Energy Gel (a home made recipe)

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Friday 05/16/2008

Your training partner's name is pain. You start out trying to ignore him. Can't do it.
You attempt to reason with him. No way. You try to strike a bargain. Hah.
You plead. You say "Please stop, please go away. I promise never ever to do
this again if you just leave me alone." But he won't. Pain only climbs off if you do.
Then you're beaten. - Scott Martin

One's first glimpse of freedom, in fact is often snatched from
a bike. By turning the pedals you can move more quickly towards
your most secret dreams.
-Bernard Hinault

Bicycling is the nearest approximation I know to the flight of birds.
The airplane simply carries a man on its back like an obedient Pegasus;
it gives him no wings of his own.
-Louis J. Helle, Jr.

But to say that the race is the metaphor for the life is to miss the point.
The race is everything. It obliterates whatever isn't racing.
Life is the metaphor for the race.
-Donald Antrim

Riding a race bike is an art -
a thing that you do because you feel something inside.
-Valentino Rossi

You can't win without suffering. Whether it's in the mountains
or in a time trial you have to spare no effort. You may feel drained
at the finish, but the joy of winning help you forget everything...
-Bernard Hinault

As long as I breathe, I attack.
-Bernard Hinault

Try not...
Do... or do not.
There is no try. -Jedi Master Yoda

Everyday there's something that reminds me why I love this sport.
-Bernard Hinault

Hard training, easy combat;
easy training, hard combat.
- Marshal Suvorov, famous Russian General

I race to win, not to please people.
-Bernard Hinault

If you don’t have confidence,
you’ll always find a way not to win.
- Carl Lewis

You have to decide whether to put up with the pain
or whether to stop and get off the bike
-Beranrd Hinault

A race doesn't start on Sunday morning or Sunday afternoon:
You have to be aware of it throughout the week in order to be ready.
Eat wisely, sleep, train hard: a life of self control.
-Bernard Hinault

Ok. John gave me the link a couple months ago in comment on this post for oatmeal bars, about home made energy gels. Here's what the writer reccomends:

... I recommend using 75% brown rice syrup 25 % agave syrup (nector) or honey and 1 teaspoon of sea salt (or other natural, non refined salt or oral rehydration salts available from drug stores) per 300 grams. If you are using honey, I would recommend a ratio of 60% brown rice syrup and 40% honey due to the lower fructose conentration of honey (38% fructose)...

Maltodextrin can also be used to replace brown rice syrup and is typically easier on the stomach and not as sweet. It is available only as a powder and needs to be mixed with water to form a thin paste that can replace brown rice syrup. ...

This mixture of carbohydrates provides the glucose for immediate enegy, fructose for more gradually released energy and the complex carbohyrates for more sustained energy. ... SummitPost - Home Made Energy Gels

Here's what I did:

I had a gel flask already. I'm pretty sure it's this one. But there's no label on it. I dropped about 2 tsp of vanilla flavoring in it. Then I dumped brown rice syrup in it till it was a bit over 3/4 filled. Then I put less than 1/8 tsp of table salt and potassium salt in it. Then I topped it off with honey. I mixed it well by turning the tube over and over. It was like I was trippin, watching a lava lamp. When I came down, I put the cap on, and put it in the cabinet for my next ride.

Well it turned out ok. I have yet to try buying maltodextrin to mix in. I'd really like to try that, as the brown rice syrup is pretty sweet. Sometimes is seems too sweet to be able to swallow correctly while riding.

But it seems to work well as far as gel fuels for your body goes. I'm more a fan of actually eating things (dried fruit, bananas, pbj sammiches, etc.) on long rides, so I may end up packing lunches for Almanzo. But for shorter (ie-USCF) racing and for training rides under 2 hrs this brown rice syrup energy gel replacement will work well.

Wednesday 04/23/2008 | 10:21 am

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