Eat Right For A Faster Cycle Tour

"It is well established that exercise performance can be affected by diet and, in order to maintain optimal training, the body must be properly refuelled with appropriate nutrients. The pre-event meal is an integral part of the complete training plan," says the American College of Sports Medicine.

While you may be wisely planning on carrying plenty of sports drinks and gels for the ride itself, what you eat in the hours before and the day before the ride can also provide an important nutritional boost. Cyclists sometimes consume carbs such as honey, sweets or soft drinks right before exercise in the hope of getting quick energy. Unfortunately, most of the energy comes from foods eaten several hours or even days before the start of the race or event.

THE COUNTDOWN
An endurance event, like the Cape Pick n Pay Cycle Tour, requires you to expend energy throughout hours of physical activity. Begin to taper your workouts seven days before the competition. During the first three days of tapering, your daily food intake needs to provide your weight maintenance energy needs with about 55 percent of energy coming from carbohydrates.

An eating strategy to maximise energy for the competition will include carboloading - starting two to three days before the event. Carbohydrates should provide 70 percent of total energy intake for the second three days of workout tapering. During this time eight to 10g of carbs for every kilogram of body weight will help you maximise your glycogen levels. Following such a regimen boosts muscle glycogen, the fuel that powers your muscles, by 20-40 percent above normal levels.
"A legal technique for enhancing your performance", say Eating Smart for Sport authors Liesbet Delport and Paula Volschenk.

POWER BREAKFAST
The purpose of your pre-race meal is to top off liver glycogen stores, which your body has expended during your night of sleep. Muscle glycogen, the first fuel recruited when exercise commences, remains intact overnight. If you had a proper recovery meal after your last workout,you'll have a full load of muscle glycogen on board, which constitutes about 80 percent of your total glycogen stores.

Eat breakfast at least two to three hours before the race. Your stomach should not be full during your event. In general, it takes one to four hours for your stomach to digest a meal and empty it into your intestines. Food that remains in your stomach during an event may cause stomach upset, nausea and vomiting. You can opt for a liquid meal closer to your event than a solid meal because your stomach digests liquids faster.

A high-carbohydrate, low fat-meal - including foods such as breads, cereals, pasta, fruits, low-fat yoghurt, energy bars and drinks are some of the best choices. The amount of carbohydrates ample for this purpose would be one to four grams per kilogram body weight, to help maintain the levels of glucose in your blood for your muscles to use during competition.

These carbs should come from low glycemic (GI) sources. Some research has found that certain individuals respond well to intermediate or even high-GI carbs, so you need to experiment to discover whether low, intermediate or high-GI carbs work best for you before exercise. "Most research shows that low-GI carbs are the best before exercise, especially if you have sensitive blood glucose", says Eating Smart for Sport.

According to registered dietitian Nancy Clark, author of Sports Nutrition Guidebook, research shows that cyclists who ate a meal four hours before an exercise test to exhaustion, were able to bike 15 percent harder in the last 45 minutes versus a group that ate nothing. Given that road races are won or lost by fractions of a second, to be 15% stronger offers a huge advantage.

Of course entering a race properly hydrated should be part of the plan before any long ride. Use opportunities to drink before you start your ride. Cyclists can learn to tolerate up to 5ml (one teaspoon) of fluid per kilogram body weight in the warm-up to an event, suggests Eating for Sport authors Shelly Meltzer and Cecily Fuller. This equates to 350ml for a 70-kilogram cyclist.

WHAT SHOULD I AVOID
High-fat, difficult-to-digest foods, like boerie rolls, koeksisters, doughnuts, potato chips or pasta with creamy sauces. If you eat these foods as pre-event meals, they will likely be in your stomach much of the morning. Avoid or limit eating these foods for your pre-event meal.

AMOUNT OF CARBS NEEDED 2-4 HOURS BEFORE AND AGAIN 1 HOUR BEFORE A COMPETITION

WEIGHT(KG)	GRAMS OF CARBS NEEDED 2-4 HOURS BEFORE	GRAMS OF CARBS NEEDED 1 HOUR BEFORE	TYPE OF CARBS RECOMMENDED
42-56	45	45	LOW GI
57 - 71	60	60	LOW GI
72 - 86	75	75	LOW GI
87 - 101	90	90	LOW GI

EXAMPLE LIST OF LOW-GI CARBOHYDRATE CHOICES OFFERING 15G OF CARBS
• 1/2 slice banana bread
• 3 Provita
• 1 slice low-GI bread
• 1 slice fruit and seed loaf bread
• 1/4 Pronutro, Whole-wheat, Original
• 1/3 cup Oat bran, raw, Jungle
• 1/3 cup Mealie meal porridge
• 1/4 cup Soya Life porridge cup
• 1/2 All Bran, Fruitful, Kellogg's
• 1/2 box Bokomo Up 'n Go
• 1/2 packet Oats-so-easy, Jungle, Bokomo
•100ml Nutren Active, Nestle (mixed with low-fat milk)
•125ml Ensure, Abbott
• 1/2 cup USN Muscle Fuel
• 1/2 Advant Edge bar
• 1/2 USN Diet Fuel bar
• 2- 3 Fruit bar, Trufruit
• 3/4 Fruit bar, Safari
• 1/2 box (125ml) Apple Juice, Liquifruit
• 2/3 box (167ml) Cloudy Apple & Pear Juice, Ceres