Best nutrition during and after ride

adowling92

What (in your opinions) is the best drink to take on rides, and the best to have post-ride?

Open to different suggestions.

Herbsman

6% carb drink 2:1 maltodextrin:fructose on ride, or water for easy/steady rides

25g whey protein + 50g maltodextrin + 10g cocoa powder in 300ml water post ride (milk tastes better), or actual food

adowling92

Herbsman wrote:

6% carb drink 2:1 maltodextrin:fructose on ride, or water for easy/steady rides

25g whey protein + 50g maltodextrin + 10g cocoa powder in 300ml water post ride (milk tastes better), or actual food

Any links to any products? Thanks!!

phreak

Depends how far you're riding, what you eat before hand etc.

A lot of the time I just have squash in my bottles. For really long rides I use High 5.

ric/rstsport

adowling92 wrote:

What (in your opinions) is the best drink to take on rides, and the best to have post-ride?

Open to different suggestions.

wouldn't this depend on a variety of factors including, but not limited to,
1) sensitivity to certain food(s)
2) duration of ride
3) intensity of ride
4) goals
5) ambient temperature
6) etc

for e.g., in long training rides i like one particular make/brand of energy drinks, because it has a very strong taste. however, when racing, i'd rather pull my finger nails out than drink that particular brand as the strong taste makes me want to gag when i'm at full bore.

ric

drlodge

High5 isotonic drink, and a mix of jelly babies and home made flapjack for food.

Herbsman

adowling92 wrote:

Herbsman wrote:

6% carb drink 2:1 maltodextrin:fructose on ride, or water for easy/steady rides

25g whey protein + 50g maltodextrin + 10g cocoa powder in 300ml water post ride (milk tastes better), or actual food

Any links to any products? Thanks!!

http://www.myprotein.com/home.dept

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/

simon_e

There's no "best", it's what works for you.

During:
http://www.snickers.com/
http://www.torqfitness.co.uk/
Squash (the drink, not a gourd)

After:
banana
eggs
milk or chocolate milk (cow/soya/rice etc as per one's preference)
tuna
baked beans
...

Tom Dean

There is no best, but a snickers is among the worst.

Herbsman

Hahaha as if anyone's going to carry a snickers on a ride with them!

sloppyschleckonds

Vegetable smoothies post ride

Like Lance.

superfourben

Post ride I tend to have chocolate nesquick and milk, works best for me. During rides I will tend to have banana, nature valley bars or home made flap jack, to drink water or robinsons barley water with a pinch of salt added if going for more than an hour, on sportives I supplement with viperactive gels, but I do get fed up with too much sweet so have a pack of nairns cheese oat cakes to get a bit of savoury in and break up the monotony a bit.

topcattim

Post ride:

Pint of full fat milk
Splash of honey
One and a half bananas
All whizzed up with a hand blender

I find myself looking forward to this for the last hour and a half or so of a long ride.

sloppyschleckonds

Herbsman wrote:

6% carb drink 2:1 maltodextrin:fructose on ride

Do you add any flavouring to this?

simon_e

Herbsman wrote:

Hahaha as if anyone's going to carry a snickers on a ride with them!

I do, and I'm not the only one. Though only in the winter or cool weather like this week. I get them when the 4-packs are on offer for £1.

I certainly won't claim it's optimum nutrition but I like to scoff one during a steady ride. Probably not ideal in between hard intervals, though.

Herbsman

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Herbsman wrote:

6% carb drink 2:1 maltodextrin:fructose on ride

Do you add any flavouring to this?

Indeed I do. Used to add orange juice or summer fruit squash but now add the juice of half a lemon as I like the sharp tangy flavour, it helps balance the sweetness of the fructose.

Have added bicarbonate of soda on one occasion just to neutralise the acid in the orange juice, it was an interesting taste, much softer and easier to drink, and having been kept in the fridge overnight it had a nice subtle fizz to it. Very addictive if strange-tasting...

Herbsman

Simon E wrote:

Herbsman wrote:

Hahaha as if anyone's going to carry a snickers on a ride with them!

I do, and I'm not the only one. Though only in the winter or cool weather like this week. I get them when the 4-packs are on offer for £1.

I certainly won't claim it's optimum nutrition but I like to scoff one during a steady ride. Probably not ideal in between hard intervals, though.

Just because you're not the only sicko out there doesn't make it OK!

SBezza

Simon E wrote:

Herbsman wrote:

Hahaha as if anyone's going to carry a snickers on a ride with them!

I do, and I'm not the only one. Though only in the winter or cool weather like this week. I get them when the 4-packs are on offer for £1.

I certainly won't claim it's optimum nutrition but I like to scoff one during a steady ride. Probably not ideal in between hard intervals, though.

Nowt wrong with snickers, good mix of carbs and protein. I have used them during the winter months as well. There is nothing special about "energy bars" they are just sugary carbs in bar form, just like a mars bars, snickers bar etc. Like to know why people think there is much difference between the 2 really, basically both full of sugars :?

Most of the year I make protein flapjacks and use these, can vary what is in them, but a good mix of quick release carbs, slow release carbs protein and fat, all which are useful on endurance rides.

ric/rstsport

except things such as snickers etc have a significantly larger amount of fat in them and less electrolyte and minerals in than a 'proper' energy bar (i'm saying what the difference is, irrespective of whether that's good bad or indifferent)

Tom Dean

23% fat according to the snickers website.

okgo

I have eaten snickers on a ride before, who gives a shit about fat, you're riding a bike, 200 calorie chocolate bar is hardly going to matter if you're burning 800 cals an hour.

sloppyschleckonds

Fat isn't a problem, it's the sugar.

ric/rstsport

okgo wrote:

I have eaten snickers on a ride before, who gives a shoot about fat, you're riding a bike, 200 calorie chocolate bar is hardly going to matter if you're burning 800 cals an hour.

obviously, not everyone burns 800 Kcal/hr. Additionally, most cyclists will give a "shoot" about their power to mass ratio and whether they have more lard or not to carry up a hill.

SBezza

Ric/RSTSport wrote:

except things such as snickers etc have a significantly larger amount of fat in them and less electrolyte and minerals in than a 'proper' energy bar (i'm saying what the difference is, irrespective of whether that's good bad or indifferent)

And so do things like flapjacks, but it isn't an issue, fat is not to be demonised to be honest. If you also have an energy drink with you then you will be getting plenty of electrolyte and minerals most likely, though to be honest for 90% of riding in the UK, the electrolyte and mineral thing is overblown IMO. Racing it might be worthwhile, and in hot weather, but for the majority of endurance riding then it isn't as bad as the energy companies make out. I have happily done long rides with just water and flapjacks/snickers without any issues. My general diet is over 20% fat so 23% fat in a snickers is neither here or there

SBezza

Ric/RSTSport wrote:

okgo wrote:

I have eaten snickers on a ride before, who gives a shoot about fat, you're riding a bike, 200 calorie chocolate bar is hardly going to matter if you're burning 800 cals an hour.

obviously, not everyone burns 800 Kcal/hr. Additionally, most cyclists will give a "shoot" about their power to mass ratio and whether they have more lard or not to carry up a hill.

Fat doesn't make you fat though Ric, surely you know it is all about energy balance, most people on an endurance ride even if only at 160 watts will burn through more than they will eat and drink.

Herbsman

okgo wrote:

I have eaten snickers on a ride before, who gives a shoot about fat, you're riding a bike, 200 calorie chocolate bar is hardly going to matter if you're burning 800 cals an hour.

Who cares about fat? Quality of ingredients is what matters, and also resistance to melting at back pocket temperature!

SBezza wrote:

There is nothing special about "energy bars" they are just sugary carbs in bar form, just like a mars bars, snickers bar etc. Like to know why people think there is much difference between the 2 really, basically both full of sugars :?

Snickers wrote:

MILK CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, COCOA BUTTER, CHOCOLATE, SKIM MILK, LACTOSE, MILKFAT, SOY LECITHIN, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR), PEANUTS, CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, MILKFAT, SKIM MILK, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, LACTOSE, SALT, EGG WHITES, CHOCOLATE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR.

Not exactly wholesome...

SIS Go Bar wrote:

Grape Juice, Apple (63%) (Apple Juice,Apple), Maltodextrin (from Maize), Rice & Soya Crisp (Rice Flour, Soya Protein Isolate, Oat Flour, Salt, Vegetable Oil,Lecithin), Raisins, Oats, Blackcurrant Juice, (8%), Soya Protein Isolate, Natural Flavouring, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Humectant (Calcium Lactate), Malic Acid

Maybe not as healthy as a banana but would rather eat something that's mostly fruit than what's in a Snickers.

ric/rstsport

what i meant, was that if energy in is > than energy out then your mass will increase. the attwater number for fat is 9 Kcal/g which is over twice the energy of protein or carbohydrate. therefore, it's likely (i'm not sitting here looking at nutrition panels) that the energy contained in an equal mass of a chocolate bar versus an energy bar is likely to have a higher number of calories, and accordingly, would make it harder to minimise weight and fat mass.

apparently, there are lots of cyclists who don't "burn through" all that "they will eat and drink". many are trying to lose fat mass.

SBezza

Ric/RSTSport wrote:

apparently, there are lots of cyclists who don't "burn through" all that "they will eat and drink". many are trying to lose fat mass.

I meant on the bike I am sure there are plenty that over compensate off the bike however

As an aside, I can't stand energy bars per se, far too sickly and don't really contain any nutrition that hasn't been processed to any significant degree. I ride most of the time with homemade flapjacks, that also contain a fair amount of fat (butter and nuts), and I think are far better than any energy bar that has been mass produced. I just think snickers are no worse than an energy bar, might be more fat, but that is not important in the grand scheme of things. People are scared of fat for very little reason, at least fat doesn't spike your blood glucose unlike the cheap sugars used in the vast majority of energy bars, and on an endurance ride this is just not needed (racing or very intense training is a different ballgame I will admit).

SBezza

Herbsman wrote:

okgo wrote:

I have eaten snickers on a ride before, who gives a shoot about fat, you're riding a bike, 200 calorie chocolate bar is hardly going to matter if you're burning 800 cals an hour.

Who cares about fat? Quality of ingredients is what matters, and also resistance to melting at back pocket temperature!

SBezza wrote:

There is nothing special about "energy bars" they are just sugary carbs in bar form, just like a mars bars, snickers bar etc. Like to know why people think there is much difference between the 2 really, basically both full of sugars :?

Snickers wrote:

MILK CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, COCOA BUTTER, CHOCOLATE, SKIM MILK, LACTOSE, MILKFAT, SOY LECITHIN, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR), PEANUTS, CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, MILKFAT, SKIM MILK, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, LACTOSE, SALT, EGG WHITES, CHOCOLATE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR.

Not exactly wholesome...

SIS Go Bar wrote:

Grape Juice, Apple (63%) (Apple Juice,Apple), Maltodextrin (from Maize), Rice & Soya Crisp (Rice Flour, Soya Protein Isolate, Oat Flour, Salt, Vegetable Oil,Lecithin), Raisins, Oats, Blackcurrant Juice, (8%), Soya Protein Isolate, Natural Flavouring, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Humectant (Calcium Lactate), Malic Acid

Maybe not as healthy as a banana but would rather eat something that's mostly fruit than what's in a Snickers.

And lots of processed stuff in the SiS bar as well, plus it tastes awful . I would rather eat the nuts in the snickers to be honest. I will admit the snickers bar is not healthy, but then again I don't think energy bars are healthy either hence why I make my own protein flapjacks. I can control what goes in them, they taste great and don't contain any processed ingredients (apart from the whey protein powder I guess). I do get your point able the melting chocolate though, that is not good, but as a fall back in the winter they are fine.

ric/rstsport

actually, i think the sis bars taste great (well the cherry vanillas one i have here). i could just sit and eat the whole box with a nice brew.

(and no sis don't pay me to say that!)

simon_e

Herbsman wrote:

Quality of ingredients is what matters, and also resistance to melting at back pocket temperature!

Mine go in the seat pack and only on winter/cool weather rides. I would never claim they were optimum nutrition and certainly don't rely on them alone.

Lots of cyclists seem to think that saving 100g off their bike is far more important than their diet. I still eat more fresh/raw veg and fruit and less processed stuff than most. A snickers while on the bike (at most once a week, probably less often) is not going to do much harm.

I haven't tried SiS bars but did sample a Powerbar once. It was awful, and many cereal or sports bars are poor. Torq are great but I can't easily justify the cost so a box of 24 lasts a very long time. Homemade fruit flapjacks are great.

The only problem with fatty food is that is slows absorption, so if you're riding fairly hard you can't quickly digest the food and get the energy to where it's needed. The worst thing I can think of eating before or during a ride is pork, yet so many people eat bacon sarnies or sausage rolls. I really don't get it. Yuck!