There’s no doubt that before a big race you’ve already trained for months, fretted over what bike accessories you need, and checked your bike endlessly for any problems with the gears, the breaks, or the tires. What you may not have thought about is your diet leading up to and on the day of the race.

It’s a good idea to eat things with a lot of carbohydrates. Carbs are the most accessible form of calories that your body can consume. The carbs are then stored in your muscles and your liver as glycogen. The reason for eating a lot of carbs is that your body is going to need to feed off of the stores of glycogen in your body to power you through your long ride. When you “hit the wall” in a race, it’s your body running out of these energy pockets and starting to find energy elsewhere. Obviously your body doesn’t like doing this and makes you hurt for it.

On the day before and day of a race eat foods high in carbohydrates and not protein. During a race, protein is not as easily converted to energy as carbohydrates. Maybe the most important bicycle accessory you can have on your person during a race is an energy bar high in carbohydrates!