Race Food: Secrets of Racer on a Budget

Since I've chosen to eat a plant-based diet, I have learned that I simply can't rely on whatever town I'm in on a given weekend (or week) to have a few vegan options, or any for that matter. It's not affordable for someone who makes $30,000 or less to race bikes, travel to racing destination, find housing and eat out the whole time. Instead, I race bikes, travel to the race, stay where I can and go grocery shopping before hand. A small ice chest and a juicer is all I need. Here's my typical stage race (3 days of eating like a starved animal) menu for under $50:

-a box of spaghetti
-pasta sauce
-2c steel-cut oats
-small jar peanut butter
-small jar jelly
-baby bagels
-dried rice
-died lentils or if I'm planning ahead I sprout them with mung beans a few days before. Protein bomb.
-2 bunches of kale
-3 yams
-2 crowns broccoli
-package of vegan sausage
-small bag of onions
-3large red beets
-bag of carrots
-3 oranges
-3 apples
-1/4c chia seeds
-trail mix from the bulk section
-banana chips from the bulk section
If I have leftover money, I like to get some brown rice syrup or molasses as a sweetener. Also some greens and Goddess dressing are a plus.

For race specific food, I'll usually score a 12pk of Clif Bars, protein powder and electrolyte drink mix. Please note, that I cook this stuff at home even if I'm not leaving town for a race. It's simple, tasty, and nutrient-rich.

For someone who works out regularly, it's important to notice what kind of mix I've got going on listed above: Carbs, simple and complex for fuel and recovery. Unsaturated fats, for fuel and recovery. Protein for recovery. Friuts and Veggies for crucial vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Now for the good stuff. Breakfast is a must, no skipping, okay?




2 glasses of water.
Coffee.
Oats with chia seeds, peanut butter and a sweetener (see previous recipe here)
Bagel with jelly.
Juice- 1 beet, 1 apple, 1 orange, a few carrots. In order for your body to efficiently absorb all the iron from the beets you need some vitamin C, that's where the oranges come in. Aside from the obvious vitamins and minerals in the carrots and apples, both are loaded with carbohydrates!

 Post race, usually in the car before you head home.
Add water to your shaker with protein mix and chia seeds. Shake and drink.  Also, the drive back is a great time to snack on that trail mix/ banana chips.

For lunch/ dinner I often swap these around depending on my time and mood. This meal is crucial, your body is crushed from racing and needs carbs and protein. You'll need a small meal to replenish, and dinner will need to top off your glycogen stores for racing the next day.

2 glasses of water, atleast.
Pasta (season the water generously, you sweated out all that salt already)
Pasta sauce
In a hot pan with some canola/safflower or olive oil and sea salt add small diced YAMS, chopped ONION, chopped BROCCOLI and VEGAN SAUSAGE. Once the yams start to brown, put a lid on it so the steam will cook and tenderize the rest. Medium low heat and stir occasionally. When the yams are ready in 10 or 15, everything else is. Place atop your cooked pasta and devour.

2 glasses of water, atleast.
Bowl of rice. To cook rice place 1c dried rice in a pot with 2c water (The magic rice ration is 1part RICE : 1.75parts water, but 2parts is easiest and will work fine), a splash of oil and a big pinch of salt, cover and bring to a raging boil. After the boil is met, reduce heat to very low. In about 45 min your rice should be complete. 
Saute (cooked in a hot pan with oil and salt) of chopped YAMS, sliced VEGAN SAUSAGE, chopped BROCCOLI, sliced ONION. If you have some herbs handy, dried or fresh, throw some in the mix. Fresh garlic is also a crucial addition if you have it. Again, when the yams start to get a little browned, go ahead and cover your pan. You want enough oil in there to brown your veggies, and enough moisture in the veggies to kind of steam them too. This ensures the middle of the veg is getting cooked, not just crisping the outside. If you need to add a splash of water, that's totally fine. Taste a yam, does it taste like it needs another 5 minutes? If yes, perfect! Wash and chop the kale (stems and all) into bite-sized peices and mix that in too. The steam and oil will cook it until it's tender. When your yams are just tender enough, the kale and everything else should be too. When it comes to greens, brown means overcooked, bright green means perfect. You can eat it raw, so dont fret about cooking it enough.
Assemble your saute over your rice and dump some of that Goddess dressing on top, it's basically an herbed tahini. 
  
I was too hungry to stop and take pictures of my food this weekend so you'll have to use your imagination. Sorry :)

Day 3: Cascade Lakes Road Race

Stage 1 of the Cascade Classic is a road race that starts and finishes at the West Village ski resort on Mt. Bachelor. Picture this: Your straddling a road bike in a parking lot with 85 other dudes in 90+ degree heat a 6,300ft above sea level, slamming a 24oz water bottle before you start racing said bike for the next 70 miles around the base of the mountain and a nearby lake or two. Sweaty picture, no? I knew hydration was key, so I took 3 bottles with me- one in a jersey pocket and two on the bike. I didn't know jacking your heart rate up at altitude will mess a dude up, hydrated or not. My job in this stage was to stay up front and follow anyone that wanted to join or start a breakaway. This would give our climber, Max O'Neal, a perfect opportunity to not do anything the whole race, that is until the pack reached the final climb up Mt. Bachelor where he could use his uphill strength to smoke fools to the finish line.  

The idea being if I get into a move that gets up the road with a few others from different teams, the teams left over in the pack who don't have a man in the breakaway will worry that their shot at victory is over so they'll have to work together to chase us down. If a team has a man in the break, they get to sit pretty and let everyone else do the pace-making until they reel them back. Now they're fresh and the team that wasn't represented is tired, and has lost their shot at challenging or matching a final acceleration to the finish line. 

Neutral rollout began as we cruised behind the lead car for the 3,000ft descent down the volcano at 54mph. After about 3 miles the race is on, and the accelerations begin. I spent the first half of the race responding to counterattacks that Brian Hitchcock (HSP captain for the weekend) was instigating. He definitely help set the aggressive tone, so now it was my job to just flow with it. After many attempts, I sat in around 5th wheel or so to recover since it appeared that nobody was ready to let anything go. About 3k before the first feed zone one guy from Audi got away- 1 man is no threat but a few more could be. About 1k before the feed zone, Thorsten informs me that Hitch snapped his chain! FUCK. This put us on alert, so we had to make sure nobody got away without us to allow him to chase back on after the neutral service vehicle fixed him up.

Naturally, while Thorsten and I were moving up to the front, 3 guys separately attacked to bridge up to our lone ranger. This was bad- not in the move, AND we have to pick up the pace to bring them back while Hitch is trying to catch back on. I spent the next 25 miles or so chasing and trying to follow bridge attempts. Unfortunately, for me, I didn't sit in early enough to recover and let everyone else do the chasing, which led to some massive fatigue. We were just getting out of the windy stretch of the course before the final climb when I experienced something I've only heard stories about- double leg cramp. From calves to ass, my muscles began to seize and convulse out of nowhere! One minute I'm at the rear of the pack chatting with my one of our travel buddies, Nate Pitts, eating, drinking to prepare for the hard climb approaching, the next minute I'm whining like a little girl, squeezing my hamstrings as I just coast right off the back of the group. I can't pedal at all. My legs literally wont fucking move and all I want to do is pass out from the pain. I drank 6 water bottles - WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY?

After declining a ride to the finish line by multiple cars (if you dont ride in, you forfeit the race) I was able to dismount and try to stretch my legs. I had to soft pedal for about 50ft just so my legs wouldn't stop working again. Luckily for me there were other bodies up the road, pulled over for some reason, which meant I wouldn't have to ride the final 15 miles or so by myself. The race was now long gone, and my chances at putting myself even close to a GC position were over. All I could do was finish and play domestique (workhorse) for the team. I caught up to the first guy up the road, who also had cramped (for the first time ever) and we road together as we approached the next victim. I told him my teammate, Thorsten, has often cramped up in the past which I assumed was just from not drinking enough water and now I get it. Water wasn't the issue, I really think it was over-exertion. We get up to the next guy just getting back on his bike- it's Thorsten! Speak of the devil. He didn't cramp this time, he got some altitude/heat exhaustion and started puking so he had to pull over until his body was done purging. We were both physically fucked. After playing cat and mouse with other dropped riders up the road, we ultimately road to the finish line together. A Coca Cola from the Illegal feed zone (these are offerings from candy, beer to water or whiskey that fans put on) on the climb may or may not have been taken to save us from passing out.

We finished 17 minutes behind the leader that day. Bummer, but there's still lots of racing to be had.

Cascade Classic Update

Please accept my apologies, I was having issues trying to blog from my iPhone, since the Blogger app is sub-par. It also deleted my entire Day 3 and start of Day 4 post, which is obviously not Pro. I'm off to work, but plan to feed you baby birds later tonight. I was able to snap some pictures in and around race time but definitely not as often as I had intended, but nonetheless, I will do my best to do this weekend justice. I promise, there is no better example of easy, nutritious cooking, than that of a cyclist away for stage racing - there will be recipes. Thanks for checking in.

Day 2: Cascade Classic

 After sleeping in and enjoying a typical morning breakfast of steel-cut oats and copious amounts of coffee we all kitted up (slang for putting on our color-coded spandex costumes) and rolled out the door in search of a hill climb. Yesterday we rode past a nearby butte with a promising ascent, so we located it on the horizon and quickly found ourselves at the base - Pilot Butte Scenic Viewpoint. 

I think it took us around 7 minutes to climb to the top, but I can't upload my Garmin until we get back to Seattle so it's "unofficial" for now. Kat finished with Chris and Rob a little bit behind Ted, Nate and myself, but she had her Strava on and officially has the fastest women's time to the top at 8 minutes and change I believe. Ted is notorious for setting a slightly uncomfortable pace uphill, and since we are at 3500' above sea level, I figured I'd see what it felt like to go a little hard when the air is thin - a slight understanding of what racing down then back up Mt. Bachelor tomorrow afternoon is going to be like. It sucked at first but then it mellowed out when I started to control my breathing. See?

A proper 580' climb only 3 miles from our house. Beautiful. 

After we finished strolling around town and picking up our race info packets for the weekend we headed across town to drop by a BBQ we were invited to by my life homie, Mike Roecklein. He is the Director/ owner of Stage 17- Cylance and apparently has hosted this Cascade Classic BBQ for a 2nd year in a row where little fish bike racers like us can eat, drink and shoot the shit with the top dog fast guys. Today his friends on Team SmartStop (Domestic Pro team) and the Bear Development team (under 23yr old) were invited along with our posse. We really did feel like little fish. However, everyone was super nice and didnt make us feel like minions. Also, we got to stuff our guts with delicious fajitas as we lounged in the green grass of their host house's beautiful backyard. Such a great day to kickoff what is about to be a brutal weekend of racing. 

Did I mention we went swimming in the Deschutes River this afternoon too?

 Check back tomorrow for a race update and what I've been cooking up in this kitchen on our small grocery budget. 

BMC Cacade Cycling Classic

After a 3rd place result in the Joe Matava Memorial crit on the 4th of July, followed by a 2nd place finish in the Brad Lewis Memorial (Boat Street) crit a couple weeks ago I was barely able to upgrade to Category 2 in time for the Cascade Classic in Bend, OR. I literally got my upgrade approval back the day before registration closed. Last minute. I'm so good at that.

 So here we are. I'm sitting in my living room with an ice chest half-full of produce and snacks, 2 bikes, 2 bags, and a juicer, waiting for Nate Pitts to get here with the van and our posse. I'm actually going to Bend for the CCC! Lots of hard work and self coaching for the past 2.5 seasons has finally paid off. Herriott Sports Performance will be represented by our two juniors, Max "The Missile" O'Neil, and Thorsten Askervold, plus rookie cat 2's yours truly and Ted Schwartz, led by our wise and fearless leader, Brian Hitchcock. 5 swords, each with their own set of skills. I'm really excited to get smacked up by the best cat2s on the West Coast and/or do the smacking myself, with the help of The Hit Squad (HSP Elite team). 

Rides here. Check back in soon for daily updates of the adventure. Additionally I will be using twitter (@ericgantbastard) and Instagram (@excockrell) to update. Thanks for reading. 

Go Vegan 101

My old friend Andy, recently asked me about what practical steps he could take as he heads toward a plant-based diet. Lucky for you, I am going to share some knowledge on the blog so everyone can reference what wisdom I've acquired over the past 8 years.

First, and above all, you will need to start cooking at home 95% of the time. If you already do, great. If not, you can always start today. The reason cooking at home is priority #1 is because it's cheaper than eating out, you can control the ingredients (no mystery fats or poor quality proteins/produce), and it's far more satisfying to cook a meal from scratch than it is to pay someone else to do a sub-par job for you. Cooking is fun. Don't let the fucking food network tell you that if your not a chef then it's crap. I've been cooking for a living for over 8 years- nothing makes me more joyful than a simple, non-pretentious meal that a friend cooks for me (my wife is my friend too). Those chefs you see on TV cook food that was rooted from poverty. Generations ago, people only had a few things on hand because that's all they could afford, so they got really good at cooking certain meals that eventually became classics. Make your own classics with what you have lying around in the fridge and cupboards. Don't sweat, I'm going to share some very affordable and nutritious classic meals that I cook on the regular.

Before I get to that, I'd like you to consider a few things for your health and for the sake of better tasting food.

-Stop buying butter. Get safflower and olive oil. They have vitamin E, unsaturated fats & omega fatty acids, butter is the opposite.
-Stop buying honey and brown sugar. Get brown rice syrup and molasses. They have more healthy carbohydrates, less sugar, and are generally healthier sweetener alternatives.
-The bulk section is your best friend. You aren't going to believe the money you save when you start buying dry goods out of these bins in the grocery store.
-You'll get more than enough protein, I promise. North Americans are missing the point, it's not protein you should be worried about, it's carbohydrates. The typical DAILY N. American diet consists of enough protein to refuel 8 Olympic athletes after competition. Carbs promote an efficient metabolism and fat burning. They human body requires 3x more grams of carbs than protein per calorie. If you are getting enough fats and carbs, you are definitely getting enough protein. Google it, or comment below and I'll give you a "Protein isn't as important as you think" clinic.
-Ditch that iodized salt. Get kosher or sea salt. It sticks to food more evenly and adds flavor, not takes away from it. Not to mention, it contains minerals your body craves. Salt is good for you. Sodium in packaged food is not.

Now, without further ado,  here are some great meals anyone can cook. As always, feel free to experiment and add your own style to them as you get more comfortable.

Breakfast
Steel-cut Oats.
In a pot bring 1.5 cups of water to a raging boil. Add a pinch of sea/kosher salt. Add 1/2 cup of steel cut oats. Bring heat down to medium and stir frequently or else it's going to foam up and spill all over the place. After a minute of taming the foaming beast, for the next 10 minutes stir occasionally. When it looks like the oats have soaked up the water and it looks like watery slop, put a lid on it and remove from heat. In like, 5 minutes, feel free to add 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter (NOT THAT HYDROGENATED OIL CRAP, REAL PEANUT BUTTER) and 1 Tablespoon of unsulphured blackstrap molasses or brown rice syrup and mix well. Transfer to your favorite bowl and enjoy. 

I eat this about every day. If you don't yet know what it means to be "regular," make this a staple breakfast. Also, breakfast is "the most important meal of the day" because it jump-starts your metabolism which gives you energy and promotes fat burning. Here's the nutritional value if you prepare half of this without the peanut butter and sweetener:

The PB and Molasses triple the iron, calcium, carbs and unsaturated fats. Bam!

Lunch
Green Machine Sandwich
On whole/ multi-grain bread spread Vegenaise (yes, I just suggested a packaged food, its far more nutritious than regular mayo and tastes better, found in most grocery stores in the hippie section) and your favorite mustard on both sides. Next add sliced green bell pepper, sliced cucumber, lettuce, clover (or any) sprouts, avocado, green onion (or red, I guess). Close bread together to form a sandwich. Pair with a canned lentil soup from the hippie section of the store or make a soup that I post here on the blog under "recipes" a mixed greens salad with balsamic/applecider/redwine vinegar and olive oil and tomatoes, carrots and apples is also highly recommended instead of soup.

This sandwich has more than enough plant-based carbs to keep you going until dinner. Lunch should always be more filling than dinner. You will burn calories just doing whatever it is you do until dinner, so your food serves as fuel. Dinner should leave you feeling like you could probably eat a little more. If you are full, then you over-ate. You're just going to be hitting the sack shortly after dinner anyways, you don't want the extra food turning to fat.

Once a week, dinner can be had eating out. That is even a bit much. I still think it's important to eat out occasionally, since it serves the purpose of culinary inspiration. Every time you go to a restaurant you are eating food you probably haven't executed yourself. Use those ingredients on the plate and take a shot at your own version.

Dinner
Tacos (a favorite)
-Corn tortillas
-1/4c Sunflower seeds
-1/4c Pumpkin seeds
-1/2 a yam (small chop)
-1/2 an onion (small chop)
-1 clove garlic (minced)
-thinly sliced cabbage/lettuce, tomatoes, nutritional yeast 
Preheat oven to 400*F. In a hot pan with a little saff/olive oil to coat and a couple pinches of salt, add chopped yam and onion. Stir occasionally. When those two start to get some browning color on them, add garlic, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, mix well then immediately put the pan in the oven. *If you are using a pan with a Teflon coat (non stick) and/or something with a rubber/plastic handle - DON'T. Drop $40 at Whole Foods or something and get a 10" cast iron pan. After about 10 minutes, those yam pieces should be nice and tender, so pull it out of the oven and trade it with your taco tortillas. Shake a couple dashes of black pepper and cumin in the pan, stir, and put in your toasty tortillas with your veg toppings. 

The thing with tacos, is that the filling is completely interchangeable with whatever produce you have in the fridge. Always use a fatty protein like seeds/nuts to add texture and substance to your filling. Personally, I like to add a little bit of quinoa and whatever beans I might have around to the above recipe. 

Your body reacts better to occasional and frequent exercise better when it can expect the same fuel every day. This doesn't mean eat the same exact thing everyday, it means make small changes within the same meals. 

Check back soon, I'd like to give an onion cutting clinic to the uninitiated. Yes, that means video. Also, I have Wednesday off, so you can expect a race report from Sunday's Brad Lewis Memorial Criterium race and a recipe or two for summer potlucks or personal meals.