CanadianBiker32

I was wondering if anyone has gotten sick from Energy Gels at all? just recently complete a 100 mile mt bike event, lutsen 99er
done it a few times before
so i was doing exact same on bike nutrition.hydration system as i done on long rides

I was using the Energy Gels. GU, Powerbar gels. Also had bottle of perpeteum and then was drinking just HEED from my water bottle and camelback with just water
I had BK about 3 hours before ride and stomach felt fine
so into the race about around the 2 hour mark got stomach problems. Well not to be graphic but stomach empty out and i got several bouts of explosive Diaharria
So had to do a few emergency stops in the bush a few times. After that for rest of ride i was forced to go slow as whole body was cramping, hamstrings, quads, all my legs, arms

i kept up hydration whole time, didn't overdo it with water etc.
So not sure why this happened
i was having a good ride before it happened was pushing my best time whole time and doing well, till that happened
any suggestions of what i may was doing wrong?

Wingsprint

Cant offer any advice on what happened to you but that sounded like a bad day on the bike to say the least.

Luigii

Hard to say but my money is on the BK.

CanadianBiker32

Hi there. Well Bk i meant was breakfast, not Burger King, lol. what i ate was Eggos. coffee and some orange juice. which i done before without a problem. now my situation happened about 3 hours later in the event.
I will point out the Gels I was using i consumed from both a flask and then later from actual gel packets. would that cause a problem?
The Perpeteum i was using. was my last batch. i had 2 scoops left and topped off my bottle with HEEd, now the Perpeteum i bought was from last year, could that cause a bathroom issue on the trail

Kindaslow

Your description sounds like mild food poisoning, and usually that takes 12-24 hours to become an issue. So, I doubt it was what your were ingesting along the trail, but maybe what your ate the night before.

CanadianBiker32

Hmm hard to say. As I ate pasta - frozen dinner and microwave the evening before, and bread. so really nothing out of the ordinary, chocolate milk, but was cold etc, .
As for the sickness was just the case of the "runs" i had. stomach felt fine, but odd.
still a mystery but i like to figure out so history dosent happen twice

Dave Cutter

Those temporary inconveniences almost always remain somewhat of a mystery.

Carbonfiberboy 

My guess is the Perpetuem. It's known to cause these sorts of issues if mixed too long in advance. Really old stuff could have hydrated enough to allow it to go bad. Maybe. Aside: I have no idea why it goes bad. I've mixed up my homebrew in advance and even brought the leftovers back to the house and used it the next day, all with no problems.

CanadianBiker32

I did have the Perpeteum stored away since last year. I just had used the last 2 scoops and put it in my bottle. and mixed it
however I put it in the freezer right away. so was still frozen when i got to race site and left in fridge over night, still a bit cold at start line but thawed, so no time to get heated? but maybe that was it? as i have been using gels before hand many weeks prior and no problems, so hmm, that could been problem

Number400

I don't know for sure but anytime there is poop at an endurance event it is usually an electrolyte deficiency.