As you know from the previous articles, a good race day fuelling strategy involves energy drinks, bars, and gels and even real foods. You can probably buy all of these at your local bike store but not all products are good quality and also you can make a good hydrating electrolyte drink and energy bar at home. These homemade products will be much healthier to eat during training sessions too because you don’t really want to eat sugary gels all the time.
Endurance Raw Bar
When it comes to energy on the bike gels are the fastest and most efficient way of replenishing it. But you will get sick of them soon and they aren’t really that healthy for a regular training session. That’s why some variety helps. You can try making cycling classics like rice cakes or energy bars at home. Check out our own recipe for an energy bar that’s great for long races or training rides. It tastes great and only contains healthy ingredients!
Ingredients
• 1½ cup dates
• ½ cup cashews (or a mix of nuts)
• ½ cup coconut flakes
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil
Instructions
1. Chop dates and nuts. Put into a blender and mix.
2. Add coconut oil and flakes and create a more or less homogenous dough.
3. Shape the dough into a brick, cover in foil, and freeze for 30 minutes.
4. Take out of the freezer, cut into bars of your preferred size and cover in foil again.
5. Store in a cold place. Transport in sealed containers.
Electrolyte Drink
With hydration, you need to make sure you’re getting enough electrolytes because each litre of sweat contains roughly 900 mg sodium, 1 mg magnesium, 300 mg potassium, and 15 mg calcium. Salt and coconut water are great natural sources of these minerals. Check out our recipes for electrolyte drinks using these two ingredients. You can make so many tasty variations of this drink. Here are our two favourite ones.
Tropical Blend
• 2 ½ cups water
• 1 cup coconut water
• ¼ cup coconut sugar (or your preferred sweetener)
• ¼ tsp salt
Taste of Honey
• 3 ½ cups water
• ¼ cup pineapple juice
• 2 tbsp coconut sugar (or your preferred sweetener)
• 1 tbsp honey
• ¼ tsp salt
Directions
1. Pour all ingredients into a blender or a shaker.
2. Mix well and serve into a glass or straight to your bidon.
