There are three key timing points when it comes to nailing your nutrition for a big day on the bike: what you eat the day before, how you fuel during the event, and your recovery nutrition afterward. Each is important for different reasons, and the ideal nutritional strategy for you will be very unique. Practicing and testing your nutrition in training is essential to figure out what works for you. Cycling nutritionist Dr Gemma Sampson offers insights into a smart energy plan for a 100+km day on the bike.
As a cycling sports dietitian, people often (wrongly) assume that my nutrition intake and fueling strategies are perfect all the time.
Not true! I am also human – we all have bad days and make mistakes. The key thing is that we learn from our mistakes and improve our nutritional strategies for next time. Which is why I always encourage clients to engage in reflective practice and make nutrition notes about what does and doesn’t go well to be better prepared next time.
In my experience, not following or having a nutrition plan plays a big role in cyclists not being able to complete cycling events or ride at their full pace. I’d hate for you to see all your training go to waste from under-fueling.
Plan your nutrition – before, during and after: There are three key timing points when it comes to nailing your nutrition for a big day on the bike – what you eat the day before, how you fuel during and your recovery nutrition after you finish. Each one is important for different reasons and the ideal nutritional strategy for you will be very unique. Practicing and testing your nutrition in training is key to determine what this does (or doesn’t) look like.
Fueling starts the day before with carbohydrate loading 24h before your event. If there was one thing I could convince cyclists to try that can markedly improve their performance for an event it would be to carbohydrate load for the 24h beforehand. Far from overfilling yourself with pasta the night before and feeling super bloated before going to bed, there is an art to carb loading well and it starts with distributing your extra carbs throughout the entire day, cutting back the fibre, vege, protein and fats compared to a usual day. Keep your dinner normal sized with a dessert, but bump up the volume earlier in the day at breakfast and lunch to avoid feeling super full and bloated.
As a starting point, I’d recommend you increase overall carb intake the day before the Bowral Classic by an additional 200g, aiming for a total of >500g using low fibre high carbohydrate foods such as white rice, potato and adding liquid carbs in the form of juice or soft drink at each meal. Planning this out and using an app to help keep you on track to eat the amount you’ll need to get through is critical since it’ll be much more food than usual. Remember fondo day nutrition isn’t every day nutrition!
Plan in advance and practice your fueling strategy in training: Rather than just using one type of food source, you can use different foods, fuels and fluids at different points of the event according to the gradient, technicality and intensity you’ll be riding at the time. A tip is to study the ride profile and use that to plan out your nutrition strategy. Are you going to go self supported and carry everything you need with you or rely on the rest stops? Where are the hills? Where are the feed zones? How long is it going to take you to get between certain segments? What are you going to eat when?
Don’t forget your recovery nutrition: Think about what you will eat after you’ve finished your ride. You want a combination of food and fluids containing carbohydrate, protein for both rapid and long-term recovery. Chocolate milk or a smoothie can be a great starting point, but make sure you team it with some solid food and enjoy a full meal as soon as you can.
This can include a burger and a celebratory drink or two, if you drink alcohol. Sports dietitian approved!
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