Basil Moss

I'm thinking of stuff like caffeine, bicarb, creatine or sodium phosphate. Things which either have small or questionable benefits, definitely aren't food, but which aren't on the banned list. Would have included glycerine but apparently it is banned.

Any of you take these things? I take pretty monster doses of caffeine toward the end of races, and have had it to get really pumped before a TT. Have heard of people taking lots of bicarb before hillclimbs too, never tried it though. And Friel raves about the wonders of sodium phospate, more familiar with it in the bowel prep we give people before an endoscopy at work (hospital) than for doping personally...

slim_77

I take insulin (don't worry, I'm a T1). Great for recovery; bad for drinking on new years eve...

I know a guy that will take a teaspoon of bicarb in a big glass of water two or three hours before a hard training ride or race, he claims it does help buffer lactic acid. And he is genuine bad ass. I dunno, I don't mess around with anything because I wouldn't do it right and get sick.

euphoria

...it takes 30 mins. to metabolize

tc83

There was an article in men's health over the summer about the antioxidant in FRS (quercetin) in high doses has been shown to have dramatic performance enhancing effects. Joe Friel weighed in and speculated that it would be banned within 2 years.

pjcampbell

what is bicarb and sodium phosphate?

2005trek1200

just got some HAMMER race caps supremes for christmas from the inlaws; have yet to try them out, some people swear that they give them more endurance, we will see...

anyone else have experience with Race Caps?

btw..i also take a b complex supplement every morning, jury is out if it increases energy, somedays it sure feels like it others not;

tadawdy

bicarb is sodium bicarbonate, the stuff in baking soda. sodium phosphate is just that. They dissociate in water to yield bases (bicarbonate and phosphate ion). The idea is that they help buffer blood acid. Some studies have shown benefits, but the doses required for those benefits cause most people significant GI upset.

substructure

Some of these supplements help on such a minuscule scale to some that I don't see wasting money on them.
Save your money by: Eating better. Sleeping better. Training better.

When you get to an elite status and you think it may help, then perhaps. But there are so many things we could do to better ourselves overall.

ldesfor1@ithaca

i use beta alanine. i like it. no real data.

Fat Boy

That's the great thing about placebo's...they work right away!

Basil Moss

That's why I take it over the last hour of the race.

For sure your food and training is much more important than any legal supplements to how fast you go on the bike. That's not what I'm asking about here. I just wonder how many of us amateur racers use permitted substances to give us an edge, or at least the impression of having one. I'm sure the caffeine is mostly psychological- good painkiller, and makes you feel a bit less dead. Of course the evidence concerning improved absorbtion of water and carbs, and enhanced fat metabolism is pretty clear now,.

Trucker Dan

I know some guys that take pro-hormone stuff you can get online or at gnc. They claim it can raise your hematocrit about %5 and reduce your recovery times after hard rides. The downside is that they can damage your liver.

Basil Moss

Just read up about them on the Hammer website. Looks like a right quack remedy if ever I saw one...

Fat Boy

I've been known to keep a couple espresso beans in a pocket and chew them up at the end of the race. Even if they don't do anything chemically, they taste bad enough to make you mean, and sometimes that's enough.

I've also used SportsLegs. Does it do anything? I don't know. It doesn't seem to hurt.

ElJamoquio

...and it's almost certainly UCI/WADA-illegal

EventServices

So is it you or monster dose of caffeine that's winning the race?
And if you're not making it on the podium, are you taking monster doses of caffeine just to be mediocre?

Joe Parkin says it best on page 105 of his book "Dog in a Hat" when he talks about talking to his parents after the race: "looking them in the face while they feel sorry for me was better than staring at their shoes while they offered their congratulations."

andre nickatina

I mainly enjoy the taste of a triple shot espresso before a race, and coffee/tea before training. Nearly always get my caffeine in beforehand.

I tried Sports Legs... first time they didn't do a thing. Next time I used them, I'd say they worked as advertised.

Bob Dopolina 

I started this thread about a product that is legal under UCI and WADA rules. I am convinced it helps under racing or hard training conditions.

I also have a pretty tight vitamin regiment to help with my iron stores and to help stabilize homocrit and hemoglobin counts. I have a decade of blood tests to support what I'm doing.

I also take Calcium because there is a mountain of evidence that shows how most endurance athletes are deficient.

However, as was stated above, if you don't get the eating, sleeping and training right first none of it will help you at all.

hammy56

^^^Ive had positive results with this.

waterrockets 

Oreos.

Fat Boy

Didn't you see the latest WADA release? The cookies are fine, but the filling is illegal.

ElJamoquio

..

hammy56

This was suppose to be a secret

waterrockets 

ElJ, where do I get me some of that?

txvintage

Or as John Candy put it in Cool Runnings, "If you're not enough without it, you will never be enough with it."

This, and sometimes bump them with Cherry Vanilla Blue Bell.