Cycling Weekly — February 08, 2018

Photos: Jesse Wilde, Chris Catchpole

Nick Busca

ow many times have
you set out on the bike
and found yourself
wondering how many calories
your ride is going to burn? The
thought is usually accompanied by
speculations about whether you’ve
eaten enough... or too much... and
whether you’re earning the right to
an extra piece of cake at the half-
way cafe stop.
Once you get home and begin
your recovery routine, thoughts
tend to drift towards protein: how
much is your body actually able
to synthesise, and do you really
need a recovery shake as well as a
decent meal?
What follows is a set of handy
numbers and guidelines that every
cyclist needs to know in order
to maximise their performance
on the bike. Of course, nutrition
is a complex field, and the
right eating plan needs to be
individually tailored to match your
specific goals and training load.
Nonetheless, the following figures
will act as useful rules of thumb.
Eat well and ride strong!

Calorie burn while riding:
900kcal per hour
Nine hundred per hour is a useful
guideline figure for the rate of

calorie burn for an averagely

proportioned male cyclist (75kg)

riding at a moderate training pace

of around 18mph. Of course, there

are several key variables such as

wind and road resistance to bear

in mind.

Measuring effort via heart rate

or power output is more useful for

training purposes — but here are

some guideline figures:

Daily carb intake:

5-7g per kg bodyweight

According to Sports Nutrition for

Endurance Athletes(3rd edition),

on any given day when you’re

planning a moderate ride — under

one hour at moderate intensity or

several hours at low intensity —

you should consume 5-7 grams of

carbs per kilo of bodyweight.

Nutritionists prefer to tailor carb

intake for the individual.

“I take into account the individual,

the goal, the training load,

the intensities, the training

background and current body-

fat level,” says Will Girling,

head nutritionist for the One

Pro Cycling team. “I look at the

training programme over the

week, the specific goal — weight

maintenance, gain or loss — and

then I allocate the calories for the

week into days: when they need

them more and when less.

“This allows for a more

appropriate carbohydrate and

calorie periodisation, because

you don’t need the same amount

of calories on a rest day as you do

on a day when you ride for four or

five hours.”

If the intensity of the exercise

increases, so does the need for

energy — the main source being

carbohydrates: six to 10 grams

per kilo bodyweight per day for

heavy training (one to three hours

at moderate to high intensity). If

riding at a moderate to high pace

for more than three hours, you’ll

need to increase that intake to

eight to 12g per kg bodyweight.

The human body either

uses glucose, the simple sugar

building blocks of carbohydrate,

or glycogen, the stored form of

glucose, to produce energy and

ATP aerobically. At close to your

aerobic limit, you are running

almost entirely on carbs. What

happens once you go anaerobic?

“You can break down

carbohydrates anaerobically

[without oxygen], which forms

lactate,” says Asker Jeukendrup, a

sport scientist who has worked as

a consultant for several pro cycling

teams including Lotto-Soudal.

Lactate itself is an energy source,

he explains. “If you form lactate

KCAL/HR

Burnt while

riding

CARBS

Daily intake

per kg

bodyweight

CARBS

per hour

while riding

CALORIES BURNED PER HOUR

Bodyweight Speed Kcal per hour

55kg 15mph 550

55kg 18mph 660

75kg 15mph 750

75kg 18mph 900

90kg 15mph 900

90kg 18mph 1,080

Cycling Weekly | February 8, 2018 | 39