Raw honey a good substitute?

[VeloVT]

Thanks guys for all the great tips. I will do a trial run of honey in my Gel Bot and see if it works for me. I might add a little pb to it as Dianyla suggested. The glucose tablets is a definite idea since our drugstore carries them.

I have used the Carb-boom and liked it, but the bike shop is an hour away and I don't drive there as much with the steep gas prices.

Once you've found a flavor/brand of gel that you like, it's usually much cheaper to order it in quantity online than it is to buy a few in the store. Especially if you can find free shipping!

My stomach is luckily not very sensitive on the bike, but for running, GU & Carb boom gels upset my stomach but Power gel and Hammer gel do not.

[sundial]

Liza, I picked up a Hammer gel as well. I haven't used it yet but may try it out tomorrow.

I did use the honey on my ride yesterday and it's a little rich--even small sips. Luckily I had plenty of water. As for performance, it gave me a boost although my performance was lackluster yesterday. I think I might try adding a little lemon juice and salt in it as suggested.

I think I may be sensitive to red dyes. I am much more moody after drinking Gatorade than water.

[anakiwa]

Please post an update with what you figure out.

BF and I are contemplating doing a 2 week localvore challenge in September (eating only foods grown and produced within 100 miles of where we live in Vermont). So I may be in need of a honey energy gel recipe that only includes local foods (we'll be using the common exception for spice/salt, but lemon and peanut products won't qualify- any thoughts out there on cranberry juice instead of lemon?)

[LBTC]

any thoughts out there on cranberry juice instead of lemon?)

Cool experiment Anakiwa. Let us know how it goes.

As for the cranberry vs lemon in the energy drink - the original recommendation from the naturopath recommends lemon because of its alkalizing effect in the body, as well as the flavour. I don't know how cranberry compares to lemon, but if it is also a high PH juice, it should have a similar effect.

H&B
~T~

[Dianyla]

As for the cranberry vs lemon in the energy drink - the original recommendation from the naturopath recommends lemon because of its alkalizing effect in the body, as well as the flavour. I don't know how cranberry compares to lemon, but if it is also a high PH juice, it should have a similar effect.

My understanding of cranberry juice (the straight stuff, not sweetened ) is that the bitter tannins acidify the urine and lubricate the urinary tract. That's why it's so great at killing UTIs. But I'm not sure it would be great for balancing pH.

[indigoiis]

After reading through this post, and merging information from another post, I made peanut butter & honey sandwich on whole wheat, cut it into a bunch of little pieces, froze em, and brought them with me on a ride Saturday (30 miles - my longest distance so far! whoo hoo!)

They were yummy, and I think the honey gave me some boost.

My fellow te rider, however, reported that they made her want to vomit (it was right before a biiiiiiig hill.)

Try it. See if it makes you go "yum" or "yech."

[sundial]

indi, I ate pb and raw honey on a slice of wheat bread today and so far it gave me the best fuel for my ride. I haven't tried freezing the sandwich. Guess I can try that for the next big ride.