Originally Posted by
Wesley36
...
And pull my own shots of espresso:
It is one of my other favorite hobbies, but it makes it difficult to go out for coffee. Espresso in North America, in my experience, is almost always burnt and/or over-extracted. I still drink coffee when I go out, but I know *exactly* how I like it when I make it.
My La Pavoni is in the box ready to get the gaskets replaced. I leave it on too much. I would appreciate knowing about your bean roasting equipment/where you get your beans.
To the topic - for junior we do use caffeine as a ergogenic drug - ONLY for events (he may have a Coke every few weeks). It appears it is more effective when used for events only. 50-100mg in a latte seems quite effective with the fat, sugar and caffeine taken 45min before a crit, or right before a RR. During the race a gel with 25mg / hour. I have enough power/performance data on him to have seen a difference between with / without. It may just make him less timid / passive - but we noticed it. I also think that not using it casually makes it much more effective, but I wouldn't know as he has never been a regular user.