During our journeys, we have taken you from the most beautiful bike ways of a country to the most amazing of the world, for that is necessary to know what are the best foods for cyclists that we can eat to be full of energy during these bike rides.
Today we are going to talk about the recommended foods for cycling fans. After all, pedal requires have enough strength before, during and after doing it.
Let’sss go.
The best foods for cyclists before cycling
Similar to breakfast, is the most important meal of the day, and also being correctly feed before cycling. Its important to begin with energy, so these foods are rich in carbs, as protein and fats, but in less quantity than the first ones.
Among the recommended foods for cyclists are:
- Oats and yogurt
- Banana and peanut butter
- Rice and vegetables
- Pasta and tuna, olive oil and oregano
- Quinoa salad
In this case, all the foods will provide you energy as the peanut butter and other will provide you vitamins (B1, B5, B6, E) and minerals (iron, manganese and copper). It should be noted that the properties have a low absorption, meaning, energy will be distributed slowly and will make you have a longer performance while cycling.
Foods to eat when cycling
Even though you have the ability to eat a snack while cycling, we refer to take short breaks to consume some food. Its important to know the quantity to eat, this will depend on the energy spent at the moment. And also, you will have to divide foods in three groups: solid, liquid and gel.
These are the suggested ones:
- Solids: Ideal for a longer bike ride, releasing a greater quantity of energy and providing more strength and performance. Among them exist dried fruits, energy bars, and above all, rice snacks, even some biscuits.
- Liquids: Obviously as performing another sport, when cycling you lose liquids and mineral salts. For that, is necessary to hydrate per every 15/20 minutes during your bike ride or training. The recommendable thing is drinking around 2 litters in total. The best beverages are natural water or, isotonic beverages that help you to recover mineral salts.
- Gels: When consuming isotonic gels of caffeine or rich in carbs, you’re giving a sugar bomb to your body, due these simple sugars activate your muscles. However, these foods are consumed by high performance athletes that cover miles and miles by bike. If you are into short bike rides, we don’t recommend the consumption of these gels in big quantities.
Best foods for cyclists after cycling
When finishing your exercise, your body takes from 30 to 45 minutes to calm down before the physical activity.
This means that in certain way keeps very active and the food you consume in this period will be faster to digest. That’s why its important to choose your snacks correctly. We suggest you:
- Yogurt with cereals and fruit
- White meat (fish and chicken)
- Pulses
- Hard-boiled egg
- Cranberries
As you noticed, these are very similar to the already recommended foods before pedal, this is due the energy you need before cycling and the energy to recover once you’re concluding your bike ride. In this way, having the correct proteins and carbs will help you to recover. In the same way, red fruits have antioxidants that will help to reduce stress and oxidation in joints.
