"Refeuling on the Fly"

[Pedal Wench]

I love the Clif Bloks. I tear open one side of the package and put it in my pocket with that side facing up, so I can easily grab one at time out of my pocket.
If heading up a long climb, (this is so gross) you can lick them and stick individual bloks to your top tube. I'm not saying I've tried it...

[profàvélo]

I snip one end of the Clif bar wrapper off, take the bar out, cut it into six pieces, reassemble and put it back in the wrapper. I put it in my jersey pocket open side-up and can pull out one piece at a time.

By the way, the new Banana Nut Bread flavor Clif Bar gets my vote as the best one yet. It really tastes like banana nut bread.

[spokewench]

You, of course, don't need to eat power bar (type bars) or gels, but they are easy to eat and travel well. I still eat them for my riding cause they are easy and I am lazy.

If you are riding a road bike, here are some tips for you to eat on the bike. What I am hearing here is probably not what to eat so much as how to get to it while you are riding. These are skills you can use to get your water bottles out of your cages to drink, to grab the hose on your camelback or to get something out of your back pocket to eat.

These are tips for road bikes with road bike drop style handle bars. When you have your hands on top of your bars, your bike will be more stable when you grab for something if the hand you have on your bars is in the middle of your bars, i.e. put your hand closer to the stem (not on the stem but closer to the stem) This will keep your weight from bearing down on the outside of the bars and causing your bike to go sideways. So, 1st step place your one hand near the stem on your bars, take your other hand off the bars, and reach for whatever you want, i.e. water bottle or bar in your back pocket. Practice this when you are by yourself so that you are comfortable doing this.

Also, it is a good idea to open the bar first, but I've learned how to use my teeth to open bars and gel packs so that you don't need both hands to do it. If you're hungry enough, you'll figure it out!

It is possible to do all of this when your hands are on the hoods or even in the drops, but the trick to that is that you do not put your weight on the handlebars (you hold yourself up with you core/abs) so that the weight on the outside of the handlebar does nothing to make the bike move sideways.

Hope this helps.

spoke

[Bluetree]

I love the Clif Bloks. I tear open one side of the package and put it in my pocket with that side facing up, so I can easily grab one at time out of my pocket.
If heading up a long climb, (this is so gross) you can lick them and stick individual bloks to your top tube. I'm not saying I've tried it...

I second the Clif Bloks. I cut away about half the package and place the rest in the back pocket for easy access. The bottom half of the bag acts as a liner inside the pocket.

I've never tried the top tube trick.. can they stick on your helmet, too? If bugs get stuck on them, do they affect the caloric count or is that just an extra shot of protein?

Note: Clif Bloks when swimming laps? They work well but don't get the Bloks wet when you reach for them in between laps. The chlorinated water has a dissolving effect of the rest of the bag, making for a squishy mess.

[spokewench]

I second the Clif Bloks. I cut away about half the package and place the rest in the back pocket for easy access. The bottom half of the bag acts as a liner inside the pocket.

I've never tried the top tube trick.. can they stick on your helmet, too? If bugs get stuck on them, do they affect the caloric count or is that just an extra shot of protein?

Note: Clif Bloks when swimming laps? They work well but don't get the Bloks wet when you reach for them in between laps. The chlorinated water has a dissolving effect of the rest of the bag, making for a squishy mess.

I never would have thought about swimming with Clif Bloks - I just have this picture of some big red blob on the pool deck - quite a picture!

[CycleChic06]

I've never really thought about snacking while swimming. As a former competitive swimmer, I don't think I've ever really seen anyone eating anything while swimming...sometimes people would keep a bottle of water on the side of the pool, but that's about it. I use sports beans mostly when I'm looking for endurance while riding, and while swim practice would often run 1-2 hours, I don't really see it as the same type of endurance as biking. Think about it, if you're at a meet swimming a 500, you can't really stop in the middle and eat some sports beans.

[Bluetree]

I'm at the gym at 4:30am to swim 2 miles, often on an empty stomach. If I've been fasting for the last 10-11 hours, my stomach starts seriously complaining by Lap 30. "Time to eat yet? Hello... Hungry here!" So I take a bag of Bloks with me and line up the pink squares at the edge of the pool on a paper towel. About every ten laps or so, one of the little suckers commits suicide by leaping off the edge into my gaping maw. It's quite a sight!

Seriously, I am usually so depleted after a long swim that eating bloks periodically also keeps me from scarfing vast quantities (aka overeating) afterwards.

[Rakekay]

Silly me. I always stop riding to eat and generally eat a whole bar at a time rather than little bits and pieces as I'm going along.

I clearly have so much to learn.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Silly me. I always stop riding to eat and generally eat a whole bar at a time rather than little bits and pieces as I'm going along.

I clearly have so much to learn.

Rakekay,
Don't feel bad. I usually pull into a cafe and have a croissant and latte, or maybe even some French Toast!

[CycleChic06]

I'm at the gym at 4:30am to swim 2 miles, often on an empty stomach. If I've been fasting for the last 10-11 hours, my stomach starts seriously complaining by Lap 30. "Time to eat yet? Hello... Hungry here!" So I take a bag of Bloks with me and line up the pink squares at the edge of the pool on a paper towel. About every ten laps or so, one of the little suckers commits suicide by leaping off the edge into my gaping maw. It's quite a sight!

Seriously, I am usually so depleted after a long swim that eating bloks periodically also keeps me from scarfing vast quantities (aka overeating) afterwards.

I see your point, BlueTree. It's good afterwards to replenish the body of nutrients. I'd just never considered eating them during a swim workout.

[mlove]

I have to stop to eat and drink. I am not steady enough yet to let go of the handbars for more than a few seconds.

[SadieKate]

Ditto everything Spokewrench said. That's what your teeth are for, ripping and shredding wrappers. I just don't like eating anything solid while I'm actually riding, but I can do it.

Maillotpois also suggested a gel flask rather than the gel packets. World of different. Better accessibility and no mess. I can sip on a bit at a time and have a steady caloric intake. When I get to the bottom of the flask, I add water at a stop and can then drink the last of the gel so nothing gets wasted nor is there litter from the gel wrapper.

BTW, raspberry and banana Hammergel mixed is pretty tasty.