The OP is still only working up to 30-40 mile rides. What I see all too often is people getting caught up in the marketing and spending 10 bucks a ride on crap they dont need. None of it 'improves' your performance, its all to replenish electrolytes and ingest calories. If your not depleting your glycogen stores you dont need to worry about replenishing them while on the bike. Depleting them takes close to 3 hours. Anything 2 hours and less save it for after the ride and eat real food, that has taste and enjoyment to it, and costs less.

I see people go on 2 hour rides and they start with a sportsdrink to hydrate prior to the ride, eat 4 gells, a cliff bar or 2, add in 2 bottles of water mixed with accelerade/cytomax, then have a designer recovery drink costing a few bucks. You can drive a car the same distance for cheaper. And they would have rode the same without it all.

Even if I'm riding 20 miles or so, I always bring a gel, just in case I hit the wall.

I have started to use Sports Beans from Jelly Belly. I use them in place of gels, which I like but always seem to get all over me.

I don't think anyone here is going to disagree with you. Many of the responses included simple/basic/inexpensive snacks. Even I suggested the traditional foods.

The OP sounds like he would venture on to more challenging distances (for him it's 30-40 miles; for others it could be double century +) and wanted feedback on gels and bars. And that's what this thread is about. Gels and various other supplements do have a place in most riders' arsenal. Should it replace everything the rider eats? Of course not. At the same time, if it's a viable option, why not research it?

Yes but simple answers of " i take a gell every 30 min and take 2 bottles of cytomax" without the clarification that the rider is going for 7 hours would lead the OP into thinking he NEEDS a gell every 30 min for a 2 hour ride.

I agree, research is essential for both enjoyment and safety when venturing past new milestones in any sport. Unfortunately as is the case with most forum threads, many people responding respond to the title of the post, and not the actual content of the post. Such is the ever evolving intrerweb :)

As to what i prefer, i used to like cliff bars but find them too dry. Now I use gells, either hammer or cliff shots, and for rides over 6 hours I usually take cliff blocks, gells and a bar, so that i can mix it up a bit.

Botto (or whatever he goes by) actually called me on that. My response to him qualified what you raised. Just below my original post, you'll see his and mine.

There's always going to mis-interpretation in any forum. But the crux of the OPs question is the other members' take on gels vs bars. In that regard, I'd say he got a pretty nice collection of feedback.

Thats fine. My replies were not aimed at you, or about you. Many people responded similarly.

I like gels because they're easier to get down. I put 3-4 into a flask for a long ridel

I prefer the Gels to the Bars. I just find the Bars are too hard to eat while riding and sit heavy in my stomach. I like the GU Gels & the Hammer Gels. I find that the GU go down easier, but the Hammer's seem to give me a little more power (but that is probably mental). They are nasty and there are only a handful of flavors I like. Also, the I am big fan of the Clif Gel Blocks. That are easy to pop in as you ride a long.

In regards to the arguments over 2 hour rides vs. other rides & what you need/don't need. It's your ride, spend it however you want. If you want to suck down a gel every 15 mins & are enjoying it; go for it! It's hard to the group you are riding with, the terrian, the pace, etc. To each his own. On a two hour ride, I normally carry 2 gels but don't take them unless I know I am doing some serious climbing, then I will have one. I do normally have Gel Blocks pack open to just to snack on depending on the pace. Also, I like to Cytomax in my water bottle whenever I ride. I just like it a whole lot better than water.

Thanks for the replies.

Im going to give gels a try.

Kind of stringy, aren't they? I imagine they'd be hard to chew on.

I generally just do a bottle of diluted gatoraide on 2hr or less rides and take a couple of gels for >2hr rides. In a 4hr ride probably just do one gel and a couple of bottles depending on time of the year. Summer I need three bottle. I always carry a gel with me though for those days when you go out and run out of gas for whatever reason. Very seldom use it but a couple of times it was nice to have.

Why is a more substantial (i.e. more indigestible) food better for rides exceeding two hours?

Sorry, I'm a gel fan... what do the kooks who do RAAM eat?



To the OP's question, I like to get a variety of stuff, try different flavors and brands. This works fine for me. But you might be more sensitive and some flavors might disgust you.

Picking up a few gels is an easy way to "support your local BS" each time you drop in...

How about fried chicken drumstick fried in pig fat and chitlins, about the size of a foldable tire, your sweat could season it and fits in the back jersey pocket

Seriously what's wrong with honey with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)... I just rinse old eye drop bottles and fill with honey and the vitamin c powder.

I remember reading a thread once about some poor guy's first century. Apparently he ate (consumed) eight (8) powerbars during the course of the ride. I LOLed.

ew.

Did he finish relatively fast or just constipate?

My stomach tends to be fairly unreceptive to solid foods after 70 miles. That would easily make me sick.

I seem to recall that he did indeed finish, but under some gastro-intestinal distress.

Every half hour along with Cytomax??? Hello weight gain!

Mcdonalds and cans of beanee weanees

You are not far off to be honest......


Burning calories like they do it would require a lot of "healthy" food to get what they need. So much that they would be eating non-stop.

Not really. Gels are about 100 calories per. You'd still be operating at a net loss even with any reasonable amount of cytomax.

General rule of thumb is you can process about 300 calories an hour. So with a reasonable amount of Cytomax you'd be on that target.

Of course it depends on length and intensity of the ride. 100 mile plus race in the mountains, you need to eat like that early, or you'll pay late.

30 mile training ride, you eat like that, you are likely to gain weight.

dysentery, as ol' marble mouth ligget likes to refer to it.

I like the Hammer apple and cinnamon flavor. I bring a gel on my 25ish mile daily rides in case I bonk. I'm still dieting so I don't always have a surplus of glycogen. I learned the hard way that if I push it at that point recovery is a bear. The gels seem to work within minutes.

On a 40 mile ride I usually bring along a couple fig newtons. I usually stop briefly at about 20 miles to eat one. Gels are easier for me to eat while riding.

I prefer to eat candy on my bike in all honesty. I'm no nutritionist but the labels look similar. Milk duds really lend themselves well to eating on a ride what with the nifty little box and they taste better than any bar or gel I've come across.