Best Nutritional Snacks for Mountain Bike Travel

November 17, 2011

Today’s guest post is from: Maria Ban­field, a health and nutri­tion writer for Fit and Heal.

One of the most impor­tant aspects of trav­el­ing with your moun­tain bike is to make sure you’re eat­ing prop­er­ly. Whether you’re fly­ing to an inter­na­tion­al moun­tain bike des­ti­na­tion or road trip­ping across bor­ders you want to make sure you arrive with ade­quate ener­gy to start rid­ing and pre­pared with the right foods at the trail­head to sus­tain that ener­gy. When trav­el­ing, it can be dif­fi­cult to eat healthy — the draw of greasy air­port food and quick fix meals is huge. Of course, it’s fine to indulge every so often, but get­ting off a plane feel­ing dehy­drat­ed, tired and full of salty carbs won’t make you feel the best.

There are many healthy alter­na­tives that are light and give you a good dose of ener­gy while you’re trav­el­ing. Whether you’re trav­el­ing to a new des­ti­na­tion or search­ing for snacks to keep in your hydra­tion pack for your next ride, here are a few rec­om­men­da­tions on healthy snacks to pack. Keep in mind, if you’re trav­el­ing inter­na­tion­al­ly, you will not be allowed to take fruits and veg­eta­bles across the bor­der — pick up these items when you arrive.

1. fluids

Ok, so it’s not a ‘snack’ but it is extreme­ly impor­tant to stay hydrat­ed while trav­el­ing and moun­tain bik­ing. Always car­ry a small re-use­able water bot­tle when you trav­el. Most pub­lic areas, air­ports, gas sta­tions etc. will have a water foun­tain to fill up your bot­tle. If you’re going through air­port secu­ri­ty, make sure your bot­tle is emp­ty and fill it up when you’re wait­ing at your gate. Plus, you won’t have to pay an exor­bi­tant amount of mon­ey for a plas­tic water bot­tle, and  you’ll be doing your part to reduce waste. To avoid dehy­dra­tion while trav­el­ing (which caus­es headaches and tired­ness), avoid cof­fee, tea and alco­hol. Find an iso­ton­ic sports drink you enjoy, this will replen­ish your elec­trolytes and pro­vide you with your dai­ly dose of vitamins.

2. bananas

Bananas are great! They come in their own pack­ag­ing which is easy to open and easy to dis­pose, the only down­side is they bruise eas­i­ly — so be sure to pack them well. Bananas con­tain enough carbs to keep ener­gy lev­els up, with just a small amount of pro­tein. Also, if eat­en ear­ly they can also help pro­tect from lac­tic acid buildup. They are also a good source of vit­a­min C, B6, potas­si­um, and mag­ne­sium. so they will aid with build­ing mus­cle and mus­cle repair. If you’re trav­el­ing, and want an eas­i­er to pack item — try mak­ing some Oat­meal Banana Muffins before your trip.

3. apples

Apples are a great fruit to eat at the end of a ride, or while trav­el­ing long dis­tances.  They con­tain many vit­a­mins and nat­ur­al sug­ars for a  lit­tle pick me up and ener­gy boost, and they will also help with hydration

4. peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

Peanut but­ter and jel­ly sand­wich­es are an old favorite. They are easy to pre­pare and easy to pack, just make sure the bread is whole-wheat and use all-nat­ur­al , organ­ic peanut but­ter to reduce to sug­ar con­tent.  It will  give you a much-need­ed boost of carbs and healthy fats, so this should sat­is­fy you for a while with­out mak­ing you feel full and bloat­ed. This is a great snack for long trav­el trips, or for quick pit stops while bik­ing. For an extra spe­cial snack for on-the-go, try mak­ing Peanut But­ter and Jam Oat­meal Bars.

4. canned tuna

Not exact­ly a snack, but a very good source of pro­tein to help bal­ance the carbs in your bananas. If you are a big fish fan, try eat­ing it right out of the can and buy a brand of tuna that pro­motes sus­tain­able fish­ing. Be pre­pared for the extra weight in your hydra­tion pack.  So, whilst you get the ener­gy from your carbs, it is the pro­tein in the tuna (or any oth­er canned fish) that will help main­tain and rebuild those over­worked leg mus­cles. Just remem­ber to get the tuna in brine, not oil, and have some thought of where you will throw the can. Pack a trash bag and buy a self-open­ing tin for ease.

5. trail mix

A mix­ture of dried fruits and nuts, trail mix is a tasty way of boost­ing your carbs. With a lit­tle prepa­ra­tion, you can mix your own, and use raisins, prunes and dried apri­cots for a good source of potas­si­um — and add any nuts and seeds to your lik­ing. Trail mix is easy to car­ry and tastes yum­my,  if you are like­ly to sweat a lot, try using salt­ed nuts and seeds, as this will help retain flu­ids in the body. This is a trav­el snack for road trips and air trav­el, as well as a great trail-side snack — hence the name!

6. whole-wheat crackers

Crack­ers are very light and easy to car­ry, and they come in a vari­ety of option. These can be used as a replace­ment for bread, just pack them right and keep them dry in a sealed, air-tight con­tain­er. They are also a quick source of carbs com­pared to oth­er foods of their size. If you’re a cheese-lover, cut up some cheese slices and wrap them in ser­an wrap for an extra-flavourable snack.

7. beef jerky

A good choice for pro­tein, that doesn’t spoil in the heat. Beef jerky is easy to shove in your back­pack or car­ry-on bag and it will also keep you chew­ing for a while. Just lim­it the serv­ing size (espe­cial­ly if you’re fly­ing ) as it can have a high salt con­tent and can dehy­drate you. So, check labels for addi­tives and flavorings.

8. kiwis

Kiwis are a rich  source of water, vit­a­min C, K and E. They have way more Vit­a­min C con­tent than the equiv­a­lent amount of an orange and they can be eas­i­ly cut in half and eat­en with a spoon for an on-the-go snack.

9. fresh berries

Berries are one of the best ways of intro­duc­ing antiox­i­dants into the body and con­tain many sim­ple sug­ars for a quick ener­gy boost. They can also help with hydra­tion as they have quite a high-water con­tent for their size. If you’re trav­el­ing, keep a small con­tain­er of fresh berries by your side or throw some fresh berries into a smooth­ie before you leave the house.

To Wrap It Up

Trav­el­ing can be exhaust­ing, espe­cial­ly if you’re prepar­ing to vis­it an inter­na­tion­al des­ti­na­tion to moun­tain bike. To pre­vent that exhaus­tion, be sure to eat right, stay hydrat­ed and be pre­pared with snacks out on the trail once you arrive. Once you arrive, vis­it local mar­kets and gro­cery stores — ask the locals for help find­ing the best places to buy local fruits, veg­gies, nuts and oth­er gro­cery items. Try to avoid extra salty snacks (unless your’re sweat­ing a lot), extra sug­ary snacks/drinks and focus on foods that will increase your ener­gy, mood and over­all well-being.