Cycling on the Cheap - Alternatives

[Rolf Hansen]

7 hours ago, DonatelloOnPinarello said:

I must be doing something wrong. I saw this thread pop up on the sidebar and was expecting to see loads of suggestions to save money on parts or servicing and so on, instead it’s a pager on even weirder alternatives to all the shop bought super fuels and energy bars. Surprised there’s no comments on alternatives to the normal recovery shakes as well. 
 

I do a lot of back to back 3 to 5 hour days, both locally and in the alps, and have never had the need for anything more than whatever is available from the local cafe or convenience store. Riding is my number one excuse as to I don’t need to count calories. So in Europe, the phenomenal breads and pastries hit the spot just fine, washed down by some coffee. On the bike, water seems to be enough. Whatever isotonic is readily available on really hot days just to help that extra bit. Nothing on earth beats slightly diluted coke though. 
 

Locally, there is usually no shortage of semi decent coffee either, but the bread and pastry just isn’t worth the heartburn. So I stick to simba peanut and raisin mix, and the fattiest “geelvet” biltong I can get my hands on. Some crushed cashews also work a treat. But in general I’m not a fan of eating while I ride. I prefer riding between spots, fuelling up and then riding some more. 
 

for long days in the back country, when one needs to be self sufficient, I do camelback with 2 to 3 litres water if it’s a dry place, otherwise just fill up from mountain streams. And one bottle with good old game (strictly naartjie flavour). Peanuts and raisins from simba, a banana and a few of my grannies recipe date balls. A few years back when I was trying Banting I used to make my own protein balls from rendered beef or lamb fat, rolled into balls with crushed cashews. Freeze them the night before and eat them before they thaw out completely. Still do that from time to time just because it’s really tasty. 

I only ride MTB on trails, not even gravel roads so bananas generally don't hold up well. 

Being in Gauteng, South Africa unfortunately also robs me from filling my bottle from a mountain stream. Same goes for coffee and pastries out on the trail - not readily available. 

I don't mean to sound rude but which is it:

"... have never had the need for anything more than whatever is available from the local cafe or convenience store."

"...few of my grannies recipe date balls...I used to make my own protein balls from rendered beef or lamb.. " 

 

 

[DonatelloOnPinarello]

4 hours ago, Rolf Hansen said:

I only ride MTB on trails, not even gravel roads so bananas generally don't hold up well. 

Being in Gauteng, South Africa unfortunately also robs me from filling my bottle from a mountain stream. Same goes for coffee and pastries out on the trail - not readily available. 

I don't mean to sound rude but which is it:

"... have never had the need for anything more than whatever is available from the local cafe or convenience store."

"...few of my grannies recipe date balls...I used to make my own protein balls from rendered beef or lamb.. " 

 

 

Not sure what part you found hard to understand. 
 

under normal conditions, I just carry water, and then eat what I can find on route or at the trail head.

 

when riding far away from civilisation, then I pack the snacks as stated.

 

Since you only ride in Gauteng, South Africa, and only ride your MTB on the trail, not even gravel roads, I would be very interested to hear where you are riding, that has no where to refill water, maybe not from a stream, but not even at the trailhead. And also has nowhere to get coffee or patries/something else to eat. 
 

All the gauteng trails I know of, tend to have amazing facilities at the trail heads, and all the routes tend to clover leaf out from there, so you are passing back past the trial head at least once every 30km at most.

Edited August 5, 2021 by DonatelloOnPinarello

[fanievb]

[MTBeer]

On 7/23/2021 at 6:51 AM, Ossie NL said:

Sjoe, you're a better planner than me cause I've done all 3 ... multiple times.

What's the furthest (distance) / longest (time) you've gone on 2 wheels?

Rennies for cramps. Freedom Challenge tested.

[Rolf Hansen]

1 hour ago, DonatelloOnPinarello said:

Not sure what part you found hard to understand. 
 

under normal conditions, I just carry water, and then eat what I can find on route or at the trail head.

 

when riding far away from civilisation, then I pack the snacks as stated.

 

Since you only ride in Gauteng, South Africa, and only ride your MTB on the trail, not even gravel roads, I would be very interested to hear where you are riding, that has no where to refill water, maybe not from a stream, but not even at the trailhead. And also has nowhere to get coffee or patries/something else to eat. 
 

All the gauteng trails I know of, tend to have amazing facilities at the trail heads, and all the routes tend to clover leaf out from there, so you are passing back past the trial head at least once every 30km at most.

OK

[AccidentalGenius]

45 minutes ago, MTBeer said:

Rennies for cramps. Freedom Challenge tested.

That is the weirdest thing ever.. 

But my word, does it work!

[MTBeer]

1 minute ago, AccidentalGenius said:

That is the weirdest thing ever.. 

But my word, does it work!

not that weird. Rennies are antacids and -

the body makes lactic acid when it is low in the oxygen it needs to convert glucose into energy. Lactic acid buildup can result in muscle pain, cramps, and muscular fatigue. These symptoms are typical during strenuous exercise and are not usually anything to worry about as the liver breaks down any excess lactate.

 

[Danger Dassie]

Lately on top of the riding I've been doing other activities more. Running road/trail and some climbing and hiking etc .... I've found that outside of the specialised gear (climbing harness/shoes) you can get away with cross purpose use of a lot of kit. Especially some cycling tops with the pockets. 
I used to be really focussed on supplements for racing, but for general riding/training the stuff mentioned here is more than adequate and most trailheads have a supply of stuff if you need to stop off during a ride.
FYI - there is no such thing as WADA approved supplements or foodstuffs, in fact no anti doping organisation endorses any brand as being 'safe'. The closest you can come is independent batch tests by a company such as Informed Sport whose logo is then displayed by whichever supplement brand.

[TNT1]

1 hour ago, MTBeer said:

Rennies for cramps. 

Sodium Bicarbonate. Just don't use Impey's pharmacist.

[TNT1]

2 hours ago, DonatelloOnPinarello said:

All the gauteng trails I know of, tend to have amazing facilities at the trail heads, and all the routes tend to clover leaf out from there, so you are passing back past the trial head at least once every 30km at most.

Come ride Riverfields. There's a gate with a snapscan code for you, that's it.

 

Also, if you're passing a water point every 30km, all you need is one 500ml bottle anyway.

[Mountain Bru]

2 hours ago, MTBeer said:

Rennies for cramps. Freedom Challenge tested.

I used to cramp easily when riding, but now I can't remember the last time I even felt the twitch of a cramp. Lots has changed, but I think one of the big changes is that I used to ride with energade/powerade in my bidons, but now use a carb drink (biogen carbogen) that has more than just sugar in it. I probably also got better at drinking and eating consistently while riding. Not sure if correlation is causation in this case though. 

[Mountain Bru]

And seen as it's almost Friday ????.....

All you guys that don't eat or eat all kinds of picnic snacks and 3 course home cooked meals and just drink water on rides out of your 1 bottle obviously aren't riding very hard. During a hard ride when the heart is pumping at full gas and the legs are screaming, I can barely get anything down, and have to force myself to keep eating and drinking so I don't bonk out while my bike does a sub 3 argus/947. 

So for me, carb drink is a huge win cos it's much easier to get fluids in than solids at high intensity. I think the goal is 60g - 80g of carbs an hour, which is a million times easier if it's a fluid. I'm also a big fan of the SiS isotonic gels - they seem to just go down easily, and I think that isotonic thing means you don't have to down loads of water with every gel. Far bars are also good for me, but chewing at full gas leaves me out of breathe. 

Good luck shoveling peanuts and raisins into your mouth at full speed... Guaranteed you leave most of them on the road. Good luck chewing biltong at 190bpm heartrate.... I think you might actually pass out. Don't even get me started on how long it takes to chew a PVM energy bar - those things are 1 part sugar, 1 par rubber. And if you're stopping at cafe's during a race, you're literally de-valuing your bike cos there's 0% chance of being able to advertise it as a "sub-3 argust" bike after that.

Edited August 5, 2021 by Mountain Bru

[The Ouzo]

3 minutes ago, Mountain Bru said:

And seen as it's almost Friday ????.....

All you guys that don't eat or eat all kinds of picnic snacks and 3 course home cooked meals and just drink water on rides out of your 1 bottle obviously aren't riding very hard. During a hard ride when the heart is pumping at full gas and the legs are screaming, I can barely get anything down, and have to force myself to keep eating and drinking so I don't bonk out while my bike does a sub 3 argus/947. 

So for me, carb drink is a huge win cos it's much easier to get fluids in than solids at high intensity. I think the goal is 60g - 80g of carbs an hour, which is a million times easier if it's a fluid. I'm also a big fan of the SiS isotonic gels - they seem to just go down easily, and I think that isotonic thing means you don't have to down loads of water with every gel. Far bars are also good for me, but chewing at full gas leaves me out of breathe. 

Good luck shoveling peanuts and raisins into your mouth at full speed... Guaranteed you leave most of them on the road. Good luck chewing biltong at 190bpm heartrate.... I think you might actually pass out. Don't even get me started on how long it takes to chew a PVM energy bar - those things are 1 part sugar, 1 par rubber. And if you're stopping at cafe's during a race, you're literally de-valuing your bike cos there's 0% chance of being able to advertise it as a "sub-3 argust" bike after that.

After my first couple of races I switched to gels and carb drinks as I could not consume solid food on rides. I pretty much stuck to that formula for the last 20 odd years, but over the last 3 years I have pushed my fitness to levels above anything I have on record and have now found that I can consume "some" solid foods. Granted though its more on the longer easy rides where I'd prefer solid food over gels, but I'd never be able to munch down on biltong or peanuts whilst on the bike.

[MTBeer]

6 hours ago, Mountain Bru said:

And seen as it's almost Friday ????.....

All you guys that don't eat or eat all kinds of picnic snacks and 3 course home cooked meals and just drink water on rides out of your 1 bottle obviously aren't riding very hard. During a hard ride when the heart is pumping at full gas and the legs are screaming, I can barely get anything down, and have to force myself to keep eating and drinking so I don't bonk out while my bike does a sub 3 argus/947. 

So for me, carb drink is a huge win cos it's much easier to get fluids in than solids at high intensity. I think the goal is 60g - 80g of carbs an hour, which is a million times easier if it's a fluid. I'm also a big fan of the SiS isotonic gels - they seem to just go down easily, and I think that isotonic thing means you don't have to down loads of water with every gel. Far bars are also good for me, but chewing at full gas leaves me out of breathe. 

Good luck shoveling peanuts and raisins into your mouth at full speed... Guaranteed you leave most of them on the road. Good luck chewing biltong at 190bpm heartrate.... I think you might actually pass out. Don't even get me started on how long it takes to chew a PVM energy bar - those things are 1 part sugar, 1 par rubber. And if you're stopping at cafe's during a race, you're literally de-valuing your bike cos there's 0% chance of being able to advertise it as a "sub-3 argust" bike after that.

Well seeing as it's almost even closer to Friday. That whole speed baseline to eat is your problem. The okes advocating proper food are riding for enjoyment the way riding should be done. 

[Dicky DQ]

17 hours ago, Mountain Bru said:

And seen as it's almost Friday ????.....

All you guys that don't eat or eat all kinds of picnic snacks and 3 course home cooked meals and just drink water on rides out of your 1 bottle obviously aren't riding very hard. During a hard ride when the heart is pumping at full gas and the legs are screaming, I can barely get anything down, and have to force myself to keep eating and drinking so I don't bonk out while my bike does a sub 3 argus/947. 

So for me, carb drink is a huge win cos it's much easier to get fluids in than solids at high intensity. I think the goal is 60g - 80g of carbs an hour, which is a million times easier if it's a fluid. I'm also a big fan of the SiS isotonic gels - they seem to just go down easily, and I think that isotonic thing means you don't have to down loads of water with every gel. Far bars are also good for me, but chewing at full gas leaves me out of breathe. 

Good luck shoveling peanuts and raisins into your mouth at full speed... Guaranteed you leave most of them on the road. Good luck chewing biltong at 190bpm heartrate.... I think you might actually pass out. Don't even get me started on how long it takes to chew a PVM energy bar - those things are 1 part sugar, 1 par rubber. And if you're stopping at cafe's during a race, you're literally de-valuing your bike cos there's 0% chance of being able to advertise it as a "sub-3 argust" bike after that.

But who considers the Argus or 94.7 as an event that needs serious fueling. It is a 3 hr ride so fuel up before take a gel or 2 and be done (A bar-one/nought etc will also work). 
From what I gathered these guys were talking fueling for 200 to 2,000 km rides. Damn even the DC is now 3 sprints with refueling stops. And don't get me started on the S2S, J2C, TB etc. Here all you need is what they give.

It is Friday so let's be real here.

[Jewbacca]

6 minutes ago, TDFN said:

But who considers the Argus or 94.7 as an event that needs serious fueling. It is a 3 hr ride so fuel up before take a gel or 2 and be done (A bar-one/nought etc will also work). 
From what I gathered these guys were talking fueling for 200 to 2,000 km rides. Damn even the DC is now 3 sprints with refueling stops. And don't get me started on the S2S, J2C, TB etc. Here all you need is what they give.

It is Friday so let's be real here.

I agree

How far and long are people riding that they need to make these things?

I make/bake stuff for an adventure race when I'm carrying my food for 24 hours plus between transitions and need to eek out grams/kj. Every other bit of exercise I do can be fuelled before or with a coffee/pastry stop at some point, which to be fair, is really just for the social aspect and not necessary.

I ran 13 peaks a while ago with just water, some game, a bar one and 4 gels. I stopped in Hout Bay and bought a sandwich and a coke and got a coffee and brownie from the coffee caravan at the Nek. 18 odd hours of running/hiking.

Cost me 75zar which I feel is justified as I didn't spend any time preparing/cooking/baking anything.