Comments on: A Review of Several Energy Gels, In Spite of the Fact that I Think They ALL Taste Nasty

By: Selina

Selina — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 00:27:58 +0000

You talk about Gels being sickeningly sweet, and they are. But all of the ones I hear you talking about are the very sweetest ones out there. Try Dark Chocolate Gu – I can eat 5-6 of them before wanting to hurl, as opposed to about 2 of the Vanilla Bean/Plain Gu.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 19:17:46 +0000

Rocky–My credentials are impeccable:Angiosperm Embryo (or hard shelled fruit) megalomaniac.Botched

By: Unknown

Unknown — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 17:08:18 +0000

Fatty–you are nuts. These people are all nuts. You are a nuts magnet.Boz–thanks for the thought. The Tuna Gu sounds tasty. Although it kills the concept. Feeling full is part of the objective.Caloi–Eatonough’s diet. See, I told you. But not ham, tuna. Pancakes sound like a recipe for gas on the bike. But potato chips and rice pudding. The guy is a genius.Botched–credentials, please. Does BotchedExperiement have anything to do with vivisections, a Mary Shelley re-enactment, or something similar?

By: BIg Mike In Oz

BIg Mike In Oz — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 12:32:40 +0000

MuMo – if preconception is the moment BEFORE pregnancy, does that make misconception a synonym of coitus interruptus.

By: tayfuryagci

tayfuryagci — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:32:51 +0000

I guess I gotta switch to gel too. My "gallons of water and lotsa chocolate" technique is not really working.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:16:05 +0000

P.S. You said that if pregnancy is the time before birth, then gnancy must occur at the moment OF birth. If that’s true, then is preconception the moment BEFORE pregnancy?

By: Unknown

Unknown — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:02:12 +0000

Fatty, dear heart… I was just about to go to bed when I read your comment on my Brain Triggers… so then I started laughing and here I am, reading all this great stuff and laughing even more. So goodnight, all and thanks for a lot of great information, scientific data (that Botched is a caution, isn’t he!) and plenty plenty laughs.I mean good morning… It’s just turned into morning here.Hi, Mike! Tea time in Oz… hope you’re enjoying it!Hugs,MuMo

By: Unknown

Unknown — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 07:07:22 +0000

After weeks of reading your blog religiously (don’t panic I’m not a Presbyterian and I don’t drive a Toyota) today’s entry inspired me to post a comment.Energy gels have been my saviour (there’s that religious motif again – maybe I am a closet Presbyterian) and my undoing on a few occasions. For the past two years I’ve done the Letape du Tour which is a mass participation event in France where you get to ride a stage of the Tour. Last year was a stage in the Massif Central (English translation – enormous central) area of France. It was the longest stage of the ‘04 Tour – 236KM (3.4 miles) and included a couple of nasty climbs. To add some spice to the event there is a cut-off time with a broom wagon to sweep up those who don’t maintain the minimum average speed. I’d prepared well with enough gels in the bento box (a much better place to keep your gels than up the leg of your shorts) to last the whole ride. Only problem was that in the excitement of riding a real Tour stage on closed roads with 8000 other riders I forgot to slurp any down. Predictably the dreaded bonk hit me after a couple of hours and despite having two Gu’s in quick succession I couldn’t climb out of the hole I had dug myself. To add insult to injury at that point two discarded gel packets (think they were PowerGels) got stuck to both tyres. I was too far behind the cut-off time to think about stopping and taking them off so for the next hour I put up with a thwack-thwack noise of the packets hitting my brake callipers and other riders pointing out in a variety of languages that I had gel packets stuck to my wheels. Then the broom wagon came along and put me out of my misery.This year’s Etape was a different story. Gels every 30 minutes and plenty of liquids to wash them down. The highlight of the ride was climbing the Aubisque and then knocking down an Enervit before the 30KM descent. For anyone who hasn’t tried this brand I recommend you do. Its 60ml of pure Italian style (Mario Cipollini uses it as hair gel) I made it to the finish line in Pau and even had enough energy for a two hands off the bars victory salute. Pity I came in 6380th….

By: Unknown

Unknown — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 01:06:57 +0000

BIG Mike–In Oz, or Europe, nothing. Over/under there soda is made with glucose syrup for sweetening. Here in the USA, they use high fructose corn syrup for sweetening.So, as I mentioned before, at low to moderate exertion levels, even in the states, most people could get away with the soda and grapes. At high exertion levels, the fructose from the grapes and soda might over-whelm the limited number of fructose transporters in the guts, leading to fructose haning around and . . . GASTROINTESTINAL DISTRESS!BotchedP.S. In real life I am also an insufferable know it all.

By: BIg Mike In Oz

BIg Mike In Oz — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 00:13:59 +0000

What’s wrong with a bidon of soft drink and a bag of grapes tied onto your handlebars?