A breakfast menu is always enjoyable as there are several yummy options with a whole pack of protein and glycogen. An ideal precycling breakfast improves your metabolism, maintains your weight, and boosts your riding to an efficient level.
Pre-bike ride breakfast also reduces the possibility of gastritis, diabetes, and heart disease. Nutritionists claim that breakfast is essential for the proper functioning of your body. Therefore, when you are about to start a ride, make sure to fill your tummy with a perfect breakfast meal to remain energetic all day long.
The majority of Americans grew a habit of skipping breakfast meals. This habit can ruin your health before you even know about it! Again, another fraction of Americans tends to take more carbohydrates rather than proteins. Intaking more carbohydrates before going for a ride increases the tendency of vomiting. Moreover, you can lack adequate energy for pedaling and thus wear out quickly.
Hence it is not just the breakfast but the best pre-ride breakfast meal we will talk about in this post.
What and how much to eat?
There is no hard and fast rule regarding the quantity of food to intake before a ride. Eat what you want but make sure not to overeat. It is wiser to intake a relatively small amount of carbohydrate for glycerin storage. And a lot more proteins to ensure muscle gain and cellular growth.
The brain food
Your stomach gets empty when you wake up from a sound sleep. Hence if you are going for a ride, you will easily pass out as your body will not generate energy. Lack of calories and proteins will ultimately strike your brain, and you will wear out.
Different studies have scientifically proved that an ideal breakfast can help your body and brain run smoothly. Making a habit of skipping breakfast is always discouraged, no matter what happens. Because you are not supposed to enjoy a ride with an empty stomach.
Fueling up the body
Include adequate amounts of carbohydrates and vitamins in your breakfast meal to fuel up your body. Finish your breakfast at least half an hour before you get started cycling. Having a meal and immediately going for a ride would not be a good idea.
You can consume around 60-80 grams of carbohydrates for your breakfast. This will help to boost up your stamina. Make sure to drink enough water to avoid extreme thirst during the ride.
You can also add carbohydrate drinks, sports drinks, or energy bars to boost your body’s metabolism. Besides, an egg would be a great source of proteins for your precycling breakfast.
Best Pre ride food items and their benefits
Let’s learn about some pre-ride food items. Start your next morning with any of these meals and get ready to explore with your bike.
Pasta
Pasta is well known as a “shortcut” meal for riders. It’s super easy to make delicious pasta. That is why riders usually go for this hassle-free meal. Moreover, it helps in maximizing your glycogen level, which releases energy for your body gradually.
Pasta takes a little time to digest, so it is better to have it an hour or two before cycling. The pasta will then get digested and converted to energy, increasing your stamina to continue riding.
Bread
Bread is another food item that releases energy in a slow process, just like pasta! It is rich in carbohydrates and relatively healthy. It fills up your tummy so you won’t get hungry soon.
Grab a bread, either toast it or make some jam or peanut butter. Apply evenly on your bread and enjoy!
Quinoa
Quinoa serves the purposes of both sweet and savory dishes. You can cook it in the same way as rice is cooked. Again, you can bake quinoa and have it as an energy bar.
Quinoa tastes a bit bland, but it contains plenty of proteins, almost twice the cereals. You will surely like its nutty flavor.
Porridge
Porridge can also be your perfect precycling breakfast meal. You wouldn’t like the idea of starting a ride with a heavy stomach, right? So, have your porridge an hour or two before riding.
My personal opinion – add some dried fruits, nuts, bananas, and pomegranate to your porridge and make it more healthy and delicious.
Oats
You can grab some oats, add milk and consume it for your breakfast—Oats help you maintain a healthy bowel system.
Having it regularly also reduces the risks of blood cholesterol. Moreover, whole oats contain a low glycaemic index that regulates your blood sugar.
Oats come with a whole package of nutrients, proteins, and B vitamins.
Granola
Another food with plenty of carbs and some wheat, dried fruits, nuts, and honey. You can add granola with any other food item as it goes with almost everything!
It is a whole grain food and releases energy slowly. Hence it can be a good source of energy for your body in the long run.
If you like crunchiness, add Granola as topping for oats or porridge. You can also use Granola for baking purposes- you can bake a granola cake or an energy bar.
Egg
You never can stop counting on the benefits of eggs. It is a whole source of protein and energy that provides strength and stamina to your body.
Eat anything at breakfast with toasted egg bread. A plain egg-poach takes your breakfast meal to another level! You can also add an egg to your porridge and have it.
Banana
Nutritionists recommend having a ripe banana as it is easily digestible and provides enough energy for a long ride. Highly enriched with macro and micronutrients, bananas are also high in potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
Bananas could be a perfect precycling breakfast item as it boosts your immunity, avoids water retention. Moreover, bananas keep your tummy full, and you won’t get hungry quickly.
Energy Bar
You can eat some nutritious energy bars for your breakfast. You can also grab some while heading out for a ride. Energy bars recharge your body instantly and increase stamina so that you can enjoy the ride.
Energy bars are high in carbohydrates which get absorbed and digested quickly. You can have energy bars that include peanuts, oats, dried fruits, and whey proteins. These will not only help in supplementing energy but will also keep your tummy full and satisfied.
Peanut butter
Peanut butter is not only yummy but also gives you enough protein than your regular food items. Grab some bread and apply peanut butter to it. That’s all!
Such an easy breakfast meal with maximum protein loads and delicious taste! You can also add peanut butter to your banana milk smoothie.
Besides, some people prefer serving peanut butter as a sauce for noodles. There are variations, so try any of these combinations and fuel up your body for a ride!
Chia seeds
Chia seeds undoubtedly boost up your energy level and keep your stamina top-notch. The majority of people dislike having chia seeds since they are tasteless. But for boosting up your body for a long ride, you should make a habit of eating chia seeds regularly.
They don’t taste that bad if you add them to pudding, salads, or soups. You can give it a try! A teaspoon of chia seeds offers you around 60 calories, so make sure you utilize it properly.
What to avoid?
We have briefly discussed the major food items that boost your body enormously before taking on a ride. Now let’s talk about some other food items that you must avoid before going for a ride.
A high amount of fiber
When you opt to start a ride, go for simple breakfast meals with high carbs and proteins. Avoid intake of excessive fiber because it’s not easily digestible.
You might feel like running to the washroom while riding. This will distract you from your ride, and you might even fall into an embarrassing situation.
Intaking excessive fiber is preferable if you can eat slowly and have enough time to hit a restroom. Taking excessive fiber as your first meal of the day might also lead to gastritis. Hence don’t go for excessive fiber before taking a ride.
Excessive fat
It is also discouraged to intake excessive fat when you are getting ready for a ride. Excessive fatty foods take a lot of time to digest. Your stomach gets full and causes you trouble.
When you take fatty foods before a ride, your pedaling gets trickier. That is because your body muscles strive to assist in digesting, and they hardly let you pedal swiftly.
Overeating
This must be avoided! If you are willing to go for a ride, don’t overeat! You should eat at an optimum level because you never want to end up being tired and sluggish.
Overeating before a ride also leads to a vomiting tendency which will eventually wear you out. Instead of enjoying your ride, you would like to back up and go home.
For your breakfast before a ride, prefer a simple meal that contains around 200 calories. No more, no less.
You can overeat as much as you can after you ride back home. So save some food for a post-riding meal!
Conclusion
Since it’s all about pre-cycling breakfast, utilize every bit of it for a smooth and enjoyable ride. Take some sugar sources with you to have them when you feel tired. Take some salty foods along with you if you tend to puke while riding. Have a smaller meal that provides you maximum proteins and carbohydrates. Besides, ensure that your breakfast meal is easily digestible.
Follow the above guidelines and avoid the restrictions before gearing up for a ride. We can assure you that you would love every moment and cherish it forever.
We wish you a comfortable and enjoyable ride!
Fuel yourself to explore the best of you!
