One of the hardest things to figure out is what to eat before a race. During a race, you’re probably eating energy bars and gels, but before and after the race, what do you do?

There are so many options, but only some of them are smart, healthy choices. To make things worse, everyone is different. So what works great for your friend could be horrible for you.

With that in mind, I want to give you an idea of what foods you should be eating before and after your rides. Exact foods will vary by personal preference and type of ride, but this will give you a good overview.

Think Before You Eat

Before making a choice, there are considerations. The right meal choice will depend on ride duration, time of day, and ride intensity.

For example, if I’m riding early in the morning, I will eat nothing beforehand. I’ll just go straight into my during-ride nutrition consisting of energy bars, gels, and drinks.

Since you should have eaten dinner the night before, and your body will hold about 2,000 calories worth of energy in its glycogen stores, you technically don’t need breakfast. As long as you do start eating while riding, you’ll be fine.

If the ride is late morning or afternoon, I will eat a meal 3-4 hours before the start of the ride. That way my body has time to digest the food beforehand.

During intense rides, you don’t want food in your stomach. (Well, unless you want to puke.)

With longer, slow rides, I worry less about timing because I can still digest food at the slow riding pace. I can literally eat as I walk out the door.

What To Eat Before a Ride

When I do eat a considerable meal 3-4 hours before a ride, I am looking for a balance of whole grain carbohydrates, healthy fat, and protein. The meal will be based on complex carbs (no steak and eggs,) but you don’t want to skimp on fat and protein.

This type of meal will take longer to digest than something based on simple carbs, but that’s fine, because you have 3-4 hours for that. Also, the protein and fat will supply longer-lasting energy and a feeling of satiety.

Just don’t consume too much fat, protein, or fiber immediately before or during the ride, because you need to focus on riding, not digesting!

Here are a few examples of what I might eat before a ride:

• Hearty oatmeal.
• Whole wheat toast + natural peanut butter.
• An apple.
• Hearty, natural granola (whole grains, almonds, etc.)
• Cheerios without milk. (If I need something quick while walking out the door.)

What I would not eat:

• Sugary cereal like Froot Loops, Cap’n Crunch, etc.
• Pancakes with syrup.
• White bread or bagels.
• Yogurt.
• Citrus fruits. (Acidic fruits could possibly disrupt digestion.)

You could also try to eat twice before a big ride. In this case you would have your big meal (i.e. oatmeal) four hours beforehand, then have a small snack (i.e. dry Cheerios or Nature Valley granola bar) at 45 minutes before heading out.

In this case my big meal would be roughly 800-1,000 calories, and my snack would be 90-200 calories.

What To Eat After a Ride

Immediately after a ride (ideally within 15 minutes of finishing,) I’m looking for a meal that will quickly replenish my energy but also rebuild my muscles. So I will go ahead and eat some simple carbs, but I want a little protein, too.

At this point, your body is most receptive to refueling, so the carbs will go towards replenishing muscle glycogen (instead of being stored as fat.)

Don’t forget protein though – you need to add some protein into this meal to aid in recovery, and a few studies have shown that you can actually absorb more nutrients with a carb:protein mixture.

Just be careful not to eat too much protein or fat just yet, since that could slow the absorption of carbs. (That’s good at other times of the day, like in the evening after the big ride, but not right now!)

Here is what I might eat immediately after a ride:

• Peanut butter banana smoothie.
• Toasted peanut butter banana sandwich.
• A banana.
• Whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce.
• Specialty recovery drink.
• A glass of Ovaltine.
• Baked potato.

Just make sure you get something that’s high on the Glycemic Index right after the ride. (If you must have something sugary, like pancakes and syrup, do it now!)

What I would not eat:

• A plate of bacon.
• A huge steak.

I’d still avoid white bread and sugary cereal because I cut those foods out of my diet, but if you were going to eat that stuff, now is the time to do it.

Later in the evening I might have a meal consisting of whole wheat pasta, chicken breast, and some steamed vegetables. Or you could have your steak and baked potato.

Those are just some ideas from my kitchen. To find the right meals for your needs, keep experimenting. It could take a few years but eventually you should figure out what works best!

Eating Tip: keep all of this information in your food log so you can determine what works best for you! And when you find the perfect pre- and post-ride meals, remember them!

For more nutrition advice, stay tuned for What to Eat During Your Ride.

Photo credits: eyeliam | terren in Virginia | mollypop

Over the years, I’ve shaved my legs with a variety of shaving gels from Gillette, Nivea, and Edge, as well as regular body wash, and I actually prefer the body wash. (And the body wash is cheap, so that’s cool.)

I’ve never used anything fancy, but I certainly wouldn’t pass up the chance to try something nice. Which is why I’m testing something called Day Away shaving lotion right now.

Day Away is “exfoliating shaving cream” which exfoliates your skin and promises a closer shave, keeping your legs smoother, longer.

Yes, the stuff is for girls, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t great for cyclists, swimmers, and triathletes!

The Ingredients

What good is expensive shaving cream if it doesn’t list exotic ingredients that seem to make your legs smoother just from reading the names?

Just check the first ingredient: “Herbal Infusion of Echinacea Purperea, Lemon Balm, Olive Leaf, Elder Flower and Berries, Lemon Peel, Goldenseal and Ginger in Water.” There’s also Olive Oil, Hydrolyzed Oats, Aloe Vera, and Green Tea, just to choose my favorites.

There were a couple regular ingredients, such as “Benzyl Alcohol,” but nothing that freaked me out.

Shaving with Day Away

As cool as the ingredients are, the point of this stuff is to give me a better shave (which means I can shave less often,) so let’s see if it delivers…

The First Shave

I start out sitting on the edge of the bath tub and wet my legs, like usual. The directions say to “massage deeply into skin,” so I take a dollop and massage it into my right leg. It feels a lot like an exfoliating face scrub, with the rough, sandy stuff to clean off any dead skin.

Note: the picture to the left is a glob of Day Away on my leg, before being massaged into my skin.

Now things get interesting because this lotion practically disappears! It was kind of scary because I’m used to a thick layer of foam on top of my skin. With this, it looked like shaving bare skin!

Note: the picture above is what Day Away looks like when massaged into my leg. You can just barely see the white granules.

But I trust Day Away, and you know what, the razor just glides across. It’s scary the whole time, but somehow this lotion creates some sort of coating on your legs that lets the razor glide effortlessly and remove the hair. (Sort of like Dumonde Tech lube, which seems like it isn’t even on the chain, but if you trust it, it works marvelously.)

I ran into a slight problem though. I was shaving my legs in a dimly lit bathroom, and without a layer of shaving cream, I was “flying blind” so to speak. I like shaving cream because it gives me guidelines. If the leg is bare, I shave it. If there is still shaving cream there, I need to shave that section.

With this, you kind of go by memory (since your legs look the same whether shaved or not.)

I tried to go by feel, but that was another dead end. Those exfoliating granules stay stuck to your legs, so you can’t tell whether you’re feeling sand or stubble!

Despite the lighting situation, I finish my right leg and then do my left. Same story – it looks scary but then the razor glides effortlessly.

Even on the sensitive skin of my hamstrings, where I would typically get razor burn, this stuff worked marvelously. (I really didn’t think that would happen, but I underestimated this stuff!)

The rinse – oh boy, this takes just as long as shaving did! I had to rinse each leg about five times because those exfoliating granules do not want to rinse off! (In all fairness, any exfoliating scrub will take just as long. It just seems tough because I’m accustomed to rinsing off the small surface area of my face, not my entire legs.)

Eventually the granules do come off and I towel dry my legs.

Time for the smoothness test… As mad as I was about the inconveniences of using this stuff (can’t see it, scary, long rinse,) my eyes lit up when I rubbed my legs! On the sections where I managed to shave, my legs were so, so smooth!

Without a doubt, this is the smoothest my legs have ever been. I can’t say how much better they are, perhaps just 1% smoother than they are when I used body wash, but I swear they’re smoother.

Unfortunately, I had missed some sections due to the bad lighting. For most people this will probably be a very minor inconvenience. But I only have one tiny light in my bathroom, so the lighting where I shave is awful. I always miss huge sections even with regular shaving cream, because I simply can’t see the hair! (I’d do just as well with a blindfold.)

Shaving Under The Light!

To make sure I was doing a fair test of Day Away, I had another light installed in the bathroom, right above where I shave! Now I can see!!

The light made a huge difference. Once I had the light, I was able to see where I had shaved and where I had not. Shaving went much quicker after the new light was installed, and all the problems I encountered the first time became history.

Note: The picture above is to show how my leg looks where I have shaved and where I have not. Thanks to the good lighting, close-up photo, and week-old stubble, you can tell the difference.

Whether the problems going away is due to the new light or me getting used to this new shaving cream is irrelevant. What matters is that I started getting smooth, hassle-free shaves!

So once I actually got used to this stuff, I realized it was pretty cool.

Day Away Observations

Some things I noticed during my testing:

Scent

Any time you get something girly, you have to watch out for the scent. Luckily, Day Away wasn’t too strong, and it definitely wasn’t bad.

I want to say it’s a small part cream/lotion, large part orange peel. I’d say it’s kind of a fruity or floral scent when you smell the lotion, but it doesn’t leave a scent on your legs once you’re done.

Ease of Shaving

If you have good bathroom lighting, this stuff shouldn’t pose a problem. It might a few tries to get used to, though. Any time you change something (shaving cream included,) there’s an adjustment period.

My first time with this was tough, the second time around was easier, and then it got easier from there.

After three or four uses, I mastered it!

Closeness and Smoothness

My legs are noticeably smoother when using this. Like I said, it might only be a 1% increase in smoothness, but it feels better.

Even after the first shave, I could tell my legs were smoother.

After the fourth shave, my legs were silky smooth. Three days went by and I could just barely feel the stubble coming in. I had to get my eyes within a couple inches of my legs to actually see the stubble!

It makes sense though. Any time you exfoliate before you shave, you remove dead skin cells, allowing the razor to get closer to the fresh skin. So it’s not magic, but it is a great idea.

Razor burn

Typically I’ll get some razor burn around my hamstrings and inner thighs when I shave. I have to be extra careful anywhere above my knee. (And no matter how carefully I do it, I still get razor burn!)

With Day Away, I did get a little razorburn the first time. But after that, razor burn has all but disappeared! I still have to use caution above my knee, but razor burn is a thing of the past!

My final verdict is…

This Day Away lotion has given me the smoothest shave I’ve ever had. Once I got used to using it, it also reduced razorburn and ingrown hairs. So it is certainly good stuff (and I think it’s worth the money just due to the razor burn issue.)

Now, if you’re happy with your current shaving cream, and you’re low on cash, you might want to save the money and put it toward healthier food or important training essentials.

But if you have a bathroom with good lighting, and plenty of cash to spare, I wouldn’t think twice about buying this. It’s a no-brainer! (The 8oz tube should last for months, possibly the entire cycling season since you don’t use that much, so the $15.25 price tag isn’t bad at all.)

Official website: www.ExfoliatingShavingCream.com

Here is a question about a little problem that confounds anyone purchasing a new bicycle…

hi there levi! another newbie question… what’s this black plastic plate at the center rear wheel? what’s its purpose? how can i take it off? thanks again!

Sincerely,
Mr. Pete Plate

Hi Petey,

That plastic piece that looks like a pie plate is a spoke protector, and it is sometimes called a “dork disc” because serious riders always remove those before riding a new bike. Apparently, shaving your legs and dressing in colorful spandex is cool, but a spoke protector makes you a dork!

The purpose of the spoke protector is to keep the chain from shifting into the spokes and damaging the rear wheel and/or causing you to crash. It is totally unnecessary if the rear derailleur is adjusted properly.

The derailleur would have to be totally out of adjustment to actually shift the chain into the spokes, and if that were to happen, I doubt that thin piece of plastic would help at all. It would probably get torn apart by the chain (which could be good, but it probably won’t save the wheel.)

I suggest removing it. It adds needless weight to your bike, it looks ugly, and it will do more harm than good. While I’ve never seen an accident caused by the plastic spoke protector, I have seen them break. The plastic gets brittle from the weather, and whenever it gets hit, it will crack. If it’s not removed immediately after any damage, sharp plastic pieces could snap off and get stuck in your cassette and jam your chain, or maybe even slice your tire.

(I highly doubt it will break and cause an accident any time soon, but there’s always that slight chance.)

To take it off without risking any damage to your spokes, you will need to remove your cassette, pull the spoke protector off, then reinstall your cassette.

If you need a tutorial for that, check out “How to Replace a Cassette Cluster” or read “How to Replace a Cassette.”

The tools for this job will cost about $25-50 total, though. A bike shop would probably do this for a lower price if you want, or you could use a Dremel or another cutting tool (wire cutters or tin snips, perhaps) to cut it off. But bear in mind, you could damage the wheel if you’re not careful!

I would avoid bending and snapping it, since that could put too much force on your spokes.

So here’s what I would do:

1. See if the shop where you purchased the bicycle would remove the spoke protector for free. (Just keep in mind, they had to install it to avoid breaking the law.)

2. Wait until you need a new cassette and just have the spoke protector removed at that point.

3. Buy the necessary tools for cassette removal, because then you can remove the spoke protector safely, and when you need to replace the cassette or switch wheels, you can do it yourself and save some money in the long run.

4. If it’s really an eye sore, cut that thing off!

Or you could forget about it and go for a ride. The choice is yours!

Today’s question is from a cyclist who is training hard but seems to have a low Max Heart Rate…

My coach was telling me my heartrate is lower than normal. During time trials and all out sprints I can only get up to about 170. I am 17 years old, and I don’t know if age has to do anything with it. Is it just that I need to push harder, or is it that I just have a slower HR. Any tips on how to get it up during a TT?

Thanks,
Hearty Henry

Hi Henry,

A typical Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) will be around 195-210 for most athletes. It depends on the individual. Age may play a very small role, but it’s not very important.

Stay far, far away from any “220 – your age” formula for determining MHR!

It is possible that your MHR is 170, but it’s unlikely. 170 is more in the range of a Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LTHR.)

It’s hard to answer your question concretely, but here are a few things to consider:

1. Time Trials and Sprints

You mentioned that you’re not seeing a MHR during time trials and all-out sprints. Well, you’re not going to see your MHR does these workouts. During a Time Trial, you’ll be using a hard but sustainable pace for an extended period of time. You’ll be riding at or near your LTHR, not your MHR! (If you hit your MHR, you’d probably collapse.)

Sprints are different because they’re more intense, but they are also very short. During an 8-12 second sprint, your heart doesn’t even have a chance to start beating faster. Your HR will be elevated shortly after the sprint, but you still won’t be seeing your MHR.

So seeing 170 bpm during these activities is not unusual.

2. The Maximum Heart Rate Test

The workout you didn’t mention is the “maximum heart rate test.” This field test requires you to go out and ride hard, upping the pace every two minutes until you’re in a lot of pain. Once you think you’re going to pass out, you give it one last sprint and then, if you’re still conscious, you see what your heart rate monitor says.

The test is very painful and can be dangerous, and it has fallen out of favor in recent years because it’s not vital to know your MHR. But the point is, that’s about the only time you’ll ever see your MHR.

3. Over Training

A low heart rate during intense activities is a classic sign of over training. Your body is resisting you telling it to go fast because it knows it needs the rest.

If you were doing a MHR test and only hit 170, you could probably rest for a week and then get your HR closer to 200 in the next test. (But like I said, 170 is normal for a Time Trial.)

4. Increased Fitness

The thing with HR is that it can mean so many different things. It needs to be analyzed in the context of other factors.

So check your resting HR. Is your resting HR higher than usual?

If your resting HR is high, but your HR during intense training is low, that could be a bad sign (as in, it indicates overtraining.)

But let’s say you have a low resting HR, you feel good, and you’re riding stronger than usual, that lower HR could be a good sign. It means you can ride just as fast and produce as much power as before, but your body isn’t working as hard to do so.

As you can see, there are a lot of factors at play, and it’s hard to diagnose anything based on one number, especially when that number is affected by so many factors.

If you look at heart rate in conjunction with power output or perceived exertion, along with your general sense of well-being, you’ll have a much better idea of what is going on with your body.

The first thing you need if you’re going to train for a big event, such as a mountain bike race, is a training plan. If you’re just starting out, you can get in pretty good shape just by going out for a ride whenever you feel like it, but if you want to get serious results, you need to do some serious training.

The best training plan is going to come from a coach who has customized the training plan to your specific needs, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come up with a decent plan on your own.

Below I will show you what a training week might look like, plus I’ll explain why it might look like that…

An Example Week from a Cyclist’s Training Plan

Here is an example week of training that a cyclist may use in the Spring, Summer, or Fall:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Recovery ride. 30 minutes.	Sprints. 90 minutes.	Recovery ride. 60 minutes.	Intervals. 90 minutes.	Recovery ride. 30 minutes.	Intense ride. 120 minutes.	Endurance ride. 4 hours.

In a little more detail:

Monday – Recovery ride.

Weekends are usually filled with hard riding, so Monday is a good time to take it easy and go for a 30-45 minute recovery ride. This will get some blood circulating through your legs, cleaning up any leftover byproducts of racing and delivering fresh oxygen. Your legs may be sore, but going out for an easy spin will make you feel better.

Tuesday – Sprints.

Hopefully you are fresh after the recovery day, in which case you can do some sprints. Sprints are all-out efforts that last about 8-15 seconds. You might do 2 sets of 3, or maybe 3 sets of 5 sprints, depending on your fitness. Total ride time should be around 90 minutes.

Wednesday – Recovery ride.

To recover from Tuesday’s workout and prepare for Thursday, another recovery ride is in order. Ride easy for 30-60 minutes.

Thursday – Intervals.

Now that you are rested, it’s time for some intervals. There are so many types of intervals you can do, I can’t name them all here, but here’s an idea:

You could do 2 sets of 3 reps of 2 minute intervals (at the fastest pace you can hold for the entire duration of the interval.) 2 minutes recovery between intervals, 10 minutes recovery between sets. Overall, go for a 90 minute ride.

Friday – Recovery ride.

Another 30 minute recovery ride is in order.

Saturday – Intense ride.

If you have a race scheduled, race. If not, go out for 1-2 hours, riding like you’re in a race. It won’t be structured like an interval workout, but it will be hard and fast and should mimic the types of races you do.

Sunday – Endurance ride.

To maintain endurance during the season, you will want to do a long ride at least once every other week, if not once per week. This ride should be pretty slow, totally aerobic, and it will last from 3-6 hours, depending on your fitness and goals.

Adapting the Plan to Fit your Goals

You could use the above week as a good starting point for developing a plan, but you can’t just do that workout each week – you need to adjust the plan to fit your need!!

You’ll need to adjust the number and length of intervals, the length of the recovery rides and endurance rides, intensity level, etc. And that will adjust continually as you increase your fitness.

A few examples of changes you might make:

Back-to-Back Interval Workouts

If you’re training for stage races or other instances where you typically have to ride hard for two days in a row, you could do your interval workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, instead of separating them with a rest day.

One Hard Weekday Ride

Let’s say it’s the heart of racing season and you just want to maintain fitness, since your primary goal is being well-rested for the weekend. In this case, you might do a hard workout on Wednesday, but take it easy on the other days. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and maybe even Sunday will be easy recovery rides.

Intense Fridays

If you have a race on Saturday, you’ll want to ride a little bit on Friday to keep your legs fresh. This ride won’t be long, but it should have incorporate some intense intervals to make sure you’re ready and raring to go (rather than sluggish) come Saturday.

Distance

If you’re focusing on events like long time trials, or real long events like RAAM or 24-hour mountain bike races, you might forget the sprints and stick with longer intervals and/or more endurance days.

A Day Off

Sometimes even a recovery ride will be too much. In that case, you need to take a day and lay in bed all day!

Cross Training

To maintain your body, you should also incorporate other exercises, such as weight lifting, body weight calisthenics, and/or yoga.

The “Why” Behind the Training Plan

Even though you should adapt your training plan, there are a couple basic principles at play. Keep this in mind:

1. Hard then Easy.

In this plan, each hard ride is followed by an easy ride, so you end up alternating hard and easy days.

By going very easy on your easy days, you can go very hard on your hard days. This style of training will produce bigger gains than if you rode every day at a mediocre pace.

2. Big Rides on the Weekend.

If you work Mon-Fri, 9-5, it’s kind of obvious you have to save the big rides for the weekend.

But this is also because that’s when races are. You want to get in the groove and establish a routine, so you schedule your training to match your race schedule.

You can take it even further if you want and match your workouts to your actual race times. Some races may start at 8:00 AM, while others take place at 2:30 PM. You want your body used to delivering at the specified time.

Think about it – if you’ll be racing in the afternoon heat, you want to get accustomed to that. So don’t do all your rides at 7:00 AM. If you’ll be racing early in the morning, train early in the morning. A big thing in this case is determining what to eat and drink.

Designing Your Own Training Plan

To do the best job designing your own training plan, I highly recommend purchasing a book on the subject. The best choice for a dedicated cyclist is The Cyclist’s Training Bible by Joe Friel. It’s a big book which features in-depth coverage of virtually every aspect of training.

If you’re just starting out and want some training advice coupled with a training plan, try The Lance Armstrong Performance Program, which provides three separate training plans (beginner, intermediate, and advanced.)

You will learn a lot from those books, and you’ll get a good start on a training plan. You can get both for under $25, which is less than what a coach would cost per month!