Not really sure how to "read" this ^ and probably don't want to know the details........

No more proper time than the present.

I think all nutrition gels have a place. When I'm going out for a non training group or even solo ride I take real food. My favorite is peanut butter sandwiches. Easy to squeeze out of a plastic bag. I've tried those chewy cliff shots and sports beans too. There ok on the bike but during a run they make me feel like choking.
If you like the gels you can buy it in bulk and put it in flask. No messy foil pouches to put in your pockets.

I'm a Honey Stinger type of guy...

These are SO good. The mint ones are like eating a giant thin mint...

Except Gu is still better during activity.

I eat real foods.
bananas, raisins, salted nuts, pb&j (with real pnut butter rather than the fake jiffy/corporate stuff), coconut water, and the occasional fig newton.

I always throw a Gu into a snack-size ziploc bag. The empty package goes back into the ziploc where it won't ick up the inside of my jersey pocket or my saddle bag. Yes it's more waste but no, I don't care.

Long time consumer of fig Newtons, recommended by cross-country coach back in the 60s.

Have had excellent success with Gu. I studied the nutrition requirements before/during/after the marathon and estimated my absorption rates... Calculated consumption down to ounces of water/sports drink per scheduled rest stop and mile intervals for maltodextrin (Gu). I was amazed at how much better I felt at mile 20!

I use Gu only while competing or doing long training sessions. It works really well to tape the packet (by the tear-off top) to the bike stem... easy open and the visual cue reminds you during the race to keep hydrating and take the Gu at the appropriate time. Easy to stash the empty packet in a back pocket of the jersey. I've tried the other competing gels and blocks and keep coming back to Gu Just Plain.

The century completed a few weeks ago included some Gu, but scarfed down a burger with fries and root beer shake at the half-way point.

Bryan

one of the best parts of long bike touring is the guilt free eat whatever you want stops.
On shorter rides, I do usually carry some power bars or something, but I rarely eat them.

I like making a few pbj's and carrying those.

Rhm has turned me on to fig newtons somewhater.

Last time I did an organized ride with free food, the ms150 i think, i grabbed a whole bunch of mini power bars and threw them in my bag. they made there way to my garage/bike shack, and that's where they've been since late 2009. I noticed some mice helped themselves to a few. I suppose I should get rid of them.

nlearner gave me a coffee or chocolate or somethingerother Gu (i guess? it was guey...) on our long island century back in July. I kinda liked it, so I picked up a few. The mice havent gotten to those yet but I'd imagine its a matter of time.

Count me in the real food contingency. The packaged "energy" foods seem like a ripoff to me. I will eat them when I find myself unprepared.

You can make your own.

Sixty-Fiver, what's your recipe?

On the Transportation Alternatives century ride, which is in September in NYC, I had some Accelerade. It was so foul tasting that I yelled out, and the whole crowd turned to me to see what had happened. I expected it to taste like punch, but it had whey (milk protein) powder in it. So to me, it was like milk curdled with fruit juice, only faker.

I'm glad I'm not the only pb&j lover. I eat a ton of it, especially off the bike.

Yes to GU, but I make my own and stick it in the little bottles for bulk gels that the LBS sells.

Recipe: Agave nectar, cacao powder, almond extract and a pinch of salt.

It definitely works well for me. I rarely stop on sub 4 hour rides and don't feel the need for solid food.

Sardines are what I eat on rides over 70 miles. Not just any Sardines, they have to be boneless and skinless from Crown Prince. Yes, I will put a can or two in my back jersey pocket and a small spoon. Each can has 26g of protein, full of omega 3 and the right carbs. Bicycling Magazine had an article on the benefits of eating Sardines for long rides and I concur.

Those gel packs, cliff bars etc...are better for rides no more than 2 or 3 hours as the body will use up the "energy" they provide fairly fast and if you don't continue to eat this type of food you will bonk, that's my experience with them anyway so I don't even buy them anymore.

50 miles or less I won't even take food, not needed for that distance as long as I eat something before I leave such as a bowl of oatmeal with flax meal and raisins.

Tried this recipe awhile back... different, but OK.

Van de Velde's Favorite Bar

Would work fine in the jersey pocket but not the running shorts pocket.

I haven't had GU but I started using Carboom last year when I started racing again ( after 25+ years, yikes!). I buy a bulk bottle and fill up a small runners flask that I can put in my jersey pocket, so I don't have sticky trash and I thin it with water if I'm racing or it is really cold out because this stuff can be as thick as jam.

I was skeptical but this stuff works really well for me.

If you read the ingredients on fruit snacks for kids they are the same thing for 1/5 the price per ounce. I have 3 kids so they are always around, and granola bars, the dry old fashiond kind. The price they charge for this new and improved stuff is way more then the improvment. Candy-chocolate, fig newtons, bananas, granola bars, all the old standbys are great. Why so much money for just a little improvment with these gel-packs.

Cuz it sells. And the improvement is questionable.

Say, thanks all. I'm learning more about bike food here than I ever thought possible. Now I just have to find a source for agave nectar. Fig newtons I can find. p.s. I love PB&J too.

I use hammer gel and love it. It's easy. I would rather eat tasty food but hammer is there when I need it.

Great shots!

I might try that (sardines) on a long solo ride, but I get enough funny looks when I have Scooby-Doo snacks. So no fish on group rides for me.

raisins vs. sport gels:

https://www.dole.com/NutritionInstitu...contentid=6354

in-depth PDF: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...DwcB6hnTP7q9Vg

in short, raisins win.

Absolutely no question in my experience... whether mile 20 of the marathon run or 80 of the century ride. The key is maltodextrin, an easily digested complex sugar. You get a much more sustained energy boost, rather that the quick peak you get from the simple sugars. Do I use for regular rides and training... no. Racing... yes.

BTW, I regularly enjoy the PBJ sandwich, banana and fig newton (bummed they discontinued the cranberry newtons!)

Just be sure you get quality Sardines, none of the Bumblebee, Chicken of the Sea stuff....nasty!

I have done the Gu thing and I don't get it. First, the stuff is disgusting - favor, texture, satisfaction, everything. It has never given me an energy boost greater than regular food. And it is spendy. The only positive I can think of is that it is small for rear pockets. That is not good enough for me ever to touch the stuff again.

Hardly surprising.