Diet Plan For Cycling : Top Nutrition Tips for All Cyclists From Beginner to Endurance Rider

A good Nutrient Rich Diet is very Important while practicing Cycling activity Daily or preparing for Long rides or tournaments.

A lot of people have started cycling for Health Benefits such as reducing weight or toning the body muscles, which can be achieved more easily if a Balanced Nutrient Rich Diet is also followed along with Daily cycling activity. Also for endurance riders, brevet riders and bikepackers, a good Diet plan becomes Very Important along with Heavy bicycling activity to achieve the Daily Goals

Let's Go through the Kind of Nutrient Rich Diet required by different kind of Riders one by one .

Cycling activities are generally categorised into following types –

1. Fun rides

2. Endurance rides

3. Long-distance or expedition rides

1. Fun rides –

These are community rides or the ones we take with group of friends. A community ride generally range from 35 to 50 km. The best thing about this kind of ride is that you enjoy the ride without any set target. In this ride, the average speed and the distance is less.

2. Endurance rides –

As the Name suggest these rides test the Strength and Stamina of Riders. These rides range from 100 km to 150 km . In some rare cases, 50 km is also considered an endurance ride.

3. Long-distance or expedition rides –

Long-distance rides are taken by brevet riders or bikepackers, who wants to go on expeditions. They cycle with small breaks from morning till late in the evening which pushes their physical limits to the maximum.

During Expedition Rider, Backpackers start cycling from sunrise and with few lunch and tea breaks they keep pushing their Limit everyday to cover 150 to 200 km during  everyday.

Since Above 3 Rides required different Distance to be covered daily, Hence they need different Nutrients diet everyday

1. Nutrition for fun rides (community rides) –

In these types of rides, consumption of 3 to 4 liters of water is Necessary. You can keep fruits such as an apple, a banana or Dry fruits such with you . Chocolate bars are also a good option during these rides.

2. Nutrition for Endurance rides –

It is certain that whenever you go for a 50 to 150 km ride, water alone will not be sufficient and you will need lot of electrolytes as well . Since you can't drink too much plain water as you cannot be over hydrated but you need to keep yourself hydrated as well. Electrolytes Plays an important role in this. It maintain the level of water in our body and if the temperature is too high then their role becomes even more important.

Electrolytes can be taken as ‘electral’ powder mixed with water. Products from 'steadfast' nutrition can also be taken. ‘Carborance’, which is one of the products of steadfast, is good for endurance rides. ‘Reload' of 'fast and up' brand is also taken by many endurance riders.

Along with Electrolytes, you also need high-energy bars to keep your energy levels high.  Bananas can be used for this purpose. However, you will need to buy them frequently on the way which is not always possible. So, a good option is roasted peanuts which you can carry easily during your rides. They will give you constant energy during the ride. 

3. Nutrition for Long-distance or expedition rides –

Expedition rides continue for several days, so the riders need to recover quickly after daily rides. For this, the traditional turmeric-milk combination is a very good option because it recovers the body for the next day's ride. Ashwagandha with milk is also quite good. However, you may not get these easily everywhere during the ride.   

You can also use ‘BCCA’ for the recovery of the body. BCAA or ‘bio chain amino acid’ and is quite good in preparing you for the next day's ride. You can take this at night after the ride is finished. It is taken with water before sleep. Consumption of BCCA will give a very quick recovery to your body and it gets ready the next day for the ride.

Avoiding alcohol during the ride

Some people prefer consuming alcohol or other things for relaxation after daily rides . Although alcohol relaxes the muscles it also dehydrates the body quickly. If the body is dehydrated, one may get cramps which will make the next day ride very difficult, Hence alcohol needs to be avoided.

Proper nutrition is vital because during the ride you are the engine of your bike, hence you need to take care of yourself under all circumstances.

Please Check the Complete Video below for further Details