Riding with the Pros

Today I had the opportunity to ride with the pro women's Vantaggio/Specialized bike racing team. They were doing a recovery from some hard training and invited the Cat4 women to join them, and naturally I did just that. The plan was for 3 hours of riding, which was accomplished. We had one half-mountain climb, plenty of rolling hills and excellent company.

I picked the brain of one lady, the team's nutritionist, about my food plans on the ride and off ride. Something she said that really stood out was that most people ride to eat, she has learned its better if you eat to ride. In other words, plan your meals according to what you'll be doing for the next three hours. If you're going for a long bike ride, eat a lot more for breakfast. Then your body won't be needing to eat as much after the ride. One of the biggest mistakes you can make in trying to shed a few pounds while taking up exercise is to eat too few calories and put your body into starvation mode, which is essentially what can happen from not pre-eating for your ride.

Good advice, and a good ride. Yeah, definitely glad I went.