Fuel your ride for cheap?
 

Maltodextrin is the biggest ingredient in most athletic drinks. Being a skeptic, especially when it comes to nutritional supplements I decided paying $54 for 5lb of the Hammer product was just too much. I've used PB and Honey sandwich for the longest but I forget to eat and can't keep my energy levels up as the ride goes on. So I moved on to liquid nutrition.

I bought 50 lbs of MD from Honeyville Grain for $59.00 delivered. Add 2 plastic buckets for ~$4.00 each and I'm good to go. 133 grams gets me 500 calories or enough for my 2.5 hour weekend rides. 200 calories per hours seems to be the sweet spot for me. I don't use caffeine other than for my longish weekend rides. I mix leaded and unleaded coffee 50/50 and poor 1/2 a cup into each of 2 water bottles. Add in the MD and the hot coffee mixes the MD easily. Next I fill with water and add a touch of sea salt. Tastes like coffee flavored energy drink with just a touch of sweetness from the MD.

None of this was my idea, came from multiple sources much of it scattered around BF.


It comes in this heavy duty, heavy bag.

http://bobbeasley.com/bikeimages/bag.jpg

Into the buckets with a bit left over.

http://bobbeasley.com/bikeimages/bucket.jpg

The Jungle Juice recipe that I have used in the past was made up of something like 5 cups of maltodextrin, one cup of fructose, one cup of glucose and a tablespoon or less of diet salt (which has potassium chloride included to bump down the volume of sodium chloride).

It was almost tasteless, and the basis of the mix was that the glucose as a short-chain carb molecule was processed and used first; the fructose took a greater time to break down and therefore was an intermediate fuel; and the maltodextrin, as the longest carb molecule of all, provided the long-term energy input.

There is some caution needed with the salt. The diet salt variant has a much stronger taste than ordinary salt, so there might be a need to start at much less than a tablespoon's worth and work up from there.

The one thing I didn't do was mix in flavourings except as a minor experiment with Crystal Lite stuff, but it didn't seem to work that well for me. The Jungle Juice mix does have a sweetness to it, brought on by the fructose. I rather like the coffee flavoured HammerGel, and I've been tempted to get back to mixing up a batch or two to see if I could replicate the flavour.

Another variant is to mix in a little whey protein powder, but there are issues with is not dissolving, but rather remaining in suspension. The protein is more worthwhile, however, for longer distance rides, say 300km and over.

And all this is in the context of a randonneur for whom the cost of energy can climb rather rapidly if relying on commercial products.

Hmmm... I may need to try this sometime.

Any ideas for gels/gu's? Right now I use the Honey Stinger gels. Cheapest I could find and "natural" honey--better for you?

The idea behind the liquid nutrition is you should not need gels.

You need a liquid diet for a 2.5/ 50 mile ride?

True. :-/

I usually don't eat anything on those. But, a couple races a year are 3-4 hours/75-100 miles. Then I'd need something. :innocent:

riding 25 mph I would expect you would :)


guys the when you eat thing has been beaten to death. For a 50 mile ride I would take food...a couple of gels or a stinger waffle something. only on centuries do I take liquid food (perpeptuem in my case)

If I'm going over 30 miles I used to eat 1/4 BP and honey on wheat every 16 miles. Problem comes in remembering to eat in the pace line. I forget to eat and my energy levels suffer, it's much easier if it's in my water bottle. Today we went 23 miles non stop at a 19 MPH average including 900' of climbing. Not the GMR but I was working hard to hang on to the group . At 23 miles, half way, we took a break, if I was on solid food that would have been my first opportunity to eat and it would have been too late. As it was I was one bottle down including the nutrition.

I ride with a group that is just above my current level of fitness. While many of them can sit up and maintain 20 + MPH while chatting or eating I'm not in that camp. For me it's a near maximum effort.

Oddly, there is another thread running here about people's ambition to ride centuries. It's gone to multiple pages, with people posting that either they do them, have done them or want to do them.

You'd think that providing information on refuelling options might be useful. This is cheap, easy option and may suit people who want high-intensity rides, but their stomach can't handle solid foods.

Nowhere... and I mean nowhere... in the original post did I see anything about 2-50miles rides. You don't have to defend yourself, bbeasley.

I'm not saying you can't fuel a ride with maltodextrin nor giving it thumbs up or thumbs down. People do need to realize what maltodextrin is. It isn't some super fuel, it is a chain of glucose molecules held together with bonds so weak that the amylase (an enzyme) in your saliva breaks it down, which is why maltodextrin tastes sweet. It has a glycemic index and load very close to glucose so it is a source of quick energy. Since it is technically a complex carbohydrate, it doesn't have to be listed as a sugar on food labels, but because it breaks down into glucose so readily, it's metabolic effect is virtually identical to simple sugars (mono or di-saccharides). It doesn't provide the sustained rise in blood sugar that some other complex carbohydrates do. It will certainly raise falling blood sugar levels and provide ready calories to fuel a ride, but it really has no advantage over fructose, sucrose or any other sugar.

Sound like the perfect description of popular athletic drinks. I'm assuming that's why it's the main ingredient in Hammer's Heed product at almost exactly 10 times the price.

Where did you get 2-50 mile rides?

I just eat food and drink Gatorade and soda pop on my rides.

Honey & lemon or lime juice in $2 Container store squeeze bottle. 3 ounce size. I figure I have 300+ calories from this size container. Also honey is nutritionally beneficial for you.