Phones and gels

jasondxb

Went out yesterday to complete my longest ride to date, 90k's

Read all the advice of drinking and eating, so went armed with some dates and a couple of gels, just in case. Also decided to take my phone with me, I usually leave it in the car

Set off with everything in the back pockets, used one of the gels about half way round, and instead of throwing it on the floor, I put it back in my pocket

Finished the ride, chuffed to bits as doing the 90k, it was not until I got home, reached round to empty my pockets, to have the phone stick to my hand as it was covered in gel. Now most of the buttons don't work :roll:

Another lesson learnt, take a sandwhich bag to put the empty gel pack in

napoleond

Take a sandwich bag to put the phone in, less faff!

Brakeless

NapoleonD wrote:

Take a sandwich bag to put the phone in, less faff!

This

Also protects your phone if it rains.

jasondxb

Not much chance of rain for at least the next 6 months, temp at 5am yesterday morning was 28 degrees, by 930 it had reached 44 degrees, but will definitely be using a bag in future

goonz

You cant be in the UK then...

dilatory

jasondxb wrote:

Not much chance of rain for at least the next 6 months, temp at 5am yesterday morning was 28 degrees, by 930 it had reached 44 degrees, but will definitely be using a bag in future

Pah. I'm glad your phone broke! :-p

How many pockets do you have? My jerseys have 3. A couple have a zipped pocket that I stick money/phone in on top of 3 pockets.

Flâneur

or roll it up and put it up your short leg.

oblongomaculatus

With gels, a little sticky goes a long way! And if you spill one down yourself as you open it, which I did recently, it feels horrible as it dries. Try these: Mini drinks bottles for gels. They hold about three or four gels each, depending on the brand, and fit comfortably in your jersey pocket.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/high ... lsrc=aw.ds

Initialised

dilatory wrote:

jasondxb wrote:

Not much chance of rain for at least the next 6 months, temp at 5am yesterday morning was 28 degrees, by 930 it had reached 44 degrees, but will definitely be using a bag in future

Pah. I'm glad your phone broke! :-p

How many pockets do you have? My jerseys have 3. A couple have a zipped pocket that I stick money/phone in on top of 3 pockets.

Putting your phone in a bag will also protect it from sweat which is probably worse for it than rain due to the high salt content.

stongle

Your phone has buttons? How quaint!

Silly Old Hector

sa0u823e wrote:

or roll it up and put it up your short leg.

How did you know he had a short leg ?

What do you do when you wear biblongs ? :?

Gels and brake levers - a great combination....

DavidJB

stongle wrote:

Your phone has buttons? How quaint!

Yeah from that description it was time for an upgrade 8)

markhewitt1978

I put my gels in my saddle bag yesterday, but I forgot to take them out at the end - oops!

In any case in an idle moment at the cafe I was looking how much energy is in a gel vs a cereal bar, and the latter has about double! So presumably for distance riding - i.e. not racing and attacking, the cereal bar is going to be my better bet, and it doesn't make a mess!

ai_1

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I put my gels in my saddle bag yesterday, but I forgot to take them out at the end - oops!

In any case in an idle moment at the cafe I was looking how much energy is in a gel vs a cereal bar, and the latter has about double! So presumably for distance riding - i.e. not racing and attacking, the cereal bar is going to be my better bet, and it doesn't make a mess!

Gels are useful for a quick energy boost but it's not a vast amount of energy as you said and because it's simple sugars it spikes your blood sugar shortly after taking it but then chances are you'll feel worse a little while later. I prefer cereal bars and the like until the last 25km or so of a long cycle like a big sportive or I may take a gel a little earlier ahead of a very tough hill if I'm feeling the need, but not early in a cycle.

Joeblack

Silly Old Hector wrote:

sa0u823e wrote:

or roll it up and put it up your short leg.

How did you know he had a short leg ?

What do you do when you wear biblongs ? :?

Gels and brake levers - a great combination....

44 degrees and bib longs?

Alrighty then :roll:

oblongomaculatus

Joeblack wrote:

Silly Old Hector wrote:

sa0u823e wrote:

or roll it up and put it up your short leg.

How did you know he had a short leg ?

What do you do when you wear biblongs ? :?

Gels and brake levers - a great combination....

44 degrees and bib longs?

Alrighty then :roll:

Fahrenheit?

navrig2

Initialised wrote:

dilatory wrote:

jasondxb wrote:

Not much chance of rain for at least the next 6 months, temp at 5am yesterday morning was 28 degrees, by 930 it had reached 44 degrees, but will definitely be using a bag in future

Pah. I'm glad your phone broke! :-p

How many pockets do you have? My jerseys have 3. A couple have a zipped pocket that I stick money/phone in on top of 3 pockets.

Putting your phone in a bag will also protect it from sweat which is probably worse for it than rain due to the high salt content.

This and the fact that sweat will start life as "vapour" and more likely to condense inside your phone.

cougie

There was a bloke on here telling me off for daring to suggest that sweat would damage a phone. Seeing as i've killed earphones with sweat - I don't see that a pretty tecchy piece of kit would love sweat - hence I always put it in a zip loc.

I'd never thought of the gel issue before - I try not to use them and put them in bin as soon as possible when I do have to use them

ai_1

Gosh. So glad this thread turned up. Otherwise I would never have known that both energy gel and sweat are detrimental to phones. We must tell everyone at once!
Why are there no warnings about this? It's not like it's obvious......oh!

Miles253

oblongomaculatus wrote:

With gels, a little sticky goes a long way! And if you spill one down yourself as you open it, which I did recently, it feels horrible as it dries. Try these: Mini drinks bottles for gels. They hold about three or four gels each, depending on the brand, and fit comfortably in your jersey pocket.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/high ... lsrc=aw.ds

I've never seen these before, cool. Do you manage to squeeze all the gel out? Surely they are a bit thick

oblongomaculatus

I came across them by chance the day after I'd spilled a gel down one leg of my bib tights, when looking for something else. They work well with most gels. Clif shots and GU are a bit gloopy, but you can add a little water which helps.

cougie

If you have a gel you'll want to wash it down with water - so why not premix it with water ? Seems to make sense to me ?

A gel is just a really concentrated sports drink after all ?

oblongomaculatus

True, but adding water adds volume and weight. I only do it with the thicker ones, which are more like a paste and wouldn't flow properly out of the flask otherwise.

dabber

oblongomaculatus wrote:

True, but adding water adds volume and weight. I only do it with the thicker ones, which are more like a paste and wouldn't flow properly out of the flask otherwise.

The bottle you gave a link to is only 120ml to start with. I uses SIS gels and these are 60ml so it will only hold 2 of these at the most (without adding any additional fluid).

oblongomaculatus

Like I said, most gels are liquid enough not to need extra water, including I think SIS ones. The flasks are small enough that you can take more than one out with you. I usually take one filled with caffeinated gel and one with non caffeinated.

goonz

Blimey, 2 pages on gels!

Just put the phone in a sandwich bag in one pocket on the far side and the gels in the other end pocket. This way you wont ever get them mixed together.

Those little bottle things look more hassle then their worth imo.

wellbeloved747

Phone in a Zip lock bag or a waterproof sailing case or a handlebar mound, i use the quad lock

sbbefc

I have a gel in case of an emergency, havnt used it yet. I try to stick to normal food, gels just tend to make me feel a bit sick after a while.

markhewitt1978

Gels don't make me sick but they don't seem to do much for me either. Cereal bar is far better IMO.

Garry H

Mini pork pies. They come in their own casing and are bio-degradable.

markhewitt1978

Garry H wrote:

Mini pork pies. They come in their own casing and are bio-degradable.

I like your thinking! Mini pasties too!

Tiny gripe: You see branches of Greggs all the time, but when you're on a big ride, can you find one?!