SaddleDrunker James, talk to us about the 3 C's.

Every cyclist knows the nutritional guidance triangle that's exists amongst us. Not only is it deeply intertwined within cycling culture but is embedded in nearly every cyclists psyche, from professional to amateur.

Affectionately known as the three C’s - coffee, carbs and cakes. These are surely the reason why so many of us don lycra and pedal as furiously as we can at any given opportunity. Rewarding ourselves with the consumption of these 'essential' nutrients is justified by the long and sometimes gruelling miles we put in, come rain or shine.

The majority of routes I plan will include an obligatory coffee stop break. Whether a meeting point at the beginning of a ride, a convenient half-way destination point, or a well earned cup of ‘the good stuff’ to finish, a café is sure to feature somewhere along the road.

Carbs on the other hand are there to fuel the mind and body both pre, during and after.

Traditionally, carb-loading was seen as the only way to get through your bike ride, no matter how long or short. Even now, if you look through Twitter feeds of those riders about to attempt a Sportive, you will see them post the obligatory picture of their carb laden meal the night before. Pasta, rice, potatoes and bread are all deemed as the go-to foods for endurance events.

The same applies to gels stuffed in the back pouch of most cyclists’ jerseys as well as all the empty packets littered along the most popular/travelled routes. For the food snobs amongst us and for those who detest the thought of putting all those chemicals in our systems there are alternatives. For example, the mighty banana is, and always will remain, the easy fuel of choice. Free from chemicals and a natural way of re-energising the body, it even comes in its very own packaging. Mother nature thought of everything.

For longer rides, a banana or two is not always sufficient and riders often want something more filling to provide a more sustained energy release. Consequently, cyclists have turned to more substantial foods with the likes of Malt Loaf being one of the most popular. Indeed, I remember one of my first Sportives where the cyclist in front of me had an entire loaf stuffed in his jersey pocket. Over the past year I have been researching various recipes for snacks that I can take on my ride. The reasons are two-fold;

1.     I love cooking

2.     I like to know exactly what I am putting into my body

Not that I am particularly against the likes of Malt Loaf or Jaffa Cakes, but when you read the list of ingredients, it harks back to the days of GCSE chemistry.

I have tried and tested numerous recipes and below is one of my favourites (courtesy of http://veggiedesserts.co.uk). I ended up making about 20 energy balls and always take a couple on my rides that last longer than two/three hours.

Ingredients

For the energy balls:

§  125g (1 ½ cups) rolled oats

§  200g (1 cup) cooked sweet potato, mashed (about 1 large potato)

§  125g (½ cup) nut butter

§  Large pinch of fresh ginger, grated

§  1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey

§  ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

§  1 tablespoon skimmed milk powder or vanilla protein powder

Instructions

1.     Blitz all the ingredients in a high-speed blender until combined. If your blender isn’t high-speed, pulse the oats first to make them a bit finer, then add the remaining ingredients, or combine by hand. Roll into teaspoon-sized balls, then store in the refrigerator or freezer.

I love cooking so for me this is a labour of love. But, if you have the time (and inclination), I strongly recommend giving these a go. You can tweak the ingredients to your own taste preferences and then take them on your cycle ride happy in the knowledge that these little hand-crafted balls of energy will help get you to your final destination. Time consuming? Yes. But in my opinion, it is worth it.

Thank you James for sharing this delicacy with us. We hope to see you soon on the road.

SD Team would like to advise all SaddleDrunkers & non to get in touch with us if you would like to your share experiences & any advise with others.

 

Evans Cycle Sportive Hampshire

The cold weather is approaching us in the northern Hemisphere, days are getting shorter and the road are getting dirty.

This morning was ideal to take the student that I have been coaching from beginning of October to take part in his first sportive.The wake up call was early,and still dark outside but the passion for the bicycle has prevailed the extra few hours of laying in bed.

Driving along the motorway for approximately an hour from London to reach the beautiful country side of Hampshire we admired the sunrise and the wakening of the day life.

Image

 The amazing country side.

We arrived to the venue with no problem at all,it was sign posted from coming off the motorway junction all the way to the car park.We then walked to registration office with our helmet, where they issued us the microchip to be placed on the side of it.We made our final toilet stop before jumping on the saddle and go through the start line.

Being the first sportive for P.( Student's Name kept secret for privacy) we decided to do the short route of 30 miles and to set a target to finish it around the 2 hours mark. Taking in consideration that for P was only the forth exit with pedals and cleats, I could notice that he was very excited due to the atmosphere created by the event organiser pre race.

The race route was very well planned to keep the cyclists away from the main roads, enabling them to be astonished by the amazing surroundings of the nature during the cold sunday morning.During the ride we could smell the perfumes and essences of the trees,fields,bushes,forests and to listen the animals.

Image

 The organisers(Evans Cycle) did provide a good route marking utilising the 3 point system. Which is one sign on approach, to indicate the turning or the direction to go, second point are two signs to indicate the actual turning, and the final sign to be just one to indicate and relieve cyclists are in the correct direction.

The 30 miles course had a variety of cycling difficulties and demanding tasks due to the road conditions from being hilly to the mud on the road caused by the weather.

There were challenging hills for the student, where I could test him on climbing techniques and the stamina.I was pleased when he told me that he likes climbing. The Hills made the scenery just flabbergasting, the chilly wind made it particular challenging for the riders keeping the temperature not higher than 6.6 C.

IMG_2136

I have to give just a quick advise to the organiser,which is related to the feed station.My advise is that you can not have just a station at 24 miles for 30 miles route.I do understand you also had a medium,long distances but feed stations are important and they play a key factor on most beginner or intermediate cyclist.You need to place an extra table with an extra couple glasses and bananas to makes more enjoyable.I would suggest at an event like that with today distances if the condition allows it, to have stations at those distances such one between the 14-16 miles,34-36 and the final one at 52-55 miles mark.

I would strongly recommend this event for those having a rest during the Christmas Festive before the hang the bikes in the garage and to those want to keep training hard for the following this season.

IMG_2138