FUEL SMARTER, RIDE FASTER

Anti-Inflammatory Foods for Cycling Recovery: What Helps, What Hinders, and When to Eat It

Every training ride you do creates inflammation. That is not a problem — it is the stimulus. The problem starts when the inflammation from Tuesday's session is still lingering on Thursday, when your joints ache on rest days, and when recovery takes three days instead of one. At that point, what you eat between sessions is either helping the resolution process or quietly extending it.

Nutrition14 min read

Beetroot Juice and Nitrates: The Legal Performance Booster Most Cyclists Ignore

A concentrated shot of beetroot juice costs less than a gel, takes two minutes to drink, and the research says it is worth 1-3 per cent in a time trial. The fact that most amateur cyclists still do not use it is baffling.

Nutrition21 min read

Body Composition for Masters Cyclists: Why the Scale Is Lying to You

The number on the scale tells you almost nothing about how fast you are on a bike. Here is what actually matters for the over-40 cyclist who wants to get leaner without getting slower.

Caffeine and Cycling Performance: What Actually Works, What Doesn't, and How to Dose It Right

Caffeine is the most researched legal performance enhancer in endurance sport. It works. The evidence is not even close to ambiguous. But the gap between knowing caffeine helps and knowing how to use it properly is where most cyclists lose the benefit.

Caffeine Tolerance and the Strategic Reset: A Periodised Approach for Cyclists

You drink coffee every day. You take a caffeine gel before every hard session. And you have not felt that sharp kick in months. The tolerance is real — but the fix is not what you think.

The 48-Hour Carb Loading Protocol: A Practical Meal-by-Meal Guide

You know you need to carb load before a big event. You have read the science. And then two days before the race, you are standing in the kitchen wondering what 10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram actually looks like on a plate. This is the practical guide — meal by meal, hour by hour.

Collagen for Cyclists: What the Tendon Research Actually Shows (And How to Use It)

The cycling internet will tell you collagen is either a miracle supplement or expensive urine. The research — specifically Keith Baar's work on tendon remodelling — sits somewhere more useful than either extreme.

Nutrition15 min read

Continuous Glucose Monitors for Cyclists: What the Data Actually Tells You and What Is Just Noise

Every second cyclist on Strava seems to be wearing a CGM patch. The question nobody is asking clearly enough: does this data actually make you faster, or is it just another number to obsess over?

Creatine for Cyclists: What the Research Actually Says

The bodybuilding world claimed creatine decades ago. The endurance world wrote it off. The research says both camps missed something important — and if you ride a bike and you are over 40, the data is worth your attention.

Nutrition6 min read

How to Calculate Sweat Rate for Cycling: Test and Formula

Measure rather than guess: one representative ride estimates cycling sweat rate, while repeated tests show how heat, intensity and airflow change it.

Fat Adaptation and Low-Carb Training for Cyclists: What the Evidence Actually Says

The internet will tell you to go keto and burn fat for fuel. The research says something more nuanced — and more useful. Here is what train-low actually means, when it works, and where it falls apart.

Glycogen Management for Cyclists: The Fuel Your Muscles Actually Run On

You have roughly 90 minutes of hard riding stored in your muscles before the tank hits empty. How you fill that tank, drain it, and refill it determines whether you finish strong or crawl home.

Gut Microbiome and Cycling Performance: The Ecosystem Inside Your Kit

You have roughly 38 trillion bacteria living in your gut. They influence how you absorb nutrients, regulate inflammation, produce neurotransmitters, and recover from training. Most cyclists have never given them a second thought.

The 12-Week Gut Training Plan: Preparing Your Stomach for Race Day

You train your legs for months before a race. You taper your volume. You sharpen your intervals. And then you hand your stomach a job it has never rehearsed and wonder why it falls apart at the first feed zone.

Cycling with Hay Fever: How to Train Through Pollen Season Without Losing Fitness

You have spent all winter building form on the turbo. March arrives, the weather turns, you finally get outside — and within twenty minutes your eyes are streaming, your nose is blocked, and every breath feels like you are inhaling through a wet flannel. Hay fever does not care about your training plan.

How to Fuel a Century Ride: The Logistics Nobody Talks About

You know you need 60-90 grams of carbs per hour. Everyone knows that by now. The part nobody tells you is what to carry in which pocket, when to stop at a feed station versus riding through, and why the last 20 miles always feel like a different sport.

Iron Deficiency and Cycling Performance: When Your Power Numbers Lie About Your Fitness

Your FTP has stalled. Your heart rate is drifting higher at the same watts. Recovery between intervals takes longer than it used to. You assume it is fatigue, or age, or a bad training block. But there is a blood test that might explain all three — and most cyclists have never asked for it.

Iron and Ferritin for Endurance Cyclists: The Complete Guide to Not Running on Empty

Your aerobic engine runs on iron. Lose too much — through sweat, gut stress, or the wrong diet — and no amount of threshold work will save you. Here's how to find it, fix it, and stop it happening again.

Nutrition15 min read

Joint Supplements for Cyclists: Glucosamine, Chondroitin, and What the Evidence Actually Shows

Walk into any pharmacy and you will find an entire shelf of joint supplements promising to rebuild cartilage, eliminate pain, and reverse the clock. The research tells a more complicated story — and a more useful one.

Practical Macro Tracking for Cyclists: When to Count, When to Stop, and What Actually Matters

I lost seven kilograms in twelve weeks. I did not use MyFitnessPal. I did not weigh a single meal. But that does not mean tracking is useless — it means most people use it wrong.

Nutrition15 min read

Magnesium for Cycling: Performance, Recovery, and What Most Riders Get Wrong

You are tracking your carbs, your protein, probably your iron. But the mineral responsible for over 300 enzymatic reactions in your body — including every muscle contraction that turns the pedals — is the one most cyclists never check.

Recovery17 min read

Cycling and Metabolic Health: A Practical Guide to Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Through Riding

Your bike is one of the most effective metabolic interventions available — and the research backing that claim has never been stronger.

Omega-3 for Cyclists: The Anti-Inflammatory Edge Worth Taking

You put your body through controlled inflammation every time you train. That is how adaptation works. But when the inflammation stops being controlled — when it lingers into your rest days and your next hard session — omega-3 fatty acids become one of the few supplements with real evidence behind them.

Periodised Nutrition for Cyclists: Matching Your Food to Your Training Load

You do not eat the same amount on a rest day as you do before a four-hour climbing ride. That much is obvious. What most cyclists miss is the system — matching carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake to training phase, session intensity, and the specific adaptation you are chasing.

Plant-Based Cycling Nutrition: What Works, What Does Not, and How to Fuel Performance Without Meat

The question is not whether a plant-based diet can support cycling performance. The evidence says it can. The question is whether you are willing to plan for the gaps that a poorly executed plant-based diet leaves wide open.

Protein Sources for Endurance Cyclists: What to Eat, What to Skip, and Why It Matters

You know you need 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram. The question nobody answers properly is where those grams should come from — and that answer changes your shopping list, your meal prep, and your recovery.

Protein Timing for Cycling Recovery: What the Research Actually Shows

The fitness industry has spent two decades arguing about the anabolic window. Meanwhile, most cyclists are getting the basics wrong — not enough total protein, not enough at the right meals, and almost nothing before bed. Let me break this down.

10 Race-Day Fuelling Mistakes That Cost You the Finish You Trained For

You did the training. You tapered. You carb-loaded. And then somewhere around hour three, the wheels came off — not because your legs failed, but because your fuelling did. Here are the ten mistakes that wreck race days, and the specific fixes for each.

Building a Race-Day Nutrition Plan From Scratch

The riders who bonk at mile 60 did not fail during the race. They failed three days before it, when they did not have a plan. Here is how to build one that actually works on the road, not just on paper.

Recovery Nutrition by Volume: What to Eat When You Train 6, 10 or 15 Hours a Week

The post-ride shake advice is everywhere. What nobody explains is how your Monday recovery meal should change depending on whether you rode four hours on Sunday or ninety minutes — and whether you are in base phase or three weeks out from your A-race.

Sodium Loading Before Cycling: Evidence, Limits and Safety

Pre-exercise sodium can expand fluid volume and may offer a small endurance benefit in some conditions, but evidence does not establish one universal DIY dose.

Supplement Timing and Stacking for Cyclists: When You Take It Matters as Much as What You Take

You have bought the right supplements. The doses are correct. But if you are taking your iron with your morning coffee and your magnesium at the same time as your calcium, you are paying for compounds your body never absorbs. Timing is the difference between a supplement that works and an expensive placebo.

Tart Cherry Juice for Cycling Recovery: The Anthocyanin Evidence, Dosing Protocols, and Whether It's Worth the Cost

One of the few recovery supplements where the research actually keeps saying the same thing. Here's what tart cherry juice does, how to dose it, and whether it's worth the price tag.

Cycling Training Camp Nutrition: Fuel Back-to-Back Days

Build each camp day's food and fluid plan from the route, environment, tested tolerance and time until the next demanding ride.

Vitamin D for Cyclists: Why Most Riders Are Running on Empty

You train outdoors more than most people on the planet. And there is a better-than-even chance your vitamin D levels are still inadequate. The fix is simple, but most riders get the details wrong.

Weekly Meal Prep for Cyclists: The Sunday System That Keeps You Fuelled All Week

You know exactly what watts you need to hold on a climb. You have a structured training plan. But open the fridge on a Tuesday evening and it is a wasteland. The training is dialled. The nutrition is not.

Nutrition21 min read

Losing Weight Without Losing Power: The Masters Cyclist's Guide to Getting Leaner After 40

Losing weight gets harder after 40. Losing weight while keeping your power on the bike gets harder still. But most of what makes it hard is not your metabolism. It is the advice you are following.

Zinc for Cyclists: The Mineral Most Endurance Athletes Are Missing

You track your carbohydrates, weigh your protein, and time your caffeine. But the mineral that keeps your immune system functioning after hard training blocks barely registers on most cyclists' radar.

Beta-Alanine for Cyclists: What the Research Says and Who Actually Benefits

It is one of the most studied supplements in sport science. It is also one of the most misunderstood. Here is what beta-alanine actually does — and what it does not.

Cycling Calorie Burn — The Accurate Guide to What You Actually Spend

The number on your screen after a ride is almost certainly wrong. And even when it is right, using it the way most riders do leads to worse decisions, not better ones.

Pacing and Fuelling for Long Rides: How to Ride 100+ Miles Without Falling Apart

Every cyclist who has blown up at mile 70 made the same mistake. Not at mile 70 — at mile 10. The pacing and fuelling decisions that determine whether you finish a long ride strong or crawl home empty are made in the first hour, not the last one. This is the strategy for rides where the distance itself becomes the opponent.

Race Weight: The Science of Finding Yours

Race weight is the lightest you can get while holding or improving power — not the lightest you can get, full stop. Getting the distinction wrong costs watts, wrecks hormones, and ruins seasons. Here is how to find your number, hit it safely, and time it to the races that matter.

Coaching21 min read

Your First Gran Fondo: What Nobody Tells You

A gran fondo is not a race. It is also not a sportive. It sits somewhere in between, and the riders who enjoy it most are the ones who understood that before the start line.

Nutrition24 min read

Fuelling Self-Assessment: Why Most Cyclists Are Under-Fuelled and How to Fix It

You train with power. You track TSS and CTL. You periodise your intervals. And then you eat a banana and half a gel for three hours of riding. The gap between how precisely most amateur cyclists manage their training and how casually they manage their fuelling is the single biggest performance leak in the sport. This guide walks through the science of in-ride and daily nutrition, explains the scoring behind the Fuelling Self-Assessment, and ranks the fixes that actually move the needle — starting with the ones you are almost certainly getting wrong.

Magnesium for Cyclists: The Deficiency You Are Probably Ignoring

You are tracking your carbs, your protein, your iron. But the mineral responsible for over 300 enzymatic reactions in your body is the one most cyclists never check.

Nutrition22 min read

Protein for Cyclists: How Much, When, and Why It Matters

Endurance cyclists need 1.6–2.2g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight daily — far more than the 0.8g/kg general population guideline. This pillar guide covers the Morton et al. meta-analysis evidence, leucine thresholds, protein distribution across 4–5 meals, source rankings, masters cyclist adjustments, and a full training-day meal plan.

Race Day Fuelling Strategy: The Complete Guide for Cyclists

Eighty per cent of amateur cyclists who bonk in a race were already behind on fuel before they crossed the start line. This is the complete fuelling strategy — from 48 hours out to the final feed zone — built on Jeukendrup's research and tested across hundreds of riders.

Nutrition27 min read

Supplements for Cyclists: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Dangerous

The supplement industry turns over $50 billion a year by selling cyclists promises that belong on a pharmacy shelf, not in a peer-reviewed journal. Roughly 90% of it is noise. This guide identifies the 10% signal — the compounds with actual evidence behind them, the doses that matter, and the products you can safely bin.

How Many Calories Does Cycling Actually Burn?

Your head unit says you burned 2,400 calories. You probably burned 1,600. The difference matters if you are fuelling around that number.

Why Your Stomach Shuts Down on Long Rides (and How to Fix It)

Three hours in, the gut rebels. Nausea, bloating, the gel you can't face swallowing. GI distress ends more long rides than empty legs do. Here's what actually causes your stomach to shut down — and the fixes that keep it taking fuel.

Homemade Race Fuel for Cyclists: DIY Drink Mix, Gels and Rice Cakes

Branded gels and mixes work, but at a couple of dollars a hit they make a big ride cost a fortune. You can make your own drink mix, gels and rice cakes that hit 90g an hour for pennies. Here's the ratio that matters and the recipes that work.

How Many Carbs Should a Cyclist Eat Per Day?

Carbs per hour on the bike gets all the attention. Carbs per day off it is where most amateurs quietly wreck their training. Here's the daily carbohydrate a cyclist actually needs — in grams per kilo, matched to your training load.

The World Tour Fuelling Reset: What Sam Impey Taught Me

The World Tour nutritionist who fuels Pidcock and Ganna has a simple starting point for amateurs: 60 grams of carbs an hour, one gram a minute, regardless of intensity. Here's how Sam Impey thinks about fuelling — and why eating more is usually the upgrade.

Getting Lean Without Losing Power: The Tim Podlogar Method

A carbohydrate scientist who fuels a World Tour team explains why most amateur weight-loss attempts backfire — and how to actually get lean without losing the watts. Modest deficits, smarter fuelling windows, and the carb ratio the pros use.

Under, Over, Optimal: Uri Carlson on Getting Fuelling Right

More carbs isn't always better. Dietitian Uri Carlson explains why over-fuelling pulls water into your gut and leaves you sloshing — and the simple half-your-calories-burned method for finding your own optimal fuelling range.

Bonking in Cycling: What Actually Happens and How to Prevent It

The bonk is your brain protecting your blood sugar, not your muscles running out of fuel. Here's what actually happens when you hit the wall — hepatic vs muscular glycogen, fat oxidation, the central governor — and how to make sure it never happens to you again.

Nutrition6 min read

Electrolytes for Cycling: When Sodium Helps and How to Choose

Sodium can support fluid retention during prolonged or high-loss cycling, but there is no universal dose and electrolyte drink cannot make excess fluid safe.

Gut Training for Cyclists: How to Absorb 90-120g of Carbs Per Hour

The 120g-per-hour numbers you read about pro fuelling are real — but they're a trained capacity, not a default. Here's how the gut actually adapts, the protocol that gets you there, and why most amateurs never tolerate more than 60g/hr.

Post-Ride Recovery Nutrition: What the Science Actually Says

The "30-minute window" is mostly bro-science — but recovery nutrition still matters enormously on the days it counts. Here's what the research actually shows about carbs, protein and timing, and how to tell an urgent refuel from one you can take your time over.

Creatine for Cyclists: I Tried It for 30 Days and Here's What the Data Showed

The cyclist's creatine fear is real — weight gain will kill climbing. My 30-day test showed sprint power up 5% and body weight up 1.5kg. Whether it's worth it depends on your event profile, not your fear.

Nutrition12 min read

Fuelling for Cycling: What World Tour Nutritionists Actually Recommend (And What They've Changed Their Minds On)

The 120 grams per hour pro fuelling message has migrated to amateurs who can't handle it. Dr Sam Impey, who works with Pidcock and Ganna, says it's probably hurting you — and the data from my own three-ride experiment agrees.

Nutrition7 min read

Race Week Carb Loading for Cyclists: The Protocol That Actually Works

Most cyclists either carb load wrong or don't do it at all. The modern protocol is shorter, simpler, and more effective than the old depletion method — and it starts 36 hours out, not a week before.

Nutrition7 min read

Fuel for the Work Required: The FFTWR Method That Changed How I Coach Nutrition

You don't eat the same thing on a rest day as you do before a five-hour sportive. That's the entire premise of Fuel for the Work Required — and once you get it, nutrition stops being confusing and starts being a system.

Recovery11 min read

The Post-Ride Recovery Window for Cyclists Over 40: What the First Two Hours Actually Decide

The popular "30-minute anabolic window" was always overstated. The real recovery window is more like two hours, and for masters cyclists what you do inside it decides how the next ride feels — not the day after, but three days later.

Pre-Ride Breakfast for Cyclists: What to Eat, When, and Why Most Cyclists Get It Wrong

The breakfast before a long ride decides how the last hour feels. Get it right and you arrive at hour three with the legs still firing. Get it wrong and you spend two hours digging out of a hole that didn't need to exist.

Nutrition Periodisation for Cyclists: Base, Build, and Race

Eating the same way year-round is the same mistake as training the same way year-round. Here's how carbohydrate, protein, and total energy availability should change across base, build, and race phases — and why most amateur cyclists get the build phase exactly wrong.

Race-Day Fuelling: A 24-Hour Timeline From Wake-Up to Finish

Most amateur fuelling failures aren't about what the rider eats — they're about when. Here's the hour-by-hour timeline from race-morning wake-up through the finish, calibrated to four- to eight-hour amateur events and the body of a rider with a job.

Prof Tim Spector on the Gut, Cycling Performance, and Why 99% Get It Wrong

The gut microbiome is more powerful than your genes for weight, mood, and longevity. Prof Tim Spector explains what cyclists are getting wrong — and the simple fixes that actually move the needle.

40 Grams Of Protein Before Bed: The Cycling Recovery Lever Most Amateurs Skip

Two decades of research, a probe in the belly fat, and a string of trials on real athletes. The verdict on a 30 to 40 gram protein feed before bed is the same in every study. It does not make you fat. It might make you faster.

Creatine for Cyclists: What 30 Days on 5 Grams Actually Did

I spent ten years telling cyclists creatine was for bodybuilders. Then I ran the experiment myself. Five grams a day, no loading phase, thirty days. The sprint numbers were not what I expected.

The 5-Gram Creatine Protocol for Cyclists: Dosing, Timing and Tradeoffs

5 grams a day for 30 days, no loading phase, $15 a tub. Sprint power up 5%. Climbing weight up 1.5kg. A cyclist's unsparing read on creatine.

Dr. David Dunne on the Roadman Podcast: Why Most Cyclists Get Race Weight Wrong

Most serious amateurs train 8 to 12 hours a week and still carry 3 to 7 kilos they would rather not. Dr David Dunne, the nutritionist behind INEOS, EF and Uno-X, explains why the "lighter is faster" framing is the problem, not the solution.

The Omerta Is Busted: What Hannah Grant Wants Amateurs To Stop Doing With Food

Most club riders carry five to ten kilos of fixable weight. Cutting it is not a starvation problem. Hannah Grant has been inside the World Tour kitchens long enough to know which lever you actually pull.

Nutrition3 min read

Amateur Cyclist Fuelling Benchmarks Report 2026 (Coming Q3 2026)

The third Roadman annual report — what amateur cyclists are actually fuelling on the bike, what the carb-per-hour ceiling looks like outside the WorldTour, and where the avoidable bonks are happening. Publishing Q3 2026. Get notified.

Nutrition12 min read

How Much Carbohydrate Per Hour for Cyclists?

The practical answer is between 30 and 120 grams per hour — and the 90g/hr figure most amateurs quote is wrong for half of them. Here is how to set yours by ride duration, intensity and gut training.

Cycling Nutrition Plan for a 100-Mile Sportive

100 miles is the distance where amateurs blow up. Not from fitness. From fuel. Here is the hour-by-hour nutrition plan that survives contact with the back half of a sportive.

Tim Spector on Gut Microbiome for Cyclists: Why Calorie Counting Fails

Tim Spector has run trials, he co-founded Zoe, and he's the most cited voice in nutrition science right now. His position is that the calorie is the wrong unit. For amateur cyclists trying to lose body fat without losing power, this is the most important piece of the puzzle.

What a Michelin-Star Chef Knows About Cycling Nutrition (That Most Riders Miss)

Most cyclists train like pros and eat like students. Alan Murchison, the Michelin-starred chef behind Specialized Factory Racing, has the simplest fix going — and it has nothing to do with another macro target.

Nutrition7 min read

Best Roadman Episodes About Nutrition

The cycling nutrition episodes that hold up across re-listens. Pro fuelling, the carbs-per-hour conversation, and the blunt version of what most amateurs are getting wrong.

Body Recomposition for Cyclists: Lose Fat, Keep Power

You don't have to choose between losing weight and getting faster. Body recomposition is slower but preserves everything you've built.

Protein Timing for Cyclists: When and How Much

Most cyclists under-eat protein. Here's how much you need, when to eat it, and why timing matters more than total for endurance athletes.

What Sports Scientists Say About Cycling Nutrition

We compiled the nutrition advice from every sports scientist and nutritionist who's been on the podcast. Here's what they all agree on.

How a Pro Fuelled 800km Across Badlands — The Complete Strategy

800km across the Spanish desert on a gravel bike. Here's exactly what the fuelling plan looked like — hour by hour, checkpoint by checkpoint.

Fasted vs Fuelled Cycling: The Honest 2026 Comparison

Fasted riding has a real physiological basis, but it's also the single most common self-inflicted wound in amateur training. When it works and when it doesn't.

Community9 min read

MTB Nutrition: How to Actually Fuel on the Trail

MTB fuelling is harder than road fuelling. Rough terrain, limited storage, and the fact that you cannot take your hand off the bars for three minutes at a time. Here's how to actually do it.

Triathlon Bike Nutrition: How to Fuel the Bike Leg Without Wrecking the Run

The bike leg is where you either fuel the run or blow it. Here are the carb targets that actually work for 70.3 and Ironman — and the exact timing that keeps your gut working when others start walking.

Nutrition5 min read

How Much Protein Do Cyclists Need? Timing, Sources, and Recovery

Cyclists obsess over carbs but neglect protein at their peril. Without adequate protein, your muscles can't repair, adapt, or get stronger. Here's exactly how much you need and when.

Caffeine and Cycling Performance: The Dosing Protocol That Works

Caffeine is the most widely used performance enhancer in cycling — and one of the most evidence-backed. But most riders use it wrong. Here's the protocol that actually works.

I Lost 7kg Eating More Food Than Ever Before (Here's the Framework)

The cycling internet says weight loss is calories in versus calories out. That advice is outdated, incomplete, and it's actually making you slower. Here's what actually worked — eating more.

The Fasted Riding Myth: Why Riding on Empty Is Making You Slower

You've been told that riding fasted burns more fat. The research says it makes you slower, hungrier, and no leaner. What to do instead.

Cycling Nutrition During a Ride: Carbs, Fluid and Timing

Build one in-ride plan from the session demand: carbohydrate from every source, fluid bounded by thirst and measured sweat loss, sodium matched to the rider, and a rehearsal that exposes problems before the event.

Cycling Energy Gels: How to Choose, Dose and Test Them

There is no universally best cycling gel. Choose a format that fits the whole carbohydrate plan, then test the exact product, dose and opening routine at training intensity before relying on it in an event.

Nutrition5 min read

Body Composition for Cyclists: Why the Scale Doesn't Tell the Full Story

Your scale weight is one number. Your body composition is the number that actually determines how fast you climb. Here's how to think about it properly.

I Tried Eating Like Pidcock for 60 Days — Here's What Happened

Pro cyclists eat differently to how most people imagine. More food, better timing, and a completely different relationship with carbohydrates.

Race Day Nutrition for Cyclists: What to Eat Before, During, and After

Your race day nutrition starts 48 hours before the start line. Get it wrong, and no amount of fitness will save you. Here's the complete timeline for fuelling a cycling race.