Nutrition

Do you have a friend that brings an enormous amount of food on rides? Is it strange to see someone pull out a slice of pizza wrapped in foil? Are you typically the rider with a few tic tacs and half a bottle of water? Quite frankly, do you have an eating/riding problem?

Here's where I'm going with these questions: I'm a "starver" and I've learned from my ways. I've learned that I can't bring half a gummy bear on a 35-mile epic. In the past, I've been a real fan of eating VERY light. In other words, I would pack food, but never eat it. Then, I would see my riding buddies take out countless amounts of calories with gooey goodness wrapped up in foil and CONSUME. My lanky, sad face is one of the last things they saw after finishing a snickers bar. In other words, I would "want." Well last weekend, this all bit me (sorry for the pun) in the butt.

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Today I close out my four part series of uber-informational interviews with eLoad inventor Dr. Douglas Stoddard. We got to talking a bit about caffeine and both its positive and ill effects on athletic performance, we delved into recovery - what you need, how you'll use it, and why it's vital - and finally, I talked a little cross border trash to the good Canadian doctor (all in good fun of course). Take a listen for your essential recovery check-list!

MP3 File

1 Jar natural peanut butter (organic is always best)
½ Cup ground flax seeds (flax meal)
3 Scoops Chocolate Protein
Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl. Make sure you include the oil from the peanut butter, or replace it with an equivalent amount of flax seed oil. It should create a big dough-like [...]

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OK, so usualy I don't ever shamefully promote anything, but this here java is awesome, and 100% of all of the profits go to the cycling team...can you get any better than that. Anyway, I'm attaching the link, and a photo of the coffee can. It's actually really good too, so it's not like you're getting some piece of crap product. Anyway, support if you can, because I know that we all drink way too much coffee to not have those hard earned greenbacks go to a good cause.

http://store.jitteryjoes.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=JJR%2D001

Here is my Blog.

Every day, or at least when I can, I will try to post an update to a daily peak into my life. I'm in the Army, and have been for about 17 years. I've been on two wheels for about 30 years.

These Posts will be about myself, my family, and the trials and tribulations of a man just trying to get another ride in. Thanks for checking it out.

There are a zillion supplements on the market that claim to advance your life experience, riding performance or relationships. Can they support their claims? The answer is probably in the eye of the beholder, or maybe it is in the science. As for me, I think some of them really work.

I take a liquid vitamin made by the company Life Force International. The product I take is called Body Balance. It is designed to keep my insides working smoothly. It also has residual effects, too. For example, my skin is soft to the touch. My hair is as smooth as a velvet. You might say, with Body Balance, I'm the perfect human. Without it, I'm as remarkable as old toilet paper.

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The other day I was at a race. My friend and I talked about our mornings at that point. He said he enjoyed a good breakfast at such and such place. I said, oh, you must have had a good granola snack, like me. He looked at me with a sadness and said, no, actually, before a race I eat bacon and eggs. I was surprised to hear this considering our race was a 30-mile XC race. If it was a hundred-mile epic, I'd go for a side of tabasco sauce, as well.

As for me, I hit up the carbs. I love granola. However, after looking into pre-ride or pre-race meals further, I've found that a lot of cyclists eat a large breakfast. I remember seeing a special from the Tour de France on the Outdoor Life Network. There was Lance Armstrong eating eggs and toast. Lance Armstrong eats eggs and toast?

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Do you ever get the feeling that your lungs are against you? You're climbing up your local hard-man hill and it hits you. Your lungs start to cash out. You start to ooze out of your mouth. Your breathing becomes irregular. You ask yourself if your eyes are sweating.

Well, I think I found the tool you need to stop this dreaded suffering. What is this wonder drug, you ask? My answer to you my friend is Halls Mentho-Lyptus.

Recently I took to Halls before the Chalk Creek Stampede in Nathrop, Colorado. I was a little coughy from the massive amounts of dust blowing in and out of the venue. I found them in my car and gorged on them. OK, I really had two, but I could feel my throat opening up. My breathing was eased. In other words, what was once medicine/candy has now become a performance tool. And, they taste great, too.

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"Better eat your Wheaties"; "you aren't going anywhere until you finish your brocolli, Mr."; "eat five (vegetables) a day"; "milk, it does a body good"... These and many other calls from the government, the food industry and my mother to eat good foods have now fallen on deaf ears! In other words, through the magic of science (and good marketing), I now know that the forbidden foods I sought after in my youth are not only good for me, but might also make me faster!

According to Webmd.com, chocolate (the dark variety) is not only good for you, it can actually lower your blood pressure. Now, let's contrast the medical findings of Webmd.com to my mother. She informed me that too many bites from a chocolate bar will give you zits and cause a severe hyper-activity burst. OK, maybe we all get a little excited about chocolate, but what was she trying to do to me? Raise my blood pressure! Are you kidding.

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- I drink a protein mix – it tastes good and I think it helps recovery
- Sometimes I have a liquid vitamin for breakfast – I can’t remember the brand
- I eat Gu
- My Mom buys me Mate at Christmas and I drink it – for health
- I use Emu oil – because I watched an infomertial, once
- I use other supplements – they help me ride more

Supplements - they’re like a fun game – more like a bet. I mean, who knows if they’ll work. The placebo effect might just be the answer to your recent success up that last big climb on that last big hill – not the protein pill Major Tom. I like to place this bet and I’m betting my new supplement will work.

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