Hi bikers.
What do you do before and after your ride?
Do you drink carbohydrates before and eat a happy meal after a ride.
Do you have any "rituals" like lifting your bike or polish your shoes.

Like to hear how YOU get the best of your training session before, under and after!

Hope to get a fun but also inspirering discussion for other weight weenie riders

Bring it!

I'll oblige this post because It really is that slow in my shop today.

The cyclists I know have their pre-ride down to a ritual. It's an almost religious experience for them as what I see them do is akin to what old monastery monks had to do every time the word "God" was written.

For me:

1. Wake up - Tell wife I'm going whether she likes it or not
2. Brush Teeth - Get my teeth aero so that I don't slow down when I'm smiling and descending.
3. Coffee (depending on length of ride). No Coffee for anything exceeding 50 miles.
4. Put on the bib - I was in my underwear before this
5. Nutrition - 1 Gel Shot, 12 Oz. Orange Juice, 8 Oz. Water, Fill Water Bottles, Stock Gels
6. Put on the Jersey
7. Bio - Flush out anything extra that might be weighing me down
8. Pray - I don't care to share or talk about religious beliefs on this forum, but I pray to God Almighty that I come home in one piece every time I ride.
9. Safety Inspection
10. Clip in and Go

Post Ride:

1. Unclip
2. Eat - 16 Oz. Chocolate Milk and A Steak Sandwich
3. Shower - Long... Soapy... Shower
4. Pass out
5. Still Passed Out
6. ... Even still - passed out
7. Wake next day to clean bike, or just do a pre-ride again.

It is always this order. It has always been this order. Don't tell me to change it!!

_________________
Cervélo S2 2012 Red
Great minds think alike... sadly, so do the mediocre ones.

how do you let out the stuff weighing you down when you have your jersey on?

^ lol.
1.Fuel up.
2.Follow the plan. (most rides have function and goals...yes, "social" IS a function with goals and I do those too).
3.Ride.
4.Warm down properly. (I never used to do this very well....it makes a LOT of difference!).
5.Replace carbs (a small amount, for an 50-80km trainer this is a shade under a typical gel or about 2/3 of a bottle of electrolyte that is sweetened. I use Horley's REPLACE).
6.Protein within 1/2 hour of finishing.
7.Light mixed meal (eg a smallish salad roll/sanwich with a bit of lean meat included) within about 3/4 hr of finishing.
Works for me.

_________________
Used to race....got too wrinkly and old Updated: Racing again! Thought this was unlikely! Eventually, I may even have a decent race!

Before - apply chamois creme. Nice.
After - eat sugar. And proteins. Nice too.

heres what I do since im not working during summer time:

wake up without alarm
eat breakfast, usually 3 whole grain chocolate chips muffins with orange juice
drink 3 big cup of coffee
watch twitter/emails/forums/news while drinking coffee
watch the Tour while drinking last cup of coffee
go downstairs, play diablo 3
waste my time on internet
look at the plan
dress up
put the bike outside
fill bidons and take bars/cookies
go for my ride
come back, undress
post ride nutrition (yogurt with cereals, milk with ovaltine, milk/yogurt/cocoa/fruit smoothie, or whatever has carb/proteins
drink/eat post ride nutriton while wasting more time on internet
watch twitter
shower
play diablo 3
sleep

repeat 5 days a week

_________________
2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

You don't work?

_________________
Exp001

espresso
ride
beer

_________________
2013 Wilier Cento1 SR || 2009 Ridley Crossbow || 2011 Yeti AS-R 5 Carbon

1. Wake
2. Coffee and some protein.
3. Poop
4. Water (lots)
5. Ride
6. Carbs with some protein and water.

_________________
-For my next trick I will set myself on fire!
-This board and the world in general would be a much nicer place if everyone could just take themselves a little less seriously.
-Sticky Fingers John Rockefeller
-First one over the cliff wins!

Teacher

_________________
2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

LOL - let me make sure to add steps into this one - *Go to Bathroom *Drop kit *Bio *Put kit back on again *sometimes I don't bio?

Wow, specifics specifics.

_________________
Cervélo S2 2012 Red
Great minds think alike... sadly, so do the mediocre ones.

^ when i wear PI bibs and gotta leak during a ride... PITA!

1. Alarm goes off
2. Triple Espresso made
3. Bottles (electrolytes only) done and banana in pocket. Get changed, out the door 45mins after waking up.
4. Ride between 90mins and 3.5hrs depending on programme. All quality. Banana eaten midway through ride.

5. Get back and immediately wipe down bike, clean and relube chain.
6. Shower and clothes in washing machine
7. Brekka - large bowl of cereal, 1.5g Amino Acids, 1g Vit C + Zinc
8. Get dressed and walk to work.

Bottom line, most people eat far more than they need to when riding. You can train your digestion to be efficient. For example, Steve Cummings will go out for 6hrs during the winter, and have a small cereal bar in the middle of his ride, and nothing more.

I dont think I want to use a pro as an exemple. If you eat a lot but dont gain any weight, where the problem?

_________________
2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

I understand people when they say 'you eat too much on the bike' but what they often neglect to mention is that it's the carbs you have in your body BEFORE you ride that actually make the biggest difference.

E.g. on a 4hr+ ride I'll eat 2000 cal above my BMR the day before in carbs. That way on the ride I don't need to eat anything, except maybe a snack halfway to settle the stomach.

I've ridden 4hrs where the day before I ate almost nothing and it's hell. The legs bonk after about an hour and no amount of eating on the bike can make up for it. If this happens I usually stop somewhere warm and let my body digest some of the food I've just eaten.