How to carry/eat PowerBars on bike in race
Will be testing out the Core Diet race fueling plan this weekend at USAT long course nationals. Thus, I'll be eating some Power Bars on the bike; I've done it a couple times training, but not really paid attention to efficient packing of the bars. Anybody have any tricks as to how you carry them and quickly and safely get them from wherever you're storing to tummy?
Thanks!
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Good question. At the very least, open the wrapper and put into bento. Those wrappers are hard to get into with sweaty hands.
Another question along same lines. Other than a container how do people carry scaps ? Anybody devised a way to tape or whatever to bars/top tube ?
I have (and LOVE) the Dark Speedworks Speedpack (Bento Box) http://darkspeedworks.com/products.htm
Before a race I peel open the Powerbar foil wrapper as if opening it, then simply close it back up unsealed (In training I do this on the fly in the aero position, but sometimes they are hard to get open and don't want to take any chances while racing).
For Salt Sticks, I have a little pill box that I got at Walgreens for $1.98 It's clear and looks exactly like this: http://www.pillthing.com/products/ampm-pocket-pill-box
It holds like 5-6 salt sticks on each side. I have a seperate one for the bike and for the run. You can also put caffeinated salt sticks in one of the sides for late in the run if you want.
To your original question, in my Speedpack bento, I put 2 Powerbars inside with the pill box in between them. Makes it super easy to locate and take the pills anytime you want and I do a Powerbar at hour 2 and hour 4. If you eliminated the pill box, you could probably fit 3-4 Powerbars in there, but I don't need that many.
I agree with Tom's point, but probably because i prefer a clean-looking bike. That said, I have fashioned a bento / airfoil on the tt behind the stem out of powerbars for a training ride before. Results were inconclusive.
Ditto to the pillthing. I have one velcroed to the back of my profile bottle. Except mine is a tictac box, and I got tictacs out of the original $1.29 purchase.
Tim, it sounds like, with the edible rice paper, we just pretend it is a big ol' doobie.
P.S. Sticking power bars to the top tube always sounded a bit gross and unsanitary to me, but who am I to argue with the lean, hungry looking, zero body fat, won't see him again until past the finish line, chowing down on the free post-race food old school guy.
And ditto the love for the Dark Speedworks!
@ Tim: Rice paper = Brilliant!!! I precut powerbars in half and open the wrappers but leave them wrapped, then stack them up in my BentoBag. I take a half bar every 30-40 minutes. Upside: Quick/Easy/Portioncontrol. Downside: lots of little wrappers to deal with, plus in the sun the powerbars melt and oooze out of their wrappers, sticky fingers. Rice paper may just fix all the downsides!
I think it costs out to 50 cents for the zipties and adhesive, and I was able to maniplulate the placement to keep the CPU in the 'wind shadow' directly behind my hands.
Based on suggestions from some WSM's I went to Homie Depot and got a piece of PVC pipe. Drilled two holes and mounted it with a couple of zip ties. Works like a champ.
@William -- Same as Attila. I used the remainer of my CF fork tube after I cut it down, but 1/2" or 3/4" pvc works great.
@Julie -- Bento behind the headset filled with powerbars cut in half.
I hate to admit this, but . . .
My very first 70.3 (Oceanside) and before EN I used to cut my Powerbars into 1/4's and simply stick them to my top tube. I would have 8 x 1/4's on there. Needless to say, I got a lot of comments about that during the race.
It really was stoppid easy to carry and grab along the way. But cleaning the top tube after the race was, well, messy.
This doesn't help, but thought I would make fun of myself.
Hope all is well, Julie!
@Penny - Sorry, should have been more clear. I only did it that one time. It was pretty stupid. But it sounded good at the time.
This reminded me. Where is the do you pee while on your bike thread?
Steven, FWIW, I don't have any problems eating the PB's while riding or running. Could probably even eat them swimming if I could figure it out lol! I open them and put them in a snack size zip lock but don't zip it. As for getting cold, you can freeze them and they are still pliable, and warm up quickly in your mouth. I do recommend following them up with a liquid to wash it all down- even just a few sips. I use the fueling plan from the webinar, and I honestly don't recall why they said the PB v. more gels. I know for me it is nice to actually chew something and switch up the consistency. That being said, if just gels doesn't bother you and you can garner the same nutrition from them, it would seem logial that it is acceptable. Maybe re-check the webinar in the wiki if you have time or maybe Penny will know???? Dr. Penny? are you there?