Eat to Ride or Ride to Eat?

It seems that for me, lately, I've been falling more and more into the latter category. And while I certainly enjoy my time on the bike, I oftentimes find myself thinking of food while I ride.

For example, this Monday I commuted to and from work on my road bike. Each way I'm looking at just under 21 miles. Given that I've only been on the bike consistently for a month now, 42 miles feels like a big ride. However, I didn't do the full commute because of the miles. Rather, I did it because I wanted the calories. Specifically, I wanted a blank check to eat as much as I could at Mark's house where we had been invited to eat dinner that night. In fact, I distinctly recall thinking, while I took a long pull on 700 E, that because I was riding hard I'd be able to have a second piece of chocolate cream pie for dessert (I dare you to click that link). Which I did, guilt free, thanks to the ride home.

Another example would be the chocolate cake with olive oil gellato I had at The Wild Grape yesterday afternoon. I remember thinking that it was ok to eat such an indulgent mid-afternoon snack since I would be riding up Millcreek in just a few hours and would need the extra calories.

Or today, while I enjoyed a Five Guys burger, fries and coke, I felt good about it because of the ride I have planned at 6 PM to ride the Draper ICUP race course with a friend from the team.

And so it goes. Ice cream before bed? No worries since I'll be riding in the morning. A grilled brat for lunch on Saturday? Not a big deal since I rode earlier and need the calories for proper recover. Brownies and milk at 1:30 AM? It's just fuel for a ride later in the day.

Could I ride faster if I ate less? Probably. But at what cost? Currently I find the journey tastes too good to go without!