Energy bars and energy fluids

[mjr]

*there's sugar in the condensed milk but not much

And the dried fruit, nuts and seeds. And even a tiny bit in the rolled oats. Innate sugars rather than added, but still sugar. Not that that's a bad thing when you're using it soon anyway.

[LollyKat]

Mrs R2's Mueseli bars without added* sugar:-
one 397g can of condensed milk
250g rolled oats
75g of prunes and dried apricots
100g dried cranberries
125g mixed seeds
125g cashews or unsalted peanuts.
preheat oven to 130deg C /gas mark 1to2 and oil a baking tray
Warm the condensed milk
Mix all the other ingredients and then add the C/milk,fold it with a spatula
Spread the mix into the tin and press down and even out with the spatula or hands
Bake for an hour,leave for about 15mins to cool,no longer,then cut into portions.
Rocket fuel
*there's sugar in the condensed milk but not much

These are the best bars I've ever had, both in terms of taste and for their sustaining power. I've been making them for some years now since R2 last posted the recipe, and all my friends and family love them. They're dead easy to make, too.

Many thanks to MrsR2!

[Sweep]

May try that reohn.

About to set off an 80 or 90 miler fuelled by not much but my own snack.

Will try to post recipe later.

[mnichols]

For single day rides of up to 100 miles or fast club rides I take some energy bars for the convenience. I choose ones that are made just of crushed fruit and oats (various brands). They are cheap, fairly healthy and light to carry

For longer rides or multi-day rides these then become inconvenient to carry and cause gastric distress, especially on rides over 200 miles, so I switch to ‘real food’, by which I mean I take the time to stop and eat in cafes, usually jacket potatoes, pasta, rice or everyday carbs. Tend to stay away from anything too fatty and not too much caffeine

[freeflow]

Try to avoid simple carbs as fuel for longer rides. They reduce your ability to burn fat as fuel. I now use micronised oats as an energy drink flavoured with an electrolyte tablet. But I prefer fuelling with normal food.

[Cyril Haearn]

I swear by porridge, maybe plus yoghurt or rice pudding, not just oats, one can use rye, wheat etc

Porridge oats are so cheap, one can process or upgrade them oneself, no need to buy the same oats in an energy bar for x times more money

[Cyril Haearn]

Try to avoid simple carbs as fuel for longer rides. They reduce your ability to burn fat as fuel. I now use micronised oats as an energy drink flavoured with an electrolyte tablet. But I prefer fuelling with normal food.

What are micronised oats?

[LollyKat]

I've never heard of them either, but here is a link explaining some of it: Masham Micronized Feeds.

Particularly recommended for young animals and poultry, so should be good for us cyclists .

[ianrobo]

Try to avoid simple carbs as fuel for longer rides. They reduce your ability to burn fat as fuel. I now use micronised oats as an energy drink flavoured with an electrolyte tablet. But I prefer fuelling with normal food.

and that is the right answer, normal food for 90% of us is perfectly fine, every drinks, bars etc from SiS and the likes are a complete con job

[freeflow]

The name has changed but its the same thing

https://www.myprotein.com/sports-nutrit ... 29296.html

This is a fine powder, nothing like instant oats sold in supermarkets.

At the moment I'm working away on contract so I'm doing (by choice) a hilly commute (23 mile round trip with 1800 ft of climb) 3 days a week. My breakfast when I get to work is a drink comprised of two scoops of vanilla whey and one scoop of milled oats.

When using it as a drink on the bike you have to remember to give the bottle a quick shake before drinking. Occasionally you get a gritty bit when you swallow but otherwise its surprisingly smooth.

[landsurfer]

Jelly babies, Bananas, Electrolyte drinks and Flapjack ...... ride the world .......

[Cyril Haearn]

I've never heard of them either, but here is a link explaining some of it: Masham Micronized Feeds.

Particularly recommended for young animals and poultry, so should be good for us cyclists .

Looks like yet another way to *add value*

Just cook oats with plenty of water in the microwave, leave them overnight, a, 500g pack lasts a couple of weeks

[mjr]

When using it as a drink on the bike you have to remember to give the bottle a quick shake before drinking. Occasionally you get a gritty bit when you swallow but otherwise its surprisingly smooth.

I'm reminded of Dave Gorman's complaint about Weetabix drinks - cereals are one of the driest substances known to man, so it's either not a drink, or no longer Weetabix. Doesn't oats+water = brose, not oats any more? And as long as it was mixed properly, I usually take gritty bits as a sign that there wasn't enough liquid.

[KeithRobertson]

Nothing for me, do 100miles with just eggs and butter for brekkie a couple of hours before

I'd never make 100 miles on that! I'd be lucky to make 50!

it is the power of fat adaption but means a strong desire to really cut the carbs as I discussed on other threads.

Same here. I've been fat adapted / metabolically adaptive for a year now. I have regularly ridden 200km+ rides with only a breakfast of: sausage, eggs, bacon, avocado, black pudding, etc. No beans or bread. Very tasty. Manage always to do the whole ride very comfortably and never feel hungry. I don't do this all the time, just to see if it's possible really, which it is.

Rode Geneva / Nice this year as an organised / supported ride. The carb addicts had to stop every 20km or so to fuel up on various expensive sugary things. I just rode on. Made it to the hotel on average an hour and a half before the rest of the team, plenty of time for recovery red wine Rode very strongly on the last day too, much to my surprise, the carb addicts were exhausted and very low on energy, no matter how much sugar they tried to eat. Quite interesting!

As far as I am aware most if not all competitive endurance athletes who want to win their events are using Low Carb / Hight Fat (LCHF) for part of their year. Gets you ultra-lean in the off season, some carbs may be necessary when competing, depending on the length and intensity of the event. I'm still learning / experimenting on this aspect for me.

Carb fuelling, for say 24hour+ events just doesn't make sense or work at all, tricky to carry and use that much sugar, not very healthy either. It's quite interesting to read about how the All Blacks rugby team have fully embraced the LCHF lifestyle. Apparently, their coach only lets them eat some carbs before a match, (they do a fair bit of sprinting I guess) none at all afterwards! works for them, being quite good at it, etc.

BTW, eating fat does not make you fat or clog your arteries, its the carbs and sugar that does this, hence the need to never ever eat of buy anything labeled 'low fat' - its just full of sugar and chemicals to make it palatable

If a nutritionist tells you saturated fat is bad for you, find another one Fat is what the human body has been largely fuelled on for 1000's and 100'0's of years, it what we are designed to eat.

[mjr]

Rode Geneva / Nice this year as an organised / supported ride. The carb addicts had to stop every 20km or so to fuel up on various expensive sugary things.

Yeah, but there's a big difference between using sugars/gels and lower-GL carbs.

As far as I am aware most if not all competitive endurance athletes who want to win their events are using Low Carb / Hight Fat (LCHF) for part of their year.

Got a source for that? I doubt many are as extreme as the LCHF fanatics.

BTW, eating fat does not make you fat or clog your arteries, its the carbs and sugar that does this, hence the need to never ever eat of buy anything labeled 'low fat' - its just full of sugar and chemicals to make it palatable

Ah, a lipid hypothesis denier. The truth is that we don't know for sure.

And yes, some things are labelled "low fat" while abusing processed sugar, but others are labelled "low carb" and stuffed with sweetener chemicals or cheap processed fats. Check for poisons carefully...

If a nutritionist tells you saturated fat is bad for you, find another one

I'd probably agree on that, or at least if they won't admit when pressed that it's not quite that simple.

Fat is what the human body has been largely fuelled on for 1000's and 100'0's of years, it what we are designed to eat.

So why do you use that to justify fat but not bread which has also been consumed for tens of thousands of years?