Help With Fuelling?

[Karla]

Gels are great for racing but they're a pretty expensive and tooth-rotting source of fuel for normal riding.  To the OP: how fast do you go?  If your heart rate is ~150+, nothing beats a gel for getting energy into your system without having to slow down to digest.  However, if you're going a bit slower you can afford to eat other food.  Good foods are carb-rich and easily portable, and preferably easily obtainable when on the road.  Examples include bananas (which also contain a lot of water so go down well), snickers bars, fig rolls, nutri grain bars - or other energy bars, but I don't cope well with the drier cereal bars. 

I use Torq as they seem to have the highest bang for buck of g carb per item

Zipvit gels, surely?  They have 51g carbs to the 30g in Torq gels.  As for the tummy rumbling effect, I tend to do 3:1 gels to energy bars (Zipvit ZV8 - and no, I'm not sponsored by Zipvit) to give a bit of substance for my stomach to work on.

[rob]

I use Torq as they seem to have the highest bang for buck of g carb per item

Zipvit gels, surely?  They have 51g carbs to the 30g in Torq gels.  As for the tummy rumbling effect, I tend to do 3:1 gels to energy bars (Zipvit ZV8 - and no, I'm not sponsored by Zipvit) to give a bit of substance for my stomach to work on.

Oh.   Need to look at those.

One Torq bar and one gel gives me 60g.   I used to use Hi-5 but they had less grammes and were mostly fructose so I found I got a good sugar kick but it wasn't sustained.   With Torq using maltodextrin and fructose I found a more sustained release worked on the longer distances.

My club have a deal with one of the newer nutrition suppliers so I should probably look at their stuff as well.

[hellymedic]

I thought the OP didn't get on with gels...

TEA & CAKE are great if you have them sitting down in a nice place. Cake's pretty good for fast fuelling too.

Different people favour different cakes.

Enjoy experimenting!

[Karla]

Yeah, that's why i was recommending other foods! 

Gels have only two uses IMO:
1) Racing
2) Bonk rations

[rob]

I thought the OP didn't get on with gels...

Yeah, sorry.

For me, I started using gels when I returned to racing and found that they gave me an advantage on audax rides and long training runs.    My body runs much better on little and often rather than big feeds on rides.

The thing with gels and any sports food is to experiment with how you use them.    I struggled with carb drinks early on as I was mixing them at the recommended strength which upset my digestion.   Further reading taught me to mix them half strength as they were easier to digest.    From my experience gels are similar - you need to measure how often you use them and make sure you hydrate correctly at the same time.    Just because you get an upset stomach on a ride doesn't mean that it's what you've taken on that is causing it but sometimes the way you take it on and how you combine it with other feeding.

Rather than offer an alternative I would suggest not giving up completely on sports food until you've tried a few combinations and manufacturers.

[hellymedic]

Jelly babies/liquorice allsorts washed down with lots of water for emergencies IF you like them.

[Chinaski]

An extreme example of how little food is necessary for ultra running, an event which makes audax look like a Sunday stroll!

This guy wasn't making up the numbers but winning

https://eoinkeith.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/the-spine-race-2016-nutriton/

[D.A.L.E.]

An extreme example of how little food is necessary for ultra running, an event which makes audax look like a Sunday stroll!

This guy wasn't making up the numbers but winning

https://eoinkeith.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/the-spine-race-2016-nutriton/

Made me hungry reading that.

[menthel]

Gels make me want to barf but I usually have one on me for dire emergencies. I like shot bloks if you want "sports" nutrition but prefer jelly babies until I get to that point where I am sick of sweet stuff. Then something savoury and cheesy suits best. Or dry roasted nuts and a shandy!

[Pancho]

Jam doughnuts. 10 for £1.

[Kim]

Ring doughnuts are less messy, and you can carry them on tri-bars.

[Phil W]

Pork pies for me.

Don't do gels or any of that muck anymore. Pointless unless racing.

Mini pack of 6 work great, each one just the right size for a snack.

[The_Mikey]

I like the taste, but not so much the after effects 

[hellymedic]

I like the taste, but not so much the after effects 

Are you lactose intolerant?
Quite a few people are and suffer for AGES before anyone twigs they have a problem, or what the problem might be.

My Mum persuaded my sister to cut out all dairy bar lacto-free milk for a few days and sister felt TONS better as a result.
Mum is wise.
Mum always knows best.
Mum has a lactose intolerant husband and two lactose-intolerant daughters...

[Kim]

Also, there are surprisingly few calories in Frijj.

What I find it is good for is stimulating hunger when you've been riding for a while and don't want to eat.

[Pancho]

To wash down my jam doughnuts I quite like those chocolate milks they sell in petrol stations.

I hasten to add that this is my long ride diet not my daily sustenance.

[hellymedic]

Also, there are surprisingly few calories in Frijj.

What I find it is good for is stimulating hunger when you've been riding for a while and don't want to eat.

Frij and the like are good as they are wet.

370kcal for a 471ml bottle you can down in a minute seems fair. It's more than a Mars bar.

[Kim]

370kcal for a 471ml bottle you can down in a minute seems fair. It's more than a Mars bar.

Ah, I must have been reading the per 100ml value or something.  Probably while tired on some bike ride or other.

[hellymedic]

The Sainsbury's wibble (my usual source of information) only quotes values per 100ml.
I think that's misleading without misinforming IYSWIM.

Frijj are on Special Offer at Sainsbury's right now: 2 471ml bottles for £2 (cf £1.30 per bottle)

[mattc]

An extreme example of how little food is necessary for ultra running, an event which makes audax look like a Sunday stroll!

This guy wasn't making up the numbers but winning

https://eoinkeith.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/the-spine-race-2016-nutriton/

This is SUCH a good read for those riders brought up in The Church of Glycogen (and I probably was one!).

You only need to shovel carbs in constantly if that's what you've trained your body to need. The rate we burn calories on 99% of rides completed by YACFers is far below the rate that sugar consumption provides:
- real food is good
- fat is great fuel.
- stay off the sugar and refined carbs!

[zigzag]

An extreme example of how little food is necessary for ultra running, an event which makes audax look like a Sunday stroll!

This guy wasn't making up the numbers but winning

https://eoinkeith.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/the-spine-race-2016-nutriton/

This is SUCH a good read for those riders brought up in The Church of Glycogen (and I probably was one!).

You only need to shovel carbs in constantly if that's what you've trained your body to need. The rate we burn calories on 99% of rides completed by YACFers is far below the rate that sugar consumption provides:
- real food is good
- fat is great fuel.
- stay off the sugar and refined carbs!

i agree with all of this. it's the abundance of refined carbs, convenience of eating them, fast digestion and almost instant energy delivery that makes them so hard to resist.

[ramchip]

Well I have now completed 4 x 160kms; all fuelled with REAL food and the difference in my performance has been immense. I’m finishing my rides without major fatigue plus I feel must fresher after the ride especially the next day. Looks like for the last couple of years my fuelling has been completely wrong. Thanks for all the advice.

[Ningishzidda]

Nougat.

[offcumden]

Well I have now completed 4 x 160kms; all fuelled with REAL food and the difference in my performance has been immense. I’m finishing my rides without major fatigue plus I feel must fresher after the ride especially the next day. Looks like for the last couple of years my fuelling has been completely wrong. Thanks for all the advice.

You've completed 4 x 160 kms since your original post?  In British weather?  If so, whatever you've eaten obviously works - Bravo!

[ramchip]

Well I have now completed 4 x 160kms; all fuelled with REAL food and the difference in my performance has been immense. I’m finishing my rides without major fatigue plus I feel must fresher after the ride especially the next day. Looks like for the last couple of years my fuelling has been completely wrong. Thanks for all the advice.

You've completed 4 x 160 kms since your original post?  In British weather?  If so, whatever you've eaten obviously works - Bravo!

I live in South East Spain