Well i biked to the local shop, 4 miles, and i had a plain goo gel. Well i drank some water, waited acouple of minutes and went on my ride. It was all good for 5 minutes, then it felt like my inside was burning. I ignored it and went on. The scary part came when it felt like my wind tunnel was closing when i started to lose my breath (losing my breath rarely happened this point in ride, and i have never had the feeling of my wind pipe closing). I am dearly scared to use a Gel after that time. But i know that on long ride they can come in handy.
This saturday i went on a long ride in the mountains with a significant amount of climbing. At about 55 miles i was out and took 4 hours to get home at an avg 12 mph the last 20 miles (about 10 of the 20 were rolling hills and the rest were level). A gel would have been handy about 55. I had a bar which i was nibbling on, but at about 65 miles i took a nice bite out of it at a gas station and felt like throwing up. I had also taken a 42 ounce bottle of powerade which i drank at about 48 miles. What do you guys think, should i try another brand of gels or does anyone know an alternative? (avg temp was from 75 start and 98 when i was done)
More for cost than anything else, I actually use honey instead of gels. I squirt a couple ounces of honey from the little squeeze-bear into the corner of a small plastic sandwich bag and then tie-off the opening of the bag with a knot. When I want to eat, I bite the corner off the sandwich bag and suck out the honey.
I do sometimes get the airway-closing feeling after gulping down a big mouthful of honey, but drinking alleviates the feeling. You might try taking a couple big drinks after a gel to get the throat rinsed out.
The part about your windpipe constricting is rather strange....are you sure you weren't having some sort of allergic reaction to something in the gel?? :eek: What flavor/brand was it? You might want to check the ingredients and see if there are any allergens on the list. And then try a different brand. I've never heard of a reaction like yours....although they can be very sticky and gooey, so you need to drink plenty of water with them, of course.
The part about your windpipe constricting is rather strange....are you sure you weren't having some sort of allergic reaction to something in the gel?? :eek: What flavor/brand was it? You might want to check the ingredients and see if there are any allergens on the list. And then try a different brand. I've never heard of a reaction like yours....although they can be very sticky and gooey, so you need to drink plenty of water with them, of course.
Yeah, I've never heard of gel causing this problem. But I think some people have this kind of reaction to really sweet stuff. sometimes.
For what it's worth, I used cheap Maple syrup (the kind with Maltodextrin added...not the 100% stuff) for years. It was about even in complex and simple sugars. It was cheap, and it never let me down.
The part about your windpipe constricting is rather strange....are you sure you weren't having some sort of allergic reaction to something in the gel?? :eek: What flavor/brand was it? You might want to check the ingredients and see if there are any allergens on the list. And then try a different brand. I've never heard of a reaction like yours....although they can be very sticky and gooey, so you need to drink plenty of water with them, of course.
but the plain version. I was thinking about allergic reaction, because it didnt give me an energy boost, but im not allergic to anything but in medicines i think. :P. I think i might try the powerbar gel 1. Ill let you guys know how it goes and thanks for the info. Honey is too sweet for me. I never liked the taste. Syrup is too sticky :P.
Well i biked to the local shop, 4 miles, and i had a plain goo gel. Well i drank some water, waited acouple of minutes and went on my ride. It was all good for 5 minutes, then it felt like my inside was burning. I ignored it and went on. The scary part came when it felt like my wind tunnel was closing when i started to lose my breath (losing my breath rarely happened this point in ride, and i have never had the feeling of my wind pipe closing).
After 4 miles? You were probably having a mild heart attack.:p
