Energy foods/drinks/etc - the good, the bad, the ugly

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Comments

  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    Jaffa cakes and haribo work for me! Gels are great for when you need a really quick burst of energy, but they're disgusting! I carry them as a reserve for long rides but haven't needed one for ages as I've got far better at fueling myself.
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    Il Principe wrote:
    Jaffa cakes and haribo work for me! Gels are great for when you need a really quick burst of energy, but they're disgusting! I carry them as a reserve for long rides but haven't needed one for ages as I've got far better at fueling myself.

    just the feel of them in the packet makes me want to heave let alone eat them, the bars i've tryied where almost as bad, though the drinks seem to be fine.
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    edited August 2009
    roger merriman wrote:
    Il Principe wrote:
    Jaffa cakes and haribo work for me! Gels are great for when you need a really quick burst of energy, but they're disgusting! I carry them as a reserve for long rides but haven't needed one for ages as I've got far better at fueling myself.

    just the feel of them in the packet makes me want to heave let alone eat them, the bars i've tryied where almost as bad, though the drinks seem to be fine.

    A female friend of mine once described energy gels as having:
    all the consistency and texture of semen
    :shock: :shock:

    Put me off them for life!

    Sorry!
  • sampras38
    sampras38 Posts: 1,917
    roger merriman wrote:
    Il Principe wrote:
    Jaffa cakes and haribo work for me! Gels are great for when you need a really quick burst of energy, but they're disgusting! I carry them as a reserve for long rides but haven't needed one for ages as I've got far better at fueling myself.

    just the feel of them in the packet makes me want to heave let alone eat them, the bars i've tryied where almost as bad, though the drinks seem to be fine.

    IMO the Clif bars are probably the closest to tasting like real food, as apposed to most of the other bars. The Go Bars are also ok, if a little tough, but as I said earlier I tend to cook my own now. I actually quite look forward to eating them now as apposed to it being a chore.
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    Il Principe wrote:
    roger merriman wrote:
    Il Principe wrote:
    Jaffa cakes and haribo work for me! Gels are great for when you need a really quick burst of energy, but they're disgusting! I carry them as a reserve for long rides but haven't needed one for ages as I've got far better at fueling myself.

    just the feel of them in the packet makes me want to heave let alone eat them, the bars i've tryied where almost as bad, though the drinks seem to be fine.

    A female friend of mine once described energy gels as having:
    all the consistency and texture of semen
    :shock: :shock:

    Put me off them for life!

    Sorry!

    heh! she's not far wrong at least the ones i've seen so far...
  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    Tried an SIS Gel once and it was foul and it took ages to get the taste out of my mouth, didn't seem to do much either, I got on well with PSP22 and got a good deal on a container of it at the time, now I just rely on watered down cranberry juice, about 20% juice 80% water and some salt when I remember, I also can vouch for jelly babies, I eat a couple every 20 mins or so depending on how hard I am going but I am going to try fig rolls as I like them anyway.


    For recovery have used for goodness shakes erm shakes a few times, I usually went for the choc malt flavour combined with a choc flavour protein bar, seemed to work and felt fine again the next day.
  • Rich158
    Rich158 Posts: 2,348
    I've just had a go at making my own flapjacks, dead easy and damn tasty. God knows how they'll fare as an energy food, but given the amount of dried fruit, peanut butter, honey and oats they contain there must be few calories in each one. Cheap as chips as well, a tray of 20 cost less than £5 :lol::lol::lol: I'm going to experiment with a few different flavour combinations and will report back.

    +1 to fig rolls, decent ones that is, not the crap you buy in a supermarket, although they'll do. They had some fantastic ones at the FWC this year, so much so that I almost dispaeared off the side of a mountain whilst eating one - it was so good it never crossed my mind to ditch the fig roll and get both hands back on the bars :roll:
    pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................

    Revised FCN - 2
  • Rich158
    Rich158 Posts: 2,348
    I've just thought of another one - home made bread pudding mmmmmmmmmmmmm. teh tea hut on Blackheath does a huge slab for not very many pennies - it's bloody fantastic :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
    pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................

    Revised FCN - 2
  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    Rich158 wrote:
    I've just thought of another one - home made bread pudding mmmmmmmmmmmmm. teh tea hut on Blackheath does a huge slab for not very many pennies - it's bloody fantastic :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

    I think I know the one you mean, hmmmmm that might need looking into...
  • simon_e
    simon_e Posts: 1,707
    Rich158 wrote:
    a couple of mates swear by Snickers and jelly beans, and they compete in full length Ironman compsand it seems to work for them.
    I'm sure I read Ian Cammish smoked more than one national 100 mile time trial with coke and Mars bars back in the day.

    I saw Thor Hushovd trying (and failing) to open a can of coke towards the end of that breakaway stage in the TdF. He eventually gave up and threw it away. I've seen David Millar breaking open the red cans too, I think they're quite popular.

    Fats will slow the rate you can absorb the calories but unless you're riding hard this shouldn't be too detrimental overall. Regular intake of Snickers sounds like an excellent strategy for a long ride.
    Aspire not to have more, but to be more.
  • sampras38
    sampras38 Posts: 1,917
    I think I'd get sick of snickers after a while. Wayyyy to sickly.

    Homemade flapjacks FTW..
  • Rich158
    Rich158 Posts: 2,348
    +1 to home made flapjacks, I've been scoffing my latest batch all day :lol::lol::lol:

    I just need to tweak the mixture to get a slightly moister consistency and I'm away :D
    pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................

    Revised FCN - 2
  • Coriander
    Coriander Posts: 1,326
    Rich158 wrote:
    +1 to home made flapjacks, I've been scoffing my latest batch all day :lol::lol::lol:

    I just need to tweak the mixture to get a slightly moister consistency and I'm away :D

    More butter and a wee bit more golden syrup. Mmmm...
  • sampras38
    sampras38 Posts: 1,917
    Coriander wrote:
    Rich158 wrote:
    +1 to home made flapjacks, I've been scoffing my latest batch all day :lol::lol::lol:

    I just need to tweak the mixture to get a slightly moister consistency and I'm away :D

    More butter and a wee bit more golden syrup. Mmmm...

    Yep, that was how I improved mine.
  • Rich158
    Rich158 Posts: 2,348
    Yep the latest batch had a bit more butter, possibly a bit too moist :shock: I think a bit more honey may be the way to go.

    Not too sure on the flavour combination though, dates, figs, a pinch of nutmeg and cinamon. Unfortunately being lazy I blitzed the date & figs in a blender, and ended up with more of a mush than the bite sized pieces of fruit I wanted. Still you live and learn. I suspect you wouldn't want to eat too many during a long ride with that much fibre in them :shock: :shock: :shock:
    pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................

    Revised FCN - 2
  • Coriander
    Coriander Posts: 1,326
    Rich158 wrote:
    Yep the latest batch had a bit more butter, possibly a bit too moist :shock: I think a bit more honey may be the way to go.

    Not too sure on the flavour combination though, dates, figs, a pinch of nutmeg and cinamon. Unfortunately being lazy I blitzed the date & figs in a blender, and ended up with more of a mush than the bite sized pieces of fruit I wanted. Still you live and learn. I suspect you wouldn't want to eat too many during a long ride with that much fibre in them :shock: :shock: :shock:

    Dates AND figs in the same batch? :shock: :shock:

    Dear God, I wouldn't want to be much further than 10 feet from a bathroom with that much fibre in them. :wink:
  • Rich158
    Rich158 Posts: 2,348
    They'll make you ride faster, if only to get to the nearest loo :shock: :shock: :shock:

    Edit, actually I did overdo it with this batch, an entire box of dates, and pretty much a whole bag of figs :shock: :roll:
    pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................

    Revised FCN - 2
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    There's a recipe for Apricot and Almond bars in the August C+. Looks v. nice.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • sampras38
    sampras38 Posts: 1,917
    Rich158 wrote:
    Yep the latest batch had a bit more butter, possibly a bit too moist :shock: I think a bit more honey may be the way to go.

    Not too sure on the flavour combination though, dates, figs, a pinch of nutmeg and cinamon. Unfortunately being lazy I blitzed the date & figs in a blender, and ended up with more of a mush than the bite sized pieces of fruit I wanted. Still you live and learn. I suspect you wouldn't want to eat too many during a long ride with that much fibre in them :shock: :shock: :shock:

    I used some apricots (cut into small peices), coconut and raisens in mine, and they went down a treat.
  • spasypaddy
    spasypaddy Posts: 5,180
    right i drink SIS energy stuff on long rides, one of my bottles has that in it thats the big bottle, the smaller bottle has orange squash and salt in it. I also carry gels with me incase i need them. when i get in i have a protein shake from myprotein.co.uk but i also have that for my weight training.

    I also take every day between 20 and 30g of L-Glutamine which is the best thing for recovery as its what your muscles need to recover
    BMC TM01 - FCN 0
    Look 695 (Geared) - FCN 1
    Bowman Palace:R - FCN 1
    Cannondale CAAD 9 - FCN 2
    Premier (CX) - FCN 6
    Premier (fixed/SS) - FCN3

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