Potions & Perpignan
One memory from my first season of full-time racing stands out for me. I’d discovered an interest in nutrition. My knowledge was scant, but I’d devised a dietary programme that combined various powders and gels, which I was hopeful would enhance my performance and control my weight. Armed with my various potions, I settled into the team car for the journey down to Perpignan, bidon (bike bottle) at my side, ready to top-off my muscle glycogen stores at the perfect time before the first brutal effort of the year.
French Style Picnics
After a few of hours driving, the Director Sportif made an announcement, which I understood, through my rudimentary French, to mean that we would soon be making a stop. I expected the pause to be brief, but a curious scene began to unfold. At a leisurely pace, staff and riders began to unpack the cars and van. The coolers were opened, a couple of picnic tables appeared. The soigneur arrived with an armful of baguettes and began to cut them open, buttering the bread with speed and skill that only comes through thousands of repetitions. Thermos flasks were unsealed and steaming pasta poured onto the plates that were now set on the surfaces. Supermarket ham was quickly sliced into the mix. Next, I heard a familiar but unexpected “pop” as a cork was withdrawn from a bottle before “glug glug” as small plastic glasses were charged with what appeared to be an entirely palatable Minervois. Clearly, for my French team, pre-race nutrition was a serious affair.
“Where Eeez Your Fud?”
“Where eeez your fud, Jemz?” the one English speaking rider on my team enquired. I stared at my bottle of carbohydrate and branched chain amino acids, and gave it a shake in the vain hope of breaking down the sediment that was gathering at the bottom. I sipped sullenly on the mixture, as my teammates stared at me uncomprehendingly.
I stared at my bottle of carbohydrate and branched chain amino acids, and gave it a shake in the vain hope of breaking down the sediment that was gathering at the bottom.It was a clash of cultures and the beginning of a cross-pollination process that continued throughout my cycling career. The old and new worlds of cycling can learn from each other. Perhaps pasta isn’t the optimum pre-race fuel, but likewise, my liquid meal probably had room for improvement. Over the course of the following seasons I found myself asking questions about nutrition and also about other aspects of the sport. Staring at my heart rate monitor and noting its variability from day to day made we wonder whether there were better ways to gauge training effort and track improvement. Pedaling for thousands of kilometres with the saddle raised as high as possible and the stem ‘slammed’, as was the custom, made me query whether there was a more scientific means of connecting the rider with their equipment. I saw myself as a researcher, my body as a living experiment, exploring the effects of various training, nutrition and equipment developments.
Raising A Glass
When my dreams of cycling superstardom sank, I continued my quest to improve cycling performance, studying Sports Science before entering the bike industry to apply my learning. More than ten years on, I continue to experiment on myself, but as a Cycling Analyst at Cyclefit UK, I also work with other cyclists, ranging from amateurs to World Tour Professional riders, helping them make the most of the science of the sport. I look back on my racing days with fondness and a hint of regret. I should have joined them with a glass of red that day.
Rules For French Pre-Race Cycling Nutrition c. 2002
- A pre-race meal must NEVER be consumed in a car, whether the car is stationary or moving.
- Pre-race meals should be consumed whilst sitting around a table, no matter how much of a rush you are in to get to the start of the race.
- If you are able, it is preferable to stop for a pre-race meal at a supermarket cafeteria such as Auchan, Carrefour or E.Leclerc
- Choose pasta, whatever time of day it is.
- If you are unable to stop, take pasta with you, preferably over-cooked and stored in a thermos flask.
- Ideally, pasta should be accompanied by a packet of processed ham, chopped up and mixed with the flaccid wheaty shapes.
- Never be afraid of consuming too much carbohydrate. It is perfectly acceptable to consume a baguette with your pasta. If you choose to do this, use a piece of bread as an additional item of cutlery to scoop the pasta on to your fork.
- If it is after midday, it is acceptable to drink a small glass of red-wine with your pre-race meal, providing you have achieved at least one of the following:
- Won a race in the last 3 years
- Won a massive race anytime in your career
- Are no longer an under-23 rider, having given up on your dreams of becoming a professional cyclist, resolving never to deprive yourself of the finer things in life, again
- The meal should always be followed by an over-extracted espresso with at least 2 packets of sugar, preferably from a machine in petrol station along the autoroute.
- If said over-extracted espresso is not available, a soigneur should provide a luke warm over-extracted coffee, also from a thermos.
