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Sugary sweets while riding


WaynejG

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I was reading a cycle magazine today and they had the following tip: eat a couple of jelly beans at the base or start of a climb. Would a couple of jelly beans really create a quick release of energy?

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I am not a doctor or dietitian, but Jelly Beans are full of simple carbs (sucralose sugar) which does release quickly, and carbs are a source of energy, so maybe it will help. Wether or not it is worth it I cannot tell.

 

I am quite happy just sticking to 32 gi for the first 2 to 3 hours and then maybe consuming some sort of carb for energy for the last hour or so.

Edited by Wimmas
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mmmm. Good question indeed. My understanding is that the bottleneck is the intestine wall..

I can't see a quick release of energy unless it can get to the bloodstream quickly. 

 

My approach is to fuel up correctly on the morning of a ride and to keep maintaining the fuel source throughout the ride. I don't like the idea of spikes and bonks. 

Edited by DR ◣◢
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I am not a doctor or dietitian, but Jelly Beans are full of simple carbs (sucralose sugar) which does release quickly, and carbs are a source of energy, so maybe it will help. Wether or not it is worth it I cannot tell.

 

I am quite happy just sticking to 32 gi for the first 2 to 3 hours and then maybe consuming some sort of carb for energy for the last hour or so.

You do know that 32GI (Endure) has 44g of carbs per 50g portion (2 scoops), of which 37g is sugar?

I use 32GI too, and find it has the least sweetest taste, compared to the other drinks on the market.

 

I used to work for an Italian confectionary company, and they purchased a lot of sugar for their products - normal table sugar (a super link per month), plus all the other sweeteners, i.e. sucrose, fructose, maltodextrin, but not isomaltulose (found in a few sports drink brands).

 

The three "carb/sugar ingredients in 32GI are:

Isomaltulose - the slow release part of the drink, which goes through the small intestines before being released in the blood stream.

Maltodextrin (mostly tasteless), yet it improves texture and flavour to foods. It's a quick release sugar/carb.

Fructose is the sugar used for palatability and taste enhancement. Also the (relatively) sweetest of all the sugars/sweeteners. More than double to relative sweetness of honey.

 

Sugar kills me on rides.

I eat carbs and protein and use zero sugar drinks

No after ride migraines!

Care to share the carbs that you eat on a ride?

Check the nutritional label(s) on the products you use... carbs are listed as follows:

 

Total Carbohydrate (grams per 100g) | (grams per portion size, eg. 50g)

 - of which sugar (grams)

 - fibre (x grams or %)

 

Don't be fooled that you're only eating carbs and no sugar. Carbs are sugars, but they aren't all the same.

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Maybe if you have been fueling yourself properly during the ride it will help a little, but doubt it will make any major difference, but if you haven't been fueling properly and you are already going into a slump, my experience is that nothing is going to help you, at least that is my experience, maybe an energy gel thing, but you will pay for it on the long run

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I was reading a cycle magazine today and they had the following tip: eat a couple of jelly beans at the base or start of a climb. Would a couple of jelly beans really create a quick release of energy?

Depends on the climb?

 

I mean there's a difference to what your body will metabolise going over suikerbossie, to riding over Long Tom's from Sabie all the way to Lydenburg?

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You do know that 32GI (Endure) has 44g of carbs per 50g portion (2 scoops), of which 37g is sugar?

I use 32GI too, and find it has the least sweetest taste, compared to the other drinks on the market.

 

I used to work for an Italian confectionary company, and they purchased a lot of sugar for their products - normal table sugar (a super link per month), plus all the other sweeteners, i.e. sucrose, fructose, maltodextrin, but not isomaltulose (found in a few sports drink brands).

 

The three "carb/sugar ingredients in 32GI are:

Isomaltulose - the slow release part of the drink, which goes through the small intestines before being released in the blood stream.

Maltodextrin (mostly tasteless), yet it improves texture and flavour to foods. It's a quick release sugar/carb.

Fructose is the sugar used for palatability and taste enhancement. Also the (relatively) sweetest of all the sugars/sweeteners. More than double to relative sweetness of honey.

 

Care to share the carbs that you eat on a ride?

Check the nutritional label(s) on the products you use... carbs are listed as follows:

 

Total Carbohydrate (grams per 100g) | (grams per portion size, eg. 50g)

 - of which sugar (grams)

 - fibre (x grams or %)

 

Don't be fooled that you're only eating carbs and no sugar. Carbs are sugars, but they aren't all the same.

That company you used to work for makes a bit of money out of me. Man I enjoy nutella, I mix it with plain double cream yoghurt.

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That company you used to work for makes a bit of money out of me. Man I enjoy nutella, I mix it with plain double cream yoghurt.

That’s why we all got to fly business class... [emoji16]
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Depends on the climb?

 

I mean there's a difference to what your body will metabolise going over suikerbossie, to riding over Long Tom's from Sabie all the way to Lydenburg?

Indeed and the type and intensity of the ride. I mean, there's a difference between doing Long Tom on a morning ride, and doing the climb on day 4 of a stage race.

 

I suspect that the OP has one-day rides / events in mind when asking the question. A good buddy of mine's brother is a pro cyclist in Europe and when the oke still rode competitively in SA he once shared a valuable and very sensible opinion with me. He said that in his opinion, amateur and recreational riders almost always over nutrition during rides - adding that the kinds of one-day events and rides that most SA cyclists do, do not (at all) require the amounts of fuel that people consume and that those kinds of (often scientifically formulated) nutrition is aimed at pro riders and multi-stage events. This is often the result of clever marketing by the sports fuel guys :whistling: .

 

This is now a long story but in short, I agree with DR that for shorter (one day events, 4-5hour training rides) pre-workout nutrition is what make or break the legs...much of what you consume during the shorter ride will only energize when you're having the victory beer. As for my buddy's brother's story - simplicity is key and remember there's only one thing that will dehydrate you faster than a chunk of biltong and that's sugar...        

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For a long day in the saddle this is my routine:

 

Proper breakfast 2-3 hours before the ride. (Muesli+banana+yogurt)

Pronutro protein bar 30min before the ride.

In the hour before the ride I drink a 750ml bottle powerbar. And a 750ml bottle around every 1.5 hours on the ride.

On the ride I take a small Ziplock bag mix of droëwors/biltong, cashews and Haribo cherries in my right pocket and I have a small bite of this every 20-30mins. I get tired of one thing on a long ride, so this mix gives me that sweet and salty variety.  

Left pocket a banana and two or three powerbar power gel smoothies.

Around three hours in I'll have the banana. 10-15min before a climb or big effort I'll take a powerbar smoothie.

I also take a few Halls with me to suck on. Makes a warm drink taste a bit better 4 hours later in the sun and makes you feel a bit fresher. 

 

I can't drink coke on a ride..30mins later I start cramping for some reason.

Edited by JohanDiv
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Wait... Do any of you use 'gels' on race day?

 

I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be 500 different gel options (basically sugar, water and caffeine) if there wasn't some science behind it?

 

Jelly beans are just cheap and easy and an 'example'.

 

When I run a road race I smash a gel at 21km, 29km and 36km because I don't have the chance to chew or stop to eat real food.

 

I definitely feel the benefits.

 

While trail running I take jelly sweets. The sugar high is definitely a thing as long as you eat something else or keep consuming sugar. The fall from grace bonk is hard..... Anyone with kids will know how hard they crash after a party!

 

Stuff like this is a hornets nest of old wives tales, 'science' pushed by USN and the like, ignorance and experience.

 

I like dates and honey seed bites. But again, not on a fast, high intensity outing. Trying to chew and breathe while gurning is super difficult.

 

On a slow burn 100 miler of even a 50km trail run I eat fruit, sandwiches and sweeties. MMMMMM

 

EDIT: AS an aside, I don't train with gels. But do take some sweeties and nuts with me on longer rides/runs (Longer than 4 hours). I was talking race day. 

Edited by Jewbacca
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Many think gels are Evil...

Or look for cheaper options, like sweets.

 

For convenience gels are great. And they work...

Saturday I did a 4 hour ride, almost 3 hours fasted on just water only, this was 13 hours after my last meal.

 

I could feel the bonk coming on, so 1 x 32gi gel and it kept me going for another hour.

 

Price wise, the 32gi gels are like R22 so not too bad.

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For a long day in the saddle this is my routine:

 

Proper breakfast 2-3 hours before the ride. (Muesli+banana+yogurt)

Pronutro protein bar 30min before the ride.

In the hour before the ride I drink a 750ml bottle powerbar. And a 750ml bottle around every 1.5 hours on the ride.

On the ride I take a small Ziplock bag mix of droëwors/biltong, cashews and Haribo cherries in my right pocket and I have a small bite of this every 20-30mins. I get tired of one thing on a long ride, so this mix gives me that sweet and salty variety.  

Left pocket a banana and two or three powerbar power gel smoothies.

Around three hours in I'll have the banana. 10-15min before a climb or big effort I'll take a powerbar smoothie.

I also take a few Halls with me to suck on. Makes a warm drink taste a bit better 4 hours later in the sun and makes you feel a bit fresher. 

 

I can't drink coke on a ride..30mins later I start cramping for some reason.

Do you weigh more after a ride than before?

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Wait... Do any of you use 'gels' on race day?

I was talking race day. 

If I know I'm gonna be out (training or racing) for longer then 3-3.5 hours I will take a pronutro protein bar and a gel with. (and including the below)

 

For 3 hours or less, one bottle (600ml) water and two bioplus sachets. (During training I rarely take a sachet or gel or anything, and depending on the temperature mostly no need for a bottle either. I did two 100km plus rides on sat and sun thus weekend, and had half a bottle each day, with no gels or anything vaguely foodlike)

 

Other than DC, I can't see myself taking longer than 3 hours for any road race at the moment in SA. (unless there's multiple punctures  - but that's not really gonna take more effort, just longer)

Edited by TNT1
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