Gels and other nutrional products

[Pain Freak]

Really I'm not sure if it's just the newb's or everybody, but it's really not necessary to use a gel till you have a couple hours in on a ride. Sure if you skipped breakfast or haven't ate in a while I could see it, but it's really not needed.

Today on our road ride it was my turn to sweep and we had this girl eating gels every couple miles. She happened to be the caboose. I told her she wasn't doing much for herself, but she said she loved them. She's quite a bit overweight so I let her know that if she was pushing really hard she'd be spending about 700 calories an hour and she really wasn't even breaking a sweat, so I asked her how many gels had she consumed and she thought 7 or 8. These gels are coming in at 250 calories so she is literally gaining weight while riding.

She had so many other things wrong (seat to far back and to low,handlebars way to high, clipless pedals where you can barely get in them and the list goes on and on. I didn't want to overwhelm her with all the hints, so I let it go. Man, how do you handle this, so many things wrong? I really feel sorry for her.

[allison]

I think gels are important for races and training. I don't generally use them on recreational rides. Sometimes I'll take a small shot from my gel flask before climbing Indian Creek. But, other than bars and some bloks for a road ride gel's probably aren't essential. A good breakfast, digestion time, and water may be best. Unless it's like 4-6 hours.

[Jman]

It's interesting that you posted this because on my recent road ride that lasted a little more than 2 and a half hours and had some fairly good climbs that I wasn't used too (up Rancho California Rd in Temeculafor anyone who knows the area) I decided I'd try a couple of gel packs. They didn't taste bad and I felt fairly energetic throughout the ride. I had one at the first hour mark as I was feeling sort of hungry (about three hours after a decent breakfast) the second one at the second hour mark just after a grueling walk up Los Gatos Rd (I think its a 27% grade). I probably didn't need the second one but I really didn't feel drained like a usually do after two hours in the saddle. So do I chalk that up to improved fitness from my increase in saddle time or the gels?

I'm not a total newb but I have really been interested in just more time on the bike. Those 12 and 24 hour events are actually drawing my attention when at one time I thought those racing them were nuts....I think I'm crossing over to the dark side.

[ddmansprty]

I would only focus on things that she is doing that might cause her harm. Everyone is different. Some people welcome suggestions, some don't. Perhaps throw something out and see if she responds positively to it. I have been riding bikes my whole life and still would never consider myself an expert. I always welcome suggestions and take them as a form of help from someone in our cycling community. If the suggestion comes off as a suggestion and not a criticism, she might listen.

[Pain Freak]

Some of the gels you'll notice a slight "boost" from, but there is the downside too. You have to keep taking these or you'll crash and then end up bonking, not a good thing. There are only a couple gels I consider worthwhile. I stay away from fructose and refined sugars. I do a lot of long endurance riding ( in excess of 10 hour rides) and then these are a must (the good gels) along with some other high calorie type of nutrition. I personally don't like to much solid food.

Yeah, I watch to see how they take a hint to see if I should continue on, but I'm no expert either. I just have a hard time seeing them struggle so unecessarily.

[Jman]

So which ones are the good gels. I tried the powerbar ones I believe.

[allison]

Originally Posted by Jman

So which ones are the good gels. I tried the powerbar ones I believe.

For pure flavor, I like the multi box of Gu from Performance (usually on sale).

But, I really like using the Hammer Gel flask, and I buy their larger bottles of Tropical (has caffeine). You can buy them in single serving pouches also.

[Pilas]

A lot of people, especially beginners, get the whole nutrition/hydration issue wrong.
I have done my share of reading about this topic and I have even attended some of our team meetings when we had some coaches or nutritionists as guest speakers.
All the research seems to point in the same direction.
Here are some things that I have learned:
1.If you ride/exercise for less than an hour, water is all is needed.
2. If you ride over an hour, you'll need some kind of electrolyte replacement. I prefer the ones with little sugar and plenty of sodium. My drink of choice is GU2O. I have used Accelerade in the past, and while it's OK for longer, slower rides, it's not good for hard efforts like a XC race.
3. If you eat well in the days before a ride or race, and your energy stores are full, you shouldn't need to eat anything on rides lasting less than 1:30 to 2 hours. I usually don't eat anything, other than my sports drink, on rides under 2 hours.
4. For rides longer than that you need to consume some source of food, as your reserves will be depleted after 2 hours or so. I only eat gels while racing, even during longer endurance type races. For slower training rides, I'll also have a nutritional bar (cliff, balance, etc.)
5. A well known sports nutritionist told us that your body can only absorb 1 gram of carbohydrate per min., and that includes your sports drink. That is where a lot of people get it wrong. A lot of them overeat while riding.
Mike, next time you ride with that lady again, you may want to share some of this info with her. I know that sometimes is hard to help beginner riders without sounding condescending, but experienced riders like you have the duty to help out.
Remember, we were all "newbies" when we first started and we took the advice of the experienced riders to help us become better.

[ddmansprty]

I agree, Gu's are probably the best. I usually only use them for long distance hiking.

[OffRoadie]

I prefer Hammer products to Gu. I've used Sustained Energy, Perpetuem, and HEED, and Hammer gels. I used to buy Gu because most places carry it, but I found a local place that carries Hammer.

[MTBMaven]

I rode from Pasadena to San Diego, 145 miles, recently with only on mouth full of gel. I usually consume much more gel but this time didn't need it. While riding I ate Fig Newtons and Hammer Perpeteum. I consumed 6 scoops of Perpeteum over 11 hours. At stops I had a turkey sandwich at Starbucks and a King Sized Snickers. That was it all day, no breakfast. I finished feeling pretty strong. 2 Porters and a burger at Karl Strauss Brewery sure help though. I am considering not using gels in the future. They get quite expensive if you ride a lot.

I hear you Mike. It is hard to watch people doing things totally wrong when you know the right or better way of doing it. I feel much the same way about watching people wear backpacks. I was taught how to fit a pack by Wayne Gregory, the founder of Gregory packs, while working outdoor retail in college. Positioning the hip belt on the illiac crest makes all the difference in the world. I see people on the trail or in the airport with packs that are totally not right for them. It is hard not to go adjust things for them.

[Pain Freak]

Yeah, more and more LBS's and other shops are starting to carry the Hammer Products. I occasionally use the other products, but none work as well as Hammer Products. On the long rides I can get by with nothing but Perpetuem. I mix a water bottle with about 3,000 calories in it and that gets me through 200 miles. Problem is though a normal person spends about 7,000 doing the ride.

[S54MCoupe]

As far as coaching her and helping her out:

The last 4 months I've been fortunate enough to train 4-5 days a week with a professional racer. Now, in most peoples eyes, I would be a competent and reasonably strong rider, but it's all relative. I know that compared to him I'm slow and really lacking in skill and knowledge.

It's like martial arts, though. You can only feed someone so much knowledge at a time. Give them small bits of infomation and let it digest. That's what he does for me; "ride in a different gear on this section of the climb", "control your breathing more", "control your position on the bike on hard climbs." Even changes on my bike; over the last 4 months, I've progressivly lost spacers under my stem; it's pretty much bottomed out now. Little by little, it sinks in. If he were to correct every little thing I was doing wrong all at once, I would be overwhelmed, and walk away with nothing. On every ride, he'll help me with a few different things, and I can remember them clearly.

We were ALL Freds at one point, and we'll ALWAYS be Freds compared to those on the top. It's always cool to see those on the top being cool to those on the bottom. I rode with Ivan Dominguez a few weekends ago. You would never expect one of the fastest sprinters in the United States to be such a nice guy; really down to Earth and friendly to everyone else that's out on a bike. We need more guys like that in the sport.

[Jman]

As a practitioner of the martial arts I would totally agree. Sensei could easily destroy me and take me apart both from a technical stand point and in a head to head situation but he doesn't. He'll walk by and adjust a foot here or ask me to adjust my balance there (yes ask...I would never define what he does as telling me.) It's really cool and an attitude I've tried to take with my kids as well as those I work with.

[northshore]

For me I typically just eat a decent breakfast. If I don't eat breakfast I'll eat a cliff bar. More importantly for me is keeping hydrated since I pour sweat on rides... It's enough for a 2-3 ride for me.

[RidetheRAAM4]

Originally Posted by Pilas

5. A well known sports nutritionist told us that your body can only absorb 1 gram of carbohydrate per min., and that includes your sports drink. That is where a lot of people get it wrong. A lot of them overeat while riding.

I think that its easier to think of it in calories I think. Most people typically can absorb 250-280 calories an hour. SO if you have gels that are about 100 calories each, you should be doing 3 every hour and 10 minutes or so.

[schleppp]

The one thing I would add is that your "training day" nutrition should match your race day nutrition. And never try something new on race day!!!

[.8down]

all I know is after a night of staying up and drinking, a shot block works wonders for me on earlier rides...

[Pilas]

Originally Posted by RidetheRAAM4