Thomas Biju - The Feed Zone Cookbook: Fast and Flavorful Food for Athletes

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OVER THE COURSE OF MY LAST 15 YEARS AS A PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST, diet and nutrition have played a significant role in my performance, but getting the right food at races hasnt always been possible and didnt become a serious problem for me until the 2011 season. I ended up hospitalized at the Tour of Catalunya in March due to complications that stemmed from an old stomach injury and the poor quality of food at the race.

These health problems came in the midst of early season preparation and I was concerned that I would not be at my best by the Tour of California, which was the most important race of the year for me next to the Tour de France. So I returned to the States to get some rest and to try and get my diet and training back on track. I needed some real help so I asked Allen and Biju if they would be willing to support me during a two-week training camp in Park City, Utah. They agreed and as soon as they arrived they got to work. Not knowing what might cause problems for my stomach, they took a back-to-basics approach: simple meals with minimal ingredients so I could begin to relearn what worked and what didnt.

My mornings started with a big bowl of oatmeal with Bijus toasted nut mix, poached eggs, and a glass of beet juice. For long training rides, I ate primarily chicken sausage rice cakes. After the ride, gluten-free pasta salad, chicken fried rice, or a hot soup. For dinner we had everything from pan-seared steak to pasta with smoked salmon, and Bijus chicken tikka masala, followed by a beautiful salad. For dessert, a big bowl of fruit with honey and yogurt. I felt myself getting stronger every day. I was also learning new recipes and picking up some skills in the kitchen as I watched Biju and Allen cook each day.

By the time we were done with the training camp, I was confident that I would have decent form at the Tour of California, but I also knew that it wasnt going to happen unless Biju and Allen came to cook for the team. The night before the start of the race, Biju and Allen showed up in a beat-up Cruise America RV. Using two butane burners, one propane stove, and a handful of pots and pans they began cooking the best race food our team has ever eaten. The European riders were totally unaccustomed to eating food this good at a race. They were amazed by how great their legs felt and lamented the fact that they didnt have this advantage earlier in their career.

Best of all, when we sat down at the dinner table for a great meal it took our minds off of the race and brought us together as a team. As we dined on park benches under a borrowed tent, riders who had been on the same team for years were talking, laughing, and telling stories wed never heard before. We had escaped the typical drudgery of eating for the sake of eating. We felt great and by the end of the race we had won the two hardest stages and finished with Chris Horner winning the overall and me in second.

Right after the Tour of California, I went on to win the Tour of Switzerland, erasing a 2-minute deficit in the final time trial to win by 4 seconds. It was the biggest win of my career and something I could have hardly imagined sitting in the hospital in Spain only 2 months before. Equally surprising was the fact that after that win, I found myself making Bijus recipes. I even made Allen dinner one evening. It wasnt quite as good as Bijus cooking but it was still one of the best pre-Tour meals Ive ever cooked. So not only did Biju and Allen help salvage a disastrous start to my 2011 season and turn it into one of my best, they actually got me into the kitchen, cooking these recipes.

LEVI LEIPHEIMER

RADIOSHACK PRO CYCLING TEAM

THE FOOD THAT FUELS ME AS AN ATHLETE is incredibly important. On any given day I will only feel as good as the food I have eaten before, during, and after my ride. Garbage in, garbage out.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the middle of a multi-day stage race. Not only is bad food poor athletic fuel, but the last thing I want to see or eat after riding hard for 5 hours for the fourth day in a row is some white bread, pasta, and flavorless boiled chicken. Putting that food into my tired body doesnt do much good, but even more so, it just cracks me mentally.

I know that there are good, healthy, and easily accessible ingredients and dishes out there that would be much better for me in a race. But in a race a cyclist is usually limited to what the team or race organization provides, which is almost always cost-cutting, nutrient-starved dishes. So when the opportunity presented itself at a few races during the 2011 season, Allen and Biju would sneak me some real foodthe good stuffat dinnertime. I would walk past the buffet to a corner in the hallway where they would dish me up some quinoa salad, fresh beets, and a proper piece of meat. Healthy and delicious, those morsels made my day and gave me confidence that I had what I needed to recover properly for the next day of racing.

Immediately following some of the stages at the Tour of California I would sneak out of my team bus to find the little motor home that was Bijus test kitchen. Coconut water and rice cakes were the perfect choices for refueling right after a hard effort. Tasty and effective.