Cycling uphill

Cycling nutrition

June 6, 2014 by tejvan

When cycling any distance food and nutrition plays an important role. The most important things are

Taking on enough food and energy to sustain energy levels during the ride.
Eating the right combination of foods to fuel both the ride and recovery.
Long term nutrition, which helps promote good health to sustain high intensity training and nutrition.

The three main types of energy

Carbohydrate – the main source of energy whilst cycling.
Protein – important in recovery. Can play some role in fuelling a ride.
Fats – Good in the correct proportions. Not recommended to take whilst riding very hard, but on long rides, is fine in suitable proportions

Glycaemic Index.

In short ,the GI of a food tells you how quickly it converts into sugar. It is useful to know the GI of foods. As a quick rule of thumb, limit very high GI foods unless you are in the process of riding.

A low GI, like oats (26) is ideal for breakfast, giving a long slow release of energy throughout the day, without energy spikes.
A high GI gives an immediate release of sugar e.g. pure glucose has a GI of 100. High GI foods are OK, whilst riding, because the sugar will be used straight away. But, it is still advisable to take a mix of GI Index when riding – using both complex carbs and simple sugars.
However when stationary, high GI foods cause spikes in blood sugar that raise insulin levels to store it. Big spikes in blood sugar levels are not helpful to maintaining constant energy levels.

Food pre-ride / Breakfast

A typical cyclists’ breakfast is porridge / muesli. Oats are a very good food because they have a low glycaemic index; also they are gluten-free and can be easier to digest than a heavy wheat based diet. I am not gluten intolerant. But, I still like to take gluten free carbohydrates.

I choose a muesli without sugar added. I have quite a sweet tooth, but I don’t like sugar in my breakfast cereal as it is unnecessary. It is better to have foods with low GI for breakfast. To sweeten the porridge – honey or some chopped natural fruit is the best.

If it was a really long ride, then I may take some eggs for breakfast during the ride as well.

Pasta for breakfast? There was a time when I though pasta was the holy grail. I heard Procyclists took pasta for breakfast so I did too. But, now I hear that is quite rare. I never fancy pasta for breakfast.

Things to avoid pre-ride

High GI snacks
Excess fibre
Excess fatty foods.
Spicy foods
Very heavy doughy foods (like Pizza is)
Red Meat (the days of pros eating rare steaks before long rides are long over)
Anything you’re not used to eating.

When to eat before cycling?

It depends on the effort involved. If it is a steady ride, then I can go out soon after eating breakfast. If I’m racing, I don’t take solid foods for 2-3 hours before the race. If it is a moderate intensity, like a sportive, an hour before should be fine.

Carbo Loading

Carbo loading is the attempt to fill the body with carbohydrate for the day of a big race. It may be useful for a rider doing a one-off ultra distance ride. Generally, it involves have 3 days of low carb consumption, followed by a day of heavy carb consumption, the day before. This can increase your weight as you take on more water and energy. Bear in mind,

If you eat much more food than usual, it can put too much pressure on the stomach, causing problems on the morning of the race.

Carb loading is not really used by pros, because they are racing on consecutive days anyway.

I only practise carb loading in moderation. If I have a long race, I will make sure I take a good amount of complex carbs, the night before. I keep a usual evening meal, but perhaps a bowl of oats for supper or possibly extra carbs as liquid food.

Food during the ride

During a ride, you need to take a lot more calories than usual. It is helpful to have a rough idea how many extra calories you will be burning. This will depend on your weight, duration and effort level.

I have written in more detail at energy consumption during a ride. But, to summarise,

The body can absorb around 60-80 grams of carbohydrate per hour.

Therefore, for optimal energy replacement, this should be a target. This means you should try and take 2-3 units of energy (25g energy bars) per hour.
For 1-2 hour rides, you will have enough energy stored not to really need much food. But, for long rides of 3-4 hour+, you need to start fuelling from the first hour to maximise energy uptake.

Food on a ride

Maltodextrin – a good complex carbohydrate, which is the most popular ingredient in sports energy drinks. Sometimes I like to have just plain maltodextrin. It is easy on the stomach and avoids problems associated with high fructose. I buy this Torq natural organic energy – which is 97% maltodextrin. Torq energy at Wiggle

Fructose / maltodextrin 2:1. Energy drinks now often have a mix of maltodextrin and fructose, some studies suggest this can enable a higher level of carbohydrate uptake because the gut can process fructose and maltodextrin separately, and so is good for long rides. Just be careful not to overdo the fructose consumption, it can cause digestion problems. High 5 2:1 energy drink 1 Kg currently just £9.99

Carb – Protein 4:1 Another energy power mix is Four parts carb to 1 part protein (usually way protein). Studies suggest this can help for long distance endurance riding. The protein can be used as a source of fuel. It can also help the recovery process towards the end of a ride. I have bought a few boxes of 4:1 sachets. If I have 4 bottles of energy drink. I may have this for the 3rd or 4th bottle. I wouldn’t use for short distance, as I would prefer just a carb solution. High 5 4:1

Electrolyte / carb drinks. Quite a few energy drinks are marketed as ‘electrolyte drinks’ These are energy drinks which generally have higher levels of salts (electrolytes) and relatively lower percentage of carbs. I rarely get too hot on the bike, so only really need these in the height of summer or abroad. Again, I would be unlikely to just rely on electrolytes. For example, if I had a long ride, I may save the electrolyte drink for later in the day when it really hots up and it gets very sweaty.

GI index. During a ride you don’t have to worry about the GI of foods as much. For a short 2 hour race, I would take just mainly high GI foods. For a long ride, it is still good to get a mixture of food and slow release carbs, like oat based cereal bars.

Energy Bars

I take a lot of different energy bars. I don’t really have a favourite brand. Though I often buy boxes of 24 powerbars and 24 Torq bars. As well as these more expensive energy bars, you can take some cheaper bars that you find in a supermarket, like Nutrigrain and Fruesli bars. There energy composition is often quite similar to bars which cost twice as much.

There is a more in depth review of energy bars here.

Other non-specific Energy foods

Banana – The cyclists’ food. Ideal for popping in back pocket. Good source of Carb, relatively high GI of 65. Lower GI if more green and less brown.
Malt loaf – A good complex carb source. Gives you something solid to chew on. Not the easiest thing to eat, but can make a nice change on long rides.
Figs – I’ve never seen attraction of taking figs during a ride, but it’s often mentioned.
Marmalade sandwiches. Never did Obree any harm.

Recovery foods

After a ride, the first hour is very important to get good nutrition. During the first hour, the body is most receptive to absorbing nutrition. It is a mistake to wait for a long time to start refuelling. If it was particularly hard, I like to take a recovery drink because.

Easy to absorb.
Helps rehydrate.
You don’t always feel like eating after a big effort.
Keeps you going until you’ve had time to prepare food.

Quite often I start with recovery drinks food towards the end of a long ride. I like these protein recovery bars, I may have this at the last hour of a long ride. Recovery drinks can come in the form of Soy or Whey / milk powder. Again, I have both, I’ve used SIS recovery which is Soya.

Post ride meals

There is no hard and fast rule about what to eat after a ride. I try to get a good balanced meal – carbs, protein, fats, fresh vegetables. I like lentils for a low GI and mix of carb and protein. Usually I take with vegetarian (tofu/ quorn) sausages and quite a lot of vegetables.

One very rough rule of thumb is that a colourful plate is likely to have a good range of nutrition (excluding the tomato and brown sauce)

Cheaper recovery food drink

Milk – is an excellent recovery drink, unfortunately, I just don’t like drinking straight milk.
Coconut Water – excellent for de-acidifying the stomach after long ride.

Training and food uptake

Food intake depends on the rider in question. An experienced rider will train the body to better and burning fat. Therefore, they can get by on less carb intake than an untrained cyclist.

Long term nutrition

Western diets can be unhealthy, unless we are careful. There is a lot to be said for avoiding processed / fast food and eating a well balanced diet, with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. If you eat a balanced diet, you should gain the trace minerals and vitamins that the body needs. Many riders like to take vitamin supplements on the basis that you can ensure you don’t miss out. Personally, I always buy and then forget to take.

Supplements for cycling?

Are there any supplements worth taking? Some suggest Beetroot juice and Beta Alanine. – see Supplements

Managing a balanced diet is the best way for long-term weight maintenance.

Related pages

Energy consumption during a ride
Energy bars for cycling

Specialized Armadillo long term review

November 22, 2015June 6, 2014 by tejvan

I’ve been using Specialized Armadillo road tyres for the past four – five years. In that time, I’ve only had one puncture, and that was a pretty big nail which would have puncture most tubs, tubeless and tyres. I use Armadillo’s on my commuting bike and sometimes on my training wheels for winter training. I know other people who have used them for a similar time and have either not punctured or just got the occasional puncture.

armadillo-allcondition — An Armadillo in action on rear wheel of training bike. Winter grit and thorns seem to have no effect on the tyre.

In summary, Specialized Armadillo are a very sturdy, strong and puncture resistant tyre. The inevitable downside is that they are heavier and with a poorer performance on rolling resistance. But, if you don’t mind some compromise in performance, you can get greater peace of mind and spend less time at the side of the road mending a puncture. This is important for the commute into town, where I don’t carry any spare inner tube or pump.

They are not completely puncture proof. It maybe a tubeless tyre with self-sealing slime liquid offers an even better puncture resistance system. But with the Armadillos a puncture is going to be a very rare occurrence.

This winter, I did ride quite a lot with a Specialized Armadillo on my front and rear training wheel. (I didn’t really plan to do this. It just kind of happened.) Now it is summer, I wouldn’t want to be riding an Armadillo whilst training. You feel there is some compromise in performance, and there are other lighter tyres which still offer very good puncture protection (e.g. the Continental GP and Gatorskin) Compared to a Gatorskin, the Armadillo feels slightly slower and a harsher ride.
armadillo-all-condition-front

Durability

The Armadillo’s also seem to be much longer lasting than other tyres. My commute often involves a rough canal path and they haven’t needed changing for a long time. I think I’ve had my front tyre for nearly 3 years now. The back tyre needed changing after 2 years commuting. So even though they cost £30, they are good value. After three years, my front tyre is now looking tired and in need of a change it. Though I could probably get more use out of it, if I really wanted to.

Exceeding the speed limit

June 6, 2014 by tejvan

Recently, I was researching an article – Cycling Facts – one interesting thing I came across is how in the 1920s American pedestrians were successfully demonised for crossing the road. A strong road lobby decided it would be good to shame pedestrians who wanted nothing more than to cross the road (and therefore inconvenience motorists). A law was passed making jaywalking illegal (In the US pedestrians can only cross a road at a marked crossing – if you cross the road where you feel like it, you could end up with a fine of $200). But, this law was also accompanied with a sophisticated campaign to make pedestrians seem outdated and ‘dangerous’. – Successfully taking blame away from the real cause of the surge in road accidents – speeding motorists.

According to the BBC

Clowns were commonly used in parades or pageants to portray jaywalkers as a throwback to rural, ignorant, pre-motor age ways.

Another ruse was to provide local newspapers with a free service. Reporters would submit a few facts about local traffic accidents to Detroit, and the auto industry’s safety committee would send back a full report on the situation in their city.

“The newspaper coverage quite suddenly changes, so that in 1923 they’re all blaming the drivers, and by late 1924 they’re all blaming jaywalking,” Norton says.

Breakdown of all trips made in the US

Driving: 83%
Walking: 10.4%
Other (includes cycling): 4.2%
Public transport: 1.9%

Source: National Household Travel Survey, 2009

Speeding drivers

Source: Gov.uk

Speeding drivers kill every year. In the UK, there are 2,500 deaths on the road. These are not caused by cyclists or pedestrians, but almost entirely by cars, lorries and buses.

Yet, speeding has no real social stigma. There is no outrage from British newspapers at the preventable accidents caused by speeding drivers. In fact, the only outrage you are likely to get is the fact that speeding cameras ‘caught you’ i.e. breaking the law.

Rectory hill climb

June 5, 2014June 4, 2014 by tejvan

The Hamptons Rectory hill climb will be part of the Chiltern Cycling Festival. It looks like it will be a good event with many cycle events lined up for the day. By the afternoon there could be a good crowd watching the pain and suffering of the hill climbers. The hill climb will be on closed roads, which will be good for riders and spectators. There are quite a few prizes, such as Solo clothing, and I hear a good entry.

It will suit the short sprinting type of hill climbers. Depending on where the start and finish are, it’s not that dissimilar in length to Monsal Head / York Hill (Catford CC)

It is steep, with a gradient of 14-15% at the bottom before levelling off near the top. Ironically, the hill climb finishes by the underground line (Metropolitan line from Amersham). There can’t be too many hill climbs where you climb to a London Underground train line.

During a long ride yesterday, I did 2.05 up the 0.5 mile hill. And two and half minutes up the longer 0.6 mile version.

But that was after 50 miles of trying to find “Old Amersham” without a map. I would imagine a winning time of something like 20-30 seconds quicker.

As much as I love hill climbs, it will be a tough one for me. It’s a day before national 100 and I might be in with a shout of a good placing in the national. 3 efforts of 2 minutes are not quite my forte. It will be good to wear the national jersey – though using a granny ring will be very tempting. It’s looking like a good one to come along and watch.

Hamptons Rectory Hill Climb at Chiltern Cycle Festival

Cycling facts

February 7, 2018June 3, 2014 by tejvan

A random list of cycling facts – from the invention of the bike to the fastest time circumnavigating the world.

When Was the Bike Invented?

No one really knows exactly. The Frenchman Ernest Michaux invented a bicycle with pedal and rotary cranks in 1861, but it is doubtful this was actually the first design.

Early precursors to the bicycle include:

1817 – The Running Machine. Invented by the German Baron Karl von Drais, this had no pedals, no chains, but two wheels. It was propelled by pushing your feet on ground. It was sometimes known as human horse. It was largely a form of entertainment for aristocratic families with their own estate. It never really caught on, but is important for giving idea of bicycle shaped objects.

The Running Machine. Photo by Gun Powder Ma wikipedia

The Velocipede – 1860s. In the early 1860s, two Frenchmen Pierre Michaux and Pierre Lallement put pedals on the front wheel and introduced the velocipede, which looks more like our modern bicycle. It had no chain and was very uncomfortable due to the wooden wheels. The velocipede helped the spread of the bicycle.

The Penny Farthing. A development of the Velocipede, this was faster due to the larger diameter of the front wheel. But, considered dangerous because of its height. Nevertheless Penny Farthings became quite popular and the first cycle races were on these high machines.

1890-Humber_Safety_Bicycle — 1890 Humber Safety Bicycle

1885. The Safety Bike. It was around the 1880s, that the first safety bikes appeared. These are considered the first real bicycles. With their standard two triangle frames, pedals and chain, the basic design has remained unchanged. Starley’s 1885 Rover is considered the first real bicycle model.

When was the Pneumatic tyre

In 1846 Robert William Thomson patented a pneumatic tyre. But, he was never able to make it a practical reality. In 1888, Scotsman John Dunlop invented the first practical pneumatic tyre, which created a much more enjoyable and comfortable ride. A year later, in 1889, the racing cyclist Willie Hume won 4 races using Dunlop’s tyres in 1889 The bicycle was ready for mass participation and the first puncture repair kit was invented pretty soon after.

Innovations for bicycles which later appeared in motor cars

Pneumatic Tyres
Precision ball bearings
Tension-spoked wheels
chain-drive,

Motor Engineers who started off producing bicycles

Henry Ford, Wright Brothers. Dunlop tyres, The Rover Cycle Company, Morris Motor Company.

Who were the first group to campaign for better roads?

Cyclists. In the US in the 1890s, it was cyclists who were prominent in the Good roads movement. A magazine Good Roads Magazine was founded in 1892 by cycling advocates. It reached a subscription of 1 million within 3 years. A year later (1893) after Good Roads magazine was founded, Charles Duryea produced the first American gasoline-powered vehicle, and within 20 years cars had replaced bicycles as the most popular users of American roads. But, those early motorists befitted from the campaigning by cycling groups.

Everesting Beeley moor and more

June 2, 2014 by tejvan

Firstly, well done to Pee Jay for successfully ‘everesting‘ Beeley Moor over the weekend. I believe he was 3rd UK rider to complete this unique challenge.

If you want to see a decent interval session, have a look at his graphs for his ride on Strava

Peter Johnson with Dave Brailsford who happened to be in the area.

195 miles
30,000 + Ft
13 hours
If you want to donate to PeeJay’s charity

Other news

triathlete-basket — Shopping baskets allowed. One for Dave Brailsford’s marginal gains.

I had a weekend off racing. I was marshalling at the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence ‘tri a triathlon’ in Portishead.

Because I wasn’t racing, naturally enough it was a float day with pb’s set across the country.

One pb of particular note was Movistar Pro Alex Dowsett smashing the 10 Competition record taking a whopping 25 seconds off to reduce the 10 mile TT mark to 17.20. That’s an average speed of 34.5 mph or something suitably ridiculous. A great ride by a top pro.

Today I did seven * one minute intervals up Boars Hill. That’s 7 minutes of training, but my mind was wandering to the idea of everesting something.

Buttertubs pass

April 4, 2015June 1, 2014 by tejvan

Buttertubs is a good testing climb from Hawes to Muker taking you between the two Yorkshire dales of Wensleydale and Swaledale. It is quite long and steep and affords great views on both the way up and down. The climb from Hawes to Buttertubs features in the first stage of the 2014 Tour de France, and is the highest point (526 metres) of the race during its sojourn in Yorkshire. It is #49 in 100 climbs (ranked 8/10) It also features in the popular Etape du Dales.

On Buttertubs looking back towards Hawes.

The real cost of cheap motoring

June 2, 2014May 31, 2014 by tejvan

Other the past two decades, the real cost of motoring has fallen. Despite increases in petrol tax, motoring is getting cheaper – whilst other forms of transport, bus and train have been increasing faster than inflation. With the political popularity of freezing petrol tax, we are likely to see motoring continue to be relatively cheaper. But, although cheaper motoring seems attractive, the drawback is that it will contribute to a marked rise in congestion and very different costs to motorists and society.

Even a study by the RAC also shows that the real cost of motoring has fallen. – Even though you frequently hear about hard pressed motorists.

Cost of travel since 1988.

Spot the hard pressed motorist.

The RAC state:

28% cheaper to buy and run a car, excluding fuel costs, in 2008 than 1988. (RAC)
However, motorists do pay £45bn in fuel duty, VAT, new car tax and the road fund licence.

Everesting in the UK

November 20, 2017May 30, 2014 by tejvan

Here’s something that captures the imagination of cyclinguphill.com – the sport of ‘Everesting’.

photo Will cyclist - Tormalet — photo Will cyclist – Col du Tourmalet

‘Everesting’ involves choosing a hill and cycling up and down it enough times to gain enough vertical height gain to make a grand total of 8,848m.

8,848m is of course the total height of Mount Everest.

For example, if you fancied ‘Everesting’ Box Hill (130m height gain). You would have to go up and and 69 times in a day. Box hill climb is 2.5 km uphill and 2.5km downhill. Therefore each loop of 5km would mean a total ride of 345 km. But, obviously it would be no ordinary 345km ride.

There is even a website which records anyone who makes the first successful ‘Everesting.cc‘ of a particular climb.

The rules of Everesting

‘It does not matter how long the ride takes, but it must be ridden in one attempt (i.e. no sleeping in between).’

Basically it means cycling up a hill, do a u-turn at the top, go back down and then start the whole process again.

Wow, what a great way to spend a day!

10 Annoying types of cyclists

May 30, 2014May 29, 2014 by tejvan

We all know the bicycle is the best invention since stone age man first lit a fire and rolled a wheel down the hill to celebrate. But, those who ride a bicycle are not necessarily as super-cool as they might believe. Cyclists can just be as irritating and annoying as anyone else.

Irritating types of cyclists, could include:

Any cyclist with a better bike than you.
Any cyclist who has more bikes that you.
Any cyclist who overtakes you on a hill and says ‘jolly nice day’ pretending not to be even out of breath, when you know they are on the verge of collapsing when they get round corner.
Any cyclist who is faster than you.
Any cyclist who weighs less than you, despite eating more cake.
Any cyclist who pretends to never do any training, but still manages to do a 200Km sportive in sub 6 hours.
Anyone who starts an unofficial commuting race when you don’t want to get involved in such a petty unimportant thing.
Anyone who beats me in an unofficial commuting race.

But, this is a more detailed list.

1. The Winter Racer

It’s the middle of winter and most of your clubmates are happy to settle for some steady winter miles with the odd teashop thrown in. However, the winter racer will turn up on his £3,000 carbon fibre mike (sans mudguards of course) and insist on sprinting for every road sign or these days invisible strava segments. The funny thing about the winter racer is that when the real racing starts in the middle of summer, they tend to evaporate or fail to race very quickly. Winter racers for the times which don’t matter.

2. The Tester who bores everyone rigid.

(Tester = time triallist). Time trialling can have a tendency to encourage a sort of obsessive behaviour. In particular, some testers will take any opportunity to regale you with their long history of their personal bests.

“…I set a 52:03 on the H25/8. Of course, if I’d had a 54 * 11 sprocket I’m sure I would have got a 51….”

In the old days you could settle for listening to pbs and perhaps the advantage of fixed wheel over gears, but these days we have power figures, and even CdA stats to throw in the equation. For every pb, there is now also a power pb. Not only will you hear all the times done, but also how much faster he could have gone, should power and optimal CdA be thrown into the equation.

3. The Urban Warrior

Maybe it is not fair to call these class of people cyclists – but they are certainly guilty of creating a bad image for all the other cyclists.. Urban warriors treat the road as an obstacle course. Red lights and one way signs are only part of the street furniture – something to be admired for their aesthetic beauty rather than being signals of when to stop. The urban warrior will charge along pavements and shout at anyone with the audacity to suggest he might have been in the wrong. The worst thing about the Urban Warrior is that every-time he gets on a bike, he spawns another 100 angry letters to the Daily Mail – ensuring cyclists are viewed with the same disdain usually reserved for slugs in a lettuce patch.

4. Mr Excuses

tricycle-puddle — It wasn’t fair, there was this big puddle

It was the headwind, sidewind, wrong bike, wrong choice of gears, too hilly, too early in the season, too late in the season, too hot, too cold, old war wound…. No matter what happens, Mr Excuses will always come up with a long list of excuses for why he didn’t do better / ride further. After listening to Mr Excuses, you really feel he could win the Tour de France, if only he wasn’t so cursed with bad luck and unfortunate mishaps. Of course, every racing cyclists is guilty of delving into the world of excuses.