Buzzing like a Bee

Nutrition is the probably one of the key facets of any cyclist armoury. Without proper management the most conditioned cyclist can be broken and wondering how one minute of strength can be followed so quickly to a vertiginous state of weakness. With many years of competing in elite endurance events I have found that having a correct nutrition plan aids any top performance and can make the difference in getting an advantageous over a similar physically able athlete.

Upon receiving my new Capilano Honey Shotz at the Gulag Training camp. I wanted to see their impact in two ways: 1. How quickly the energy was released into my blood stream; 2. How long that level energy would be maintained in my muscles. As a subjective trial I can only report on my own experience and my results were as follows.

1. I had just finished the third 10min threshold rep with the legs feeling a little jaded. Quickly I snapped the honey shot and within seconds the 7gms of honey was into my body. I felt a subtle difference in that within five or so minutes upon starting the next 10 min rep the speed was there straight away and the body energy level was stable again. So with the high Glyceamic Index and the texture of the honey allowing it to be digested fairly rapidly it was a pleasant result.

2. With the last 15km of our 120km training ride to be conducted in a race scenario I wanted to see the result of how sustainable the Honey Shotz would be on my body. I took two Honey Shotz and then within a couple of minutes I raised the pace going up the hill before launching my attack at the top of the hill to break away. I didn't feel too taxed from the initial attack and was happy in that I could recovery quickly with the energy level still strong as I got into tempo pace. The energy probably only started to wane a bit after about 20mins of tempo and think this was influenced by a combination of other environmental factors e.g dehydration.

In conclusion the Honey Shotz is a great energy aid in releasing glucose quickly into the blood stream. Its use is optimal when the pace goes up and the body requires that quick releasing energy to meet the demands from the working muscles. I think the amount of the honey in each packet is not the best for an athlete as the demands of cycling require more sustainable energy and by having smaller packets it may create environmental issues with the increased waste. One improvement is to add some electrolytes into the formula as this would create a complete package for the athlete in an endurance sport.