About the last thing you want to do at 4:30 is eat, but eat you must on race day. The term shoveling must have been coined by some poor cyclist during the first days of the bike as he prepped for a race. As bad as the morning chow down is, you can be content knowing a post-race ambrosia awaits – the second breakfast.
Given the short nature of most of the local races (40-50 miles), a bowl of cereal and a banana usually with a shot of cold espresso made the night before (the macchina di caffe is a little too loud to be run first thing in the morning) usually prove sufficient. It might not sound too bad, well the espresso might, but my body’s just not willing to eat at 4:30 am. No combination of cereal, milk and fruit seems to make it any easier to get down, especially the last few spoonfuls which take all the willpower and strength I can muster. The herculean struggle is zapping me of vital energy which might be otherwise used during the actual race, which is why, alas, I did not win again this past Saturday.
At least these races only require a bowl of cereal. The week before my wedding, Sayid and CG came over to Italy so that we could race Nove Colli, a gran fondo in Cesanatico, home of Marco Pantani. We were doing the 130 km route which had four marked climbs including the Barbotto, a 5.5 km climb which has an average gradient of 7% and whose last km is 18%. The pre-race breakfast, at the leisurely hour of 5 am, consisted of a big bowl of pasta, a bowl of cereal, some bread with a little prosciutto and a couple of bananas which I had to choke down. On the other hand, Sayid and CG must have thought we were riding all 21 stages of the Giro. They ate everything in sight to the point that I kept moving around so I wouldn’t be mistaken for food. We had to ask the hotel to make more pasta just for the two of them.
In Italy, every gran fondo ends with a pasta party. In New York, every race ends with a nutrition bar and a ride home. At least the ride is joyfully filled with thoughts of the second breakfast. There are all sorts of recipes for the second breakfast or post-race meal. I remember reading an article by Jonathan Vaughters describing his exact post-race ritual which involved certain types of foods with the exact time they needed to be eaten, although I think I remember the article because Vaughters said the first thing he ate was a piece of chocolate cake. Others will tell you that immediately after the race, you need a protein-carbohydrate drink, followed by a meal of carbs and lean protein within two hours.
All that’s well and good and undoubtedly the right thing to do. And I certainly do not disagree the importance of a recovery regime. In fact, it’s a necessity. Without it, I’d be comatose with drool running down my chin on a park bench as I “look after” my kids, which is also part of my regime. But, my second breakfast is simple. It’s a stop at Frank’s Deli for an egg on a roll and some chocolate milk, all of which is to go so that we can get to the park that much quicker. It might not sound like much, but nothing tastes as good as that egg on a roll. Nothing ever has, nothing ever will. It might also not be the best recovery regime, but it’s my beloved second breakfast. As Crash Davis said in Bull Durham, “If you believe you’re playing well because . . . you wear women’s underwear then you are!”
And that’s today’s view from the back.
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