Eating with a Purpose

Here at Enduro Bites we have a pretty specific philosophy about food: eat with a purpose. There are a lot of people who train to be able to eat more donuts, ice cream, candy, or other junk food. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just not our approach.

Eating with a purpose means making smart food choices to fuel whatever it is you want to accomplish with your meal. We want to be able to train and compete at our best, and a huge part of that is being intentional about what we put in our bodies. Whether it's going on a big ride in the mountains, sneaking in a quick weekday interval session, or having an easy recovery day, fueling yourself appropriately for the task at hand is the only way to maximize your long-term performance. For those cringing at the thought of giving up their favorite indulgence, it doesn't not mean giving up the treats we all crave from time to time. Rather, it's about knowing the time and place to eat such things so they have minimal adverse impact and are possibly even are put to good use.

We view this approach as sort of a hybrid between gear junkie and foodie. Let us explain: many of us willingly spend 10K or more on a new bike. We believe in making a similar level of investment in nutrition since we’re the engines driving our bikes. Think about it, if you’re riding at least a decent bike and don’t experience any mechanicals, your body will be the limiting performance factor. That bike isn’t going to go any faster than you can pedal it. So instead of grabbing a candy bar from a gas station as we’re headed out to meet friends for a ride, we plan in advance and make choices that provide us sustained fuel – not just a quick sugar jolt. It means putting as much thought into what we eat as the equipment we ride.

For us, endurance sports are much more than a weekend pastime – they’re a lifestyle. We don’t just hang up our lifestyle at the end of the season, we have committed to it year around. That doesn’t mean we don’t eat pumpkin pie during the holidays, but it does mean we have a plan going into Thanksgiving dinner (more on that here).

For those who feel similarly, we'll be going into greater detail on this topic in future articles. Stay tuned!