While most of my on-bike nutrition comes from drink mix (tailwind or home-made), “gels” are generally maple syrup. I bought some flasks for this year’s races, so I can have easier access and fewer things to worry. Plan is to put salt like @Power13 did.
For pre-ride nutrition, when I have a long ride and I plan well enough in advance, I rely on rice. I fry (or microwave) leftover rice, season with soy sauce. If I’ve access to a stove, add in one egg and some green onions (lazy stir fried rice) for flavour, but plain rice will do. I find it is easy on the stomach and I don’t get hungry nearly as quickly as I do after toast/pancakes/cereal. Not the most interesting thing to eat in the morning, but it worked well for several 7+hr races.
If you want to separate your energy from your hydration, then 5+ hours of maple syrup has been fine with me taste- and gut-wise, in hot and cold conditions. It doesn’t freeze in riding conditions, though it may slush.
It’s twice the weight of sugar for the same 100g of carbs. But, I presume most gels are similar in carb:weight ratio because they all need water.
So, if you’re going to carry food, then the extra weight in your pockets or bag isn’t a factor.
If you carry sugar (or other powdered carb mix), it’s lighter but obviously requires a quick stop and mix, and it’s generally locked into your hydration even if you adjust on the go.
I’ve been making a maple syrup-Nutella blend for years. It works great, and it’s delicious! I found this on-line somewhere:
3 cups maple syrup
1 cup Nutella
2/3 cup strong coffee
Salt (don’t measure this)
The Nutella cannot really be mixed with the maple syrup by hand. The Nutella is too firm, and supposedly you shouldn’t melt it (never tried). I just combine the maple syrup and nutella in the blender on low. Then add the other ingredients in bowl (for the extra volume).
I buy the maple syrup at Costco, then store the mix in the empties.
I have started to experiment by adding some ginger (squeezed from fresh ginger) to maple syrup, sea salt and water. Added 90 grams to a 750 ml bottle amd ot was very palatable cold. Kinda my version of Maple Tap but I thought it tasted much better.
Hey @Captainyamilo, welcome. Yes, it is regular Nutella, which itself has almost the same carbs as the maple syrup. It really does taste good. And I store it in the fridge.
I’ve not have good experience with the GU flasks. The cap/valve piece breaks pretty easy. I went through 4 of them. The hydroflask are much more durable in my experience
Here is an interesting twist on the maple syrup idea…I bought a few bottles of Jot Coffee. It is, in essence, a hyper-concentrated version of coffee. Combine a tablespoon of it with 8 oz. of hot water to make a regular coffee or 8 oz. of milk to make an iced coffee, etc.
Anyway, I add a decent splash of it to the collapsible flask I use to hold my organic maple syrup…takes a bit of the sweetness away, adds some extra flavor and gives you a boost of caffeine, as well.
As a public service, just in case - don’t pay extra for organic maple syrup. It’s really not a thing. I know Costco’s is organic and what a ton of people get, but it’s a great price on its own.
Yeah, Costco maple syrup is actually a really good deal. You’d need to buy a full gallon of the stuff right from the sugar shack to get $12/qt like Costco. And that’s if you stick to small places.
Head to a more touristy spot that’s high volume, and they’re more likely to be re-selling, so it’ll probably be $70-80 a gallon or more.
The whole maple syrup business is super interesting. The Daily Show did a great bit about it a while back:
@grwoolf and @FeltZ4 mentioned here that maple syrup is primarily sucrose. Some folks prefer agave syrup (which, taste-wise, to me personally, is potato/tomato). According to Wikipedia, depending on the origin of the syrup, it can be primarily fructose or sucrose. Wondering if anyone has any insights/experience with agave syrup to share.
I aim for ~100g (~400 calories) per hour between the syrup and skratch. 1.5 scoops of skratch per big podium bottle (same ratio in hydration pack). The carb counting can get tricky with weather, especially if it gets cold and you aren’t drinking as much and have to go off plan. I had a couple long races last year where it was cooler than normal and I kept drinking a good bit (for calories) and it resulted in too many pee stops.
I’ve definitely had this issue. And in general I don’t drink a lot unless I force it. Which is why I’ve considered moving away from too many calories in the bottle but then that means I need to consume more gels. I’m considering skratch in bottles and hydration pack and then maple syrup and either sis beta fuel or Maurten gel 40g options.
