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The secret to all high energy sports is to swallow heaps of food and gallons
of water. These basic race strategies apply equally to recreational riding
and will boost your enjoyment untold.
Pre
Ride
Warm
up
Start
out with at least 5 minutes of easy riding on the flats. Straining your
cold, tight muscles will leave you vulnerable to injury.
 
Stretch
Once
you've warmed up, hop off your bike and stretch. Don't bounce on your
muscles - just a nice progressive extension. For each exercise hold for
20 secs and repeat 3 times
 
The
Ride
Pace
Yourself
Ride
at a speed you are comfortable with in relationship to the terrain and
how far you plan to go. This helps ward off the dreaded "bonk" (your body
runs out of energy and just stops).
Hydrate
When
exercising hard, you lose heaps of water and minerals. Keeping your muscles
hydrated is the most important thing you can do to keep on keeping on.
So drink lots - the rule of thumb is 1 litre per hour! You'll have to
force yourself to consume that much - not just sipping when you're thirsty.
Pure water is fine - those swank sports drinks offer extra energy if you
need it. For the really epic rides - totally saturate your muscles by
drinking heaps the night before - at least 2 litres of water. You've had
about enough when you are peeing clear.
Eating
While on the go, snack every 30-45 mins on dried fruit (dates, figs, raisins,
bananas etc.). Avoid chocolate and nuts - chocolate creates an energy
roller coaster which you have to feed like a drug dependency, and nuts
are hard to digest. For lunch take on lots of carbohydrates (also minimise
fat and avoid protein). Cold spuds are excellent. Fancy sports bars deliver
a welcome energy surge when needed - especially nice at the end of the
day.
Warm Down
Cruise
the last couple of kilometres to let your heart and lungs return to normal
operating mode. Then when you finish repeat the warm up stretches. Your
muscles are super warm and malleable - a great time to stretch them.
Hydrate
and Eat
You've
got roughly 30-60 minutes when your body goes wild rebuilding itself.
Huge quantities of food and water fuel this process. After a hard ride
drink at least 1-2 litres of water and feed yourself with carbos and fructose
(like dried fruit). Avoid diuretics like caffeine and alcohol.
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