Best Brand - Pre ride drinks, ride drinks, post ride drinks, shakes

[LLTHB]

Hello Ouens.

 

Gooi asseblief.

 

Best brand of products all around.

 

Pre ride drinks, during the ride drinks, after the ride drinks, shakes.

 

So confusing with all the advertising rubbish.

 

Hoping to settle on one brand for the lot.

 

Of course a lot of okes are gonna say bananas, Black Cat, nothing needed etc.

 

But if you get past this, is there one brand of supplements that fits it all.

 

Cheers.

[Titleist]

Biogen Electrolyte tabs.

Chicken

Peanuts. Or any other nuts

Condensed milk

Chocolate mousse

[Markellis]

I’ve been one to try all the marketing hype and fad diets etc. Low carb, high carb...I tried it all.

 

This is what works for me:

Oats pre-ride at least 2 hours before. 2 GU electrolyte tablets

Bottle of 32GI on the way to the ride/race

 

Ride is 32GI in one bottle, water in the other. Peanuts and raisins every +-45mins. Half way point 32 GI chew + 2 GU electrolyte tables. Mix different flavour 32 GI for the last half. (I carry a little bag with the powder)

 

I always carry a backup gel a chew.

 

That’s for 3 hour plus rides.

 

Anything less than that I will ride just with water and peanuts.

 

Ps. I am a mid-pack rider at best, this plan makes sure I don’t bonk and enjoy the ride and don’t swear and weep on the way home.

Edited December 19, 2020 by Markellis

[Moult]

Pre ride always oats. Tried heaps of other stuff. Oats does the job.

On long rides Biogen Cytogen in the bottles. Shorter training rides just water. FarBar in the pocket. They really work like a charm. On long rides il have a Hammer Gel with me just in case. But only use it if I really need to.

 

Post ride Biogen effervescent electolyte. On rides when Iv taken strain ei intervals, lsd rides etc, il take a Biogen Recovery Shake as soon as I walk in.

 

I really enjoy the Biogen. Been on it for almost 2 years. However I am moving my nutrition over to Powerbar.

 

You can take all right stuff but even more important and often overlooked is eating healthy during week. Drinking water (my biggest problem) and good sleep.

 

You need to experiment. Everyone is unique. Try different stuff and work out what fuel your body likes.

[TheoG]

I also give a vote of confidence to 32Gi ENDURE (Sustained Energy) for during an event.

 

Before and after for me vary every time depending how I feel.

[fanievb]

Oats & coffee for breakfast

 

Cadence Carbofuel in the bottles on long rides

 

Nutritech banana & almond bar or farbar or peanut butter sarmies or banana or drywors. All depends on route & distance

 

Post ride, usually an omelette or something high in protein with a little carbs in as well

[Veebee]

Banana and coffee for breakfast... no time to make oats at 4am.

 

Candence carbofuel in the bottles.

Cadence bars during rides.

32gi gels for emergency.

 

This worked for a 130km ride yesterday.

Protein powder, banana and berry smoothie post ride.

[Gnarly]

Beer, Beer and Beer. 

[RobertWhitehead]

I have also tried quite a few brands in my day but from a energy supplement point of view here's what I have found to do the trick. These are in no particular order: 

 

• Marathon fuel from Single track fuel - I used them religiously in the beginning. Their stuff really packs a punch, you feel great on the bike without any bonking. I have done quite a few ultra rides on this stuff and believe this is way better than any of the other main stream crap currently on the market. Why did I stop using it? Not really sure, I think the taste started getting to me. It's not sweet compared to a lot of other products on the market but after 10 hours on the bike you start craving something else. This to me is not really ideal because then you end up using multiple stuff again. I also went through a phase where I wanted to see what else is out there and tried a few other options. https://stf-singletrackfuel.com/marathon-fuel/ 
• Raceday fuel - this stuff is great, I like this more than STF but it doesn't pack such a big punch as the STF (in my opinion) but this sustains you during the ride. On the 2019 Baviaans I used 5 Sachets of this during the event and never felt it's too sweet and or I got tired of the taste. This is a massive plus in my opinion. https://www.racedayfuel.co.za/ 
• I make my own - I found a recipe in Bicycling once and decided to give it a go. This is not ideal for a race setting and or when away from home but I use this for most of my training rides and then for something like the Desert Dash / TransBaviaans I will revert back to Raceday. My thinking is just that we don't really know what goes into most if not all of the supplements on the market and therefore I would rather want to keep to the natural stuff. https://www.idonthaveawebsite.com/ 

But here's the recipe according to Bicycle (this is for a 750ml bottle)

• 4 x tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• fruit juice of any kind 
• Top up with water

I have a lemon tree (Now that song is stuck in my head  ) so I squeeze out all the lemons into ice-trays and or small containers I can freeze. I then use two cubes of lemon juice per 750ml bottle. Sometimes I make it either too sweet or too salty but the majority of times the above mentioned is spot on. To me this is the best drink during rides as it contains enough fuel (sugar) one's body needs during the session, enough electrolytes in the form of salt to ensure you do not cramp up and then the sweet or sour fruity taste from the fruit I add. The added bonus is also that I know what is in it and I also don't become tired of the taste as it's natural and I don't get any stomach cramps / gastric dump whilst using it

Edited December 20, 2020 by RobertWhitehead

[Ozzie NL]

Can't believe onle one mention of beer as preferred post ride drink

Edited December 20, 2020 by Ossie NL

[Mojoman]

Can't believe onle one mention of beer as preferred post ride drink

Seems gone are the days of beer as a pre ride drink as well.......

 

But ja...I will never win races...nor get a podium position or even finish in the top 300

So for me its Game, fruit cake and bananas....Those energy gels are just snotty and sif!

Cheapies! Just eat and drink well in general....

 

[Jewbacca]

Supplements can't replace good training.... There is no one brand that does any of that better than good training, recovery, a balanced diet and real food.

 

Sorry.

[NickGM]

I mostly agree with Jewbacca, the only supplemental/artificial thing I ever do is that if I go on a longer ride (>100km) or if its really hot, one of my bottles is filled with rehydrate and the other with water. Otherwise they are both filled with water. Judging by all of the crusty salt that forms around my temples and brow after a longer ride some of those salts and minerals need urgent replacing. I noticed that if I didn't do that I'd often develop a nasty headache later in the day regardless of how much or little water I drank during the ride. This may be more unique to me. I'm not sure. 

 

But other than that, I stay the hell away from shakes and things that seem to have lots of marketing hype. Every season some new brand seems to crop up but I think they are really just trying to capitalize on people's need for a "magic pill". My old housemate used to take all sorts of shakes and supplements for his gym and excercise regime and they actually did quite a bit of damage to him now that he's a bit older. We've spent hundreds of thousands of years filling up on plants (including starchy ones) and meat when it was available... it's probably still the safest bet. 

[NotSoBigBen]

I would venture to say that most people (weekend warriors) eat and drink more than they need before, during and after ... that's my observation anyway!

[CAAD4]

What happened to a garage pie and Coke?

[Veebee]

What happened to a garage pie and Coke?

Prices of pies are crazy these days... rather save that $$ for coffee or beer