Cycling and nutrition: 10 tips to improve your performance

Cycling and nutrition are closely linked, as your road performance also depends on what you eat and how you eat it.

To be at the top of your performance during races and bike rides, you need to pay attention to what you put on your table, but also to the quantity and timing of your meals throughout the day.

In this guide we will explore how the food you eat influences your cycling performance and what are the 10 golden rules to follow at the table to always give your best when riding your bike.

1. Pre-race diet: when to eat

Before a race, a training or even a simple bike ride, it is very important to take care of the food, but at the same time it is also important to manage well the timing.

Imagine what would happen if you were eating a large meal just before you started cycling. You would certainly feel burdened and in some cases you may face some problems, such as acidity, nausea or vomiting.

To avoid these problems and improve your performance, you should eat at least 3 hours before each bike ride. In this way the digestive system will not need a large amount of blood, so muscles and brain will have sufficient blood flow to cope with fatigue.

2. What to eat before a bike ride

Being mindful of nutrition in cycling also means putting the right nutrients on the table, especially before a race. The meal before cycling must be correctly balanced.

In particular, it is preferable to consume many complex carbohydrates, such as pasta, bread, rice and boiled potatoes. These foods are easy to digest and provide a good supply of glycogen.

Along with carbohydrates, you can also consume a small amount of protein, while you will have to limit fat, since they have higher digestion times than other macronutrients.

3. Water at will in the cyclist's diet

It may seem obvious to emphasize the importance of hydration in cycling, but in reality it is not, as we usually only feel thirsty when our body is already dehydrated.

To avoid a drop in performance, it is therefore good to play in advance and start drinking before you even feel thirsty. The water should not be too cold, even in summer, and should be drunk in small sips, before, during and after the ride.

Make sure you have a good supply of water before you ride. With a water bottle holder fixed in the frame, you can drink at any time and without even stopping.

4. Avoiding the wrong pairings before a bike ride

We have already said when to eat before each race and what to put on the plate, but it is also important to remember which combinations should be avoided.

Before the bike race you should avoid foods that have different digestion needs. In particular, to digest more quickly, you should not eat fruit after meals.

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5. Cycling and nutrition: when to use supplements

Although supplements for cyclists do not have the ability to improve performance on the bike, they are certainly very useful for providing the body with nutrients that nutrition alone does not provide enough.

Supplements are sometimes not well received by cyclists, because they are wrongly associated with doping taken by some professionals. In fact, they are simply nutrients that make up for a deficiency in the body, so as to prevent the body going to draw from the reserves of fat or even worse from the muscles.

What is the right time to use supplements for cycling? Supplements can be used before training, during exercise or in the subsequent stages. In fact, supplements can be of different types and there is one for every need!

6. What to eat if the bike ride lasts longer than 2 hours

If your pedaling lasts more than 2 hours, you need to supply your body with the necessary energy. The macronutrients that can immediately give the body that boost of energy it needs, are undoubtedly carbohydrates.

In these cases the organization is essential and when we plan to pedal for more than 2 hours, we must bring with us a quick snack of carbohydrates to be consumed on the bike.

An example of a snack to be consumed during training are milk sandwiches with jam, chocolate corn cakes or even dried fruit, such as dried apricots or dates. These are all foods you can eat even while you are cycling.

7. After training nutrition: use the 30-minute window

Immediately after the bike ride begins the moment that is called "30-minute window or anabolic window". This is the half hour that follows the physical effort, which is the time when the muscles become more receptive and can quickly use the carbohydrates taken, especially when combined with protein.

In this recovery phase the cyclist should take the right mix of carbohydrates and proteins. The ideal snack could be a sandwich with tuna or butter or yogurt with a high protein intake, such as the Greek one.

The sandwich is undoubtedly the most practical solution, because it is prepared in a moment and can be easily stored in a bike bag.

8. The meal after the bike race

The meal time that follows the ride is also an excellent opportunity to help the body recover its energy in the right way. The meal must be simple, but complete and include complex carbohydrates, proteins and low fat.

It will therefore be easily digestible foods and immediately ready after a quick cooking. For example, a meal based on grilled blue fish, accompanied by rice or wholemeal bread and seasoned with a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil will be perfect.

9. Cyclist’s nutrition the day after the bike ride

The day after training meals will be dedicated to rebuilding muscle fibers with protein foods, perfect for this function.

The day after the race, the meal could be beef, turkey, eggs or chicken, while vegetarian cyclists can eat soy, legumes and oats at will.

10. Avoiding alcohol in cyclists' diet

So far we have talked about the close link between food and cycling, but also what we drink affects the performance of the cyclist. It is worth remembering, in fact, that alcohol is a bitter enemy for those who want to give their all on the saddle of their bike.

Alcohol has the ability to inhibit brain function and among other things helps to dehydrate the body. As we have seen, hydration is instead a fundamental aspect to have good performance on the bike, so it is better to stay away from alcohol at least from the day before the ride.

We have come to the conclusion of the guide on cycling and nutrition! These are simple and easily applicable tips for cyclists of all levels. If you need more in-depth information, I suggest you contact your doctor or a nutritionist.