So – eating energy gels on the bike….

How do you do it without spitting out the top bit and littering? In a race situation, can't seem to remove the top put it in my pocket without either nearly falling off or covering myself in half the gel.

Just a practise thing or do the pro's just litter?

takes a bit of hand swapping, holding the gel with top removed in your steering hand while you pocket the top and faffing to be sure!

I'll be honest and say the top part i just litter 😥 although i do bring the other part back with me

With the SIS ones I normally manage to tear them so it doesn't tear all the way across, but starts tearing downwards a bit. Saves the tab bit going on the floor, but can be a bit messy.

I then suck the bejeesus out of them not so I get every bit of energy, but so it saves the pocket of my jersey/shorts getting too manky with leaky gel packets.

The torq ones are pretty easy to just tear enough to get the gel out without separating the top part. Then into pocket once done.

Rather than pockets, I tuck them under the leg of my bibshorts.

Stick em in yur pockets, top-tip if you can get them Clif gels come with a handy kind of trash teather (they are from the US so hence the lingo)

ive heard road riders saying they tape the little pull of tab to their top tube so it can be ripped off. The top tab gets left on the bike for cleanup later and you can stast the rest in a pocket somewhere. I put them in one of the net pockets on my rucksack. Easily accessible whilst on the bike.

If I'm racing laps I'll usually have someone handing up bottles in which case the top of the gel (the tear off part) is tucked inside the bottle lid so all I have to do is tear off the gel, squirt it down and tuck the wrapper in a pocket or up trouser leg. Or… if it's a "serious" race there might be a 'gel drop' after the feed zone. In that case I'll lob the wrapper in the general direction of whatever the organisers have propped up as a container.

If it's not laps or it's over 90 minutes and I've not got anyone 'handing up' then there is usually plenty of time to deal with both parts of the wrapper. Again, trouser leg comes in useful.

There's always exceptions though. The Brownbacks series at Lee Quarry has 'no outside assistance' (so no handups) and a strict no littering policy. Also it's a technical course with hardly anywhere to have a drink let alone open a gel – cue gel mess all over the place 😉

You could tape them to your top tube and as said rip them off and open at the same time. Or you can empty a few into a water bottle and dilute slightly. You can also buy small flasks for keeping the goo in too. Search for 'gel flasks' you can buy a toptube holder for the flask as well.

faff.

I tend to grip the gel really close to the tear off; then once torn off I can pinch the pack to stop the gel coming out. swap hands, deal with tear off, swap hands, down gel, deal with packet.

I ride in baggies and leg/cargo pockets on those are perfect for stashing food wrappers.

Have considered the gel bottle too though; then the whole thing in the jersey pocket and you can go half a gel at a time if needs be etc

With the Torq ones I find I can bite the top off part way and squeeze gel out the whole lot goes in pocket. y

I like to stop a while and watch the world go by. Lovely.

So, is there any actual difference between gel and powdered energy drink, other than the amount of dilution?

Could you just have some very strong energy drink in a bottle?

its a faff but i've managed it during a race a few times, having said that it depends on the gel – some packaging is terrible, zipvit ones are easy opened……2 hands on one side of the bars <if that makes sense?> 8)

I wish opening gel packs was the most important thing to worry about in my life!!!

Just use a gel flask

SIS gel = 88 kcal
Small Sainsburys dried fruit bar = 86kcal

What's the difference? Will I notice?

(Cadbury's Fudge = 115kcal)

SIS gel = 88 kcal
Small Sainsburys dried fruit bar = 86kcal

It would be entertaining to watch someone eat a dried fruit bar in a XC race situation, without stopping.

Gel's are more suggar IIRC?

In which case why not fill one of those flasks with honey or homade jam (make it without pectin to keep it runny?)?

CRC sent me some free sports drink tablets im going to try those,

thisisnotaspoon – Member

Gel's are more suggar IIRC?

In which case why not fill one of those flasks with honey or homade jam (make it without pectin to keep it runny?)?

Spot on, I fill mine with runny honey these days 🙂

CRC sent me some free sports drink tablets im going to try those,

ENJOY. Not only did mine taste like Refreshers sweets (in a bad way), they are electrolytes rather than energy. Just right for winter…

CRC sent me some free sports drink tablets im going to try those,

Aren't those just High 5 Zero tablets?
You may struggle with sustanance from those – Zero is the key word here 🙂

It would be entertaining to watch someone eat a dried fruit bar in a XC race situation, without stopping.

They're about the size of a fig roll, so they can fit in your mouth in one.

The ends of the packet could also be snipped off before being put in jersey pockets, so no faffing about opening gels.

Aye pretty easy to eat when riding, don't see the hassle.

I eat fruit jellies.
Easier to eat if you carry the open packet in a pocket or frame bag and a smaller dose of sugar per hit.

It's not the eating, more the digestion in a race.

If you are in Zone 11, you will get stomach cramps if you eat a bar, gels stay down much more easily, if you can get them in.

cliff shot packets are designed so the top stays attached when you tear it from one side.

You don't necessarily want sugar, in a XC race it may be fine but if your in an enduro type race its not such a good idea. I'll have a bash at explaining but if it doesn't make sense don't blame me. Sugar will cause a sharp increase in insulin and you get a sugar spike, i.e a boost in energy for a period of time following this will be a lull and you'll dip on the other side. Gels will normally (I think lucozade is the exception)be made from maltodextrin and fructose which give a better sustained release, they will also contain nutrients to keep you going as well. Nothing wrong with sweets at the end of a race but used throughout you'll pay the piper sooner or later.

Im a big fan of the Accelerade gels, taste nice and have a tapered top so you can tear the tip partially off with your teeth and squeeze the gel into your mouth. No need to rip the top completely off and easy to do one handed quickly.

YoKaiser speaks the truth, this is from experience not Science. Leave the sugary stuff until the last hour.

Tear half way across and then suck real hard and stuff empties up lycra shorts – lovely sticky mess at end of ride. Or carry an empty waterbottle without a lid in your bottle cage and use it as a handy bin. Obviously I would never actually intend to do this but someone stole my bottle top at a feed station during a race the other day. Yes, they really did steal it. Very odd. But did mean I had a handy bin for the rest of the race