Fueling Holiday Rides with Comfort Food: A Cyclist’s Guide to Balance
For a long time, I thought good cycling nutrition meant discipline at all costs. Perfect meals. Perfect timing. No deviation. No “off plan” food.
That mindset might work for short periods in a professional racing environment, but it’s not how most of us live, and it’s definitely not how holidays work.
After more than a decade as a professional cyclist, and now riding for enjoyment, community and balance, I’ve learned this: holiday riding doesn’t need rigid rules. It needs flexibility, enough fuel, and a bit of common sense.
Some of my favourite rides have been fuelled by café stops, bakery treats, shared meals, and comfort food eaten without stress. Those rides didn’t suffer for it. They were often the most memorable ones.
Holiday nutrition works best when it supports energy for riding, recovery between rides, social connection, and enjoyment of food.
Why Holiday Nutrition Is Different
Holiday riding usually looks different to normal training weeks. You might be riding more socially, at different times of day, doing longer rides, or riding fewer days but for longer. You might also be eating more meals with family and friends.
Trying to force strict “training nutrition” into this context often backfires. It creates guilt, stress and unnecessary restriction, none of which improve performance or enjoyment.
Instead, aim for a flexible approach that keeps your energy steady, supports recovery, and lets you enjoy the season.
Comfort Food and Cycling Can Coexist
Comfort food gets a bad reputation in cycling circles. It’s often framed as something to avoid or “make up for”.
In reality, many comfort foods are exactly what cyclists need. They often come with carbohydrates for energy, salt for hydration, familiar flavours that are easy to eat, and the satisfaction that makes food feel like food, not a test.
Toast, pasta, potatoes, rice dishes, baked goods, sandwiches. These are not the enemy. The key is not eliminating comfort food. It’s using it intentionally.
Fuel the Ride You’re Doing
One of the simplest nutrition principles I learned as a professional is this: fuel the work you’re asking your body to do.
If your holiday ride is long, hilly, hot, steady, or simply a few hours with café stops, then you need carbohydrates. You need energy. You need to eat enough to enjoy the ride rather than dragging yourself through it.
That fuel can come from breakfast before the ride, snacks or a café stop during, and a shared meal afterwards. It doesn’t need to look perfect to work.
Before the Ride: Keep It Simple
Holiday mornings are not the time for overthinking. Before riding, stick with familiar foods, easy digestion, and enough carbohydrates to start with energy available.
If you’re riding early, even something small is better than nothing. Starting under-fuelled is a fast way to turn a good ride into a hard one.
During the Ride: Café Stops Count
One of the joys of holiday riding is stopping. Coffee stops, bakeries, coastal cafés. These aren’t “cheats”. They’re part of the experience and often excellent fuel sources.
From a nutrition perspective, café stops provide carbohydrates, fluids, sodium, and mental refreshment. A pastry, toastie, banana bread or muffin mid-ride can do exactly what a gel would, and often feels more enjoyable.
The goal is maintaining energy, not ticking a nutrition box.
After the Ride: Recovery Without Restriction
Post-ride meals during holidays are often shared, social and relaxed, and that’s a good thing.
After riding, your body benefits from carbohydrates to restore energy, protein to support muscle repair, and fluids and salt to rehydrate. Comfort food meals often naturally include all three.
You don’t need to “balance it out” or compensate later. Recovery isn’t about being strict. It’s about being consistent.
Let Go of the “Earned Food” Mentality
One of the healthiest shifts I made after retiring from professional cycling was letting go of the idea that food must be earned.
You don’t need to justify eating because you rode. You don’t need to restrict because you rested. You don’t need to “be good” over the holidays.
Cycling should add to your life, not create anxiety around food.
Balance Over Perfection
Holiday riding isn’t about peak performance. It’s about sustainability, enjoyment and showing up again tomorrow.
A balanced approach supports your riding, recovery and your relationship with food. That balance looks different for everyone, and that’s exactly how it should be.
Final Thoughts
Some of my favourite cycling memories aren’t tied to numbers or results. They’re tied to long rides, shared meals, café stops, laughter and food that felt comforting and familiar.
Holiday nutrition doesn’t need to be strict to be effective. Fuel the rides you’re doing. Eat food you enjoy. Let go of guilt. Remember that cycling is meant to add joy, not rules, to your life.
— Chloe and the Hosking Bikes Team