The wonder potato

[Threevok]

All those energy gels and drinks and for what ?

http://www.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/japplphysiol.00567.2019

According to this, a potato can do just as well as energy gels in keeping you going

 

[PeteXXX]

They do look a bit dodgy if you tuck them up the leg of your bib tights, though, unlike a flat energy gel sachet! They barely show..

 

[Threevok]

The trick is to plan your routes around potato farms, markets and greengrocer shops.

Oh, and those dodgy vans that seem to sell sacks of them, usually parked in the worst places imaginable - like roundabouts

 

[Sharky]

OK for a crisp autumn ride

 

[MartinQ]

They do look a bit dodgy if you tuck them up the leg of your bib tights, though, unlike a flat energy gel sachet! They barely show..

Yeah, but your spuds may get admiring glances :-)

 

[Cycleops]

Just illustrates what a load of nonsense those energy gels/drinks are.

 

[winjim]

Spudboob.

 

[Arjimlad]

Excellent news, I can build some chip shop visits into longer rides now!

 

[tom73]

They do look a bit dodgy if you tuck them up the leg of your bib tights, though, unlike a flat energy gel sachet! They barely show..

Yeah, but your spuds may get admiring glances :-)

May make a mash of your nuts though

 

[MichaelW2]

"We investigated the effects of potato purée ingestion during prolonged cycling on subsequent performance versus commercial CHO gel or a water-only condition"

The trick then is to insert mashed potatoes into your shorts in a form which permits extraction. Are they available in the form of mashed potato bars? Have I spotted a gap in the marketplace. Will a hungry Dragon care to go halves with me as I bring savoury energy bars to a marketplace that craves electrolytes but doesn't know what they are?

 

[Heltor Chasca]

One of our young things who is a bit handy on a bike and vegan takes roast spuds on his rides. He has also posted a ride on YouTube where he took along a piping bag of cookie dough to fuel his ride. Apart from audax he goes 24 hour TTing for a laugh.

 

[tom73]

None beef dripping ones I take it. Or even worse done in a deep fat fryer.

 

[Broadside]

I prefer whole food to gels on endurance rides, bananas are my usual weapon of choice however I will sometimes have a gel after 80 miles to get me home.

I will give this potato idea a shot, it’s a nice alternative to a gel and crucially it’s savoury not sweet, sugary foods get so boring on longer rides.

it says potato purée, does this mean cooked potato or blitzed up raw? I don’t know if cooking might change something in the proteins that would stop them being effective. Serious question btw.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

Aren’t raw potatoes going to make you ill? Is it that we can’t process the raw starch or something?

 

[Broadside]

Aren’t raw potatoes going to make you ill? Is it that we can’t process the raw starch or something?

No idea! I was surprised that a scientific article didn’t specify if the potato was cooked or not.