recovery drinks

How were you mixing the whey:carbs? As in the ratio?

Maltrodextrin and whey, 3.6:1 ratio in water.
Where the weight of protein is determined at 0.5g/kg body weight.
Actual weights of the carbs and whey are worked out to give me the exact mix (some whey has more carbs than others in, take a look at the nurtitional data)
Took a while of experimenting with the ratio but this works best for me, usually only after a fairly long ride and always any race.

You need to find what works for you, but not every ride needs a recovery drink, it's just piling more weight on otherwise.

usually only go for a recovery drink in summer or if it's been a 6hr ride. iso it would be Milo, and 50/50 mix of water and fresh semi-skimmed.

chocolate milk if I can't get /don't have the recovery mix. Also used High5's recovery drink.

pot of tea also works a treat!

Coconut milk, whey protein, mixed frozen berries. Blend. One hour later, Bacon & scrambled eggs on good quality toast.

Does Soya milk have the same benefits as I am lactose intolerant

Milk! (It worked for Ian Rush...) - 1% fat milk.

As you already use MyProtein...

I have the same breakfast every day - just larger portions if I'm going out for a 4-5 hour ride.

I buy a 2.5kg bag of the instant oats (MyProtein), which I mix well with 2kg of bog-standard porridge oats from the supermarket.

Breakfast is two scoops of the oats mixture + one scoop of flavoured impact whey protein (MyProtein). Mix it together with some milk and you've essentially got a cold, flavoured porridge.

I'm relatively slim so don't tend to have a lot of excess fuel on me, if I don't eat I get very hungry very quickly. This is the only breakfast I've found that tides me over till lunch (7am to 1pm) without hunger pangs (short of a massive fry-up) - it's also very good for you.

You get quick and slower release carbs from the mix of ground and unground oats. You also get a pre-load of protein which your body can use for repairs to your muscles.

On a long ride I supplement the breakfast with some malt loaf, other than that I just eat "normally" after I finish my ride, I don't take any extra measures to recover.

Recovery takes place on the bike, which is why I drink 4:1......

Sounds a bit like an advert tagline, but 4:1 is good. It's also important to make sure you hydrate afterwards, so I would recommend supping electrolyte drinks (like Nuun) until you feel refreshed.

You can be suckered into all these recovery drinks. While it is important to replace proteins you can get these from eating healthy meals. Much of the process of recovery relies on you being well hydrated so your cardio-vascular system can transport goods in and remove the bi-products of your workout. Drinking a recovery drink is likely to overload your system with calories and amino acids which your body will use to replace proteins, but will also canabalise and turn into carbohydrates and waste products which your body then has to process on top of everything else.

You can't store the protein/aa's so anything you can't lay down is useless.

Effective protein/amino acid usage is maximised by steroids, but in a healthy balanced diet (as long as you're eating well) should provide enough. Hydrating though is key.

High 5 Summer fruits and skimmed milk. Usually blitzed with some strawberries and/or raspberries.

a beer ?

Torq, tastes nice and no added sugars in their recovery or energy drinks.

A big bag of why protein from the supermarket, added to milk with chocolate nes-quik. But as crikey says, make sure to do a bunch of work before bothering with it.

High 5 chocolate recovery drink. No idea whether it does any good but the taste with milk is great.

Be careful that your use of 'recovery' drinks isn't simply piling in a lot more calories than you actually expend.

Semi-skimmed with a dollop of whichever whey protein is on offer at Tesco - as long as its chocolate.

Or just chocolate milk

Its only one bit of nutrition in the context of a whole week's worth of food though and I'd guess the wider picture has more influence on overall performance.

Goat's milk for me because the fat in it is easier to digest than cow's milk

Milk or, if i'm pushing the boat out, semi-skimmed chocolate milk shake drinks. And water. And salami (obviously).