Also, RIP intestines/GI tract.
Yo, thanks for the help everyone!
I’ve had SIS espresso gels before - they’re horrible. Really thick, and the coffee taste combined with the lukewarm temperature by the time you eat it put me off. The SIS cola ones are 100 x better. Normal consistency, nice taste.
What company? are you talking SiS?
Yep, sorry. Edited now
yeah, that was the exact gel that I had right before I threw up mid race… hmmmm… haha
I mix and match. Like other have said. I usually take as the first one and the last one if i use 3 or more. If fewer then i use it as the last one. Most of them dont have enough caffeine to make a huge difference anyway.
The SIS ones gels always make me feel queasy wether caffeinated or not. Personally I settled on High5 Red Berry caffeinated ones.
I take a gel every 45m during 3 plus hour rides. I alternate caffeinated then a regular…works great for me.
I think any gel is going to be personal preference as to whether you like them and if your body can tolerate them (although that can be trained to a degree). I use 1 x SiS double espresso gel (150mg caffeine) about 20 minutes before any race (MTB or running race) - I’ve found that works for me and I have found that I process caffeine pretty quick so it starts to kick in about 15-20 minutes in (difficult to judge directly when you have the adrenaline). I do drink a fair amount of coffee so fairly conditioned to effects of caffeine but still find it works for increased mental acuity and RPE lowering.
I usually leave it at that for anything under an hour or a bit longer. For MTB racing (Multi lap pairs event racing one lap on, one lap off) I’ve done one caffeine, then normal gel then back to caffeine then normal. Similarly for half marathon in running I’ve used a second caffeine gel at approx 8/9km to kick in when the RPE really ramps up.
Average male bodyweight can typically handle around 500mg of caffeine safely, but I try to keep daily consumption from all sources closer to around 200mg max. I would also lean toward using the caffeine gels later in the ride rather than the beginning.
This is yet another N=1 discussion. Caffeine receptivity is entirely individual. Therefore EXPERIMENTATION is the only way to determine how you react, whether you react, how long it takes for you to react, how long it takes, whether it affects sleep, ETC. Someone else’s experience only suggests what could happen. Could you be right in the middle of the normal caffeine-effect distribution? Sure, but that’s merely the place to start experimentation. We know that some people (outliers) are basically insensitive to caffeine. Doesn’t help or hurt at all. Some are super-sensitive (outliers). Bottom line is that training seriously allows us daily opportunities to EXPERIMENT and figure ourselves out. Taking it at the wrong time? How would you know if you didn’t try? Try it. Try more. Try less. Try a different type (for example, Shaklee makes a chew with caffeine combined with L-tyrosine, L-theanine, B vitamins, and vitamin D. You’ll note that Nate likes caffeine with at least one of those additives due to its moderating influence on the effect–on him).
Gratuitous, unneeded, unwanted lines: Life is one big, giant, rolling experiment–attempt to control it lest it control you. And you have agency only if you assert it. Systemic [anything] has less control over you if you use your rational brain and assert discipline and self-control. And still, life is tragic and wonderful and weird–simultaneously.
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Yeah, but…that’s kind of true about everything…like, we might as well not think or talk about any of this because its all going to require some measure of personal experimentation and context. Just trying to establish a baseline of what has worked for people as a starting point rather than just taking stabs in the dark.
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Jonathan: You’re right! It’s kind of true about everything. Yes, it will take personal experimentation and common sense. But “trying to establish a baseline” by asking a question on a forum is hardly the best way to establish a baseline! It’s a great way to get all screwed up. Listen to the podcast and read the literature. Coach Chad has reviewed it multiple times. Trolling for a whole bunch of N=1 anecdotes is hardly the best way to find a “starting point.” Stabs in the dark would actually be better. A better question would be to ask how one should establish a good experimental design for determining your best caffeine supplementation.
Kinda disagree. One of the primary functions of the forum format seems to be concentrating relevant information and experience so that he doesn’t have to go read the literature. That’s why 99% of all threads start with questions.
The issue isn’t what “primary function of the forum format seems to be,” it’s what is the best way to determine what N=1’s should do when training and racing. My simple point was that yes, most threads start with a question, and are then followed by a whole series of N=1 responses which are almost assured to be wrong for the N=1 who asked the question. One doesn’t have to read a single bit of literature to know how to start, although it can be useful for some. Not an N=1 solution there, either. You can, as I suggested, listen to the podcast. Or, as I also suggested, you could ask a better question, such as in this case: “Given the individual variability in caffeine effect, what sort of experimental protocol should I follow to converge on the right solution for my body chemistry?” Or, you could ask: “Given the individual variability in caffeine effect, what is the average amount of caffeine that studies show reduces RPE when cycling?” Then start there and vary around that number. Experience is mostly an N=1 thing and mostly misleading for a different N=1 application and is further made problematic by the sunk cost effect (bias) and enthusiasm each respondent tends to have for his/her favorite solution.
Or you could ask what everyone else is doing, print out each (typically ardent “I’m sure I’m right”) response, tape it to a wall, blindfold yourself, throw a dart at the wall, take the one it hits and proceed with that solution.
This thread needed that pressure-relieving, humorous and ironic twist! Nicely done. Forums are funny things, but best when they’re actually funny. I was trying to be funny (and make a point) with my blindfolded dart “suggestion” but it probably failed as humor. Appreciate it!
PS: The PhD thesis wouldn’t be damp if you used the right fan in your TR pain cave…!
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Good sir, I refer you to this thread.
For I am the Worst Gel Eater of All Time. That means you cannot be, although you might try. And you are clearly trying hard. I love SIS apple, BTW. That’s why aging, curing SIS apple gel nanoparticulates “more foul and loathsome than the putrid slime that clings to the walls of Hell” (a Rod Serling Night Gallery quote–beat that for throwback references) create a sort of frame protectant coating on my bikes. I choose to refer to it as that because whatever is required to remove it (jackhammering, industrial acids, Coke, Indian whiskey) would surely damage the frame. It is NOT aero, and has taken my CdA from a slick .19 on my TT bike to a rather commuterly .55. But enough about me. Let’s talk about your connection to me.
You say “not a drop was lost.” A-HA! I explain that in my foregoing thread/thesis. GEL WALKS. GEL CREEPS. GEL HAS A STAR TREK TRANSFORMER–IT BEAMS ITSELF ACROSS TIME AND SPACE. Well, at least mine does.
I have a theory. My theory is simple. MY GEL GOT INTO YOUR GEL PACKET. I could tell you how that happened but then I’d have to exile you to Portland. You are in serious danger, my good and massively over-written friend! My gel found THE PORTAL to your stash. You have to do something. Call Putin. He has nukes and he’ll use them. So does the UK, but they won’t, so don’t ask them. This is very troubling. Very…excuse me, but a gel is knocking on the door. I must let it in.