Best Spin Tucker/Drink!

[Martin]

Lads,


Whats the best nosh for a long spin, trying to avoid sports bars loaded with bad high suggar carbs and looking to get something more natural onboard! think that powerade/locozade sport is rotting me teeth! Also, drink which packs the best punch?


Any tips for a fat lad?

[Conor]

You could try bananas and peanuts. All the goodness but no bad stuff.

[Scrivo]

Water and nutrigrain is good enough for spins I reckon. Always feel the extra boost from energy stuff in a race if your not taking it often.

[Liam]

I have always found just plain water is the best thing.

The nutri grain Elevens's things seem to be nice and good for energy, not too sweet and no caffine.

[Barrydanzig]

well i've always been one for a bottle of powerbar and a bottle of water on training spins, if i'm going on a long spin then i would usually just bring more of these fluids and a few nutrigrains, but then again, i'm a skinny hippy so i haven't had any problems with the powerbar and weight gain.

[paddyobrien]

i tend to use a mix of orange juice and water .. about 1/3 oj to 2/3 water ... get a bit of energy out of it, and at this mix its no so sweet and sickly like orange juice can be.


Also tastes better than water. Plus, if you stick a tiny pinch of salt in as well its probably the same as an energy drink!

[Karl]

Water, a banana and a couple of cereal bars are usually enough for me on most spins. Will be looking into sports drinks and energy bars etc. for races though.

[Sean]

Some of this has been posted here before...


Drinks:

Less than 2 hours - Water

More than 2 hours, or shorter at high intensity - Carb drink (Powerbar, High5, Maximuscle, whatever works for you. I find Lucozade in ready to drink form too sweet, and expensive)

Depending on your level of prehydration and the intensity of riding, you can get anywhere from half an hour to 3 or 4 hours from 1 bottle. Obviously on hotter days, you need to drink more.

There's plenty of racer types who put a dash of Coke in their bottles as a turbocharge for the last few minutes of races.

Some of you were talking about water-only being best. This may or may not be fine for you, but I will say that you not only need to think about getting through the ride OK, but also minimising the effect the ride has on you; i.e. not being totally zonked when there's no need to be - unless you're doing that "type" of ride. The less the ride takes out of you, the easier it is to recover for the next day's training.

Probably not the greatest idea to be drinking the sports stuff constantly though - it can be hard on your stomach and teeth.


Food:

Nutrigrain bars are pretty good, edible but sometimes a little dry. Easy to find in any shop when you forget to buy them before a ride.

Bananas, nuts, dried fruit is all good.

Flapjacks too.

If you find a sports bar you like, its often worthwhile taking one along as they tend to pack a few more calories per bar than cereal bars. High5 caramel or raisin bars and Powerbar Harvests are nice because they have a proper foody consistency. Bonus is they don't freeze solid in cold weather like the old-school Powerbars. Won't divulge what I've had to do to thaw one out (it was my last bar, at the end of a long ride...)

You should be looking at 1 bar per hour or thereabouts, provided you've had a decent breakfast beforehand too.


On very long spins, or short hammer rides, I throw a gel in my pocket, just as a pickmeup to get home.


There's loads of foods you can try on long spins to vary it up a bit - this is good for the psychy too. I've heard of people taking everything from sandwiches to pop-tarts. One of the best things anyone ever did for me was feed me jamtarts after I'd bonked on a roadspin - instant go-juice to get me the few km back home.


The single best food I've ever had were Quaker Oatmeal-To-Go bars in Canada. Sadly, I can't seem to find them on sale here. They were tasty, very edible and packed with energy. Cheap as chips too.


Sean

[Martin]

some good pointers there Sean! thanks!

[Morgan]

For serious mountainbikers there's really only one option:


http://www.howtoavoidthebummerlife.com/weblog/archives/powbeeshand.jpg

[Martin]

mr chairman would that come with a pocket mixer? tonic or the likes?