Grocery prices have reached record highs, and for professional cyclists who need upwards of 6,000 calories a day to match their energy demands, this can create a significant financial strain. For example, LA Sweat’s Ashley Weaver burns around 21,000 extra calories per week on top of her daily needs. In 2020, she could get roughly 130 calories per dollar, but with today’s higher prices, that same dollar now buys only 88 calories. This staggering shift highlights the growing financial burden that athletes face just to keep their bodies fueled.
We even heard a rumor that one Olympic mountain biker’s family grocery bill had hit $500 per week—a figure that feels all too plausible given the soaring costs of essentials like eggs and protein sources. While we don’t typically think of groceries as a major expense for athletes, the reality is that fueling big goals comes at a steep price, making the cost of competing almost prohibitively high.
To understand this challenge better, we spoke to several pro cyclists, a team owner, and a parent of an under-23 racer. They shared their grocery budgets, the adjustments they’ve made to cut back, and the strategies they’ve adopted to cope with inflation and “sticky prices.”
The Cost of Fueling an Athlete’s Diet
LA Sweat’s Ashley Weaver, 33, notices the grocery budget pinch at home. “My husband and I generally will do two grocery runs a week. The Sunday grocery run will be for meals for Sunday night through Friday lunch, and then the second grocery run will be for Friday dinner through Sunday lunch,” she says. “In the early days of 2020, we would spend about $220 for the big grocery run, and then on Fridays around $100, including ingredients to make a fancier dinner. Now we are easily spending about $320 for our big grocery run and about $160 on the weekends and our Friday dinner is no longer that fancy of a dinner.”
That’s a 50 percent increase in spending on groceries. Weaver notes that the biggest spend is protein sources. And even with the huge increase in spending, her family actively worked to cut costs. “We have switched to cheaper store brand products, using store rewards and coupons, using a cashback app, going to three different stores—Costco for bulk items that we use a lot of, Trader Joes for dry goods, and local Missouri grocery store for produce and meat,” Weaver says.
But the amount of food is non-negotiable. She says that in a week’s worth of training, she burns anywhere from 5,000 to over 7,000 calories on the bike (that’s in addition to the daily calories needed for survival).
Pro mountain biker Noah Ramsay, 22, had a career best finish in fifth in the short track race at the MTB World Cup in Quebec earlier this month—and his calorie consumption has never been higher. “Looking at my race week, I burned 10,429 kilojoules on the bike,” he says. “A normal training week can be anywhere from 15,000 to 17,000 kJs, and combined with a daily metabolic rate of 3,100 calories, the grocery bill adds up fast.”
His mom, Audrey Ramsay confirms: When Ramsay is at their house, their grocery bill increases by at least $200 per week, and a look at their grocery bills year-over-year shows a price increase of around 35 percent for animal protein and most produce. She adds that prices of packaged food, such as pasta and pasta sauce, have increased by around 20 percent.
The Team Perspective
“Inflation is really hurting the team,” says LA Sweat’s founder Kelli Sam, 39. She shared her spreadsheets containing the team’s expenses for the season with Bicycling to illustrate the point, and it was eye-opening. Teams typically pay for all or at least some of an athlete’s groceries or meals during a race weekend or training camp, and it’s common for those expenses to make up a modest percentage of a team’s race budget. A domestic team like LA Sweat that operates on a shoestring budget does what they can for riders, but with the cost of food and fuel going up, it’s not easy.
“We spent the same amount on food this year as we did last year,” says Sam. “But we bought much less. We had very few meals out and had to cut way back on the food we’d buy for the team on race weekends, but we were still spending just as much on food. We just got less for our money.”
Race weekends are also high in terms of caloric expenditure, so cutting into how much food is covered by a team can mean a greater strain on riders’ wallets. Considering most of the racers on LA Sweat work second and third jobs to sustain themselves year-round, it’s easy to see how the cost of food can cause some riders to rethink their careers. “We’re the team that has riders working remotely while they’re in the van post-race,” Sam adds.
Chasing a Cheaper Cost of Living
Olympic mountain biker Savilia Blunk, 25, and her partner, Cole Paton, 26, who’s currently sitting in fifth in the Life Time Grand Prix standings, shifted their home base between the U.S. and Spain during the year. “The biggest difference in my grocery bill happens when I travel between my training base in Spain back to the states,” Blunk says. “My grocery bill home is a lot more expensive than in Spain or most European countries. There’s also a significant difference even from state to state in the U.S.”
Gravel racer Alexey Vermeulen, 29, whose partner, Sofie Linn, is an Australian Olympian in triathlon, agrees about the state-to-state grocery inflation, noting that Colorado grocery prices were sky high compared to Michigan, where he used to live. Mountain towns in Colorado like Breckenridge and Leadville are even worse compared to cities like Denver, which has always been the case, but with groceries still at a record high, it’s even more palpable. (This reporter can confirm: A month in Colorado in August 2024 cost significantly more than two months of similar groceries in New Jersey a month prior.)
Unfortunately, despite interest rates finally starting to go down in the U.S., experts agree that grocery bills are likely to stay high. William Hauk, associate professor in the Department of Economics at the University of South Carolina, told Time Magazine, “If inflation goes down, it means that the rate at which prices increase is slowing down, but it generally is not going to mean that prices are going down.”
In other words, inflation measures the speed of price increases, not whether those prices are reduced. The elevated grocery costs that cyclists—and all consumers—are facing have essentially become the new baseline. This phenomenon is known as “sticky prices,” where once prices go up, they rarely return to previous levels, even when inflation decreases. For athletes on tight budgets, this lingering cost pressure makes careful financial planning all the more crucial.
Trying to Cut Back on Expenses
Still, Vermeulen tries not to stress about slight increases in prices. “When I shop for food, which is my first love, I pay attention to price but also focus on getting what I need,” he says. “I do notice things like what eggs or milk cost now, but I won’t sacrifice nutrition for price.” With steak as his number one indulgence—which he admits can push the cost of a big grocery shop up to $400—he has realized that animal products are the priciest thing on his shopping list. Because of that, and because his partner doesn’t eat meat herself, he has largely shifted to salmon, tofu, and other non-meat proteins to cut costs.
“The biggest expense on my grocery bill is produce and meat,” Blunk agrees. “As an athlete, food is absolute fuel, and it’s important for me to eat not only variety, but also quality, especially when it comes to produce and meat products. These two areas rack up when you’re looking for quality.”
To cut back on expenses, Blunk is more careful about spending on produce, opting for in-season fruits and vegetables and skipping the high-price off-season produce. “Berries or specialty fruits and vegetables can be more expensive in some places,” she says. “When the price is higher, I definitely will skip these.”
Grocery Hacks: Where Athletes Find Savings
“I try to shop the most efficiently and sustainably, but this also means looking where I can get the best quality for the price,” Blunk adds. This can mean it takes a few trips to get the weekly groceries: “Often I shop between the big supermarket and the smaller natural food store where I can get some items that aren’t offered or are cheaper there.”
Cyclocross racer Ellen Noble, 28, also tries to balance bulk buying at Costco with shopping at local co-ops and natural grocers. But beyond that, she’s found the greatest cost-savings came from giving up alcohol and from living in an area where she can grow her own produce and house two chickens, saving big on the cost of eggs and veggies.
Even still, she says it’s almost impossible to go to the grocery store and spend under $100. That means cutting down on any discretionary spending. “Food prices have been going up across the board and the biggest thing we’ve stopped doing is going out to eat,” she says. “As expensive as groceries are at the store, food at restaurants is even worse. So we opt to stay in.”
While Vermeulen used to shop at a local grocery store, he quickly realized that the prices in Boulder, Colorado, made that nearly impossible. “Now, we shop at Trader Joe’s almost exclusively, which I would say is a mid-price range store,” he says. “We’d rather shop at a local place, but that was not sustainable no matter how great the kale is.”
Many athletes have a secret weapon when it comes to managing their grocery expenses—sponsorships that provide essential nutrition products. For instance, some athletes, like Vermeulen and Blunk, receive support from companies like The Feed, which supply them with ride food, protein powders, and recovery products. These sponsored items can significantly offset costs, especially for products that would otherwise put a strain on their grocery budgets. While these supplements can be expensive to purchase independently, strategic sponsorships allow athletes to focus their spending on other essentials without sacrificing their nutritional needs.
Breaking Down the Numbers: Food Costs vs. Earnings
The numbers paint a challenging picture for pro cyclists living on tight budgets. The minimum salary for a Women’s WorldTour rider is $38,123 (€35,000) per year, which breaks down to about $733 per week. Weaver’s grocery bill, totaling $480 per week, consumes more than half of that weekly salary.
It’s worth noting that while Weaver is buying groceries for two, she likely isn’t earning a WorldTour salary. Most domestic pros in the U.S. make significantly less than the WorldTour minimum, making the rising cost of food an even greater burden.
The cost-per-calorie is also staggering: If Weaver burns roughly 7,000 extra calories per week on top of the 2,000 calories per day needed for survival, that’s 21,000 calories per week total. Assuming she uses half of the groceries purchased in their household, in 2020, her cost-per-calorie would have been around 130 calories per dollar. Now, a dollar only nets about 88 calories.
For racers who don’t have minimum salary requirements or side jobs, the increase in food prices may be what pushes them over the edge into early retirement.
With grocery costs squeezing tight budgets, pro cyclists—and individuals and families everywhere—are facing a new challenge: fueling their bodies without breaking the bank. As expenses soar for essentials like protein and produce, staying competitive isn’t just about training hard—it’s about smart spending. For many, finding that balance could be the difference between staying in the race or calling it quits.
If you’re trying to save on groceries, here are a few simple tips you can follow:
➥ Buy frozen produce: Opt for frozen fruits and vegetables, which often cost less and last longer. They retain most of their nutrients and can be used in smoothies, stir-fries, or as side dishes.
➥ Prioritize nutrient-dense foods: Choose foods that provide the most nutrition per dollar, such as sweet potatoes, beans, eggs, peanut butter, and bananas.
➥ Plan and prep meals: Planning meals in advance reduces impulse purchases and waste. Cooking in bulk also saves time and ensures you have ready-to-eat meals for busy training days.
➥ Opt for more vegan or vegetarian meals: Tofu and beans are much cheaper than meat products. (To keep costs down, avoid pricey faux meat options.)
➥ Look for cost-effective alternatives: If you enjoy sparkling water or other specialty drinks, consider more budget-friendly options, like store-brand varieties or making infusions with tap water and fresh fruit. Small changes like this can help reduce costs without sacrificing enjoyment.
➥ Make your own ride food: We have seven easy snack recipes to get you started. You can also buy things like regular gummy bears and other candy for cheaper-than-gel options.
➥ Keep an eye out for sales and buy in bulk: Vermeulen and Noble both say that they’re always on the hunt for sale prices on staples like coffee, and when it’s on sale, they buy extra.
