in message <[email hidden]>, elyob
(') said:Think I may have just got myself a place on the British Etape. Am
somewhat concerned about my current diet of pies and beer. I'd like to
get some pointers towards reading material of what to cook and eat during
my month of training and the 48 hours pre-ride.
Things to note, I'm rubbish at cooking, I'm rubbish at shopping, I'm
probably technically obese 😉
A good balanced diet for now, plenty of fruit. If you're not keen on eating
fruit, stuff any three of: a mango (stoned), half a pineapple, a couple of
bananas, some peaches (stoned), some strawberries, a punnet of raspberries
into a kitchen blender with half a pint of ginger bear and whizz until
drinkable. Then drink. I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't like this
concoction.
On the day before, and on the morning of, any big ride, eat plenty of
carbohydrate - pasta followed by rice pudding for your evening meal,
porrage or wheatabix for breakfast. On the ride, drink plenty
(non-fizzy!), and eat more slow-burn carbohydrate in small amounts
regularly. A Soreen malt loaf sliced up, buttered, and stuck back into
it's wrapper fits neatly into a back pocket and you can eat it a slice at
a time. Or cereal bars - I use Geobars. The energy gels sold by sports
shops are good for a quick lift if you've overdone things, but as they're
mostly glucose they burn quickly and when they've burned you're back to
square one. So use them in emergency only, and have something else to eat
as soon as possible.
You need to build up your big rides gradually so that a week before the
event you can _comfortably_ ride at least half the distance you're going
to have to do on the day. Then, in the last week before the event, go
easy.
In the event itself, if you can keep at the speed of the peloton, the
peloton effect will carry you along so it will not be nearly as hard as
doing that distance on your own. If, however, you get left behind, it's
going to be hard work. Also, you need to be used to riding fast very close
to other people. Join a club and go out on training rides.
--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; MS Windows: A thirty-two bit extension ... to a sixteen bit
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;; four bit microprocessor and sold by a two-bit company that
;; can't stand one bit of competition -- anonymous