Originally Posted by
debenhoh
I can't do the goos and gels, but I'm a big fan of Tailwind (non-caffeinated for me, but they make both) mixed in my water bottles. A couple scoops is 200 calories - all carbs/sugars and some salts. If I'm over 50+ miles, I can do a Clif Bar (or similar) towards the end, as someone else mentioned. I have also found that if I eat real food, it needs to be in small portions (also as mentioned above) - raisins are my go-to there.
I used Cytomax in my bottles for several years. It really rotted my teeth - I paid for a good portion of my dentist's new Mercedes. I switched to Hammer's HEED, which contains maltodextrin and xylitol. Xylitol is a tooth decay preventative to some extent, in any case no more tooth decay. I like their lemon-lime. However HEED and Tailwind are both very expensive - about ~$12/lb., which is nuts. I buy maltodextrin from a homebrew supply house in 50# bags for less than $2/lb. I use the maltodextrin in the malto/whey protein mix I use on long rides.
Now I'm thinking about making my own version of HEED. I have no idea of what the appropriate malto/xylitol ratio would be. I only know there's less xylitol than malto in HEED. Anyone?