Fueling and recovery

jai7783

I'm doing a few 100 miLe sportives over the next few weeks, warming up for a 300 mile charity ride from Peterborough to Brussels. Can anyone recommend some good gels, bars and powders that will keep me going?

thanks JP

smoggysteve

I would recommend trying some different brands to see what you like before hand. Don't go using a new product in a race or event as you don't know how you will react to it. Some people can stomach gels better than others. See what agrees with you most. Must be a hundred different makes out there. I use Science in Sport but thats just me. Some other will no doubt use others but use whats best for you. We will like different things and our bodies will get by better on different things too. I cant stomach energy bars, they make me feel bloated which is not good in a comp race.

FatTed

+1 smoggysteve
I find Cliff Shot Bloks very convenient
http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_shot_bloks/

snowley

And most of the bars are extremely hard to chew when on the bike...

You should try and make your own energy bars and cut them into tiny bitesize pieces. Then much easier to eat....

diy

Make your own flapjacks and jut add some dried fruit to make them interesting. I use the H&B Iso energy powder which I normally stock up on in their 1p sales.

with the flapjacks you want to make them as soft as possible and then you can just break a piece off and eat as you go. I carry the ISO powder in a plastic dispenser and add it as I fill up with water. I have tried various gels and bars, but feel they are all much the same thing. Sugar, caffeine, carbs, salts and vits. The sugar free ones I find the worse.

The caffeine keeps you going, but there are side effects when you finish.

One of the best things I have found to aid endurance cycling is fasting. I do a couple of days a week on 600 cal and can now do a near normal training ride on a fasting day - takes a few months for your body to get used to it and you have to remember that your resting HR will be lower so not push yourself to max.

davep1

In my experience, you want variety. I did the SDW a few years ago - 13.5 hrs, 95 miles off road, totally exhausting! Anyway, we had free food and drink at the feed stations which were every 90-120 mins. They were stocked with Clif bars, gels, bananas, coke, lucozade etc etc. I found after a couple of the bars, gels and bananas, I really wanted something else. Fig rolls and Soreen are meant to be good, and maybe some ham in a pitta bread you can make yourself and slide into your jersey pocket. Jelly beans and babies also get good reviews.

A lot of the bars are very dense, I find them quite hard to actually chew and swallow. And Snickers are horrible, the peanuts seem to linger in your mouth for ever.

Kendal Black Drop

I did a one day Coast to Coast with a friend last year. I took lots of malt loaf and cereal bars but after 40-50 miles I was very envious of my friends oatcake 'sandwiches' and have now become a convert. Fillings I normally have are salami, cheese, or peanut butter, or a combination.

diy

DaveP1 wrote:

In my experience, you want variety. I did the SDW a few years ago - 13.5 hrs, 95 miles off road, totally exhausting! Anyway, we had free food and drink at the feed stations which were every 90-120 mins.

Now I feel cheated, cos I only remember two of the stops having food. Also its now been extended comes in at about 101 miles now, but that may have been due to a diversion to avoid the boggiest parts.

I remember this ride used to be a brisk paced enduro over hard pack, dusty, chalky trails. The last 2 have been a bog fest. But yes these are the types of enduros where you need something more than Sugar, carbs and caffeine.

13.5 hours is certainly a reasonable time. And the biggest issue at the end is hypothermia as your body deals with generating heat for the last 13.5 hours to rapid cool down.

MattyDeez

I used to use: SIS Gels, SIS Powder, SiS Bars/Zipvit bars

Too much artificial crap for me, it gives me palpitations or its the sugar thats in them.

I now use Torq Energy Drink, Mule Bars (Hunza Nut) and finishing of the cnp flapjacks - i take one with me, best used in the summer when they are nice and soft. I also tuck away a torq gel to keep me going at the end, but im moving away from gels and be using jelly babies for that effect and kendal mint cake.

Use bananas as well, these are brilliant.


Recovery: For Goodness Shakes, or just a pint of milk!

phreak

Fig rolls are good as they tend to be bite size and you don't have to faff around with unwrapping things. Only tend to use gels when I'm climbing hard for an hour and it's hard to really chew things.