Which energy product for racing?

I’m hopefully doing the Colne Valley mtb challange in a couple of weeks time (30 miles) and then in June Mountain Mayhem as part of a team of 4, and probably SITS too.

So what energy stuff would people recommend? I’ve used SIS PSP22 before at MM as I can’t really stomach much food in the 24hrs.

Should I stick with SIS or is some thing else better? Also what gels are good, more so for just the last bit of the 30 mile challenge when energy is getting really low?

Ta

But breads not good for you (apparently) and I don’t fancy loosing my bacon as I ride along

Bump for serious suggestions 🙂

I like the flavour of Torx, the gels aren’t bad too. The bars are moist enough to eat while riding too.

Try before you go though!

They are all much or a muchness for us mere mortals in terms of energy delivery, with the differences being in flavour, texture and how they sit on your stomach with the extra guff they add to achieve whatever sweetness, acidity, shelf life etc… the manufacturer is trying to achieve.

I can’t stomach SIS stuff as a rule, but High5 works very well for my stomach. Torq is good as well, but I find some flavours a little acidic on my stomach and causes bloating/cramp. At least you can get plain ‘natural’ flavour which is just the base maltodextrin-fructose mix.

The only thing I can suggest is if you didn’t suffer any/many side effects of SIS then stick with it, certainly for Colne Valley as it’s so close and you don’t have much time to experiment. If you think you might want to find something more palatable/less gammy on the stomach, then experiment with trial packs etc.. in training/out on hard/long rides over a period of time. I say hard rides as your stomach behaves differently when stressed compared to just ‘out for a ride’.

Funky Dunc,

My post was entirely serious.

For MM/SITS in a team of 4, you will most likely stick to single laps, perhaps a double in the middle of the night. As far as recall, an average lap is around 45 minutes. Eat properly between the laps. Bacon sandwiches are great.

A 30 mile off-road race is not much different. I assume you’re not an elite racer and are doing the race for enjoyment. Maybe 3 hours in the saddle? I wouldn’t waste money on expensive sticky energy gels. Just fuel yourself like you would on a normal long ride. Maybe a bar or 2, some dried fruit, jelly babies.

Schweiz – Certainly not Elite!

Yes the Colne thing I’m hoping for about 3hrs, but it starts at 9am and I struggle to get enough energy in first thing in the morning. ie I will have porridge & banana, but I can never stomach much of it first thing.

I generally loose my appetite when cycling hard, hence why I have used ‘products’ before at MM etc.

Jelly Babies, although make sure its not something you like to much because after doing a massive ride such a 24hour race you’ll forever associate that product with racing!

I like Torx, like Mule, can’t stomach SIS (tastes like wallpaper paste made with squash to me). Recently I’ve been trying the gel “powershots” from powerbar (the gels are decent too) as they’re chewable and feel a little less sickly/sticky in the mouth. Haribo with the natural fruit juice are also quite popular on road rides.

One electrolyte/energy supplement for water bottles gives me stomach cramps for a couple of hours almost immediately after drinking followed by explosive diarrhea. Being intelligent I tried it twice to make sure it was the supplement not something I ate. It was definitely the supplement. Unlucky for you I can’t remember the name!

The last one is more to suggest trying the gel/bar/supplement BEFORE a race to make sure it doesn’t make you vomit (as with a friend and one gel he tried) or give you the shits.

tangfastics for me 🙂

ZipVit bars are nice as are the gels but they are very thick and not the easiest to take or swallow when racing.

I like Clif gels & bars, and proper food as much as possible in between too. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches are good.

and jelly babies 🙂

Torq stuff for me, all tastes good (apart from the Banana and Mango recovery stuff which tastes like arse and death) and not sickly sweet like alot of the products out there. Very flexible on flavour combos when ordering too and super nice people to deal with and quick delivery.

P.S. The black cherry and rhubarb and custard gels are delish too and addictive!

Wiggle have got 25% off at the min (well makes them as competitve as anyone else). They are doing a High 5 tester pack thing for £3 with a free bottle! So will get that, and probably some High 5 sachets too, and try stuff out in the next couple of weeks.

Jelly babies are definately an option, but odly whenever I buy a packet, they always have dissapeared by the time I get out on the bike (greedy wife and 2 year old!)

High 5 for me. IMO energy products are good at 24s, easy way to keep fuelled. And so what if the OP isn’t an elite, I couldnt do a 30 mile race on a few jelly babies! It’ll take him longer than it does the elites anyway!

EPO?

I use Torq drinks, high five gels and zipvit bars.

For a thirty mile race I would probably have a bottle of drink, a bar at 1 hour in and couple of gels towards the end.

For MM if you are doing laps and changing then maybe a bottle of drink but nothing else, you can eat off the bie and then it is easy enough to have normal food.

You could save yourself some money and just get some jelly babies or similar sugar based sweets and some generic cereal bars.

It’s quite a personal thing…

SIS gives me gut rot & cramping every time, even when diluted.
Torq is fine though & tastes pretty good too. It also mixes quite well.

A word of warning re energy products during Mountain Mayhem:

do NOT rely on them – that amount of carbs in that form over 24hrs plays havoc with your guts. You’re already asking your body to do weird things like ride round at 3am when you just want to be in bed and I’ve seen (and smelt) the “aftermath” of some peoples reaction to it in the portaloos. You’ll almost certainly need energy drink, a few gels here and there as a pick-up during the small hours but try and mix your food intake to be as near normal as possible with energy supplements rather than full on energy bars all days.

Other than that, just try out various products during normal rides. High5 drink is the only stuff that works for me and I like Torq gels. Never really get on with bars although Torq are about the closest I’ve found to being palatable.

I ended up buy a tub of Torq lemon flavoured powder, and used it on Sunday for the Colne Valley Challenge. I have to say I found it much better than the SIS stuff in use, not as artificial tasting and I actually felt like I could eat normal food too, so I guess it could be that the SIS stuff never suited me!