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Posted

Hi Team

 

Hoping that the clever people can chip in here. 
 

Seeing as we “should” all be taking in at least 1 gram of carb / kg / hour to fuel well, what are you using to get close to these numbers. 
 

The pros are often over 100 grams of carb / hour but for mere mortals likely not necessary. 
 

Looking at your average juice mix (35-50 grams per bottle) and gel or bar (say another 15-20 each), what products do you use that don’t cost stupid money?

 

At 70-80kg most of us need a full bottle and 2 gels an hour which is likely R 60 - R 80 an hour…

 

I use the cheap Biogen juice (in the bag, under R 100 for 500 grams) and USN Vooma Bars (R 12 each) or USN Vooma Gels (R20 each) in racing. 
 

Training I’ll generally go way lower with half strength juice or electrolyte only “juice” and one bar / hour. 
 

Has anyone found any cheaper products that work well for them?

 

With respect, any of the LCHF / Keto crew, please don’t comment and say that you just eat biltong and water as the science has shown that carbs mean better performance 🤣

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Posted

 

Hi,

Think of us cyclists on the other side of 100kgs. I need a backpack and carrier to bring along enough carbs on a 3-4 hour ride.

I have considered brown sugar, salt, lemon juice and water and banana as a cheaper option - some keyboard warriors swear by it. But to cram 40g-60g of carbs into a bottle with sugar you need 10-15 teaspoons per 750ml. Surprisingly not too sweet if you add a bit of salt and lemon juice.

Benefit of the Biogen etc is the other goodies that enhance recovery, stop cramps and give you added watts...

Hoping to also get some good ideas here.

Posted
1 hour ago, ajnkzn said:

Hi Team

 

Hoping that the clever people can chip in here. 
 

Seeing as we “should” all be taking in at least 1 gram of carb / kg / hour to fuel well, what are you using to get close to these numbers. 
 

The pros are often over 100 grams of carb / hour but for mere mortals likely not necessary. 
 

Looking at your average juice mix (35-50 grams per bottle) and gel or bar (say another 15-20 each), what products do you use that don’t cost stupid money?

 

At 70-80kg most of us need a full bottle and 2 gels an hour which is likely R 60 - R 80 an hour…

 

I use the cheap Biogen juice (in the bag, under R 100 for 500 grams) and USN Vooma Bars (R 12 each) or USN Vooma Gels (R20 each) in racing. 
 

Training I’ll generally go way lower with half strength juice or electrolyte only “juice” and one bar / hour. 
 

Has anyone found any cheaper products that work well for them?

 

With respect, any of the LCHF / Keto crew, please don’t comment and say that you just eat biltong and water as the science has shown that carbs mean better performance 🤣

I have never been that scientific on this, but bananas are about R2.50 each and have 25g of carbs.

Posted (edited)

That consumption rate feels super high. I believe it but man, I can't imagine consuming that much.

I did a couple of IM70.3s (~6 hour time, so nothing too fast), and my feeding protocol was 1 unit every 45 min (I weigh 95kg). Where 1 unit is about 100cal, equating to one farbar, or one bottle of sports drink. That never caused me to bonk. When I ate more, or substituted some water for sports drink, that's when the GI distress happened.

Maybe insufficient carbs is the reason why my performance is top 20% at best?

(apart from training volume, because I struggle to achieve more than 8 hours per week consistently)

Edited by JayLow
added weight for context
Posted
3 hours ago, MaMc said:

White sugar

I used this for 2 months which included races with no issues. I would simply add a high5 electrolyte tab for sodium and a drop of lemon juice to manage the sweetness.

3 hours ago, GK Ruger said:

Think of us cyclists on the other side of 100kgs

I used to have the same belief and most literature suggests that. My dietician got me to train an race on  60g/h  and I weighed 108kgs at the time. The weight has been going down and performance has iincreased significantly. 

3 hours ago, ajnkzn said:

what products do you use that don’t cost stupid money?

I buy my nutrition from Cycle lab and Dischem. The mycyclelife loyalty programme and their price match policy make it cheaper to stock on supplies. I buy toiletries from dischem  so I get tons of points that I use towards cycling nutrition.

Posted (edited)

Add maltodextrin to your bottles. Make your own energy bars, consisting of oats, dates, sugar, honey, raisins and coconut. Kan get the bars to around 40/50 g carbs per 60g bar.  

Edited by W@nted
Posted

Just get Tailwind and be done with it. Don’t upset your tummy at all and there is almost no taste so you don’t get that dry mouth sensation with all that sweetness like you you get with other products. You don’t even have to eat anything as well as long as you stick to the correct consumption per hour. 

Posted
8 hours ago, Bub Marley said:

Just get Tailwind and be done with it. Don’t upset your tummy at all and there is almost no taste so you don’t get that dry mouth sensation with all that sweetness like you you get with other products. You don’t even have to eat anything as well as long as you stick to the correct consumption per hour. 

He asked for cheaper products….

Posted (edited)
14 hours ago, GK Ruger said:

Think of us cyclists on the other side of 100kgs. I need a backpack and carrier to bring along enough carbs on a 3-4 hour ride.

Tuis interview with the absolute unit of a Matt Beers not only covers stunning ftp numbers, but also the struggles of the larger riders to feed (and hydrate):

Felt vindicated when he expressed how challenging it is for larger riders to maintain themselves during a long, high intensity effort.

 

Edited by JayLow
Wrong post linked
Posted

Today, I did a 3 and a half mtb ride or thereabout. 950+m of climbing. Had one banana and one pronutro high protein 250gram bar and a bottle of water filled with Magnesium effervescent tab (includes some Vit c). Consumed 3/4 of the bottle. BTW I eat after the first hour of cycling, half a banana, and sip whenever I have the opportunity to do so. The rest of what I eat is somewhere after the 2 hour mark. I make sure that I am on route home so I can eat a meal within the hour of ending the ride or have the emergency smoothie filled with some L-Glutimine.

I don't have any preference for what I take with, its a case of what I have available.

Posted

Chatting to a pro recently, especially for endurance racing, cyclic dextrin should be on your research list. (Jlab on Take Alot seems recommended).

Its one thing placing all those carbs in your gut, its another processing it for hours on end, arguably as important to "train" as actual training.

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