It’s that time of year when many cyclists are cranking up the miles for some long, hot rides….which also means a need for more hydration.  I’m sure most of you have at least one (but probably two) bottle cages on your bike.  But what do you do when you’re in need of carrying more than two bottles?

Making a stop at a convenience store or somewhere else to fill up your bottles is one option for sure.  If you don’t like making stops or will be riding somewhere that doesn’t have much for civilization around, then taking along a third (or even fourth) bottle is a must.  To be honest, I’ve been on many hot weather rides where even having three bottles wasn’t enough, and I still had to stop in and fill up at a convenience store.

Many cyclists use the third bottle or maybe even take one of those water backpacks along, but if this is something new to you…you might be wondering where the heck that third bottle goes.  Sure there is the option of putting a third cage on your seat post or somewhere else on your bike, but many cyclists (including myself) put it in the back pouch.

I find that it actually fits nicely in the middle pouch and once I get pedalling, I don’t even know it’s there. The funny thing is that the bottle doesn’t even become boiling hot.  I honestly don’t know why this is, but you’d think with it being exposed to body heat and the sun’s rays that it would heat right up…but I haven’t experienced this yet.  But just to make sure it stays as cool as possible, you might want to consider making that 3rd bottle (or all your bottles) a Wooly Mammoth from Hydrapak.  Yes, they supplied me with one to try out….but you know I’m being honest when I say that the bottle does a great job at keeping the water cooler than a non-insulated one.

How about you?  Let’s hear your thoughts on long, hot rides…and what you do for hydration.  But as you make your way down to the comments section, be sure to have a look at what our nutritionist Kelli has to say about staying hydrated on your rides.

Important Hydration Information for Cyclists:

1. For every pound of body weight lost during training (through sweat, respiration, and urination), you‘ve lost 15-16 oz. of fluid. Just a 3% loss of body weight due to dehydration can significantly impair your performance, muscle contractile strength, and speed. In fact, the effects of dehydration are:

• 0-1% body weight loss = Thirst
• 2% = stronger thirst, vague discomfort, loss of appetite
• 3% = decreased blood volume, impaired physical performance
• 4% = increased effort for work, nausea
• 5% = difficulty in concentrating
• 6% = failure to regulate body temperature

2. For best performance, avoid dehydration during exercise (don‘t just wait until afterwards to re-hydrate). Aim to consume 16-32 oz. fluid per hour during training; then, replace the remaining losses after.

3. Estimate the amount of fluid you lose during exercise by weighing yourself before & after your training/event. Remember, every pound of weight lost is ~15-16 ounces of fluid (every kilogram of weight is 1 liter of fluid). Form a plan to proactively drink fluid during the event. If you cannot determine your fluid loss by weighing before and after, follow a general rule of thumb: drink 24-32 ounces of fluid/hour for moderate-high intensity endurance events.

4. Most athletes can tolerate 10-13 oz. (300-400 ml) of fluid immediately before their training or competitive event. This can help you stay ahead of dehydration. As always, experiment during training, NOT on race day!

5. On a daily basis, drinking an increased amount of fluid can help your body adjust to retaining a greater volume comfortably.

6. It is also a good idea to kill three birds with one stone and drink fluids that contain carbohydrates and electrolytes.

7. It is even more crucial to stay hydrated if you are exercising in hot and/or humid weather.

8. Rehydrating and replenishing electrolytes and carbohydrates during exercise has been shown to improve performance when exercising 60+ minutes.

Seems like a great week to shake things up a bit.  Are you game?  Let’s use some different ingredients, bake them, and come up with a wonderful alternative to our normal breakfast.  Something new.

We were asked by the good folks at Udi’s Gluten Free to make this week’s Loving the BITE a part of their “Look Again It’s Gluten Free Recipe Contest”. The challenge was to create a gluten free recipe that was so tasty and fantastic that consumers wouldn’t know it was made without gluten.

Sure, I love my Greek yogurt-nuts-and berries breakfast, but even I (a definite creature of habit) can appreciate a change now and then, so I decided to try something new and take them up on the task.

Recipe of the Week: Gluten-Free Protein Power Muffins 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 2/3 cup hemp seeds
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 4 large organic, cage-free eggs
• 2 Tbsp organic honey
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp organic coconut oil, melted
• 1 cup berries or pitted cherries, fresh or frozen (if larger than blueberries, chop)

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, combine almond flour, hemp seeds, salt and baking soda.
2. In a large bowl, combine eggs, honey, apple cider vinegar and melted coconut oil.  Blend well.
3. Mix dry ingredients into wet, blending well.
4. Gently fold in berries or cherries.
5. Line muffin pan with paper liners.  Pour batter into liners.
6. Bake at 350° F, for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool and serve.

Makes 12 muffins

Nutrition information: 210 calories, 17 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 70 mg cholesterol, 124 mg sodium, 11 grams carbs, 5 grams sugars, 3 grams fiber, 8 grams protein

Comments:

What’s special about this recipe?  First, the nutrients and ingredients it has.  And second, what it doesn’t have.  In fact, compared to most sugary, low-protein muffins, we’re significantly upping the nutrients while minimizing ingredients that promote low energy, disease, and inflammation

What it has:

Almond flour: Almonds provide healthy monounsatured fats, protein, fiber, and antioxidants.

Hempseeds: A Loving the Bike favorite, hemp seeds provide protein, healthy omega-3 fats, fiber, and vitamin E.

Organic Coconut Oil:   It contains a special fat, lauric acid, that promotes improved insulin sensitivity (helps us deal with blood sugars better) and overall health.

Organic Honey: As far as natural sweeteners go, I like organic honey (and pure maple, for that matter).  In addition to adding a delicious sweet taste, it provides antioxidants and natural enzymes.

Berries: The darker, brighter, more vibrant the fruit, the better. These antioxidants work to fight free radicals in the body, and decrease damage to cells.

What it doesn’t have:

Wheat/Gluten: Now, I don’t think that everyone needs to completely eliminate gluten or wheat from their diets.  However, I have consistently seen improvements in health, digestion, and fat percentage in clients that reduce or eliminate it.

Processed sugars: Although there’s no perfect sweetener, small amounts of honey offer nutrients that are more slowly digested/metabolized than table sugar and many processed sugars.

Unhealthy fats: Every fat in this recipe promotes health.  No trans-fats nor highly processed fats.

I loved combining new flavors and gluten free ingredients to create this delicious recipe, but if you don’t have time to bake and are looking or a great alternative the gluten free muffins from UDI are a fantastic choice as well.

Now I’m curious to know, what do you enjoy most about trying something new?

For your chance to win a $350 William Sonoma gift card to purchase a Kitchen Aid Mixer or other gluten free cooking tool of your choice, complete these two steps:

Find out more by going to the Look Again It’s Gluten Free Recipe Contest page and also heading over to their Facebook page as well.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Udi’s Gluten Free. The opinions and text are all mine. Official BlogFrog Sweepstakes Rules.

We’ve decided to start tossing out a weekly recipe post over here at Loving the Bike.  What do you think?  Good idea….Bad idea….Totally Yummy?  Let us know.  Yeah, we’re a cycling website….but a cyclist has got to eat, right?  Anyway, we’ll try it this week and see what kind of feedback we get.  Thumbs up and we’ll keep putting out a super healthy, cycling nutritious recipe for you each Tuesday….Thumbs down and this will be the last recipe you see over here at LTB.

Loving the Bite: Almond Flour Waffles with Cottage Cheese and Berries

Love waffles but want to lose the spare tire?  Here’s a recipe you can love and that will love you back.

Make almond flour waffles (there’s many recipes out there….a great recipe and site: http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/my-favorite-almond-flour-waffles ).  Top 1 medium waffle with ½ cup cottage cheese, 1 Tbsp ground flaxseeds or Chia seeds and 1 cup berries (for sweeter topping mix 3 drops Stevia (1/2 teaspoon powdered) with berries, then place on top of cottage cheese).

Why Almond Flour? Using almond flour to make baked goods give you waffles that are essentially eggs and nuts rather than a grain-based waffle.  Especially compared to refined grains (white flour waffles), and even whole-wheat flour, almonds are higher in protein, heart-healthy fats, and many other nutrients. For those who are trying to lose weight, almonds don’t spike blood sugars or insulin output (which can lead to fat-storage).

Fuel the ride, nourish the body.

How many of you are using cycling to help achieve your ideal weight?  How many would like to obtain this through cycling?  We all ride a bike for different reasons, but health and fitness is definitely a common theme that runs through a lot of us recreational cyclists.

But how do you get there?  How can you use cycling to lose weight?  Sometimes just jumping on the bike isn’t enough.  It takes the right level of cycling….and the right type of fuel to make it happen. To be honest, the nutrition side is probably the most important. I know from my own experience that I can cycling, and cycle, and cycle my butt off….but if I’m eating like crap my body doesn’t stay looking like I want it to.

So here it is.  I’ve joined forces with my teammate Kelli and we’ve put together the “Cycling for Optimal Weight” plan.  This mini e-book is totally free and we’re not even using it as a trick to capture all your e-mail addresses.  Yeah, I’m totally going against the grain on smart blogging tactics….oh well.  If you’d like to be included in the LTB mailing list feel free to send in your e-mail right here.

Either click the e-book image above, or download the book at:

http://lovingthebike.com/cycling-for-optimal-weight.pdf

 The nutrition side of this plan includes excerpts from Kelli’s great new e-book called “Fuel Right: The Endurance Athlete’s Guide Daily Nutrition, Training Nutrition, and Achieving an Optimal Weight”.  She is a fitness nutrition genius and has packed it all into this incredible book.  As part of the Loving the Bike “Cycling for Optimal Weight” plan, she’s included what you need to get you started.

We’re giving away 4 of her complete e-book’s to lucky readers who leave a comment letting us know why you need this incredible tool. For those of you who’d like the book, but don’t win one….she is offering all Loving the Bike readers a 25% discount off the $19.99 price tag.

Either way, we’re giving you enough right here in this post to get you well on your way to optimal heath.  Go on….check out the plan and get started.  We’re 100% confident that following this plan will take you where you want to go…and we want to be there with you along the way.  If you decide to go on the plan (and we hope you do), we’d like to track your progress and watch as you achieve your “Optimal Weight”.  Please contact us and let us know that you are on board.