What to eat before, during and after a ride
The bonk — that sudden, miserable, everything-hurts hour — is almost always a fuelling problem, not a fitness one. Etapa covers the whole day around a ride, in real recipes rather than a macro calculator.
Cycling nutrition gets talked about as though it were chemistry, which is how you end up spending forty pounds a month on gels that taste like warm jam. Almost all of it comes down to three plain ideas: eat enough carbohydrate the night before a long one, eat something roughly every forty-five minutes once you are out past ninety minutes, and put something with protein in it in front of you within an hour of getting home. The recipes in Etapa are built around those three, and most of them you can make from a normal shop.
The day around a long ride
- The night beforeNot a plate of plain pasta because someone said carb-load. Roasted tomato orzo bake, sticky miso salmon rice bowl, creamy peanut noodles — dinners worth eating that happen to be doing a job. Each one tells you the carbohydrate per serving so you can see what it is actually for.
- Before and on the bikePre-ride porridge or banana oat balls to start on. Then sweet rice cakes, a classic flapjack, or a homemade energy gel that costs pennies instead of two pounds a sachet, plus an isotonic drink you mix yourself from things already in the cupboard.
- AfterwardsA recovery smoothie if you cannot face cooking, crispy pesto gnocchi or shawarma chickpea flatbreads if you can, and chocolate cherry recovery oats for the morning after. The point is that it is easy enough to actually happen.
A gel costs about two pounds and lasts twenty minutes. A tray of sweet rice cakes costs about the same and fuels a five-hour ride. The same is true of the isotonic drink: sugar, salt and squash in a bottle does the identical job as the powder. For anyone riding regularly, making your own is the single biggest saving available, and most people find they can stomach it better over a long day.
Vegetarian and vegan
Roughly half the recipes are vegetarian or vegan as written, and the rest carry a swap that works rather than a vague suggestion to use tofu. Nothing here assumes you eat meat, and nothing assumes you do not.
How much, and how often
The honest answer is that it depends on how long you are out and how hard you are going, which is why your companion is better at this than a table. Tell it what you are riding on Sunday and it will say roughly what to carry and when to start eating — usually earlier than you think, and before you feel like you need it. Ask it anything you like: whether you should eat before a 7am ride, what to do about a stomach that rebels on gels, whether that coffee counts as a drink.
It is not a diet plan
Etapa does not count your calories, set you a weight target or tell you to cut anything out. It is about fuelling the riding you are doing. If you want advice on eating for weight loss or you have a medical condition that affects what you eat, that is a conversation for a dietitian or your doctor, and the app will say so rather than guess.
Thirteen recipes, five moments
The night before, before the ride, on the bike, drinks, and after. Each with prep time, how much it makes and the carbohydrate per serving.
On-bike fuel you can make
Sweet rice cakes, banana oat balls, flapjack and a homemade gel — for a fraction of what the sachets cost.
A drink you mix yourself
Homemade isotonic from what is already in the cupboard. It does the same job as the powder and costs almost nothing.
Dinners worth eating
Orzo bake, miso salmon rice bowl, peanut noodles. Carbohydrate the night before a long one, without a plate of plain pasta.
Recovery that actually happens
A smoothie for when you cannot face cooking, gnocchi and flatbreads for when you can, and oats for the morning after.
Ask about your ride
Tell your companion what Sunday looks like and get a straight answer on what to carry and when to start eating.
What should I eat before a long bike ride?
The night before matters more than the morning. Something with a decent amount of carbohydrate that you actually enjoy — a rice bowl, an orzo bake, noodles — rather than a plate of plain pasta eaten out of duty. In the morning, porridge or oat balls an hour or two before you leave, and do not skip it because you are nervous. Etapa gives you the carbohydrate per serving so you can see what each one is doing.
Do I need energy gels?
No. Gels are convenient and nothing more. Sweet rice cakes, flapjack and banana oat balls do the same job, cost a fraction as much, and most people find them easier on the stomach over a long day. Etapa includes a homemade gel recipe too, if you like the format but not the price.
What do I eat on a 100 km ride?
Start eating before you feel like you need to, usually around the first hour, then something roughly every forty-five minutes after that. For most people that is three or four solid items plus a drink with something in it. Tell your companion what you are riding and it will be more specific, because the answer genuinely depends on how long you will be out and how hard you are going.
Are there vegetarian and vegan options?
Yes. About half the recipes are vegetarian or vegan as written, and the others carry a swap that has been thought about rather than bolted on. The on-bike recipes are almost all vegan already.
Is this a diet or weight-loss plan?
No. Etapa fuels the riding you are doing; it does not count calories or set weight targets. For eating for weight loss, or anything involving a medical condition, talk to a dietitian or your doctor — the app will tell you the same thing rather than have a guess.
Eat properly on Sunday’s ride
Download Etapa, pick something for Saturday night and something for your pockets, and ask your companion the rest. Free to download, with a week’s free trial.
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