Originally Posted by
Machka
They had another product I used on the PBP in 2003 along with Ensure, but I think they stopped making it. Very disappointing. It was a juice, like apple or orange juice and was packed with calories, vitamins, and minerals. I rode to the first control on the PBP on that stuff, and felt strong.
I did a little research and discovered that they still sell that other product ... it's called Enlive!
http://abbottnutrition.com/products/enlive
200 calories for every 200 ml. In a Zefal Magnum 1-litre bottle, I was carrying 1000 calories. No wonder I covered that first 140 km on a bottle of Enlive!
It is filled with vitamins and minerals, and also has carbs and protein.
I am now in the process of seeing if we can get it here in Australia.
In answer to the question of where you can get Ensure products ... in the US, you can get them in just about any pharmacy (i.e. Walgreens) or department store or grocery store with a pharmacy. It's a very common, easily accessible product. In Canada and Australia it's not quite as available ... at least not the variety that is available in the US.
In answer to the comment that it would be better to eat solid food ... sure, if you can stomach solid food on long rides, solid food might be a better choice. For those of us who have difficulty with solid food on long rides, however, Ensure works well. And Ensure has the potential of being more well-rounded nutritionally than solid food, depending on the choice of solid food.
And yes, the Ensure products are designed to be nutritious.
But if your rides are less than 2 hours, you probably don't need Ensure. An oatmeal raisin cookie will work.