How does hunger affect your riding?

[akima]

I've noticed that when I've just eaten I don't feel so in control of the bike: I'm not so alert, my shifting isn't so smooth, my decision making isn't as good as normal and my reactions times are reduced. Generally: I don't feel 'at one with the bike' when I've just eaten.

I noticed that my ride home from work is usually far more flowing and enjoyable than my ride into work. My ride into work is made just after breakfast. My ride home from work occurs ~5 hours after lunch and before I've had my tea (Brit word for evening meal). You might be thinking "correlation is not causation: there may be other factors that are responsible for the change in your ride experience." You'd be wise to think that!... but in different scenarios I notice the same correlation occur... it appears:
just eaten: bad ride
a bit hungry: good ride

I made a poll to find out if I'm a freak of nature or not

If someone has a theory on what might be the cause of this I'd be interested to know. Only thing I've come up with is that humans have evolved to be generally more on-form if we are hungry so that we are better able to find food in the inhospitable environment that the world once was. A scatty human, stumbling and fumbling their way through a forest probably isn't going to be that successful in finding food... their genes probably wouldn't hang about for long in the gene pool. Just an idea.

[ForceofWill]

Good ole case of riding with the "itis"

[alex.s]

i have low body fat so i get shakey and have poor muscle control when hungry. however if im full, i honestly cant focus at all and start drifting into autopilot. best zone for me is not hungry after eating light foods like gatoraide and trailmix. (thanks @Havok)

[akima]

Originally Posted by alex.s

i have low body fat so i get shakey and have poor muscle control when hungry. however if im full, i honestly cant focus at all and start drifting into autopilot. best zone for me is not hungry after eating light foods like gatoraide and trailmix. (thanks @Havok)

Sounds similar to me. I get shaky and poor muscle control when I'm really hungry too.

[beqwarrior]

Not so much when I am hungry, but if I gotta pee

[Pyro]

Originally Posted by akima

I've noticed that when I've just eaten I don't feel so in control of the bike: I'm not so alert, my shifting isn't so smooth, my decision making isn't as good as normal and my reactions times are reduced. Generally: I don't feel 'at one with the bike' when I've just eaten.

I noticed that my ride home from work is usually far more flowing and enjoyable than my ride into work. My ride into work is made just after breakfast. My ride home from work occurs ~5 hours after lunch and before I've had my tea (Brit word for evening meal). You might be thinking "correlation is not causation: there may be other factors that are responsible for the change in your ride experience." You'd be wise to think that!... but in different scenarios I notice the same correlation occur... it appears:
just eaten: bad ride
a bit hungry: good ride

I made a poll to find out if I'm a freak of nature or not

If someone has a theory on what might be the cause of this I'd be interested to know. Only thing I've come up with is that humans have evolved to be generally more on-form if we are hungry so that we are better able to find food in the inhospitable environment that the world once was. A scatty human, stumbling and fumbling their way through a forest probably isn't going to be that successful in finding food... their genes probably wouldn't hang about for long in the gene pool. Just an idea.

This isn't a function of hunger

If you've just eaten you body has to work at digesting the food, so you can't focus as well.

[Kevin2109]

I seem to notice not being hungry on the bike. If I'm riding around I can go most of the day without eating

[reaperw]

Maybe because i love food i have to stop and eat,but if i over eat til i feel like i am going to throw up because i love food so much then i cant ride eithere.



So if i am on eithere end of the scale i dont feel like riding much just a light snack and coffee,



kind of like when you have to **** and keep hitting every dam pot hole in the road

[saxnbass]

If it's peckish for a snack, it doesn't affect me. If I'm actually hungry, it makes me pull in to places with food to get something to eat.

Originally Posted by beqwarrior

but if I gotta pee

And this ^

[Klondike1020]

I just eat two dbl cheese burgers and a chug a couple mOnsters every time I ride . It puts me in squid mode lol .

But really ridding a motorcycle is a motor sport and like any sport you don't want to be starved or full .
Full uses up too much of your bodies resources for digestion
And empty depletes them

I play it safe eat light and wait a bit before ridding. I never ride tired .
I try to be very alert so I don't become a speedbump.

[choneofakind]

Originally Posted by alex.s

i have low body fat so i get shakey and have poor muscle control when hungry. however if im full, i honestly cant focus at all and start drifting into autopilot. best zone for me is not hungry after eating light foods like gatoraide and trailmix.

Quoted for truth on the subject.

I get really shakey and irritable and ADD when I'm hungry. Not good when I'm riding. I think the only thing worse than being hungry when riding is having to pee really bad on your way home because you drank water to keep hydrated

[Skippii]

I don't get hungry, so I'm not sure what to vote. If it's been more than 24 hours since I've eat, I'll often stop just to take a break, but it doesn't seem to matter as far as riding. If I DO get really hungry, that means there's an issue with my meds, which will affect me much more than hunger would anyway. So I guess you could say I ride the speed limit when I'm hungry, and speed when I take speed.
Posted via Mobile Device

[choneofakind]

24 hours Skippii??

Maybe it's just the fact that I'm 19 and active, but I can hardly go 4 hours without eating... I'm eating all the time. My room is stocked with loads of healthy cereal and trail mix and fruit and whatnot so I don't gain that freshman 15...

[akima]

Judging from the polls, I'm the freak of nature I thought I was

[Whiskey]

That's a bit odd alright, I don't notice any difference if I'm hungry or not, I actually don't notice that I'm hungry until after I pull up for a break.

@akima do you drink coffee at breakfast/ lunch? caffeine levels affect me more than hungry/not hungry, but then I don't function well at anything without my wake up juice...

[akima]

@Whiskey: I do drink coffee, but only ~2 cups a day and I don't have specific times I have them. I don't think they effect my riding.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by akima

I'm the freak of nature I thought I was

an english, talking squirrel that rides bikes and cruises the intertubes.

completely natural.

[bluesinorbit]

Originally Posted by Kevin2109

I seem to notice not being hungry on the bike. If I'm riding around I can go most of the day without eating

I know where you are coming from, but that's not good. Someone of us feel fine until running near empty, then it hits you all at once. That's not something you want to encounter on a bike. Fuel up your body throughout the day. Probably live longer too.

[akima]

Originally Posted by trixter

I would also look into the studies on diet sodas as well, particularly the ones from the 1980s and onward about aspertame and how it causes hyperactivity of the cerebellum essentially making people slightly confused. Since that time nutrasweet and its cousins have not been the "latest best sweetener" and I have not kept up with this (I only learned about aspterame because it was taught in highschool long ago in a galaxy far away).

I've heard bad stuff about aspartame. I don't eat/drink it. Rule of thumb: if it's a sugary product and it's labelled "diet"... it has aspartame in it.

[LoD575]

Originally Posted by Kevin2109

I seem to notice not being hungry on the bike. If I'm riding around I can go most of the day without eating

That is how I am.

I haven't noticed any difference in my riding relating to hunger.

[Whiskey]

Originally Posted by trixter

The point about coffee (or anything with caffeine) is that it is a diuretic. This means that it pulls water out of your system. As long as you drink water or something else that will put water in (lucozade/gatoraid, milk, etc) the effects of that wont matter. Now if you overdo the caffeine then you get the jitters which can cause issues.

I would also look into the studies on diet sodas as well, particularly the ones from the 1980s and onward about aspertame and how it causes hyperactivity of the cerebellum essentially making people slightly confused. Since that time nutrasweet and its cousins have not been the "latest best sweetener" and I have not kept up with this (I only learned about aspterame because it was taught in highschool long ago in a galaxy far away).

I was more going at the need for caffeine, I'm a bit of a caffeine addict ( I power up the espresso machine when going to bed so it's hot & ready to produce my double espresso first thing in the morning...) I'm not as sharp if I haven't had a coffee in the few hours before.

aspartame is a dipeptide (very small protein, only 2 amino acids long) and as far as I know (last covered this in final year biochem / genetics a few years back...) it's been extensively tested and found to be safe, unless you have PKU, a genetic disorder which is widely tested for in infants (it's lethal within days if left untreated, and treatment is a very strict & specific diet, limiting the intake of the amino acid Phenylalanine, so you know if you have it)

@akima look for the warning "contains a source of phenylalanine" on packaging if you really want to avoid it

[loz944]

on short rides It makes little difference but on a long ride talking 7 hours plus if i get hungry i get really tired, so i stop for a snack cereal bar water light Thai food but never eat a large meal as i feel sleepy after eating a large meal (I was once told it is a cholesterol rush I.e body needs to work hard to digest how true that is i don't know )
Also as me and my ridding buddies found out Here in Thailand the Petrol stations get few and far between in some places so if we see one we normally pull in to top up and have a drink snack and pee.

[nickjpass]

Originally Posted by Klondike1020

I just eat two dbl cheese burgers and a chug a couple mOnsters every time I ride . It puts me in squid mode lol .

???? Two double cheeses? Are you serious man!?

Do you know how much calories goes into a single quarter pounder?!

[choneofakind]

*many. Many. repeat after me Nick. Many.

I'm just kidding you. Grammar nazi here!!



I actually had McDonalds the other day. I gotta say, it was delicious. I made a McGangbang

[nickjpass]

Too many calories.

[Klondike1020]

Originally Posted by nickjpass

???? Two double cheeses? Are you serious man!?

Do you know how much calories goes into a single quarter pounder?!

Good point! Next time I'll make it two quarter lb burgers!
It's more expensive but I am worth it lol

I will throw a five hour in with the monster it really smooths out the energy delivery ..... Kind smooths out the tremors and twitching

[nickjpass]

What!?!?

[choneofakind]

Just think, all that caffeine burns off all the extra McDonalds calories

Net calories = 0 Time to eat more

[cuong-nutz]

I go into *0h sh!t* mode. hunger affects thinking function for me.

[oreX]

I try to treat riding like the swimming pool. If I eat something I try not to get full to the point of hating myself like usual, and I wait about 15-20 minutes before getting back on the bike. If I dont wait a bit after eating I get a bit nauseous for some reason.

Now if I'm out riding and I get hungry, I try and think of a place to go and take the long way around.

[2011Ninja250R]

I ride better when I am hungry...

[akima]

Originally Posted by 2011Ninja250R

I ride better when I am hungry...

Yey! One more.

* High fives! *

There's still two few of us to justify dropping the "freaks of nature" title, but at least I'm no longer a lonely freak!

[choneofakind]

I've also found, that when I'm hungry, I process fluids much faster than normal. This is only a problem because I drink water and bring water with me on rides so I don't get dehydrated. Riding whilst needing to pee is never fun

[mustang5.0]

im fine on an empty stomach or hungry...the itis kills me!! either a full belly or at the end of my 10 work day, it affects my riding