green one too. Sadly I don't see a large amount of wildlife because I am on a very urban route but I am hoping to get out at the weekends a bit more into real countryside :)

[soulvibe]

When the weather is as beautiful as it has been where I live recently, I do loads of cycling! :D In terms of foods to eat, I always find with any type of long distance exercise that mono-fruit diets are the best for consistency. For example, before riding, I may have a bunch of grapes to give me lots of energy and hydration. Then for the ride I'll take a bunch of bananas with me depending on how far I'm cycling, along with plenty of water. Finally, when I return home or at whatever destination I set out to, I'll make a salad with lots of leafy greens/herbs to heal the muscle tissue, regenerate and also just to help me chill out and be calm - Root vegetables especially are great for this/grounding yourself especially when you've been super active all day.

Great topic by the way! Think I might even go for another ride tomorrow now you've brought it to my attention! :D

[Mary Kay]

Streetsurfer, Thanks for taking the time to post the pics!

Georgina, Good for you! Five miles is probably just about the right amount to get in a little workout without getting too sweaty for work etc.

Henry Parker, thanks for the stretching/moving around inspirations!

rpage, you're a gardener, and you're cycling....my kind of guy!

Well...you've all gotten me wanting to cycle more. I do a little here and there, but would like to do more. I'm on warmshowers dot com and we offer a place to stay for travelling cyclists. So far, only two have visited, but one was recent, and it was so inspirational for me. I'd love to get away for a cycling vacation. I'm a busy mom though, so it ain't gonna happen soon! I'd love to find a high-raw group to go cycling with. Anyone know of any? Well, I can dream can't I? LOL

Thanks everyone for the inspiration.

Mary Kay

[MysticTree]

it's the hills that get me sweating! The last bit of both journeys is at the top of a steep hill!

[streetsurfer]

I found out this morning that riding in soft sand is pert' near as much of an upper body workout as it is for the legs. What with dodging waves and trying to keep in the harder packed sand when it's all fairly soft, there's alot of correcting going on, which is tougher yet if you stray off of the wetter part of the beach (where I did for most of the ride for the extra workout).

It was a beautiful morning here, as memorial event preparations were underway, I rode the shoreline and made a couple trips over the intracoastal bridge.

After some yard work at home, did a few more miles with some short sprints thrown in, on local streets.

I hope you enjoy the picks like I enjoyed the ride. Also, that it encourages you to get out by bike for a workout, to see something beautiful, and do some reflecting. (sorry one is sideways, not able to fix now)

[MysticTree]

riding in soft sand

masochist :rolleyes:

[MysticTree]

no cycling for me this week :(
bf took my bike to get new brake pads and the bike is so old that they don't keep the pads in stock and so some have been ordered. Can't even upgrade to new brakes as the new-style ones won't fit my bike frame and if they do fit the frame they won't act on the wheels. Good heavens!

So I will be walking/bussing it this week instead.

[amoux]

I just got my bicycle out of the shed last week and have started cycling again for the first time in about 5 years! First time I did a circuit of the park (about a mile) my legs were like jelly when I got off - was better the following day, but am building up slowly. I live on the coast and am now dreaming about bike-riding on the beach - better wait until I get a bit fitter first. Also need to find my helmet - which seems to have disappeared into thin air ...

[Mary Kay]

Streetsurfer --you're making me jealous.

amoux --good for you - we've all got to start somewhere.

Mary Kay

[MeredithLee]

Thanks for the advice! I didn't get near enough cycling in this summer as our river flooded and we spent the first part sandbagging. I have done one ride over 60 miles and have another one planned for early October. I did have a hard time staying up on calories. It is hard to eat when you are biking hard in 90 degree heat. I did have some raw bars, and recovered by eating an entire watermelon! Now that raw has really become my way of life, I can see all exercises being fueled on raw. I am playing soccer in an adult league every week and play better than I did when I was in better aerobic shape. Once I get back to a bike training routine I can see my body becoming very fit. Now, if I could only find the time!

[streetsurfer]

MaryKay, your very welcome for the pics. I am sorry I induced jealousy....lol. Was just hoping to share the joy and bring a little encouragement to others. I wish I were a better photographer, and could get out riding more often, though. I expect as it cools down I will see more seat time, if all goes well.

I tweaked something in my back today, just sitting in my vehicle getting ready to step out. My approach to recovery is going to be a days rest, then back after the riding to keep limber. Pain can be good at times as a sign of the healing that is about to take place. At least I'm trying to look at it along those lines. A tough pill to swallow when in pain.

MeredithLee, I'm sorry to hear about your having to deal with the flooding. With hearing that, my small daily problems become so insignificant. I hope you don't mind me trying to keep your thread going by posting on a regular basis. It's rewarding to inspire others to do whats good for them. You've inspired me and I hope we can all inspire others.

I have questions about using hydration bladders on rides? At what length ride is a 2 litre bag not enough? I'm about 3/4 finishing 2L on my twelve mile rides. I can't imagine having enough water with two bags even, on a 60 miler. May I ask what type bike you ride and how much water/fuel you take along on that length ride? I think that would be tough for myself on a MTB with full knobbies....
I like the idea of taking watermelon. I may try to find a way to take some with in juice or cubed form, and am thinking cubed might become juiced during the ride, lol. Freeze small cubes and backpack...or a small soft cooler in saddlebags? How do you gear up for such lengthy rides, if you don't mind and have time to share. Thanks much. I need more room to store supplies I think so what do you suggest? Handlebar bag, saddle bags, seat or frame bags, etc?

MysticTree, sorry to hear about your being sidelined over parts. I hope they've arrived by now. You know, of all that hurt after the sand riding, oddly it was my elbows that bothered me the most. I'm thinking about using a different bike for the beach, since cleanup was a pain and I don't want the sand to ruin any components. There's a cheaper bike here I can use for that without worry if it suffers.

Amoux, it must be a beautiful place to ride along your coast. Keep up the good work. Small regular trips and work your way up. Sending positive thoughts that a helmet will find it's way to you.

anmolmark, no thanks. I'm good on water heaters. try another forum

To all: Remember to prehydrate and stay hydrated! Have fun, ride safely, and share the pleasure you get from cycling with others.