Whats the best snack for on bike carbs. Got my first sportive this week and from what ive read i need to shove 80g’s of of them down my neck an hr.

You don’t “need” to do anything of the sort. However all the energy drinks, bars and gels are designed to provide carbs in an easy-to-handle format.

Slices of malt loaf; thickly buttered and stuck to the top tube.

hmmm, quite fancy some fig rolls all of a sudden

Jambourgie – Member
Slices of malt loaf; thickly buttered and stuck to the top tube.

Wouldn’t honey work better?

Stop at the feed stations and eat, whilst remembering it isn’t a race. Steady away and enjoy your day.

Wouldn’t honey work better?

Nah, peanut butter. Much better adhesive.

Or am I missing something about sticking it to the top tube?

Try to avoid anything with too much fat in (ie less than 10%), anymore than that & it’ll clog up your system & slowdown the absorption of carbs. Fat is a long chan molecule generally & takes time to breakdown.

Haribo are excellent carbs.

Will defo be scoffing flapjack etc at the feed station. Looks like Malt loaf and Fig rolls might be the way forward..cant find those individual Malt Loafs i any of my local stores as they would be ideal..

just eat food, have some sandwiches. Training will do more for you than stuffing your face on the day though

ahh, training..heard about that lol. Unfortunately, due to recent flu and life getting in the way ive not done as much as i would like, hill work especially..

Real food is essential on a long ride, but I definitely don’t skimp on the gels. Especially if riding much longer than normal.

I would have thought these days that fuel injection would be the way to go. No jets to get blocked or pesky choke to fiddle with.

Oh, hang on. Wrong forum 🙂

On a serious note, I have started carrying Organic baby food sachets rather than Gels. Like these or their Aldi equivalent.

http://www.hipp.co.uk/products/our-baby-food-and-drinks/pouches

Calorie density is not quite as high as the gels (but almost) and at least I know I am not eating chemical sludge! Fructose is slightly slower release than glucose IIRC.

EDIT: I cannot take the credit for this idea. Open any of the German cycling magazines and they are advertising extensively for just this purpose.

welshfarmer – Member

On a serious note, I have started carrying Organic baby food sachets rather than Gels. Like these or their Aldi equivalent.

+1 for Haribo… Dunno why more people aren’t on them tbh …. Easy to carry an cheap an come in nice small packets .everyone seems to want overpriced poncy gels ….I always carry some for emergency bonk recovery :-)..

but Nickc’s right and I like welsh farmers idea..

Anyway if your going for gels or some weird shit. Try some at home before your on the sportive just in case it doent get on with you…

How long’s the sportive? If you’re likely to take more than 5 hours I’d definitely consider eating something savoury and not just sweet stuff – your guts will thank you for it 🙂 (personally I like something simple like a cheese and ham sandwich, a pork pie would be another option…)

But otherwise just go with what they give you at the feed stations, and maybe carry a couple of gels just in case.

jambourgie – Member

Slices of malt loaf; thickly buttered and stuck to the top tube of your mouth

FTFY

Avoid anything that requires you to wash it away with water you might want later.

see also nature valley granola bars grabbed as replacement to haribo that I forgot to park.

Innocent smoothies do various sachet or small carton things, for kids’ packed lunches I think… doesn’t work out cheap which is pretty much why I stopped but they’re good.

Fig rolls and bananas got me around the 112 mile bike ride of Ironman WAles last year! Fig rolls food of champions!

Chocolate chip elevenses bars are great. For a semi instant boost I like jelly beans (veggie, so suit me well). You could probably make a sarnie from peanut butter and bananas and cut into handy to eat squares.

Brown rolls with peanut butter or nutella (no spread) and squish them to get them in your Jersey pocket. Mini Mars bar or bounty for emergency sugar hit if you feel sh1t all of a sudden. Don’t go mad and if you aren’t used to them then don’t bother with gels; some people get bad guts from them and a big ride that you don’t normally do isn’t the time to experiment 🙂

Fig rolls and bananas got me around the 112 mile bike ride of Ironman WAles last year! Fig rolls food of champions!

hmmmm, more like hours and hours of training and masses of commitment. 😉

+1 for Haribo… Dunno why more people aren’t on them tbh

Because the good lord gave us jelly babies

scaredypants – Member

Because the good lord gave us jelly babies

And then his eminence Hans Riegel gave us haribo jelly babies.

BelVita breakfast biscuits , the milk and cerals ones. They contain more complex carbs rather than sugar . Helping to not to spike your sugar loading and having a sugar rush followed by a sugar crash.
Plus a bannana , few fig rolls, some malt loaf squished flat and cut into strips,
Should just go into your jersey pockets. Try and eat evry 45 mins and top up at the food stations. High5 zero in your wate bottle and your good for 100 miles, just grab a caffeine gel or 2 for the last 20miles or so.