Thursday, July 3, 2014

Nutritional Needs of a Tea Shop Tourist

Cycling nutrition is a complex subject, and many large organizations spend a fortune on research and development before making available to the general cycling fraternity a range of tablets, gels, powders and bars. Maintaining the correct level of salts, fats, energy and other stuff is vitally important and even the dedicated amateur cyclist goes to great lengths to find the right balance.
There is however another breed of cyclist, the tea shop tourist, who would view the idea of entering a 25 mile Time Trial or a city centre Criterium with horror. This article is aimed at cyclists such as these.

I am on a diet!!

I know this because my wife told me .

Hence getting the right balance between input and output is I am told vital.
I also love numbers and among the stream of data that my Garmin Edge 800 feeds to me as I pedal along is one that shows how many calories I have burnt off. Now obviously as cyclists we do not want to suffer the dreaded bonk ( see Nutritional Breakdown ) where all our energy resources become totally depleted; and so, eating cake should be regarded as a necessity and NOT as a luxury or reward. So, in order to give you some guidance on the stuff you should be eating in order to maintain your nutritional balance, I have pulled together the following table from which you can pick and mix.


Toasted Tea Cake with butter   370 cals
Plain Scone                               140 cals
Fruit Scone                                150 cals
Jam and Cream with scone         LOTS
Mince Pie                                  320 cals
Flap jack                                   335 cals
Slice of Lemon drizzle                 399 cals
Choc raspberry brownie             390 cals
Victoria sponge                          599 cals
Rich fruit cake                            780 cals
Tara Carrot Cake with Cream     986 cals




Now obviously, one needs sufficient energy resources to get home from the tea shop, so you need to make due allowance for that in the amount of cake you consume. 

I hope that these guidelines will stop you from fading away when you next go out on a general meander on your bike.

3 comments:

  1. All the items on your list are cheaper and more pleasant to eat than gels and energy bars, however one essential item (for me) is missing. What about chocolate cake?

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  2. Chocolate cake = 782 cals I am reliably informed.

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