Race Nutrition And Hydration Plan: Firecracker 50 Breckenridge, CO

Over the July 4th weekend I took on 50 miles of singletrack, forest roads, gravel and grueling climbs for the Firecracker 50 race in Breckenridge, CO. Having a race in my backyard was a cool experience to be part of. Riders from all over started downtown Mainstreet Breckenridge to kick off the parade. Hundreds of fans were cheering us riders on as we were about to take on 50 miles of trail and 6,000+ feet of climbing. The feeling was surreal and the atmosphere was incredible. With long days on the saddle for races like these, nutrition and hydration are key.

This post includes my Firecracker 50 Race weekend nutrition plan, including pre-race meals, during the race nutrition and hydration, and recovery. I hope you find some insights from this plan to help fuel your next big ride or race.

3 Race Day Fueling Tips

1. Pre-Ride the course and plot out where you’ll be re-fueling - Luckily this race was in my hometown so I was able to scope out the course a few days beforehand. While riding the course is extremely important to practice the terrain you’ll be riding on, it’s also important to scope out good spots to eat. Check your timing and mileage as your pre-ride and know approximately where you’ll be refueling. Luckily this course had ample aid stations throughout to re-stock my bottles with Skratch. From there, I found flat spots after long climbs or descents to re-fuel with my homemade Biked Goods.

2. Eat and drink early and often - On long days in the saddle, especially in the heat, eating and drinking early and often is key. If you get behind with your nutrition or hydration on grueling races like these, it’s hard to catch back up. The easiest way to stay ahead is to make sure to take a few sips of a sports hydration drink like Skratch 30 minutes in (even if you’re not thirsty) and a few small bites of whatever is easiest for you to grab and eat.

3. Find snacks that you are easily able to grab and eat - Sometimes it’s not possible to slow down and pull over to the side to eat a cookie or sandwich. Instead, you need something small and easy to grab and chow down while you continue on your ride. For me, this was Honey Stinger Chews and mini PB pretzels. I usually don’t rely on store-bought foods or gummies to fuel my rides. But on rides with challenging terrain like these when I know I need to get down something quick, these foods worked extremely well and kept me rolling.

Pre-riding the course with Reid, one of the kids I coach at TeamSummit. Reid and I took on one lap of the course to practice riding the terrain and finding good spots to eat.

A Few Days Leading Up To The Race Nutrition

Leading up to the race I focused on eating well-balanced meals, with a little extra focus on carbohydrates. The closer I got to the race, the more simple my meals and carbs got. Here are a few samples of foods I ate 2-3 days before the race.

• Quinoa breakfast bowl with berries (See similar recipe here)

• Chickpea salad with apple, celery, raisins, yogurt and white bread/crackers

• Quinoa Mexican salad with corn, black beans, tomatoes, green peppers, and chives. Eaten with multi-grain crackers or salad greens

• White flour burrito with grilled veggies (sweet potato, zucchini onions), white rice and a small amount of hummus (Pre-race dinner)

Pre-Race Day Nutrition And Hydration

I woke up at 6:00 am to get a good base in before my race started at 9:30 am. Since muesli contains complex carbs, I wanted to be sure to get in my meal at least 3 hours before to give my body enough time to digest it. I then drank a Nuun Instant packet with water to pre-hydrate and enjoyed a cookie with jam to top of my glycogen stores before the race started.

• Bircher muesli with banana slices, strawberry slices and blueberry jam (3 hours before race)

• 1 Nuun Instant packet (30 minutes before race)

• PB and J Banana Thumbprint Cookie (30 minutes before race)

Of course I had to go red, white-ish and blue for my favorite pre cycling race meal.

During Bike Race Nutrition And Hydration

Homemade energy gels, mini PB&J sandwiches, PB pretzels, and a PB&J thumbprint cookie for my during race fuel

The Firecracker squad did a great job providing ample fuel across aid stations including pre-filled bottles of Skratch and water along with Honey Stinger waffles, chews and gels. But as you know, my jam is using real, homemade foods to fuel my rides and races. Aside from eating 2 packs of Honey Stinger chews and store-bought PB pretzels, (I did this mainly for ease of eating while on the bike) I stuck with homemade gels, cookies and a mini PB and J Sandwich to fuel my race day.

• One mini PB and J Sandwich

• Banana, rice and blueberry jam smoothie (1/3 cup Calrose rice, 1/2 banana, 1 Tbsp blueberry jam, a little water blended together and stored in WeeSprout baby pouch)

• Maple syrup date espresso homemade gel (3 Tbsp maple syrup, 1 date, 1-2 Tbsp ground espresso or coffee blended and stored in WeeSprout baby pouch )

• 2 packs Honey Stinger chews

• 8 PB Pretzels

• 6 bottles Skratch

• 2 bottles water 

• 1 camelback with 1.5 L water

Post Race Recovery Nutrition And Hydration

30 minutes after the race

The race venue offered watermelons slices, trail mix and other snacks for post-race fuel. I gobbled down some watermelon (tasted great after a hot day) and a small cup of trail mix after my ride along with a Skratch recovery drink.

• Skratch chocolate recovery drink

• Watermelon slices

• A small cup of trail mix

2-3 hours after the race

After getting in my post-race snacks and recovery drink, it was time to re-fuel from the race. Luckily we were invited to a neighborhood July 4th party where plenty of sides, snacks, and food were available. Here are a few things I filled my plate with:

• Potato salad

• Pasta salad with sundried tomatoes

• Baked beans

• Coleslaw with dried cranberries and nuts

• And of course, I had to have a few desserts, one of them being these Strawberry Shortbread Cookie Dough Jam Sandwiches. I had to bring a dessert for the party, which I gladly stepped up to the challenge to make something EPIC!

I had to get my hands on one of these gluten-free almond shortbread cookies filled with strawberry almond shortcake cookie dough and a strawberry chia jam after 5 hours on the bike.

The Biked Goods Community

The coolest part of the entire race day weekend experience for me was the community behind this race. There were fans cheering you on across the entire racecourse. Volunteers were out there for hours making sure you had water and food. And there was a great turnout of athletes who just simply love to get out there and ride.

Along with the weekend’s cycling festivities, was also great food. I’ve always believed cycling and food have the power to unite and bring people closer together. I can attest to that statement after being part of the Firecracker 50.

If you’d like to join a community of people who love good food and cycling, sign up for the free Biked Goods Newsletter. When you sign up you’ll get bike-friendly recipe updates and a monthly roundup of all good things related to food, cycling and community.

See you inside! - Tyler