scottt wrote:
Any clue as to what works best...? I ride between two and four-hours a
ride--a few times a week (also teach spinning classes twice-a-week). I
average about 80-100 rpm and also push around 16-20 mph.I always
hydrate before I ride and bring at least one large bottle of water and
a bottle of mixed accelerade. Last year, as well into this season, I
have been using Hammer gel as another source of fuel (especially on
longer rides).I'm feeling great, and pose this question to see if
anyone has better results with a mix of water/gels, or bars and
water/energy drinks or any other combo. My Tri buddy swears by eating
a good breakfast and drinking only Gatorade...He also mentioned that
one dosen't get any more bag for your buck/carbs etc. using sport
drinks and gels. Is he more loopy that usual?

I usually don't push myself that hard for that long when I'm cycling, as
it's mostly about transportation for me, but I have experiences I can
relate from when I was a treeplanter.

Treeplanting is a lot like cycling in many ways, in that fast planting is
a high output activity, complete with accelerated heartrate and rapid
breathing, not to mention profuse sweating. I've heard people say things
like sustained 66% of Vo2 Max, whatever that means to you. The same
pitfalls apply, such as dehydration, loss of blood sugar, and eating foods
that are difficult to digest quickly and keep going without slowing down.
To make money planting, you need to push yourself to a cyclists' level of
exertion for nine hours a day, every day you work.

I experimented a lot with different drinks and foods, and found that for
the most part anything labelled or packaged as a sports product was less
likely to improve my performance. Gatorade, while it was a lot better than
koolaid (yes I tried koolaid, it was cheap), still left me feeling awful
at the end of the day. Straight gatorade is disgusting to chug, and even
if I watered it down a lot I would run out of steam about 6 hours into the
day. Often by quitting time I would have difficulty focusing my eyes on
anything for very long or walking in a straight line. I would slur my
speech and be unable to fill in the form claiming my trees for the day. I
would pass out and sleep on the drive back to camp, which if you've ever
planted you know is a *very* bumpy ride sometimes. The same thing happened
with powerade, kool-aid, and some kind of gel I forget the name of. I
never had this problem when I drank plain water, and I would drink up to 7
litres a day or more without ****ing. I also liked to drink a can of V8
once a day, I felt like that made a difference, possibly from the salt, or
just because I really like V8.

I also tried many different kinds of foods. I found that energy bars and
granola bars of all sorts weren't filling enough. Half an hour after
eating my stomach would be growling (I need to eat a lot, and eat often).
Heavier foods like pasta, potatoes, and vegetables were too hard to
digest. If I ate even a moderate amount I would feel bloated and get
heartburn, and would slow down more than if I hadn't eaten. The best thing
was a combination of trail mix and sandwiches. A handful of salted
pretzels, peanuts, chocolate, raisins and other misc salty and sugary bits
plus a portion of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made with whole grain
or multigrain bread. It's important not to eat too much at any one time,
but to eat often throughout the day. Sometimes I would eat a small amount
of meat or tuna in a sandwich, just to break the tedium of PB&J. I would
also eat several cookies or brownies throughout the day, which our cooks
baked for us.

This combination never failed to work for me. If I tweaked it even a
little bit, like using white bread instead of wholewheat, I would have
significantly less energy by the afternoon and would make less money that
day. I think the key is getting the right balance of electrolytes, carbs,
proteins and sugars in an easily digestible form, which energy bars and
drinks could never do for me. I also worry about the things that go into
such products, chemicals and preservatives and colouring and flavouring
and who knows what other additives. In the long run as well as the short,
it's much better to eat a balanced mix of wholesome organic foods, and to
drink plain water. In my experience anyhow.