Rider

PreparingIthe plainsoften require more recovery and can benefitfrom a 2-to-1 work to recovery schedule.Eat early and eat often!• Take some time during your rides to hone yournutrition on the bike, practicing what and whenyou’re eating. The guidelines for the amountof food you’ll be able to eat AND digest whileexercising is 300-350 calories an hour formales, 250-300 calories for females. But youmay find that you can eat more (or less) withoutupsetting your stomach.• There are a multitude of nutrition productson the market, finding items that are easilydigestible and give you the energy you needtakes some trial and error. Once you find whatworks, stick with it during the event!NUTRITIONNutrition Tip by Biju Thomas and Allen LimEAT REAL FOODRegardless of diet, preference, or theme whatseparates a good diet from a great diet are theingredients you start with. Begin with fresh, wholefoods that come in their own wrapper with as many oftheir parts intact as possible—foods that are minimallyprocessed, grown locally by real farmers.DON’T RIDE ON EMPTYMost athletes find that eating about three hoursbefore competition or two hours before training worksvery well. You’ll need ample time to digest your food.Sometimes athletes will have a little snack, like one ofmy portable rice cakes or an energy drink, about 30minutes before competition to keep their blood sugarnormal.One thing to realize, though, is that eating too close tobeginning a ride can lead to a pretty rough first hourbecause of how your insulin levels react to eating.ourIf you are stuck beginning a ride with an empty fueltank, consider waiting to eat until you have startedpartnersexercising. It’s not an optimal approach, but it’s betterthan nothing.When exercising, it’s recommend that athletes replaceabout half of the calories they burn per hour with solidonJfood and a sports drink, with just a hint of sweetnessrouteand plenty of sodium to replace what’s lost in sweat,like Skratch Lab’s Exercise Hydration mix.REFUEL!After riding more than four hours, it’s critical thatyou eat carbs within 30 minutes of getting off thein Jbike. After the 30-minute window, your body will betownsreluctant to refuel as quickly and completely as if youcan take in a few hundred calories right away. Don’tdally around the stage finish – get eating as soon asyou can and then have a real meal within two hours.HYDRATION: WHAT TO DRINK AND HOW MUCHA surprisingly small loss of body fluids can have aoutsized effect on performance. Just as we advocateeating real food, we think cyclists will hydrate best byavoiding artificial drinks. Yet there is no situation whenwater alone is superior to a sports drink with about a4 percent carbohydrate solution (4 grams per 100 ml)and ample sodium (600 to 1000 mg per liter).It’s difficult to find a sports drink that is not full ofartificial colors, artificial sweeteners and syntheticflavoring agents. Skratch Labs, the official energy drinkof Pedal The Plains, makes a hydration mix that is allnatural, tastes great, flavored only with real fruit andthat balances electrolytes and sugars to minimizedigestion problems.You’ll want to hydrate enough to limit your waterlosses to no more than 3 percent of your body weight.The best and easiest way to tune your hydration is topractice. In the weeks before Pedal The Plains, weighyourself before and after rides during which you’ve12