What I Eat In A Day – Travis Bramley Cyclist

Travis is an elite cyclist who need to keep his nutrition in check to make sure he can perform at his best. He talks to Sundried about what a full day of eating looks like.

Breakfast

For this blog, I’ll be documenting what I ate over a typical day at Loughborough University’s Summer ‘track camp’, in which both experienced riders and newbies (i.e. me) came together to get some valuable track time in at Derby Velodrome, or ‘Derbados’ to those in the know. 

My day almost always starts off with a humble bowl of porridge. Boring, you might say? I strongly disagree, as my porridge always features something extra to kick-start the day and get my feet out of bed. Be that a spoonful of nut butter, local Devonshire honey, a handful of nuts, or dare I say a (large) dollop of Nutella.

I swear by a good bowl of porridge on a heavy training day, race day, or even a rest day. 

Training Fuel

After breakfast, it was onto either strength and conditioning, a short road session, or straight to the track. For the purposes of writing this, let’s say I was going on to do a short road session (roughly an hour of riding). In this case, a brutal hill sprints session designed to make you feel physically sick (thanks coach). Not everyone would want to eat before a session like this, but I have always had a fairly sturdy stomach and the effects of not eating would be much worse for me.

A quick munch on a packet of breakfast biscuits on the ride out to the hill of choice tops up my carb levels. A gel about 5 minutes before the session acts as a pick-me-up when the energy supply inevitably runs low in a few reps' time. Another cereal bar or similar on the way home begins the recovery process. No sooner have the bikes been carefully placed in the front room (we’re university students), I’m downing a protein shake, courtesy of Loughborough Sport sponsor, Maximuscle.

Lunch

Two cinnamon and raisin bagels with chopped apple and peanut butter are up next, accompanied by a pot of Skyr yogurt with a dash of low-sugar granola. 

After a bit of chill time, we’re ready to ride to the track – roughly 70 minutes of riding from Loughborough – armed with a banana and electrolyte powder in both of my bottles. Banana and one bottle consumed by the time we reach Derby Arena, we get the track bikes out and hit the boards.

Due to the intensity of track sessions, it’s difficult to consume anything major, so the food of choice is sweets. Anything will do; jelly snakes or Haribo strawbs are among my personal favourites. On the ride home, I devour a rice cake or two, staving off the hunger for another hour or so until dinner.

Dinner

As an environmental vegetarian, I have to think about and plan my meals more carefully than the average university student. My main go-to is Quorn. Tonight’s masterpiece is Quorn dipper wraps featuring the following:

• Quorn Dippers
• Wholemeal wraps
• Kidney beans
• A whole pepper
• Chopped tomatoes
• Paprika
• Sweetcorn

Cheap, nutritious and most importantly it tastes great. For dessert, I’ll often treat myself to some ice cream, a bit of chocolate or something else to satisfy my sweet tooth. On this occasion, some Ambrosia Devon custard and fruit went down a treat (can you tell where I’m from?).

Well, there you have it. A (relatively) typical day of fuelling my body for a tough day of training!