Do you eat before bike rides?

I've read that people do not eat 3 hours before a bike ride or race; they eat liquids while on the bike. What, when, if, and how much are you supposed to eat before morning rides?

I ride cross-country and was doing it profesionally for a while, now i'm not in a team anymore but I've been through enough marathons/races to know what's cool and whats not and here's what I usually do: I actually have a pasta about half an hour before the race. I don't agree with whoever said that it hurts if you eat directly before the start, it's quite opposite- satieted you can ride much better. maybe it hurts only if you eat a gluttons portion. no one asked you to do that...
so yeah, I have a pasta and a little less than two pints of water (which is very important to have enough intake of water) before the start plus a powergel. sometimes just banana instead of the sticky-yucky gel. that's so to have enough basis for your ride. during the ride I have a sup of water every five, ten or so minutes to keep myself hydrated. doing usual races I usually have up to 1 pint along but sometimes, during longer races where it goes over 70 miles I have even two bottles of water- one clear cool water, the other one- an energy drink ,stuff like Gatorade or Isostar. but I'm personally not very keen on energy drinks during the race because they taste so yucky in motion (somehow) and just pure water is easier to gulp down. when during longer marathons I also have about two powerbars in my jersey- another cool energy source during the ride.
it's very important to have a nutritional meal after the ride, my favourite is an oatmeal and jelly with a really sugary, warm tea and lots of water afterwards.

that's what I've been taught, that's what worked well for most of us in the team but if someone does something better or differnet- tell, it would be interesting to get to know some new ideas


hahaha @ jondine m

i EAT FOR THE ENERGY

yes but dont eat alot cause it will start to hurt on the bikeride after a while and give ur self about 15 minutes after eating. then go hope i helped =]

like any other sports.
u dont eat directly before being active.
i usually eat from 2-4 hours before.
sometiems even 45 minutes though.

thats different from fluids though
u need fluids.
before.
during.
and after.

what ever I feel like. I don't do XC so I can be as fat as I want, and when I'm done I recover with a pint of IPA and a cliff bar.

i eat if im hungery

me i eat a banana and usualy some mangos. you can eat right before you go bike riding or race. if you do nothing will happen only if you eat fruit before you go bike riding if you eat somthing else youll get sick and probably trough up. you can eat about one to two pieces of fruit it depends how hungry you are, just dont eat more than two and drink water only and it will keep you from getting sick.

that depends on wad ur going to eat i guess like and energy bar is ok but not like a great big subway sandwich so that wen u try to impress some one with a great move ur burger pops out keep it simple and it should be ok !!

I do eat before riding, but always take with me some gels or aceleraide in my water bottle if the ride is over ten miles. Since you often sweat during a ride, if you don't replace your electrolytes, you will feel very weak and may not be able to finish your ride.

have a few carbs and protein... for instance,have som triscuits

not a lot thoug, just a little, it gets me through about a ten mile ride

There is a BIG difference between eating before a ride for different riding purposes.

If you talking about a 15 mile fun ride it doesn't matter much to most people. Just don't eat too much before any exercise.

If you're a performance rider and going out on a 50 mile "A" ride I would eat a regular meal about 3 hours before hand. I don't like to eat too close to hard prolonged efforts.

If you're a pro level racer, it's a science on when, what and how much you eat.

My normal week day ride is a hard 1.5 hours after work. I just have a moderate lunch at work before hand.

I eat before a ride at least 2 hours (3 when I have time) before morning rides. What I eat depends on the type of ride. For centuries I even have an egg and pancakes. Most 35-50 milers I have a banana and oatmeal. With either a smoothie is great for the initial energy.

Here are a couple articles

http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,...
http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,...

For long xc races or rides, I like to eat early in the morning of the race, pancakes, oatmeal and water or juice make up breakfast, with powers bars and bananas right before the race. Water and powerbars during the race. Bmx, mt bike downhill, mtn-x and dual slalom the racing lasts all day so the eating plan is different. Since power is needed all day and only for short high power races I pretty much eat the same breakfast as for xc but I will eat regular meals during the day, hotdogs, pasta, pizza, mostly my happy foods that will still keep my power up. For dh I like a candy bar and a coke about 30-15 minutes prior to my start and for mtn-x I do the same. DS and Bmx soda and sugar are the meal of choice right before the runs. The after race meals are always the same for all my bike racing, some kind of meat. Water, juice and soda are the drinks of choice.

i try to eat human foods as much as possible, even when doing 200 miles in one day. e.g. a big breakfast beforehand, a (real) meal at lunch, etc.

others like liquid foods, but i'm trying to stay human! i'm not a competitive sport-robot, i'm just out to have fun & cover some distance.

Yes but don't eat too much if not you will feel sleepy.