Think of the last time you fueled your body for a bike ride.

Now imagine that bike ride is 683 miles long, over nine Colorado mountain passes, in a race against the world’s top cyclists. It takes more than Wheaties.

“It’s pretty simple. You just try to eat well after the race and before the race,” said Mike Creed, of Colorado Springs, racing this week in the USA Pro Challenge on Team Optum Pro Cycling (presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies).

Their food may be simple, but a lot of thought goes into elite athletes’ meals. Just ask the folks at the Crowne Plaza hotel who will be feeding 378 riders and crew members Friday after the Stage 5 finish in downtown Colorado Springs.

Denáe Olafson, meetings manager for the hotel, said its chef has been working with Biju Thomas, a Boulder chef and author who creates recipes for cyclists and other athletes.

“They’ve worked out some chef-inspired team menus that fuel the riders for optimal performance and create efficiency in food cost and service,” Olafson said.

When riders settle down for dinner Friday, it will be simple — and yet not.

Rice is a staple, 60 percent short-grain rice. There will be a cold, broth-based soup and a salad bar. Riders can have cavatappi pasta and a choice of chicken or fish, served with sweet potato hash. Dessert is a yogurt bar.

Breakfast is also basic: pasta, rice, bread and scrambled eggs.

“All seasonings are very, very minimal, nothing cream-based. All oil-based,” Olafson said. The goal is 8 to 12 ounces of carbohydrates for each meal.

“We probably, if it was our choice, would do something a little more exotic for creativity, but this is what they need,” she said.

Jacqueline Berning, a nutrition professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, spent 25 years as a nutritional consultant for the Denver Broncos and still works with the Colorado Rockies and other athletes.

In a sport of endurance like cycling, carbs are everything, she said. Riders need to refuel within an hour of the end of the stage to prepare muscles for the next day’s exertion.

“This week is going to be kind of tough because they don’t have a lot of time to put in those foods because they’re riding every day,” she said. “It’s important for them to do it so they have the fuel they need to go up those hills and the long distances.”

That goes double for breakfast. Fatty or greasy foods don’t contribute to energy stores immediately. Plus, she said, “The thing you don’t want to have happen is them belching up that sausage halfway up the hill.”

For Creed, the cyclist from Colorado Springs, it means there are no lavish meals as a reward for a long day riding the roads.

He devours energy gels or bars during the race, washed down with a Coke for the last hour’s push. Dinner is a “pretty big plate of rice,” with a salad and lean meat. It’s rice or oatmeal, or maybe a meal replacement shake, for breakfast and then he is back on the road.

When the race is over, he will reward himself with curry, a hamburger or pizza, but he is just fine getting through the race week on a basic diet.

“This is what you sign up for. You’re not necessarily at the race to indulge,” he said.