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Cooking for 100,000 professional bike racers


gfron1

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Lance required a home for three - himself, his coach and his chef. I was not invited to their private party unfortunately. I can say that of the many pros who ate with me they were eating machines, but scarily enough, many ate far less than I do on a daily basis - and I'm a stringbean.

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I can say that of the many pros who ate with me they were eating machines, but scarily enough, many ate far less than I do on a daily basis - and I'm a stringbean.

If that's true you might want to get your thyroid checked ... it could save you some money!

I don't know how the Gila compares with stage races like the Tour de France and the Tour of California, but in those races riders eat 6000 to 9000 Calories a day ... about as much as three or four normal adults.

If your local race is at all similar in daily mileage and elevation gain, then it's likely you're just not counting the food the racers eat while on the bike. Stage racers typically slurp down 50 or 60 grams of carbs every hour during a race, or whatever their stomachs can handle. This is still only a fraction of the calories that they're burning; the rest has to be made up at breakfast and dinner.

Edited by paulraphael (log)

Notes from the underbelly

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  • 4 years later...

Thought it would be fun to update this thread.  I've been cooking for the race for the past 6 years.  The race has evolved into one of the premiere races in the country and now even has international designation, so riders from all over the planet are coming here.  My knowledge of race diet has also evolved - they want complex carbs, high proteins all the time, but as the week wears on and their miles accumulate its all about calories period.  Today is our downtown crit (short sprint race) and they just want sugar - nothing heavy.  Tonight's dinner is celebration before their super long hard ride because even though this is a job for them, its also a party and so I up my portions on my tasting dinners and give them a monster portion of carbs with their entrees.  

 

I'm no longer afraid to serve hundreds or thousands - got that worked out long ago.  And I've moved from the nice guy serving $5 all you can eat pasta with salmon filet to I'll stick to my regular tasting menu and the normal price and the riders figure out if they want to eat here.  I'll be sold out either way.

 

What's really been fun is getting to know the regular riders.  Some have eaten consistently with me every meal for all these years.  They know all of my food is from scratch and mostly local and foraged, and so they trust me.  In return I've gotten to know their food peculiarities and have accommodated them.  Its  a fun relationship.  My only sadness is I can't get out of the kitchen hardly ever anymore (that goes for non-bike race weeks as well), so sitting down over a beer and hearing their racing stories is not realistic.  

 

That's life 6 years later.  http://www.tourofthegila.com

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  • 2 years later...

And here we are in our final Tour of the Gila. The race has grown (record professional entrants this year). We've certainly grown (no need to blah blah toot my horn). And I've simply switched to doing my thing. There are three types of races - Sponsored with money. Scrubs just trying to get by. And Masters with a real job that affords them the time and money to travel and spend. All three appreciate food from scratch. For some its a splurge and others no big deal. Either way offering a fancy foraged tasting dinner has been a hit every year. We were sold out weeks ago, and I've spent the better part of the week having riders thank me for feeding them all these past years. My last one.

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