Going to Colorado for 2 weeks in June .Tried High 5 Zero Extreme tablets and got on well with them .Was thinking drinking a litre of water with a couple of them in before riding then energy bars during the ride .Then i thought about gels but apparently they are hard to consume so is my 1st idea the best plan ?Don’t want to put tablets in Camelbak for obvious reasons .
Any secrets you want to share ?

Then i thought about gels but apparently they are hard to consume

😕

Yumptious and easy to consume. Tie those up with something like a flapjack and you’re sorted. (Sausage rolls are rather good, but unlikely you’ll get ’em out there. Try bacon on a stick)

I find that good fluid intake, a mix of gels, energy bars and some “real” food is perfect for a big day in the saddler.

paleo diet. then your body learns to burn fat and you don’t need any of this muck.

Snickers! Instant hit, and protein to boot.
All day on gels starts to take its toll.
Try to mix it up with different stuff.

Blocks of raw jelly?

Snickers! Instant hit, and protein to boot.

Good point – fat, sugar, bit of salt. It’s not as ideally suited to your body as gels, perhaps, but a damn site easier to consume and keep down!

A pocket full of jelly babies.

Flap jack, what?

Clif Shot Bloks

oldfart – Member

Going to Colorado for 2 weeks in June .Tried High 5 Zero Extreme tablets and got on well with them .Was thinking drinking a litre of water with a couple of them in before riding then energy bars during the ride

Don’t forget Zeros are just that – zero calories. Other than electrolytes and magnesium they give you nothing. Nada. The caffeine will be a nice wee pre ride boost but I would avoid using caffeine mid rid (especially if you’ve taken zeros before), and especially avoid it if you’re feeling low unless the end is in sight.

If i was going on some sort of epic I might pop a few zeros (non caffeinated) into a camelbak, maybe take a carbohydrate drink before hand and graze on gels as I go.

I fill one bottle with 6 heaped teaspoons of raw honey, 4 tsp of glucose powder, pinch of salt, can of red bull and topped up with barley squash.
Taken with some flap jack and peanuts every hour or so.
Did me good on our 136miler last Saturday.

That is an amazing concoction…. Does it taste ok? It sounds like rocket fuel to me though; I reckon I’d personally suffer a monster sugar crash off that lot.

Depending on length I’m a big fan of what ever you can keep down is the best. Far easier to have something you like than try to force down what “might” be right.

I use trail mix a lot (peanuts, raisins, seeds) that has been spiced up with some chocolate and smarties…

That sounds vile. Did you do 136 miles on one bottle?! Or do you carry your kitchen with you to refuel?!

I think Torq gels are very palatable, but don’t use them for normal riding, snickers is a good shout. And cake.

mooman – Member

I fill one bottle with 6 heaped teaspoons of raw honey, 4 tsp of glucose powder, pinch of salt, can of red bull and topped up with barley squash.
Taken with some flap jack and peanuts every hour or so.
Did me good on our 136miler last Saturday.

Sounds awesome. I’d imagine the end result would be much like high5 extreme carbo drink.

Gels are great, can really transform your performance when starting to tire – best to take before that happens though. High 5 and SIS Go are fine for me but I daresay all the main brands are. I also munch cereal bars when I want something solid.

Torq rhubarb and custard gels are very easy to eat

Yea Torqs good…. All natural so doesn’t upset your tummy. 😀

Try Pemmican – Can buy ready made in USA

Graeme Obree was/is fuelled by marmalade sandwiches. Dried fruit is a healthy, energy rich way to get some nutritious energy. Other than Mule’s stuff, most gel ingredient lists are horrifically long.

Fresh banana once in a while and some mixed dried fruit with a gel for a psychological safety net. Some dried fruit has a higher ratio of carbohydrates to weight than gels but aren’t so hi-tech. The fibre helps slow the release and dried fruit is good for you!

Electrolytes (High 5 tablets etc) are an integral part of muscular and neurological function. They do not provide energy but replace the crucial salts lost through exertion. You can buy the salts separately but I imagine the tabs will be less faff. I’d avoid the caffeine, it’s ok for a last ditch boost but not great repeatedly.

I just drink loads of SIS when on a long ride. I start with a Camelbak full, but take an empty bottle and fill it up from streams en route.

Washing out your Camel Back with milton sorts out the problem with using energy drinks in there. Torx Pink Grapefruit is good.

muesli before you ride 🙂
mmmm marmalade sarnies sound good
wholemeal bread though!
…. jaffa cakes
forget energy bars / gel
expensive sh***!

forget energy bars / gel
expensive sh***!

Energy bars and gels provide a good long life emergency food/energy source. Keeping a couple in your bag that last for ages is a great idea.

They also provide a good alternative for multi day trips where you can’t make sarnies every morning etc.

Of course like everything else it is possible to do a DIY solution but sometimes the value of a convenient long life balanced energy source with all the components required in it is missed.

The key to all of these is that they need to be tasty and easy to eat, too dry and you wont eat them too sweet and you wont.

Top marks for Torx from me

Torq. Not Torx, not Torque. Torq.

Another vote for torq gels. I don’t really get on with energy drinks but they’re easy to eat/digest and taste yum.

For an all-day ride I’ve been fuelled completely by High-5 gels (2 an hour), High 5 energy bars (1 an hour) and High 5 4:1 drink (lots). Expensive I guess and probably terrible for my teeth, but works well for me. Tried doing the same on sandwiches and other real food and ran out of energy. Don’t seem to be able to carry enough real food to keep me going for 10 hours plus.

If you’re constantly in the saddle with no time to break for real food then gels can be great, I prefer clif bloks, they’re like a gummy energy chew, for hydration I combine with zipvit v0 electrolyte mineral tablets in water, nice watermelon flavour. But as all have mentioned a banana, dried fruit and normal water/juice are all good and cheaper alternatives. Let’s not under estimate the placebo effect some of these products have though, they’re marketed very well, even Lance Armstrong has a brand of gel.

Torq gels are the best I’ve found for keeping my stomach settled
I do however stop for a Guinness and a pie if the opportunity presents itself 🙂

Torq gels for me too. Rhubarb & Custard are amazing! I could live off them quite happily.

Try my own Torx, Torque, Tork gel mix:

Mix 1 tbsp nitroglycerine with 1/2 jar smooth peanut butter, add concentrated fructose plus the contents of 17 Tork gels, mix thoroughly in a saucepan warming to a simmer for 5 minutes, add a dash of Shimano Mineral Oil to make it easier to get down, and a pinch of iron filings to taste.

Seriously, it’s Yummy!

Electrolyte tablets are good if you’re sweating a lot but I don’t bother with them if I’m eating normal food. Also I’m not sure about having them before…I’d have thought use them during or after.

Gels are brilliant in a race or on a fast paced effort but I’d try to stick to normal food for day rides at a lower intensity. Gels are pretty much just sugar, so you’re not getting any nutrients from them (and you’ll be needing more nutrients than normal because you’re riding all day!). I like Sandwiches, maltloaf, teacakes, bagels, that sort of thing. I would definitely carry a gel or two in case, though – they really get you out of trouble fast if you run out of energy.

If you are concerned about running out of energy due to succesive days riding, I’d recommend a carb drink in your Camelbak to supplement “proper” food, that will keep a trickle of calories flowing in if maybe you have a long haul between food stops.

Also refuelling after the ride is really important for multiple days on the trot (you want to make sure your glycogen stores are topped up for the next day’s riding). You might finish a ride and then go out to eat with your buddies 2 hours later and miss your refuelling window. Rego is great for this as it’s easy to get down at the end of the ride and you don’t need to worry so much about preparing something to eat in a hurry.

Have a great trip! Colorado is an absolutely fantastic place to ride.

i am the only one out there that uses jaffa cakes.

6 keeps me going for one hard hour. Easy to get in you if you drink at same time.

I swear by these!

Cheep from Sainsbury’s!

Malt loaf, fig rolls also good for cheap fuel.

6 Jaffa cakes contains roughly 55g of carbs, which I guess is pretty much the same as three gels.

I must be doing something wrong with the gels… …they are absolutely vile things (not tried the torq ones though), but when you are absolutely nackered, desperate to keep riding (you are running behind schedule, its pissing down etc) and anything will do to get you to your destination then they are quite easy to consume on the move, whilst tired and out of breath.

Would I eat them for pleasure? no.
Would I eat them as my first choice of sustenance on the bike? no.
Would I resort to gels when other options aren’t practical? absolutely.

Malt loaf and/or jaffa cakes for me usually.

Proper food +1

And just water in the Camelbak.

Clif bars are tasty and less than $1 out there. Stock up in Gunnison (City Market?) and check out the local bargains 🙂

(not tried the torq ones though)

You need to. Strawberry yoghurt for me.

Malt loaf and/or jaffa cakes for me usually.

Malt loaf! How could I forget? Loads of energy in a small space, if you open the packet just slightly and squash it they go down to a kind of bar size and taste a fair bit better than those weird Powerbar super dense jaw ache chews.

Mmmm malt.

I did the maths on this a couple of weeks ago as I’m off to France for 5 days riding and carrying everything along the way. I wanted the highest carb content per gramme of weight carried. I’m taking Torq energy drink powder as it worked out about 2 to 3 times more effective for the weight than energy bars or gels. We’ll be buying cereal bars every day from local shops just to add a bit of variety but only what we need for the day’s ride.

sweaman2 – Member
That is an amazing concoction…. Does it taste ok? It sounds like rocket fuel to me though; I reckon I’d personally suffer a monster sugar crash off that lot.

Tastes great. its taken along with a handful of peanuts and a mouthful of oaty flap jack every hour or so .. never had a sugar crash in the time I been using it. And most of my weekend rides are 70-100milers.
Only ever suffered the sugar crash off things like snicker bars etc.
Try the mix – see how you find it.

njee20 – Member
That sounds vile. Did you do 136 miles on one bottle?! Or do you carry your kitchen with you to refuel?!

The one bottle was made to last 80-90miles. The other bottle on bike is plain water.
As for carrying the kitchen to refuel?? I `m sure it sounded alot funnier before you posted it .. 🙄