Carrying Gels on Bike Best Practices
Based on my work in progress core diet program, I am planning to take 8 gels plus 2 powerbars during the bike leg of my next IM (plus Perform). Last time I did a race, I taped the gels to my top tube and tore them off one by one (at least until I abandoned my strategy). The issue I run in to with individual gels is I don't know what to do with those sticky empties. Also, the gel packets rub on my inner thighs unless they are perfectly centered on the tube (not a huge issue, but one I would like to avoid). I also would like to avoid the aero penalty of essentially a fan of gels taped to my bike.
Lately, I've been thinking about using a gel flask. The larger 6 oz. jobbies would hold 4 gels, so I would need to carry at least 2 flasks. Issues: my biggest question is how to carry them? Is there a best practice here? Some say they carry them in a jersey pocket, but that means rembering to pick them up at T1--that's not a fool proof plan. Some say they use velcro to hold the flask to the top tube, but that sounds like a bump could dislodge 2 hours of nutrition. Are the flasks a bigger pain than taping gels to the top tube? Do the flasks work? Do the gels actually come out, thoroughly. It doesn't do much good if half the gel stays in the tube. Any thoughts appreciated.
Comments
My last IM, when I decided to go with 7 gels on the bike, I chose PowerPar Gels for three reason:
The night before, I poured 4 packs into one gel flask, and 3 into another. The first Flask went in my Bento Box, the other in SpecialNeeds. The flasks were from Hammer Nutrition ... I get them free with each order ... And hold 6 oz each.
Because the top opens like a bike bottle, no drippy sticky mess. And no sticky packs to open, carry and dispose of.
I have a flask that I sometimes use in training but 've never raced with one.
Sorry, sent too soon ... The gel poured easily, with the oz markers on the flasks, i could see it all went in, as well as how much I took each time. Years ago, I used a holder with velcro, but lost the flask at the first bridge seam. No room for a Bento Box? I vote for back pocket of bib shorts, or back pocket of EN singlet. Put it inside your shoes or helmet in T1 bag, you won't forget it that way.
The key to me is the viscosity of the PowerBar gel. Much thinner then Gu or any others, even Hammer Gel.
Why do you pour the gels into a flask if you're going to carry a bento box anyway? I stack my gels into the bento box and put the empty wrappers in there too. I haven't found that to be a problem. I'm not sure I understand the extra step of pouring the gel into the flask first?
@ Kate...the original poster gave a few reasons to consider not using gel packs, including the difficulty of getting the gel into your mouth while riding, and the leftover sticky package.
For me, I have a few other reasons, mostly due to the ravages of injury and age. I can't open the packs with either my teeth or my arthritic fingers. I can't even open the flask top with my teeth, so I leave it open, and only 2/3rds full so it doesn't drain out. But back when I did have teeth and fingers that worked, I would routinely spray sticky gel on myself trying to open and suck on it while also trying to stay aero @ 20-22 mph.
I've used the gel flasks for years for both long cycling RR's and triathlon. Ultimately it's a little cheaper if you're buying bulk gel (I get the big bottles from Hammer Nutrition) and you don't have the sticky mess all over your hands/top tube/pockets/box that you get from the packets.
Fuel Belt makes a velcro/rubberized frame mount for the top tube of your bike or you can put the flask in your box. I believe they have fuel belts with a flask holder as well for the run.
@Kate-I have my e-Caps and some solid fuel (Breeze Bars and Cliff Blok just in case) in my box along with the tire lever and CO2 chuck so I don't have room for Gels or the flask in there.
I use darkspeed bento box with 60 calorie bites of blocks, waffles, bars , etc, wrapped in an edible rice paper. Open box, grab 1 piece, pop in mouth, close box, keep riding. No wrappers etc. I usually save the gel flask for the run.
If I use gel on the bike , its powerbar gel or EFS in a flask , both are thin enough viscosity to flow nicel , in the bento box. Again no wrappers and no sticky mess.
Little trick for getting all the gel out of the flask is when its emptiy, take a mouthful of water , open flask , squeeze half air out , spit water into flask , close, shake , drink! I also add more salt stick and just a touch of water to the original mix of gel in the flask regardless of viscosity.
Alot of this is personal. Lots of peeps love the infinit and using the pockets of your jersey. These are great alternatives and you gotta find what works for you!
But - when I did do gels, I would just jam the empties under my bike shorts (above the thigh) and throw them out at each aid station at the "last chance" area. Kinda messy and sticky, but nothing a little water couldn't wash off.
As I ate something out of the bento I put the empty wrapper in my back pocket. Since all of the caffeinated nutrtion was in a zip lock bag at aid stations I could easily grab the empty wrappers and dump them and not fear of losing my future nutrition.
Once the bento was empty I took all of the caffeinated gels and moved them into the bento and repeated my eat out of bento and put empty in back pocket and dump at aid station routine. As things got sticky like my hands I would just grab a bottle of water at an aid station and spray everything down and I was good to go. This worked very well for me mentally as it was easy to remember.
@ Tim - my Edge 500 is mounted at the end of my aerobars so I'm basically looking at it the same time I'm looking at the road. That way I never have to look down to see my power, speed or time.
Garmin and another company makes a attachment that attaches to handlebar , so the garmin unit is out in front. It's so secure!
After going to eye doctor and confirming the need for reading glasses I moved my Garmin from the stem to the front of the aero bars. I was wondering why everything was always fuzzy. I bought a section of PVC from HD for about $1.50 and cut it to size and drilled two holes for the zip ties and problem solved.
Attila,
Eventually you'll need to consider bifocals. My current favorite for multisport is Dual Eyewear.
1. I was worried It was going to be cold in morning...Ha! it was hot
2. Sun protection
3. wanted to remove everything from behind the seat of my bike and the jersey offered a spot to hold a bottle securely
4. I placed 12 power Gel's in one of the pockets
5. My Fuel Belt bento box has my tire changing stuff in it.
I liked this setup.
PS. Powerbar Gels are awesome...
For me, three reasons I don't use the GU gels provided on course:
I'm now using EFS, which is a very liquid-y gel I can put in flasks carried in my Bento box.
Thanks for the feedback. i think I should switch it up and experiment with PB gels in a flask for my next long ride. One more question, does 1 gel per hour sound right (assuming drinking of 20-30 oz perform/ hr)?
Thanks again. IMAZ will be epic!
Your nutrition plan should be based on (a) your weight and (b) what you can manage during long training efforts. You make a cal/hour target, and then decide how you want to distribute that among the various things you want to either carry with you or use off the course. And key point, you want to front-load those calories on the bike, so if you are planning, say 300 cal/hour for 5.5 hrs, you might want to go 400/375/325/200/225/100.
There is a nutrition link in the wiki page on race execution; start there. As to gel intake, I try to learn during training how much a "swig" equals, so I can estimate my intake. And many flasks have oz markers on them to give further guidance. For me, it's about 75-90 cal/hour gel along with 2-300 from liquid source like Infinit or Perform.
I plan on two flasks of gel/bike leg, with a second one in Special needs. I assume that I will NOT fully empty the first one before i chuck it and start the second one - its a fail safe in case I lose the first one. I always carry more calories (with additional in SN) than I think I will use, for extraordinary issues, like taking longer on the bike than planned due to mechanical, losing a bottle while drinking, spilling, etc.