GamJams Reviews: On-Bike Nutrition – The Other Stuff

By Martin • July 2nd, 2009

banana Nutrition during a race isn’t rocket science — it’s whatever is easiest to eat and will get you the energy you need the fastest. In a word, gels of some variety. But when we’re not racing, a little diversity in on-bike nutrition isn’t only preferable, it’s vital for our sanity. Gels are great and all, but there’s only so much Espresso Love you can take before you really just start hating the idea of it, energy, vitamins and caffeine be damned. Below are some of the alternative foods we’ve brought along on team training rides in recent months.

Bananas: Nature’s candy. Easy to carry (tell me that God didn’t make ‘em to fit in a jersey pocket) and even easier to eat, bananas are absolute staples on training rides. It’s pro to carry them and even more pro to eat them while riding.

Oranges: Not nearly as easy to carry or eat (not to mention the sticky mess that inevitably results), oranges have still shown up stuffed in the jersey pockets of guys on the team. Watching someone un-peel and eat an orange while on the bike makes you feel like something of an amateur if you’re eating a banana.

Oreos and Fig Newtons: We rarely eat these off the bike because they’re mostly empty calories. But on the bike, empty and delicious calories are exactly what most of us want.

Homemade Bars and Wraps: Some of our more cost-conscious and enterprising team members just make whatever they’re going to eat on the ride. Diverse granola-style bars have made an appearance, though their consistency often leaves something to be desired. They’re either frozen solid and barely chewable or aren’t held together at all. A more successful homemade treat that has come along on rides involves a banana drizzled with honey and wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. (Need ideas? Check here and here.)

The Usual: Of course, none of this isn’t to say that we don’t pack the usual gels and energy bars. We almost always do. A favorite making its way around the team is Gu’s Blueberry-Pomegranate Roctane gel, and Clif Bars of all flavors are a sure bet.

Ummmm…Other: These are the foods that we pick up along the way on our longest training rides, usually 100-milers out to Sugarloaf and back. They’re the foods that possess no real nutritional value but you find yourself eating after 60 hard miles just because you can and you really don’t much care anymore. Fried chicken, pork rinds, Twinkies — you name it and we’ve probably eaten it.