Caffeine Free options?

I'm doing the AIDS Life Cycle this June and am trying to find a way not to rely solely on Clif bars for nutrition and energy on the ride -- love 'em, but 7 days of it is a recipe for needing human drano, if you know what I mean. :o

I looked at all the bloks, gu, gels, etc this week at the bike shop when I went in for a tune up and bike fit, and I was shocked to see that virtually ALL of them have caffeine! :eek: I quit caffeine a few years ago, and while I'm not completely adverse to it, I really don't like the idea of pumping a lot into my system during the ride because if I take any after about noon, I am definitely up at night. That's the LAST thing I need...to exhaust myself every day riding and then be buzzed beyond slumber at night.

Does anyone know of any caffeine free alternatives to the most common brands? I've searched on this Forum for other related threads and haven't seen any so if you can point me toward something if it's here, I'll appreciate it.

Thanks, in advance! :)

Sportbeans!!

There are only a couple Clif Bloks with caffeine, the rest don't have it.

My favorite is the Cran-Razz blok, but I used to like the Cran-Razz shot ('cept I'd get all sticky no matter how neatly I tried to eat it!)

Clif Nectar bars and Lara Bars are nice long-lasting energy, and don't have oats or caffeine.

I was under the impression that on ALC you have access to pretty good food. Is there a reason you won't be able to eat what is provided?

I'm a newbie, so I guess in part I'm wanting to be sure I have handy stuff to keep me from bonking -- and the food they provide may well be sufficient, I just haven't done the long cycling the ride will require before so I'm thinking ahead...too much?!!

I believe they do provide fruit and stuff at the rest stops, and I know their sport/energy bar of choice is Clif so that's why I was thinking I might experiment with other options while training so I can have some of my own stuff along just in case. Am I over doing it?

Thanks for the clarification on the bloks...by the way!

Let's get Trek420 over here to tell us what's up with supplies on ALC (she's done it a few times and lead training rides, too.)

Paging Trek420 to the thread!

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Originally Posted by Resumer

I'm a newbie, so I guess in part I'm wanting to be sure I have handy stuff to keep me from bonking -- and the food they provide may well be sufficient

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My first ALC I really tried to forgo the evil drug :cool:. "Coffee bad, coffee dehydrates, don't drink it on epic ride" seems to be the party line.

First off if your blood type like mine runs Peets French Roast positive it's hard to go cold turkey. So on ALC 3 I drank juuuuuust enough to keep from getting a headache. There is coffee in camp, it's not strong nor the greatest and that seems to be purposeful but it's there.

But you will see Peets addicts plot out local coffee shops to stop at outside of camp (some towns really don't have one) or even the unsinkable Molly Brown brings a French Press coffeemaker each year.

So I tried to go without but round Day 4 that year I ran into some Cliff Choco Mint bars which have caffeine and I felt soooooooo much better that just said "sod it, I'm drinking coffee the rest of the way :)" and have done so since.

Just be mindful, lots of things dehydrate and if you do drink coffee take extar care that you're drinking ..... lots!

One way to tell is if you or your tentmate do not get up to pee during the night you're dehydrated.

Eat before you're hungry, drink before you're thirsty and pee before you gotta go. (sorry TE but it's good advice on a multi day tour).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Resumer

I'm wanting to be sure I have handy stuff to keep me from bonking -- and the food they provide may well be sufficient

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The food is plentiful and excellent with lots of choices especially breakfast and dinner. Take a look on the ALC site for copies of the daily news and see the menus. I think you'll be pleased.

Lunch is generally a box lunch type, good overall but not gourmet.

There are rest stops and water stops about every 20 miles, they are never out of food. And some ALC veterans, and families of riders even set up unofficial rest stops with red whips, m&ms, water ..... watch for the cookie lady Day 2 and stop for artichokes at a stand.

ALC is no time to diet nor would you want to.

When I trained for it I pay a lot of attention to nutrition, admittedly more than I do now. I eat food .... that's made from food. Whole grains, no junk. But on ALC I eat anything they put in front of me. :p ALC 4, my 2nd ride I learned to pay more attention to my body, after going through the line in the dinner tent once, if there was something on the menu that appealed to me and I felt hungry I went back for 2nds. I stopped skipping desert on the ride.

I figured if my body was saying "yum, I want more stuffing and then cheesecake" maybe I needed that. And I had my best ride ever.

So find out what fuels you. Is there a favorite breakfast, recovery meal. Do you like gu? Or not? My "secret weapon" is oatmeal. Normally I don't like it, but on ALC I ate a huge bowl every morning, it keeps me fueled and energized through the 1st rest stop or longer.

Unless you have special dietary needs you do not need to bring your own grub. The one exception is if you have a favorite pre ride breakfast bring it to Day 1. The "no coffee" police are out in force, there will be plenty of juice, bagels, normal ride fare but if you can't ride up 92 and then Skyline without oatmeal in the morning bring a scone or too.

I didn't bring my "lucky TJ's oatmeal scone" last year and had a hard time :p

Hammer Gel doesn't have caffeine, AND it's all natural! :)

Agreed ... cran-raz clif blocks are tasty & caffeine free. Likewise most hammer gels (including my fave - raspberry). And I believe Gu vanilla gels are available without caffeine.

Ah, noooooooow I understand, you quit caffeine a while back. OK, so I would venture to say find your happy breakfast, find what fuels you. Look for whole grains, things that "stick to the ribs". Not so much relying on multiple bursts of energy as sustained energy.

Find what is your happy recovery meal so you don't go into the next day (and the next and the next ....) feeling drained and feel more the need to rely on energy bars etc.

Recovery on ALC: I read here on the board I think that after you put your body through he]] you have about a 1/2 hour to put nutrition back in. When I get into camp each day I park the bike, pat the bike down and say "thanks" and head for the food tent right away, usually knoshing on a snack in my pocket as I go. I see a lot of people head for the showers first and more power to them. If you see me in the dinner tent next year you might want to slide down a couple seats, I may be a tad stanky, but I'd rather recover for the next day than be clean .... and bonk :rolleyes:

You will have lots of caffeine free energizing snack choices at the rest stops: fruit, bananas, oranges, raisins, these really cool sesame and honey cracker things, peanut butter and graham cracker cookies that I only see there, bagels with cream cheese and peanut butter .... I could go on.

So to conclude: if you want coffee on ALC it is there and you can do it, if you don't there are plenty of options too. :D

"these really cool sesame and honey cracker things"

one of my personal favorites! I have a half case in my drawer at work even as we speak! Eaten them since I was a kid. Can you believe, I've never thought of bringing them on a bike ride!?!?!

http://www.candywarehouse.com/sesamesnaps.html

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

"these really cool sesame and honey cracker things"

one of my personal favorites! I have a half case in my drawer at work even as we speak! Eaten them since I was a kid. Can you believe, I've never thought of bringing them on a bike ride!?!?!

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I know which ones you mean but it's another type that I've only seen there :rolleyes: So now you know my evil secret, I ride for the snacks not the cause. ;) Just kidding.

One more energy thought as I think it, make sure you can sleep comfortably. Ear plugs, really good air matress, comfy sleepwear or sweats, good pillow ....

Great advice, Trek: about the training, food on the ride, snacks and bedtime...especially the ear plugs! I was a rider on a few grassroots and local to the Northwest for my first few AIDS rides; they had less people than the former Pallotta Teamworks rides and I got used to more room in between tents...then, dang! what a surprise to have someone's head in the TENT NEXT DOOR be inches from mine - even closer than my own tentmate! Lotsa noises at bedtime...and, although I was sore some nights, I never had any trouble falling asleep and staying asleep - IF I had remembered to put in those trusty ear plugs! When it's a big group like that, all of the tents are SO close to each other and I felt like I was involved in involuntary eavesdropping when I was in my tent sometimes!
Thanks for the memories too, Trek, as your posts brought back plenty! On the Empire State AIDS ride, we have less people and more room to spread out...plus, the ride director - being an AIDS-rider herself has arranged it so that the crew not only sets up our tents, but delivers our gear bags to each also...makes Mary one happy, happy rider when I roll in each day! :D

Thanks so much for all the input, and sharing of experiences....I'll relax now about this kind of stuff.

I've got my self-inflating mattress pad (3" thick, gonna test it out this next week), my travel size foam pillow (a MUST for good sleep -- testing that too) and I'm a regular user of earplugs, plus I'm bringing along a head/ear band that I use in the winter that will double the muffling, I hope! I'm so clear that a good night's sleep is essential so I'm gonna do what I can to help myself out, without bordering on excess or eccentricity -- I really don't want to over pack.

:)

yeah, a headband or beenie is a good idea, as it could get pretty cool at night.

Some of the Power Bar Gels don't have caffeine, and I think some of the Honey Stinger kind don't, either.

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Originally Posted by MM_QFC!

On the Empire State AIDS ride, we have less people and more room to spread out...plus, the ride director - being an AIDS-rider herself has arranged it so that the crew not only sets up our tents, but delivers our gear bags to each also...makes Mary one happy, happy rider when I roll in each day! :D

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Do they put a mint on your pillow? ;) :D That's great.

It's true on ALC the workout does not stop when you get in.

On ALC 4 I had a great tentmate, TE's own fabulous BikeGoddess. She was not only one of the first riders in each day :cool: but often had the tent up and luggage there. Thanks BG! :D

Last year I had a hard time, I sagged some part of each day. I had foot problems, so frustrating, there was nothing wrong with any other part o' my body but my big toe. Note to new ALC'ers and self: if you're big toe's broken don't ride till it's healed and or not without the most comfy shoes possible. :p

But I'd get off the SAG wagon and head right for the luggage area. There were a bunch of us getting all the luggage out we could. Faster riders pitched in. You see someone struggling to put a tent up alone and just help out.

It's all part of the ride that starts out as 2500 strangers and the awesome crew and becomes a community. :D

I did ALC last year and unless you have any particular dietary issues, I wouldn't worry too much. I was plenty fuelled the whole way without eating a single cliff bar or peanut butter (because I really don't like peanutbutter). I filled up on m'n'ms and nuts and granola bars and bananas and more mnms and oranges and of course lots of good food at all meals. Only slight problem I had was on day one when I hadn't yet realized how much food I needed. I skipped the first rest stop and nearly didn't make it to lunch. Had to stop at some little cafe a mile before lunch and have a cookie and a cup of tea while watching the belly dancing competition. Very interesting place that cafe. Worth a stop even if you don't need a cookie stop.

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Originally Posted by Trek420

Do they put a mint on your pillow? ;) :D That's great.

:D

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HA! Not yet, but I'm working on it...prior to my first Empire State AIDS Ride/ESAR in 2006, I was emailing back and forth with the ride director and other riders and we were all kiddingly asking her to please add a nicely chilled lemon drop to the tent and luggage service!
Also, it's now a mini-tradition that those of us that are based in the Seattle area, treat all of our ESAR family to smoked salmon, to enjoy on "Washington Wednesday" during ride week. One of the volunteer caterers always sets up a lovely tray with crackers, onions, capers, cream cheese, etc; we add on other NW treats, but the fish gets a full-on lip smackin' 2 thumbs up!

(Riding sans caffeine??? Suicide comes to mind...). Or you could try York Peppermint Patties (highly recommended), or CarboPro, or Hammer Heed, or...there's a ton of 'em out there, really.