Gel Intake - how often?

KeSs said:

I normally buy Power Gel or GU. I recently read something that said you dont need to start taking in carbs until almost a hour into your ride. This race season I normally eat like this: Depending on time of race, lunch or breakfast 2-3 hours before race, Balance Triple Energy Bar a hour before the race, and i normally crack open and take down a container of gel while im getting ready for the race to start (2-3 min before race start), and then i normally eat 1 packet every 15-20 miles........Am i eating to much or is this fine? O yea, i bring a bottle of Gatorade with me too.

Every 45 minutes to an hour is pretty normal. If I have been riding very hard I'll get urges to take one much closer to the 45 minute mark than the hour. I'm guessing you have a pretty tough gut if you are taking that much gel, and washing it down w/ Gatorade (ACK!)- I'd be on the road side thinking an alien was about to rip out through my gut.

If you are really cranking some high intensity efforts, your body will crave and take the carbs without too much issue, just be sure to be taking in some fluids when you are mucking the gels.

Most folks tend to not eat or drink enough on rides and suffer accordingly.

Some great books to get your mitts on: Nancy Clark's 'Sports Nutrition" and I'm a big fan of Chris Carmichael's "Food for Fitness". The books are written on the same subject for different points of view - and they do not contradict one another.

every 15 minutes seems a bit extreme. I think it takes about that much time for the other gel to work its way into your system. I occasionally take them every 30 minutes when doing endurance rides of 8+ hours but otherwise every hour/45min works well. It should say on the packet how long its supposed to last.

I read somewhere that the average person can only digest about 1g of carbohydrate per kg of body mass per hour.

I usually take my first gel (25g carb) after about 60-80 minutes, and every 30mins thereafter. I also sip on a 10% carb solution in between, but I'll wash down the gels with straight water.

He said every 15-20 miles not minutes! I would not consider that excessive, but I would hold of atleast an hour before the first.

Road Toad said:

He said every 15-20 miles not minutes! I would not consider that excessive, but I would hold of atleast an hour before the first.

Right, he said miles vs. minutes, however it's really a time/exertion issue rather than a distance thang. And the info on how much your body can effectively digest seems to me to be accurate enough as well. The other thing is if you are really hammering away, you can muck a gel with water and have it sit in your gut and hardly get used! I watched a German guy exit breakfast with gel on top after a particularly brutal MTB race. So it’s important to ease up a tad (lower the HR) when eating anything for that matter or your body will not use it. This can be a bit of a problem for your really high intensity efforts, because the glycogen in your muscles, and what’s in your blood stream are what you need to keep “full up” so you can keep on trucking and feeling like a King. So if you are really wondering what to do you need to know how big you are (to determine quantity) and how hard you are riding (to fine tune frequency). Frankly I’m not the scientific about it. If I am using straight water I eat a Power Bar or gel once an hour at the minimum, unless the ride is so slow I’m in danger of falling asleep on the saddle (recovery ride, ride with the wife, and some group events). Otherwise I’m taking in a full 24 oz of Accelerade and hour (takes some training in itself) and a gel after the first hour and 15 and then on the hour… I guess the other part of the equation is to get to know your body and how it works.

KeSs said:

I normally buy Power Gel or GU. I recently read something that said you dont need to start taking in carbs until almost a hour into your ride. This race season I normally eat like this: Depending on time of race, lunch or breakfast 2-3 hours before race, Balance Triple Energy Bar a hour before the race, and i normally crack open and take down a container of gel while im getting ready for the race to start (2-3 min before race start), and then i normally eat 1 packet every 15-20 miles........Am i eating to much or is this fine? O yea, i bring a bottle of Gatorade with me too.

New research suggests that a balance of 4 parts carbs to 1 part protein is better than carbs alone. This is potentially due to the need for protein to be co-transported with the carb. Accelerate is the only product that has this ratio. I have been using it but I certainly do not have any means to prove the claims. Also research suggests that within 45 mins of the conclusion of a hard work out, one should consume a 4:1 ratio to better replace glycogen levels. I have ridden several long distance rides back to back and felt pretty good. Of course that may have been my training as well!