Something Delicious.

I am a big proponent of making sure to keep hydrated and fed during bike rides.  Most of my road rides have always been around 1.5 to 4 or 5 hours. My average mtn bike ride so far has been about 2 hours.  One bottle of water/sports drink and about 600-800 calories consumed per hour is the norm - depending on effort. Im not anal enough to whip out a calculator during a ride to figure out my nutrition, though. For 'liquid food' very little beats the sustained energy levels that Hammer Nutrition's Espresso gel gives me.  Problem is - it tastes alot like salty bongwater after it gets really hot sitting in your jersey and its all you have been eating for the last two hours (Not that I know what salty bongwater tastes like - just so you know). They have a raspberry flavour that I just dont like so much.

For solid food I rely heavily on clif bars (unless I stop and pick up a sandwich or something at a 7-11).  Clif bars are downright tasty and provide great energy.  I have literally eaten a chocolate brownie clif bar for breakfast. They are THAT good. The downside?  They are hard to eat,  dry and dense in your mouth, and hard to swallow after a couple hours in the saddle. I dont feel like playing the 'whistling game' on the bike. You know, when you were a kid and the game is to eat some saltines and try to whistle?  Nothing comes out but crumbs and a whooshing sound. Thats kinda what it feels like, except clif bars are much heavier in texture. I have suffered through this thinking there was no real alternative.

Lo! I have found something that may be the cure for my ills!  Clif shot bloks!  I had heard of them through fatty (fatcyclist.org) but always thought it was a gimmick.

They are no gimmick.  These little beauties are 200 calories per package, and are like eating squishy, delicious gummi bears on the trail.  I tried them out for the first time this weekend and found them to be super easy to eat.  I alternated between a package of clif shot bloks and Hammer gel.  This was an excellent combination.  The flavour I tried was 'cran-razz' - and have since picked up some black cherry with caffeine. 

Supposedly caffeine helps you utilize carbs better when exercising or something.  Im sure next year they will say caffeine will cause brain damage when used in conjunction with exercise.  Oh, science! I will put these babies to the test this weekend - I plan on going up to Santos and putting in some serious saddle time. I am curious to see how I eating these after a couple of hours. I see heavily weighted jersey pockets in my future if I am sans Camelbak.