Good alternative to Energy gels?

[silentbutdeadly]

If you are racing...honey shotz and banana chips. And plenty of water.

Otherwise, muesli bars work for me.

[human909]

I thought half the point of a long ride was so you could have an excellent excuse to eat good food and drink good coffee.

[Le Mong]

If you are racing...honey shotz and banana chips. And plenty of water.

Otherwise, muesli bars work for me.

Honey shotz are great

[kman]

+1

Gels are really meant for racing where you need quick energy and can't stop for a bite to eat.

On long rides there is plenty of time to stop to get some real food that will provide sustained energy.

I guess I really got ahead of myself here Got too excited about all the coming long rides without realising I could take a 10 minute break and eat something decent.

I'm definitely not racing ... it was only my ego racing by himself and my big ego wasted a bit of cash on a box of energy gels. Lesson learned.

I'm glad I shared my thought and thanks for reminding me why i'm riding. To have a good time

[djw47]

Bananas, although not practical on long rides, are great but take up a lot of pocket space. The SPC fruit/jelly packs are also good, fit easily in the pocket and are natural. Not quite the hit of a processed gel but close. cyclingexpress.com are selling GUs for $0.99 each at the minute so I've just bought a load of them.

[Spaniel]

+1 for bananas and peanut butter sandwiches. Carry a gel or two just in case the wind gets up or you have a bad day.

[ausrandoman]

Eat food, drink water.

[Slowcoach]

I've had a few dental problems recently that I put squarely at the feet of overusing energy gels. I have now substituted for a bit of everything - bananas, uncle tobys muesli bars (cheap), bounce protein balls (nice but expensive), Cliff energy bars (cheap at costco in bulk).

[rjk]

most of the meusili bars contain nuts, so if you are like me and intolerant of nuts finding alternatives are always a chore.

they wont kill me but i just dont process them very well so the old peanut butter and nutella are out, banana and honey mashed together then on a whole grain sandwich is a good alternative

[Paul B]

I have been fairly diet conscious for years. Currently, I am in a pretty strict phase where 100% of my food intake is unprocessed. So I eat nothing packaged... just fruit, nuts, home baked bread, soups etc. I can't understand why otherwise health conscious people would want to put this crap in their bodies. I have not tried a gel, nor do I intend to, they appear to be just highly processed garbage. This is what I carry in my jersey pocket:
http://www.naturallifeenergy.com/health ... d-for-you/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"In many ways, dates may be considered almost an ideal food" Watch the 90 second video at the end of the article... great stuff.

[defy1]

Just found the wonders of SPC Fruit Jellys
80 calories, 20g carbs and 20g sugar and only $1 something...
Perfect alternative to overpriced jells.

[RonK]

I have been fairly diet conscious for years. Currently, I am in a pretty strict phase where 100% of my food intake is unprocessed. So I eat nothing packaged... just fruit, nuts, home baked bread, soups etc. I can't understand why otherwise health conscious people would want to put this crap in their bodies. I have not tried a gel, nor do I intend to, they appear to be just highly processed garbage. This is what I carry in my jersey pocket:
http://www.naturallifeenergy.com/health ... d-for-you/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"In many ways, dates may be considered almost an ideal food" Watch the 90 second video at the end of the article... great stuff.

Dried figs also rate highly and have no seed to choke on.

[Crawf]

On my 3rd batch of these, probably not for someone who wants to watch their waist, but they taste damn gooood.

Pretty much contains everything that has been already mentioned.

[Dragster1]

If you are racing...honey shotz and banana chips. And plenty of water.

Otherwise, muesli bars work for me.

Honey shotz are great

Works a treat for me also

[Lukeyboy]

I enjoy a good snickers bar on the longer 120km rides

[Paul B]

I enjoy a good snickers bar on the longer 120km rides

What about on the shorter 120km rides ?

[mtbkym01]

What are the little fruit bars like, like dried apricot, strawberry etc

[Lukeyboy]

I enjoy a good snickers bar on the longer 120km rides

What about on the shorter 120km rides ?

Cadbury plain chocolate bars because you don't have the nuts for riding over 119.9km

[winstonw]

++1
the longer the ride the slower the pace, and the more normal your food. you want to have a break at least every 2 hours on rides over 5 hours.
I do a mixture of sweet and savory foods. generally have two lunches with a healthy sandwich or even a cooked brunch. electrolyte is the only fluid I take on the bike, but may drink water with meals. I also carry dried fruit rather than gels these days, esp dates. and also a rice bar or two.

On 8-10 hour rides, I see guys die in the afternoon due to lack of good food and adequate fluid earlier in the day. start taking Calories at the beginning of the 2nd hour....and have breaky before starting. On 150+k rides, it is sensible to stop for a proper lunch, and even a quick feet up shut eye if you are fatigued. Riding tired later in the afternoon can set you up to make a lot of silly and dangerous mistakes.

[ldrcycles]

It could be worse, you could have bought Endura gels, those things are hard to stomach when they're free!

+1 to honey shotz, they're yummy, but usually I eat more substantial stuff, on long rides i'll stop at a café or servo for burgers and such, or if I want to keep riding while eating, Special K chocolatey bars are very light and easy to get down. For a more substantial snack All Natural Bakery yoghurt almond and apricot oat slice bars from the supermarket are absolutely fantastic.

And fun fact about bananas, due to the potassium content and the fact that the potassium-40 isotope is radioactive, eating 600 nanas is apparently equivalent to a full chest x ray .

[Dan]

And fun fact about bananas, due to the potassium content and the fact that the potassium-40 isotope is radioactive, eating 600 nanas is apparently equivalent to a full chest x ray .

Durianrider must glow in the dark.

[kb]

On 8-10 hour rides, I see guys die in the afternoon due to lack of good food and adequate fluid earlier in the day. start taking Calories at the beginning of the 2nd hour....and have breaky before starting. On 150+k rides, it is sensible to stop for a proper lunch, and even a quick feet up shut eye if you are fatigued. Riding tired later in the afternoon can set you up to make a lot of silly and dangerous mistakes.

Did my longest ride so far yesterday (270km) and this advice was spot on for me. Not enough fluid in the first two hours. Food wasn't quite as bad but did overeat at lunch due to delaying food intake too.

[petie]

I can't believe how many people suggest eating at a servo. I have never seen a servo serve anything that remotely resembles food!?! I buy a Gatorade, maybe, if I am about to shrivel up completely...

[thearthurdog]

Just found the wonders of SPC Fruit Jellys
80 calories, 20g carbs and 20g sugar and only $1 something...
Perfect alternative to overpriced jells.

And if I am correct 'missing' a lot of the important stuff. If you get gels at the right price they are decent value.

[ldrcycles]

I can't speak for anyone else but when i'm doing a 200+km ride calories are calories, and i'm not going to get enough of em by eating a salad .

Usually for me it's things like chicko rolls, crumbed sausages, garlic chicken balls, fish and chips, burgers etc. Obviously they're fairly dense so no sprint intervals for half an hour or so but after things have settled no worries.