cyclist2000

I haven't had one in years but I do have the jersey.

On a hot day I like getting an ice cream bar.

froze

Just about any type of sandwich including burgers, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Payday, peanut M&M's, Power of Clif bars, Gatorade, jerky, Slim Jims, trail mix stuff, Reeses big cups and PB Twix, bananas and avocado but their difficult to find in gas stations and liquor stores or truck stops (which is a better source of food then the others), V8 juice, shakes, and cheese.

Chips and the such is worthless food with no nutritional value whatsoever.

Richard_Rides

I like those hot dogs, you know, the ones that have been under that heat lamp so long rigor mortis has set it? Yeah, those are good. I'll follow it up with one of those pickled eggs floating in that murky brine.. Ummm good. Then a microwave burrito (with the ever present frozen core) and wash it all down with some cherry cough syrup. Then I'll jam a Payday candy bar up my wazoo just to prevent any unexpected messes and I'm good for at least 75 miles!

MTBMaven

Yeah but they are so good. I polished off a full tube of Pringles Original during a 12 hour mountain bike race this past weekend. Mmmm so good. As was the chocolate milk, the V8, the full package of Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate Hazelnut package, and homemade wheat pasta with host of anti-inflammatory ingredients. Almost went with the instant Pho with like 1,000+ Mg of sodium but didn't have the energy to boil water.

Uni-Vibe

Gatorade
Coca-Cola
Salty peanuts
Cinnamon rolls
Bananas



I think it's interesting that we "eat healthy" off the bike, but on the bike, we eat the same junk that Obese America does on their sofa.

froze

While to a degree thats true but we're burning it off at a very fast pace while the others just sit around eating more then we would.

noteon 

I eat the same whether I'm riding or not. I just get fat when I'm not riding.

forrest_m

Au contraire, mon friere. I have here before me a large bottle of Hammer Gel and a tube of Pringles Original Super Stax*. 1 "serving" of gel has 90 calories in 36g. 1 "serving" of pringles is 150 cal in 28g. Do the math - that's more than double the calories per weight. The difference is that the the hammer gel is all carbs and 0 fat, while the pringles are about 85% carbs and 15% fat. So, for me, the pringles are not ideal for shorter, high-intensity exercise where I have trouble digesting the fat without slowing down, but excellent for lower intensity multi-hour and multi-day efforts, especially in colder weather. Certainly much, much better than high-glycemic-index candy bars. YMMV, of course.

Setting aside the issue of unhealthy chemical additives (and in a discussion that includes gas station hot dogs, are we really worried about those?), most popular chips are nutritionally similar.

*OK, only the hammer gel is ACTUALLY on the table in front of me, I'm looking at the pringles nutritional info. on line. You don't think I actually keep those things in the house, do you?

CarynLea

I like Red Bull.

Lacking

powerade blue, nature valley oats and honey bars, Great value apple filling fig newton things, i.e. the poorER mans energy bar, snickers, and i just added the jumbo size crazy core skittles, they are delicious and make you produce a lot of spit so are good for cotton mouth.

froze

You can believe whatever you want but chips are just waste food with no energy...at least for me. That's not to say I don't like chips, it's just doesn't work for energy for me. Chips over the last year or two have gotten better by eliminating transfat. But chips still are a sodium nightmare for dieters which causes the body to retain water. And if you read the serving size carefully you'll see it's based on 1 (thats: one) ounce of chips...now be serious, can you really eat just 1 ounce of chips? NO!! You'll probably consume at least 6 ounces in one sitting; now take your nutritional facts and multiply it by 6 or by whatever ounces you really consume at one sitting, and if your on a bike ride and grab a can or bag of chips your going to consume the whole thing, your not going to throw away 3/4ths a can or bag.

forrest_m

OK, I'll take your word for it that "science" doesn't function where you live.

And this has what to do with what to choose when you stop at a gas station in the middle of a long bike ride? No argument from me that it's not health food - but the reason potato chips make people fat is that they have a lot of calories in them.

My main point is that those calories are actually in a form that is quite similar to many of the sports nutrition products out there...

I thought the whole point of the exercise is to get as many calories as are compatible with continuing to ride and/or carrying with you (thus the value of calories/weight)

See, here's where I think you need to look at your argument. You start by saying they have no energy content and then end by complaining that they have too many calories. (Actually, what I usually do is stick the pringles can into my water bottle cage and eat 3 or 4 every few miles until I consume the entire can, about 1,000 calories. )

MTBMaven

Ok froze and forrest_m. This has been a through provoking discuss but it is drifting from the intent of the original post. To keep your conversation going I started this thread Junk Food Versus Health Food - Any Difference When Riding? Feel free to move you comments to the new thread and continue the discussion.

forrest_m

but, but but...



i was really enjoying the irony of having a (mild) flame war about potato chips...

MTBMaven

@ forrest_m

froze

What's your problem? The discussion we had WAS RELATED to junk vs health, and as you can tell, or maybe you couldn't from your response indicating a lack of reading abilities, or comprehending, or both; it was a discussion as to whether or not junk food such as chips makes one perform good enough, and neither one of us insulted the other just offered opinions about how eating chips makes one feel...I didn't like how it worked for me, but he liked it. So why don't you feel free to move your insulting comments to a new thread so we don't have to read it here and we may continue to have constructive comments like myself and forrest_m had.

It doesn't matter in this incident if I think he's wrong or he thinks I wrong, it's just an opinion.

MTBMaven

froze,

The OP was about people's favorite gas station or liquor store food not about the benefits of "healthy" or "unhealthy" food. This is a great topic and one others are interested in as apparent by the 12 response the thread in one day. If you want to discuss this topic further please feel free to do so in the new thread. As the original poster for this thread I would like to try and keep this thread more related to the individual foods people buy and maybe why they choose them.

There is not need to insult me. If you feel you were insulted I apologize. If you want to participate great, if you do not that is your choice.

froze

I still think that the conversation was on track. If your going to buy food at a gas station or whatever, you need to know what food in those places are the most nutritious for the limited selection provided for a bicycler. Since your topic doesn't care then about the nutrition aspects then why ask the question at all? Since anything and everything is equally edible to whatever suits your palette that can be found wherever you're at.

Having said that and not knowing your rules about your post I will apologize as well for getting testy with you. Next time, post your rules so we will all know what and what not to say.

6thElement

As I've had problems with my right ITB for a long time and normally exercise at home with a foam roller, are you carrying the rolling pin with you on rides to run up and down the outside of your leg?

Fishy

Fig Newtons, beef jerky and raisins. Occasionally, jelly beans. If it's very hot, I'll go for some sort of sports drink and cut 50/50 with water - will fill up one bottle with the mix and then drink the rest of it right there.

Someone above mentioned that jerky would be a gut-buster - it ain't. Basically, you can't eat more than an ounce of the stuff and even that takes some doing - it's basically a dollop of protein and a good whack of sodium. If I'm hungry, even a little bit of it tends to take the edge off.

That said, I never eat the stuff unless I'm riding - never appeals to me unless I am.

deanp

PayDay and either coffee or water depending on the temperature.

We are over run with Sonic drive-ins in this area, on a hot day a Mocha Java Chiller really sets things right.

thompsw

pretzels and water. If no pretzels, then chex-mix.

Shaneferd

Squirrel Nut Zippers, Bananas, Snickers, and Guinness for strength 8]

varminter

Me too. If I wasn't an avid cyclist, I would be a big fat nasty slob as I do eat quite a bit and I am not a fan of light healthy eating..LOL

varminter

Yes, I do. Yes, it is steak with lots of protein