Anyone who has been cycling for a while knows how easy it is to run out of energy during a ride or race because you haven’t eaten properly. Even if you don’t completely exhaust yourself or get totally hungry, if you have neglected to get enough fuel, your performance will simply drop. You can have a will like Zátopek, but no engine works without fuel, including yours.
The best defense is to eat and drink less and often. But what happens when you take part in a race like a road race or, at worse, a time trial? We can still get it right within an hour to an hour and a half, but power that lasts longer simply has to be backed up by the energy supplied. That’s often when an energy gel, bar or drink comes in.
What is the difference between energy gels, bars and drinks?
There’s a lot of talk about supplementing fats or even adding protein, but most nutritionists still say that carbohydrates come first in athletic performance. If you ride for more than 90 minutes, you need to replenish your carbohydrate reserves. With shorter workouts, the body can usually feed itself from existing stores. But you definitely won’t make a mistake if you bite into something even on such a ride after an hour.
All energy bars, gels and drinks provide carbohydrates and all three products have a place in your jersey pocket or in your bidon (bottle).
Energy drinks are absorbed the fastest. They are designed to be repeatedly “topped up” with regular sips. The 100-200 calories and approximately 20g of carbohydrates in one bag will spread out over the hour it takes you to drink one bottle. As a very useful bonus, they contain added electrolytes (ions) that replace minerals lost in sweat.
Gels are the second fastest absorbing and are taken in doses. They deliver up to 180 calories at a time, making them ideal for a quick energy boost when you need it.
The energy from the bars is usually released more slowly. Moreover, the sticks have to be chewed up and often washed down with water, so they are best for endurance rides at lower intensities, when we can chew in peace and there is no risk that someone will get on in the next few seconds and we will either choke or have to spit out the stick and quickly return the rest to our pocket. If you’ve ever raced a bike, you know what I’m talking about. 😊.
The gels basically provide a caloric dose of carbohydrates that is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. These sticky paste sachets are ideal when you need a quick boost of energy or don’t have the time or energy to chew energy bars. These are usually more tasty, but anyone who has ever tried to eat a bar on a climb or at high intensity knows that gel is the best choice in such a moment 😊.
Thanks to their small size, they can also be useful on longer rides, where they can easily be stored in your jersey pocket, leaving more room for your vest, raincoat and tools.
However, if you are not racing or taking part in a gruelling long ride, I would recommend opting for normal food if possible, which is gentler on both your stomach and your wallet. Of course, we all have different tastes, but it seems unnecessary to fill up on gel when I’m going for a longer training at a lower intensity. For such an occasion, feel free to make a roll with jam, a banana or take your favourite cereal bars.
But now let’s go back to using gels for a moment, because that’s where most of your questions revolve at the moment.
How many energy gels can I eat to avoid digestive problems?
Energy requirements vary from athlete to athlete and increase with intensity. A general rule of thumb is that you should take in about one gram of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight every hour – so a 60kg rider should take in 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour, while an 80kg rider would need about 80 grams.
Consuming too many carbohydrates is unnecessary because our body will not use more carbohydrates during exercise anyway. Moreover, it can also lead to stomach problems or other forms of nausea. Recently, manufacturers have been mixing glucose with fructose (simple fruit sugars) in a 2:1 ratio and research has shown that this can increase absorption up to 90g per hour.
Some gels contain additives such as caffeine or taurine. The amount in the gel is always determined by its formulation, so the dosage can be correctly adjusted to your tested needs. It’s not advisable to caffeinate yourself all the way. Gels very often have the same variant without caffeine 😊.
There’s one really important thing to remember: make sure you take the empty packaging home. There is nothing worse than to see a lot of empty tubes and bags by the side of the cycling roads.
When will the gel start working?
This varies from athlete to athlete. Each of us absorbs carbohydrates at different rates, although the absorption process is the same for all of us.
It begins with the “meeting” of carbohydrates with amylase. This is an enzyme found in the mouth whose job is to break down the more complex carbohydrates often found in gels (especially endurance gels). Then another enzyme steps in, e.g. pancreatic amylase, which makes sure that all complex carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugars before the gel reaches the small intestine. Then the simple sugars are taken care of by transport proteins found in the small intestine. These absorb glucose and other sugars and help to pass them into the bloodstream. This eliminates the time for amylases to work and speeds up the whole process of transfer into the bloodstream. At the same time, in this case, the blood sugar level rises faster and also drops quite quickly. Therefore, you need to take the right type of gel at the right time. But when you know you just need energy and you only have one type of gel in your pocket, don’t wait for anything and definitely go for it. The worst gel is the one you don’t give 😊.
Fortunately, the gels are designed to work fast and give you the energy you crave quickly. For someone it may mean a few minutes, for another maybe 15 minutes.
Are you clear?
I hope we have explained this topic sufficiently. There is no miracle power in gels that you wouldn’t get from any other source. However, they are a very popular alternative to energy bars and drinks due to their size and ease of consumption, which is complemented by the rapid absorption of nutrients from the gel. Every cyclist has to test for himself/herself when it is better for him/her to reach for the gel and when to reach for a bar or some home-made snack. There is definitely no point in pouring gel every day from start to finish. It could easily happen that you have a few gels in your pocket, but your stomach just says NO. Well, a hungry and angry cyclist won’t get very far 😊-
