As your training program progresses to a build phase and your trainingrides increase in time and especially intensity for development of speedand strength, your nutritional requirements also move up a notch. Hardertraining burns more fuel, and the amount of carbohydrate you consume hasa direct impact on your muscle glycogen levels and recovery. Hard trainingdays and heavy training weeks, also require a step-up in your protein intaketo build and repair muscle tissue. Putting it all together nutritionallyduring a build week in your training cycle, means not only consuming adequatecalories, carbohydrates, and protein that day, but also timing your mealsand snacks properly around training for both energy and recovery. Optimalhydration and fueling strategies during hard rides are also important asyou sweat to cool your body and burn through muscle glycogen stores forfuel.Most cyclists train once-a-day, and chances are that some long and hardrides are on your evening weekday schedule, along with the demanding groupweekend rides. Let’s take a look at the nutritional requirement for botha 170 lb. male cyclist and a 135 lb. female cyclist. The amounts of nutrientsrequired per pound of body weight are also provided so that you can estimateyour own nutritional requirements. Of course every cyclist has their ownunique nutritional prescription based on their body weight, metabolic rate,and training intensity- but take a look at the sample menu provided forfurther guidance. The sample menu provided is designed to fuel the cyclistfor a three hour training ride.

Riders:	170 lb. (77 kg) male cyclist	135 lb.(61 kg) female cyclist
Energy requirements 23 calories/lb. (50 calories/kg)	3900 calories	3450 calories
Carbohydrate 4 gm/lb. (8-9 g/kg)	680 g total	600 g total
Protein requirements 0.7-0.8 g/lb. (1.5-1.7 g/kg)	115-130 g	105-120 g
Carbs 2 hrs Pre-Training 0.7-0.9 g/lb. (1.5-2 g/kg)	115-150 g	102-135 g
Carbs During Training 0.45 g/lb. (1 g/kg) per hour	77 g	68 g
After Training Carbs- 0.54 g/lb. (1.2 g/kg)Protein- 10-20 gFluid- 20 ounces (600 ml) for every pound weightloss	92 g	81 g

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Sample Menu (3-hour evening ride)This menu reflects nutritional preparation for a hard evening ride,and the fact that the cyclist is hungry from plenty of high intensity trainingduring a build week. The female cyclist could trim 500 calories to staywithin her estimated energy needs by reducing the granola to one half cupat breakfast, reducing the rice portion at dinner to two-thirds a cup,reducing the fish portion slightly at dinner, and consuming just the sportsdrink and one gel during the three hour ride.Breakfast
Granola, one cup (240 ml)
Wheat germ, 3 Tbsp. (60 ml)
Milk, soy or dairy, 8 ounces (240 ml)
Banana, 1 large
Egg, 1 or egg whites, 3Snack
Yogurt, 12 ounces (360 ml)
Orange, 1 mediumLunch
Turkey, 4 ounces (120 g)
Bread, whole grain, 2 slices
Avocado, 2 slices
Lentil salad mix, 1 cup (240 ml)
Apple, 1 mediumPre-ride snack
Granola bar, 1
Grapes, 30
Juice, 8 ounces (240 ml)During ride
Sports drink, 24 ounces per hour (720 ml)
Total: 72 ounces per hour (2160 ml)
(goal is to match sweat rate as closely as possible)
Gel packet: 2 during rideRecovery snack
Smoothie: Milk, soy or dairy, 12 ounces (360 ml)
Yogurt, 6 ounces (180 ml)
Frozen berries, 1 cup (240 ml)
(20 ounces of fluid for every pound of weight loss)Dinner
Fish, 7 ounces (210 g)
Brown rice, cooked, 1.5 cups (360 ml)
Streamed broccoli, 1 cup
Salad, 2 cups Salad dressing, 4 Tsp. (120 ml)

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Monique Ryan, MS, RD, is author of "Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition,"and "SportsNutrition for Endurance Athletes," from VeloPress, and the upcoming “PerformanceNutrition for Team Sports,” (Peak Sports Press March 2005). She isa regular columnist for Inside Triathlon and VeloNews magazines, and isfounder of Personal Nutrition Designs, a nutrition consulting company basedin the Chicago area. Ryan regularly counsels endurance athlete across NorthAmerica on performance and health-related nutrition concerns and offersonline services through her website atwww.moniqueryan.com. She was the nutritionist for the Performance EnhancementTeams for USA Triathlon and the T-Mobile Women's Cycling Team for Athens2004. She also consulted with professional triathletes, the Saturn CyclingTeam, and the Volvo-Cannondale Mountain Bike Team. Ryan offers answersto reader's questions twice monthly. Readers are welcome to send theirquestions directly to Ryan at RyanWebQA@aol.com. The information providedin the "Feed Zone" does not constitute prescriptive nutritional advice.The information provided in this column is solely for general interestof the visitors to that site and is intended for educational purposes only.