Friday Group Ride #135
I’m not sure when it finally happened, but sometime in the last 18 months, maybe less, I ate my last PowerBar. It wasn’t a conscious decision; I just stopped buying them and at some point ate the last of my stock. Gradually, over several trips to the store, I realized that I just couldn’t stomach the idea of eating another ounce of the textural equivalent to edible Play-Doh.
The only significant detail in this anecdote is that I seem to have lasted longer than most. A few weeks ago I asked around just to see who among my friends were still eating PowerBars and I couldn’t find a single devotee. Everyone I spoke to said it was a product that was part of their past, kinda like 8-speed drivetrains.
I have to admit, I spent the better part of 10 years with my head more or less down to new nutrition products. Most of what I ate and drank was confined to Clif Bars, the aforementioned PowerBars and Gatorade. The reasons were simple: All three products were/are readily available, are reasonably inexpensive as energy foods go and, not insignificantly, due to my familiarity with them, they were pretty easy to digest. This season that changed. Part of the change was a search for new options as my local Trader Joe’s carried fewer and fewer varieties of Clif Bar, and part of the change was the fact that any number of nutrition companies embraced RKP as never before, and sent me samples of products I’d never tried, some I’d never even thought to try.
The exception to this was the gradual trickle into my diet that gels made. Four or five years ago I noticed that during ultra-intense rides/events and at altitude I was having trouble digesting bars, particularly Clif Bars, so I began purchasing gels more frequently.
The upshot is that I’ve learned two things: 1) I’ve heard from a number of friends that as they have aged, their stomachs are a bit pickier about what they can eat during a really hard ride. 2) Whether you want to stick with rapidly digestible gels and chews or want something that has the taste and texture of actual food, the bike world is full of options now. The incredible diversity of options—and but a few are shown above—is a striking departure from where things were just over 20 years ago when your choices were either chocolate or malt-nut PowerBars.
I use those boxes to hold other bars and gels now. And yes, I bore easily; I need a lot of different flavors to choose from.
The folks at Honey Stinger would love it for me to review their products. I’m not sure there’s much to actually review. I love their chews, especially the Lime flavor and while I like their waffles, they don’t travel well. For me the real point to the post is to note that we have so many more options available to us. Dude, I can remember walking into convenience stores and choosing between Pop Tarts and Little Debbie snack cakes. We’ve come a long way.
Further to my reluctance to engage in a review of products, there’s a lot of competing formulations out there. I’m not well-enough-versed in the science to make any determination about whose blend works best. I can say that when it comes to gels, the two that provide the best kick for me are Gu Roctane and Accelerade. My favorite chews are Clif’s Shot Bloks, but that has a bit to do with the packaging; they are simply easier to remove from the wrapper as I ride.
What’s most significant for me within the energy food market are lightning rods behind Clif and Gu, Gary Erickson and Brian Vaughn, respectively. To the degree that there’s a real story to chase in the future, it would be going for a ride with these guys. An interesting aside, both companies are based in the original earthy-crunchy Mecca—the Bay Area. Erickson of Clif has chased an ever more natural, more organic approach, while still offering cutting-edge calorie uptake options like the Clif Shots and Shot Bloks. Vaughn has chased a slightly different direction, pursuing what strikes me as an ultimate human performance approach. Nothing seems to make this guy happier than seeing someone like sponsored athlete Rebecca Rusch break a record at Leadville.
There’s something about True Believers, capital T, capital B, that I really dig. I don’t doubt that PowerBar employs folks who swear by their product, but Erickson and Vaughn seem to epitomize the very athletic lifestyle their products cater to. Objective correlative: Last year at the Sea Otter Classic gran fondo I rode much of the day with Erickson. I noticed three tubes of Shot Bloks protruding from his left pocket. The tops of the plastic on all three tubes had been cleanly snipped away with scissors—ready to go.
So this week’s question is a simple one: what are you eating on the bike these days? We’ll even take it a bit further: Have you sworn off any particular energy foods? And, is there anything that makes you think twice before experimenting?
Recently a friend introduced me to sushi rolls sold at that lil convenience store on Topanga. After some 6k of climbing and consuming my fare share of Hammer products, Bonk Breakers, gels, etc. The sushi roll was absolutely amazing.
It’s now become habit to prepare a roll or two of my own before longer rides. Sticky rice, cream cheese, a strip of bacon and a carrot slice for crunch seems to do me a lot better.
There’s only so much mylar-packaged food you can take.
Big fan of Clifbar products. Love Gary’s Panforte. Cherry Almond is second favorite. Have one about halfway through a ride. Will occasionally consume a gel if ride exceeds 100 km. Clifbar Cherry Cola with caffeine gel is the standby. I normally ride with a bottle of water and a bottle of Accelerade. Just ordered some Skratch labs product.
Back in the late 80′s our cycling team received a product sponsorship from Powerbar. Seemed like we had a never ending supply Thought they were nasty back then. Still do. I remember during the winter sticking the Powerbar inside my jersey in a vain effort to keep them from becoming hard as rock during cold rides. Once Clifbar hit the market, never bought another Powerbar.
I was given Alan Lim’s cookbook, and have started making my own energy bars. For gels, I use Enervit exclusively. I find the are the best tasting, and have a nice consistency. For races I use a Cheerpack in the last 40km. Works wonders.
I’ve found that I prefer real food as much as possible. I eat a half of a Peanut-butter, honey and banana on whole grain sandwich about every 30 miles and supplement that with trail mix, Honey Stinger waffles (not the chocolate) and fig newtons.
“Malt-nut” Power Bars! Seriously, those things were horrendous.
I ride so infrequently, I’m able to make a big deal of it. I’ll pack a few, small ham & cheese “half” sandwiches, but I pack ‘em nice & tight as if I’m receiving them from my imaginary mussette that I picked up in my imaginary feed-zone from my imaginary soigneur a couple hours into my ride. Fig Newton’s (or more specifically, the generic one’s from the bread store) are a staple during workouts. I’ve even started carrying a few on my longer runs (yes, I said run)…cheaper’n gels. Also, I never leave on a ride without a banana and/or peach/plum in my jersey pocket.
Clif shot blocks in margherita flavor for extremely long rides. They pack in the sodium and help kill cramps for me. Otherwise any whole food. If I have to use a gel then I prefer the newer endurox 4:1 gels. They taste great and you don’t have to drink as much water with them as you have to with thicker gels like GU brand.
Power what? Those things are still back in the early 90s with I-Rock Z-28s neon hats and Yes’ Big Generator!
To those who make Lim energy bars, did you have trouble with the consistency? The couple times I’ve made them, they end up falling apart pretty easily when I try to eat them. Any suggestions?
@Clark are you sure you are using the correct rice?
I found the first couple of time I made them they consistency was not good like you said. Then I made them using a quality sushi rice and they hold together nicely now.
@Scott, I’ve been using Calrose, which I understand to be sticky but not a true sushi rice. Is that what you were using before switching to sushi rice?
When the choices were only PowerBar and ClifBars, I ate a LOT of fig newtons! Now, with young kids at home, my longest rides are pretty short. 2-3 hours and my normal ride is my 60-70 minute ride to work in the morning. I don’t eat on the bike much. I have had a box of ClifBars now for about 4 months. I think I’ve eaten two.
I got my first job when I was a BMX-obsessed 8th grader, working as an all-around shop helper and gopher at Wheelworks in Belmont, MA (great job, by the way – $6/hr was a lot of money for a 14 year old in 1988). I think that was the first and last time I had a Powerbar. I’m sure they’ve improved since then, but nowadays I generally head out with a couple of GU gels and a simple, no-nonsense PBJ on whole wheat. The suck in the gels about 1.5 hrs in, followed by the sandwich an hour later, usually washed down with some powdered Gatorade prepared about 1/4 diluted.
^Sorry, typo. Supposed to read “I suck in the gels…”
@Clark, regular short grain rice and sushi rice are quite different. Calrose short gain is only a little bit sticky. Sushi rice is much more sticky and is used to make rice balls throughout asia. If you can’t find sushi rice in bulk, one trick is to soak short grain rice for 30-60 minutes before cooking. That will make it more sticky, though still not as sticky as sushi rice.
Yep, energy bars will bind and constrict in my gut. It must be the 45+ years of wear and tear on my system that makes energy bars turn to concrete in my large intestine.
Instead, I’ve gone the “real food” route. Orange wedges. Peanut butter. Banana. Cheese slices. Baby carrots. Anything that has fiber and a bit of energy or protein. It’s not as convenient, and requires a bit of pre-planning and pre-ride prep, but the price of a grab-and-go energy bar is just too steep (in future discomfort) for this rider.
I make my own – organic bananas, molasses, honey & peanut butter. If the bananas are really ripe it looks and flows like baby poop, so my friends call it Pu. Works on the Philly Livestrong century, so I believe in it.
Clif Bars (cut into cubes and stuffed in bento box).
Brown rice syrup in gel flask with large bore spout.
Plain water (can’t stand sports drinks if not ice cold)
Endurolytes or Salt Stick capsules
Flour tortillas rolled with turkey, cheddar, spinach and brown mustard
Been very happy with Clif products, but for rides longer than 60 miles or over 5,000 feet of climbing am supplementing with home-made chocolate spice nut biscotti made with cocoa nibs, and small (small!) red or gold baked or boiled potatoes rolled in salt. The biscotti are the perfect shape for the jersey pocket and I can spice them up with ginger, chili, or whatever, as well as boost the salt. The potatoes are a little more problematic on the bike but great at scenic overlooks…but taste best on Ridgecrest in Marin…
And for quick and dirty at the convenience store or vending machine: Corn-nuts and Coke!
PB, bananas and raw honey on whole grain bread. 1 sandwich cut up into 4 pieces and indivdually wrapped in aluminum foil will usually get me through a moderated to high intensity 4 hour ride. (OF course I have a big bowl of oatmeal and fruit(and chia seed!) and an egg beforehand.) I always have a gel or some gel blocks for emergencies. Plain water only. On especially hot days, I will stop to buy some salted peanuts for the calories and the sodium.
I try to avoid most store bought energy foods due to their packaging, the fact that they are often not made locally, and the presence of ingredients that have come from the industrial food chain.
+1 on the saltstick. I like to mix gatorade on the weak side, and on long (50 mile+) rides, I wasn’t getting enough electrolytes to prevent cramping. They also are great to carry if you have to get H2O at a gas station.
Thanks to all the people that suggested skratch. I just got some and tried it. Wow, talk about a refreshing drink for rides. I’m never buying another gatorade, ever!
The big food markets here put PowerBars on sale every so often, I stock up when they do, can get them for about 1/3 the price of any other product.
Just eat them and don’t spend time thinking about it.
I have ramped my time on the bike and, as I have done so, noticed I don’t tolerate the gels as well anymore.
Basically, I’ll use some form of energy drink in one bottle, plain water in another and a granola bar or peanut butter sandwich in my jersey pocket.
If they ride is hot and over 60 miles, I’ll also bring a salt tablet which seems to help me.
For recovery, I try to mix protein and carbs – a smoothie with plenty of fruit, soy milk and some whey or soy protein.
I have definitely experimented with my fair share of products and am finding a few energy drinks work for me and real food whether a banana, a small sandwich, or a granola bar is what I do best with.
That’s it-
J
Padraig, I guess to answer your question directly, I am open to new things so have been experimental in the past. That being said, for food products, the ingredients and the taste are primary as well as the claimed function.
HAmmer to me was a company I was interested in. I tried Heed and Perpetuem for a bit. Their ingredients and claimed function were both straightforward and well thought out. I still use Heed today for hydration at times, but food substitutes in the bottle don’t work as well for me.
I’ve started making my own energy bars (the best can be found on Georgia Gould’s website). They’re cheaper and taste great. When hot, I love Clif Bloks. Lemon-lime but I think that flavor has been discontinued. Also lemon-lime Gu gels are a staple that I mix in with real food on long events. Also making my own recovery drinks to save money.
A little love for PowerBar! I always remember PD as the first of the sports bars, and they were such an improvement over carrying fig bars, or anything. they didn’t mess up your jersey by leaking and getting sticky stuff all over you during a ride. The MaltNut is a pretty dry, but I remember the Berry flavor they came out with as being one of my first true loves. I do a lot Cliff Bars now, mostly because they are cheap and convenient at Walmart and Trader Joes. But try the PowerBalls, those are my new favorite, though I am not a big fan of the packaging. As for gels, I mostly look for something with some caffeine. And for any ride over 5 hours, sorry, but I got to have some real food and MickeyD’s never let me down!
Just tried GU Electrolyte drink mix (raspberry) on a whim after seeing it near the cash register at a local sports store. We’ve always used Gatorade powder purchased cheap cheap cheap from the local supermarket. I always figured the more expensive drink mixes were just more expensive sugar, but the maltodextrin in the GU is WAY less syrupy sweet tasting and I so found it much easier to swallow on a hard ride/trainer session (and the flavour is nicer too, more mild and natural tasting). It’s at least double the price of Gatorade, but honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to Gatorade now.
Does anyone out there know, reliably and accurately, what people ate when they did long rides and raced bikes BEFORE ~1986, when Powerbars first appeared? I gather some people used to ride hard back at least as far as the 1960s, maybe even earlier?
i’ve tried Allen Lim’s concoctions and like them a lot. although i still consume Clifbars when i don’t have the time to make any rice the night before a ride. i also take along Clifshots…and like others here, never got used to the Powerbar consistency and taste. i mix SkratchLab hydration mix in my water bottles. i still have some GU gels left.