Tomorrow we embark on a ride across the US. Leaving from our home town of Santa Barbara, we will travel through the southern part of the US, with a final destination of Charleston, SC. Passing through 11 states in 3,240 miles, we will ride for 35 days, taking a day off at the Grand Canyon, Taos, Branson and Nashville. My wife and I will be "powered" by Tera along the way, and while I will likely post on my blog about nutrition over the weeks ahead, I thought I would share a little bit about our planning in this area. A quick note - we are a married couple, who grow some of their own produce, and by most of the remainder of our fruits, vegetables, meat, pork, chicken and fish from locally sourced providers of organic product wherever possible. We generally seek out food that is minimally processed, trucked, and not modified by some chemical or external means. Food is fuel, and we try and make good decisions that support our bodies and our local communities, since we are fortunate enough to live in a place where we can make good choice three times per day.
For anyone who has embarked on even a single day century, and rode again the next day, you are aware that you will likely burn more calories than you can consume on the bike, and while off you are still in a deficit. Taking into consideration other factors like hydration, the need to rest, and the absence in many parts of the country of locally sourced, organic ingredients, it becomes clear that long distance stage riders must have a plan. Ours is quite simple. Whenever possible we eat "real food" like baked sweet or russet potatoes, rice, fruit and occasionally sandwiches while on the bike. We will, of course, have to supplement our endurance fueling with commercially prepared bars, but this is more of a back up to our core food, and chosen carefully amongst the vast array of products out there. We drink a combination of water and sports drink to stay hydrated and balanced in our electrolytes, and we pull it all together with our after bike routine. While showering and stretching, we make rice in a small rice cooker, and mix up a Tera's Whey protein drink. The two make for a very good combination of clean protein and carbohydrates, and the key is to start taking these in within the first 30 minutes off the bike. With this meal, we can then generally rest before seeking out dinner, preferably with the products of local farms, dairies, and restaurants that focus on healthy, organic food. On particularly hot or long days, we may start off with a "liquid breakfast" of Tera's Whey as well, and find the product is well tolerated at either end of our long rides.
Tera's Whey is a particularly significant part of our nutrition strategy. I stopped eating milk, cheese, and cream about ten years ago, and found that my health and energy were greatly improved. My nutritional advisor felt what I needed to do was avoid casein. It wasn't that I suffered from lactose intolerance, it was more a matter of my being constantly congested while consuming these products. When I first started to prepare for the trip, I experimented with soy, rice, and other protein powers, avoiding whey based products. These didn't work for me; either because of the nutritional component or the inability to be drunk as a standalone product without requiring juice or milk. In consultation with sport nutritionists and the advisor who had first steered me away from dairy, we determined that it would be wise to test a variety of whey protein based powders. The criteria was casein free and organically produced products. This quickly narrowed down the choices, and I settled on Tera's product line as providing the maximum benefit, and suffer little lymphatic system congestion utilizing this very clean and minimally processed protein source. I sincerely believe that my ability to tolerate and metabolize the product well is based on how it is made - the quality of the underlying organic ingredients, and the minimal processing that occurs at their factory. Even the flavorings (where you can truly get in trouble with other "recovery" products) are organic and taste fresh and unadulterated.
Those who want to follow along with us can do so at crosscountrybybike.com. We will try and post ride statistics everyday at about 3 pm or so (while shaking up a Tera's Organic Whey Protein Drink - Bourbon Vanilla being our flavor of choice), and then follow up with an account of the day and some photos later that evening.
Best wishes from the road,
Brian
Tomorrow we embark on a ride across the US. Leaving from our home town of Santa Barbara, we will travel through the southern part of the US, with a final destination of Charleston, SC. Passing through 11 states in 3,240 miles, we will ride for 35 days, taking a day off at the Grand Canyon, Taos, Branson and Nashville. My wife and I will be "powered" by Tera along the way, and while I will likely post on my blog about nutrition over the weeks ahead, I thought I would share a little bit about our planning in this area. A quick note - we are a married couple, who grow some of their own produce, and by most of the remainder of our fruits, vegetables, meat, pork, chicken and fish from locally sourced providers of organic product wherever possible. We generally seek out food that is minimally processed, trucked, and not modified by some chemical or external means. Food is fuel, and we try and make good decisions that support our bodies and our local communities, since we are fortunate enough to live in a place where we can make good choice three times per day.
For anyone who has embarked on even a single day century, and rode again the next day, you are aware that you will likely burn more calories than you can consume on the bike, and while off you are still in a deficit. Taking into consideration other factors like hydration, the need to rest, and the absence in many parts of the country of locally sourced, organic ingredients, it becomes clear that long distance stage riders must have a plan. Ours is quite simple. Whenever possible we eat "real food" like baked sweet or russet potatoes, rice, fruit and occasionally sandwiches while on the bike. We will, of course, have to supplement our endurance fueling with commercially prepared bars, but this is more of a back up to our core food, and chosen carefully amongst the vast array of products out there. We drink a combination of water and sports drink to stay hydrated and balanced in our electrolytes, and we pull it all together with our after bike routine. While showering and stretching, we make rice in a small rice cooker, and mix up a Tera's Whey protein drink. The two make for a very good combination of clean protein and carbohydrates, and the key is to start taking these in within the first 30 minutes off the bike. With this meal, we can then generally rest before seeking out dinner, preferably with the products of local farms, dairies, and restaurants that focus on healthy, organic food. On particularly hot or long days, we may start off with a "liquid breakfast" of Tera's Whey as well, and find the product is well tolerated at either end of our long rides.
Tera's Whey is a particularly significant part of our nutrition strategy. I stopped eating milk, cheese, and cream about ten years ago, and found that my health and energy were greatly improved. My nutritional advisor felt what I needed to do was avoid casein. It wasn't that I suffered from lactose intolerance, it was more a matter of my being constantly congested while consuming these products. When I first started to prepare for the trip, I experimented with soy, rice, and other protein powers, avoiding whey based products. These didn't work for me; either because of the nutritional component or the inability to be drunk as a standalone product without requiring juice or milk. In consultation with sport nutritionists and the advisor who had first steered me away from dairy, we determined that it would be wise to test a variety of whey protein based powders. The criteria was casein free and organically produced products. This quickly narrowed down the choices, and I settled on Tera's product line as providing the maximum benefit, and suffer little lymphatic system congestion utilizing this very clean and minimally processed protein source. I sincerely believe that my ability to tolerate and metabolize the product well is based on how it is made - the quality of the underlying organic ingredients, and the minimal processing that occurs at their factory. Even the flavorings (where you can truly get in trouble with other "recovery" products) are organic and taste fresh and unadulterated.
Those who want to follow along with us can do so at crosscountrybybike.com. We will try and post ride statistics everyday at about 3 pm or so (while shaking up a Tera's Organic Whey Protein Drink - Bourbon Vanilla being our flavor of choice), and then follow up with an account of the day and some photos later that evening.
Best wishes from the road,
Brian
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