eating on spins

richiemack

Im a newbie and my mate whos been cycling a few years says that when he's out training he brings cereal bars with him, he reckons its good to eat them throughout a session, and even a few sweets towards the end. What are yer opinions and advice?

I always bring a few bars and a banana or two with me, even just in case you're stuck up the mountains for awhile.

Home:Ballyhoura

Ya, I tend to bring banana's too! You always seem to be able to digest them easily. You could go for energy bars/gels if its a very demanding cycle!

Ryaner

Where do you store the bars/bananas? Saddle bags are only so big.

Home:Ballyhoura

Ryaner wrote: »

Where do you store the bars/bananas? Saddle bags are only so big.

Oh, my personal team car supplies them...haha, only messin!
Anyway, most cycling clothing have back pockets...thats where! It can be a bit annoying if you are sprinting up a hill or something as they tend to bang around a bit!

blorg

Bananas are kept in a Banana Guard, obviously (and stuffed into jersey back pockets as suggested.) You can carry an amazing amount of stuff in the back pockets of a cycling jersey.

uberwolf

as you're only starting this may not apply, but careful to time the consumption for at least 25 mins before any intense parts of your spin.

Home:Ballyhoura

blorg wrote: »

Bananas are kept in a Banana Guard

Do you find this any good, I was thinking of getting one before my family laughed at me! Anyway, I'm sure they do work...is it not annoying to have a hard bit of plastic banging off/sticking into you on the bike? I'm sure it's worth having an edible banana at the end of it though and not having to carry a spoon! Hehe

DirkVoodoo

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

...is it not annoying to have a hard bit of plastic banging off/sticking into you on the bike?

I can't understand why your family would laugh at you :rolleyes:

I'm sure they work, I've never had a problem with the banana being squished.

Nutrigrains are indeed dead handy, they aren't that high in calories though, I think the elevenses might be a little better. A friend of mind swears by carrying a pack of wine gums with him as well.

Oh, fig rolls!

Gavin

Figrolls can turn into an unpleasant mush when stored in a sweaty back pocket. It's a most displeasing sight, although I've seen worse.. ho ho ho

blorg

Personally I actually can't stand bananas so I can't vouch for the efficiacy of the Banana Guard. Most banana consuming roadies I see don't use them, they just stuff the bananas into their jersey, or even down their pants (one particular member of Bray Wheelers is notorious for this and has been known to carry upwards of fifteen bananas down his pants, no joke.)

I tend to use Nutrigrains, cereal bars and the like, the elevenses are indeed higher in calories but the fruit bake ones are easier to eat while in motion. Some stuff like flapjacks can have crazy amounts of calories, I think I saw one in the shop in Laragh with over 500 calories in it. There are also specific sports-oriented energy bars and gels which are more expensive but some people swear by (you can also manufacture gels at home yourself.) I have never bothered with this stuff thus far but might give them a go this year.

An energy drink can be a good way to get some extra calories in relatively easily but is not a substitute for solid food.

I generally only really need to eat on longer cycles, 60km+, but it is always a good idea to have something in your pocket even if you don't actually eat it (I always carry a couple of bars but rarely consume them, I have given them away to people who were bonking on occasion.) Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, bonking is very unpleasant indeed especially when far from home. Make sure you have a bite to eat before you head out on a longer cycle.

What you need to eat also depends on how much excess stores you may have around your waist and how much effort you are putting in, if you are going very fast you are more likely to need to replenish from an external source than if you are aerobic and fat burning. On the flip side if you are killing yourself it's also a lot more difficult to eat or even drink for that matter so ideally get the calories in before you hit that big hill, etc.

If you're bringing some chocolate or something along with you, don't litter. Nothing to do with the legality or morality of it, but if you get a hole in your tyre that leaves it exposed to the road you can use the wrapper to wrap around the (new/repaired) tube, and it should do you a fair distance.

AfternoonBlue

Hey, How do roadies feel about bring their stuff along on their back. I'm getting a camelbak type thing for going snowboarding, if i were to use it on the bike it would carry spare tyre/food/phone etc comfortably. Would it create a lot of drag or get uncomfortable after a while or possibly even worse, be completely un-euro?

DirkVoodoo

Pockets fit pretty much everything I need: keys, phone, food. Pump on the bike and spare tube, multitool, cash (I shouldn't be saying this, I'm watching you all!) in the saddle bag.

Aside from looking a bit disproportionate I could fit a few things in the pockets.

When you say camelbak do you mean the yokes that look like plastic bottles? I've heard of someone on here saying they stuff a rain jacket into a plastic bottle and put it in one of their holders. No problems.

victorcarrera

I think it depends on on your body reserves weight etc. If you weigh greater than 80Kilos you should be able to go 2hrs at your moderate pace on a bottle of water. Any longer than that I would bring some carbs or carb drink in second bottle and start consuming after 1hr.
Few newbie tips:
If you bring banana or nutrigrain bar, snip the ends before u go out so you can easily open them with one gloved hand.
Practice taking and putting food into rear pockets.
Eat and drink on flat sections of road where You are unlikely to brake or change gears. Eating with left hand allows you to change rear gears and apply front brake with your right if needed.
Practice removing and returning bottle to cage without looking down.

Enjoy your meal.

DirkVoodoo

Top tips Victor, especially the snipping one. I normally have to wait until a stop before I can eat as I am not yet good with the "hands-free" cycling.

Home:Ballyhoura

victorcarrera wrote: »

Eating with left hand allows you to change rear gears and apply front brake with your right if needed.

Hi, a bit off topic...but I just remembered when you said this that my brakes are the opposite?!?! On every bike I've ever owned, right brake was front brake/left was back, but now its just the opposite! The gears are in the usual positions...so I wonder why this is so? Is it a Trek thing, or did they set it up wrong?

P.S. Can it be changed back to normal if I want?

Lumen

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

On every bike I've ever owned, right brake was front brake/left was back, but now its just the opposite!

Your current arrangement allows you to front-brake for a right turn whilst giving a hand signal. I'd leave it as is.

ROK ON

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Top tips Victor, especially the snipping one. I normally have to wait until a stop before I can eat as I am not yet good with the "hands-free" cycling.

Have this also. Did a fair amount of reading on it. There does not appear to be a standard for brake set up, but normal is considered right lever/front brake.
But in countries that drive on the left (ie here), some folk consider it safer to have left lever/front brake so that one can signal to turn left while slowing down/braking.
My new bike has this set up. Takes a bit of getting used to, but its easier once you do.

blorg

You have that the wrong way around, countries which drive on the left (like ourselves) tend to have the front brake on the right. This is actually a legal requirement in the UK believe it or not (as it is that your bike be sold with a bell.) I believe it is the other way around (left front) in Europe and the US.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html#whichside

Whatever you do stick to one or other, it can be very disconcerting if you normally ride one way and then try to ride a bike arranged the other way around, as I have found when hiring a bike in Europe.

digitalage

I bought 2 boxes of cliff bars as they were on specail at wiggle, chocolate chip and cool mint chocolate, they taste lovely and found them great on my cycle last sunday.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Clif_Bar_Box_Of_12_68g_Bars/5360029534/

tunney

AfternoonBlue wrote: »

Hey, How do roadies feel about bring their stuff along on their back. I'm getting a camelbak type thing for going snowboarding, if i were to use it on the bike it would carry spare tyre/food/phone etc comfortably. Would it create a lot of drag or get uncomfortable after a while or possibly even worse, be completely un-euro?

How long of a spin are you going on? 2-3 days?

AfternoonBlue

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

When you say camelbak do you mean the yokes that look like plastic bottles? I've heard of someone on here saying they stuff a rain jacket into a plastic bottle and put it in one of their holders. No problems.

They're backpacks with a pouch that holds water and a hose going through the strap to your mouth so you can carry water without carrying a bottle. I'm not going on long enough spins that i'd really need to carry food, i'm more thinking about water and yeah, a rain jacket and mini tool etc.

@Tunney, ha, not quite at that stage yet, but just to bring phone and repair stuff. It's quite a small backpack like.

victorcarrera

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

Hi, a bit off topic...but I just remembered when you said this that my brakes are the opposite?!?! On every bike I've ever owned, right brake was front brake/left was back, but now its just the opposite! The gears are in the usual positions...so I wonder why this is so? Is it a Trek thing, or did they set it up wrong?

P.S. Can it be changed back to normal if I want?

Not even the great Sheldon was definitive on this one, but here is my experience.
New Raleigh, Carrera and Focus bikes came right for front. (All UK assembled)
New Giant and Trek (US assembled or Brake Obama if you like) had right for rear but I changed them over as I also ride motorcycles which are all right front and don’t want the confusion in and emergency.

Swapping over even on SIS is easy. Just be careful that inner cables are not frayed before you pull them back as it can be tricky installing them again if you don’t have good cable cutters.

Chips Lovell

If what you're carrying doesn't fit in your jersey pockets, then you're bringing too much.

Aside from being sweaty and a nuisance, the other disadvantage to backpacks is that you can't extract its contents while on the move. Much easier to reach around into your pockets and pull out food etc.

Lumen

el tonto wrote: »

If what you're carrying doesn't fit in your jersey pockets, then you're bringing too much.

I carry in jacket pockets:

- 2 bananas
- Few fig rolls or biscuits
- Phone, keys, money
- Rain jacket

...and in saddlebag:

- Patch kit, 2 tubes, tyre levers
- Multi-tool (and barbell spanner if on fixie)
- Pitlock key (slightly odd for spins but can't be bothered to change skewers)

There is no way I could fit all this comfortably in jacket pockets unless I ditched the tools.

Chips Lovell

On pretty much every spin I'd have the following in my pockets:

Tube, can of pitstop, tyre levers, multi-tool, up to five bars, phone, keys, money. I've enough room left over to stick in sunglasses and arm warmers if needs be.

Home:Ballyhoura

el tonto wrote: »

can of pitstop

What is this and what does it do...also where do you keep it?
I'm guessing it's chain lube from my google search, but it also returned different products!

Chips Lovell

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

What is this and what does it do...also where do you keep it?
I'm guessing it's chain lube from my google search, but it also returned different products!

Not chain lube. It fixes punctures (well, a lot of the time it does). You can read about it here.

Gavin

el tonto wrote: »

Not chain lube. It fixes punctures (well, a lot of the time it does). You can read about it here.

Have you used it, find it any good ?

Chips Lovell

Gavin wrote: »

Have you used it, find it any good ?

Yes. Doesn't work 100 per cent of the time, but when it does, it's a very speedy way of getting back on the move.

blorg

I wouldn't carry a backpack for the reasons already listed. I sometimes use a bar bag if I have to carry more than will fit in the pockets, although this would only really happen on long cycles in varied weather conditions, wouldn't need one for even long events like the W200 in the summer. Climbing the Alps in October it was very useful, some of the other guys overheated majorly on the way up while I had all my thermals in the bar bag. 2,000m climbing equates to around a 17 C temperature difference and you are a lot warmer climbing than descending.