Cycle fuel?

[scubadude]

Currently taking rather old-skool supplies on longer rides- Water, Sanies, crisps and chocolate :-)

Given I'm upping the distances this year thinking of paying some attention to what I carry- without blowing a fortune!

Clearly some electrolyte stuff to drop in the water is cheap and easy but what about food?

Any reccomendations that avoid the "energy bar" price tags? (I'm thinking or supermarket fruit & Nut bars, fruit etc)

[jodypress]

bananas, fig roles and jelly babies are your friend. Oh and malt loaf is good to.

I like Clif bars and gel shots. Work a treat.

[BliarOut]

Don't forget cheapo flapjack

[mchammer89]

Agree with those two, don't waste your money on the pricey stuff when bog standard food (as long as it's the right food) does the same job.

[dubbs]

When on a general ride malt loaf is lovely, peanut butter sandwiches, cereal bars like tracker. Getting something savoury tends to be the harder job.

When in training or conditioning the body to you race "fuel" or being extra diligent/anal about carb/protein mix and getting optimum energy to muscles asap then the sports nutrition comes in to it's own and does have it's place.

If you want a pure electrolyte/zero cal drink then I use high5 zeroes or nuun tablets and would recommend them.

[Rouleur]

Around £2.30 for a box of six

[Matt London]

jodypress said:

bananas, fig roles and jelly babies are your friend. Oh and malt loaf is good to.

I like Clif bars and gel shots. Work a treat.

+1 sort of.
My order of preference is Clif Bar>Malt Loaf>Fig Roll>Clif Gel Shots> Sweeties
Clif bars are very nice and easier to eat in the saddle than malt loaf. Malt loaf is much cheaper though!I found the clif gels good for energy but they made me thirsty or more precisely I felt like I needed to wash them down as they are gooey. Fig rolls give me the same instant hit but are much cheaper and easier to eat IMHO.I dont do bananas coz they are squidgy.

[BliarOut]

Rouleur said:

Around £2.30 for a box of six

Six budget flapjacks are only 70p

[thanetspeedshop]

Don't you ride past any kebab houses?

[neilski]

thanetspeedshop said:

Don't you ride past any kebab houses?

I do!

In France last year after 120 or so miles the only place we could find open was a kebab shop but being France, they do weird stuff so served up a couple of kebab meat & chips baguettes. Yum!

I agree with most of what's already been said and that the sports stuff is fine if you're paid to race but for mere amateurs like me it's all a load of marketing tosh to sucker people into paying higher prices. Just think about the most unhealthy foods you can only more of it. A typical days food on holiday last year was something like this:

Breakfast - coffee, fruit juice, pains au chocolat, croissants, toast & jam, french bread.

Morning snacking - cereal bars, pains au chocolate, fig rolls, cakes, coke.

Lunch - massive baguettes stuffed with paté or Boursin, family size bags of crisps or whole tubes of Pringles each, big bags of mixed nuts, half a slab of chocolate brownie, biscuits, cakes, chocolate bars, coke.

Afternoon snacking - more cakes, biscuits, haribo, peanut m&ms, coke.

Post ride - the above mentioned kebab, steak & chips, spag bol, pizza (one night we both ate 2 x 12" pizzas each!), ice cream & the all important re-hydrating with beer.

Didn't do me any harm.

[Mandog]

I expect that French kebab was once a horse.

[scubadude]

thanetspeedshop said:

Don't you ride past any kebab houses?

Have you seen the price of a Kebab lately? It would be cheaper to take a couple of overpriced energy bars :-)

Thanks for all the suggestions folk!

[HundredthIdiot]

For long rides I find maltodextrin is good. I use this:

http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/maltodextrin

Surprisingly non-sticky even at 200g/750ml, and much easier on the stomach than anything with fructose in it.

Bananas are good too, and if the pace is relaxed anything starchy and savoury is good.

For racing, fig rolls up the jersey are nice. Maybe one day I'll have the skills to casually retrieve food from my rear pockets at 40kph in a bunch, but I'm not there yet.

I can't really be bothered with cereal bars - they're neither one thing not the other.

[g_stacey]

Big breakfast, just eat often before its yoo late. Gels for me, yeah, maybe costly but always found they give you a good kick, keep one if only for when youre really in trouble. Or start youre day on them, and one in a shot at night!

[Funkateer]

A good fried breakfast before setting off! Not too large as this can be a bit bloaty for some.

Barratt's Jungle Mix as sold in the shop at Black Rock on the High Peak Trail, between 2 large uphill bits.

The odd beer, or perhaps a shandy in summer.

Perfect fuel for long, all-day excursions!

[Gooby]

for 2-3 hour rides where you just want a half time snack, Rice Crispy Squares (marshmallow)! Cheap as chips, low fat, High sugar, Light weight, easy to digest, available everyware and tasty!

[hullbilly]

I struggle to eat anything when Im out, it instantly makes me feel uncomfortable so I find gels far better.

They are more expensive but work for me.

[HundredthIdiot]

Gels contain fructose. Fructose is bad.

[ad551]

I mainly eat bananas, but flapjack and jelly babies are useful as well. The important thing is remembering to eat whatever you've brought with you before you need it!

[ad551]

Here is an interesting article on this subject: http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/nutrition...

The tip about the homemade electrolyte drink sounds quite good.