• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Time to get Fit thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
Isotonic solutions and measurements of osmolality started appearing in marketing for exercise drinks I'd guess around 10yrs ago. I've yet to read anything with real evidence that any of it matters. It's likely that any issues with consuming high osmolality drinks are worth it for the race results and/or can be trained away. On top of that, a lumped-together measurement of osmolality is kinda junk. Different molecules digest differently in the gut and produce different results. And it's likely that every person will feel differently from digesting different molecules.

In race-type cycling, it's always possible to expend more calories that you can consume and metabolize. So the more you CAN eat, the faster you likely can go. We don't have access to infinite bottles nor have infinite stomach space. So consuming isotonic solutions leaves calories on the table, leaves performance on the table. Skratch sells a mix called Superfuel. You put 7 scoops into 16-20oz for 400Cal. They claim it digests slower, more like regular food, and produces less gastric distress. Hows that for osmolality :laughing. Lately I've been doing 1 scoop of regular Skratch and 2-3 of Superfuel for 200-250Cal, and consume it in 90min or so. But that's me. I'm sure there are plenty of avg cyclists that would get a massive stomach ache from consuming one of my bottles.

Oh, and of course running treats the stomach quite a bit different than cycling.
 
I use to buy Skratch, good stuff.

This is on there below what i last posted.
PRO TIP: To reduce the osmolality you can move the carbohydrate slider to the right, reduce electrolytes, calories or flavor.

I think mine is at 317

Moving the carb slider to the right moves it from simple carbs to complex carbs to reduce osmolality. Also, lowering flavor, calories and electrolytes reduces it. Adding protein, bcaa's and caffeine dont have an affect on the osmolality. Why? Its still adding more product to be lumped up for digestion.
Im no dietician or nutritionist.

The mix i used worked very well other than the almost gut knot for a few. Never had that with Skratch but it didnt have all the ingredients this does. This stuff works though.
 
I almost got bit by an almost-3-legged dog today... yay :|. I was cycling up a dirt climb, doing maybe 5mph. A dog with a cast on a front leg runs up and starts trying to jump on me. I yell "get down", but he keeps at it. Then I hear his teeth snapping closed. Then I see his owner 30ft up the trail, looking completely dumbfounded. I yell at the dog, yell at her a bit, and cycle away. Thankfully all his attempted bites missed. But faaack - that's a first for me. If the trail was a little smoother and I could have taken a hand off the bars, I may have hit the dog. If it wasn't a climb, I probably would have sailed by plenty fast. This week Ive been pretty tired of interacting with idiots - mostly bad drivers - and now I find another on the trails. UGH, make it stop.

Aside from that, this week is my first 4-day week ever. ~22mi yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Then I'll do around 80mi on Sunday. I'm on track for ~550mi for January. I'm feeling good ready for race season to start. I wax my chain every ~400mi, so I'm getting pretty good at it these days :laughing
 
Last edited:
Mike, any chance you have time to do a Cobbler pre-ride on that Friday? The SO and I are heading to Bakersfield Friday morning and I kinda want to pre-ride the first major climb.
 
stangmx13 said:
Mike, any chance you have time to do a Cobbler pre-ride on that Friday? The SO and I are heading to Bakersfield Friday morning and I kinda want to pre-ride the first major climb.
Click to expand...

Aww man, That sounds rad. I would love to. I don't think between work and kid schedules i'll be able to make it there by Friday morning though. Do you think it's going to be muddy at all?
 
Mike95060 said:
Aww man, That sounds rad. I would love to. I don't think between work and kid schedules i'll be able to make it there by Friday morning though. Do you think it's going to be muddy at all?
Click to expand...

Looks like theres a 3pm "BMC pre-ride w/ Starla Teddergreen and Brian McCulloch" on the schedule. I might just do that one. It can't be that long with sunset at 5:20pm. Hopefully they release the route for that too.

Based on how the trails are drying down here, I think the mud will be patchy at worst. I bet there will be big puddles in the bottom of any canyons, but everything else will be hero-dirt or dry. With how up-and-down past routes have been, I don't think we will spend much time in the bottom of canyons.
 
stangmx13 said:
Looks like theres a 3pm "BMC pre-ride w/ Starla Teddergreen and Brian McCulloch" on the schedule. I might just do that one. It can't be that long with sunset at 5:20pm. Hopefully they release the route for that too.

Based on how the trails are drying down here, I think the mud will be patchy at worst. I bet there will be big puddles in the bottom of any canyons, but everything else will be hero-dirt or dry. With how up-and-down past routes have been, I don't think we will spend much time in the bottom of canyons.
Click to expand...
It is supposed to rain Sunday PM down this way.

Not clear how much. We're not fully dried out from the previous rain.
 
I've had this LL Bean commando sweater for a while that I like...a couple of years ago my sister said I should stop wearing it because it was "getting small". I tried it on the other day and it's incredibly tight EVERYWHERE, and while I would call myself medium build/slim for the most part, clearly working out has made physical differences. :)
 
You beat the bear. So many people go to the gym and yet their shape stays darn near the same...well done so far J.
 
My back seems better in terms of the disc area but now i have other back pains from 2 weeks of walking and movie wrong. still icing/stretching but I'm not disabled.
 
Hah. I can see the improvements in my upper body and in strength but I need to get serious about weight loss one day here soon so that I can lose the Pillsbury dough boy middle.
 
That shit's the worst place too...it's like it just...won't...LEAVE. But once it does, it's a lot easier to keep evicted than I'd thought it would be.
 
Back has been mostly ok, I am very careful and if I wake up with pain I ice it. Been gradually raising my workout weights to the previous levels but been working out 2x a week.

Also since I got into tennis this session, Thursdays 7:30-9:00. I was feeling a little discouraged after the first class but I played with my buddy twice outside of class and today I crushed it, my partner and I got were literally getting physically tired beings Kings of the Court so often ;)

Generally I feel strong and fit-ish but I really need to get back on the bicycle.
 
Does the weight training mess up your cycling?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top