Honey Stingers a Review

By: In: Biking, Health and Fitness, Off Season, Outdoors

Honey Stingers Energy Chews

A quick shot of sugars to help sting the pedals a bit more and harder

In my last WheelWednesday posting I discussed the use of energy chews in helping to increase bicycling performance. There are many brands to choose from and in this series I hope to give you an idea of which chew is the right one for you and your needs.

In this installment I review my favorite brand of energy chews: Honey Stingers. I talk about why I like them, how they help me, and yes their drawbacks. A buddy introduced me to Honey Stingers after a night of skiing at Granite Peak. initially, I dismissed them as some sort of Red Bull concoction but then I noticed them for sale in one of my bike gear catalogs. I then went on to learn what Honey Stingers are and are not. I ate them prior a ride and noticed the ride was better and since thing my approach to riding has not been the same!

Honey Stingers — Product Review Disclosure Statement

I purchased (with the exception of that first packet, which was a gift from a buddy without a financial stake in Honey Stingers) all products in this review with my own funds and on my initiative.

Honey Stingers — My Favorite Chews

I made the comment that Honey Stingers are my favorite chews and the reasons for this are:

  • Ease of Chewing

    • Honey Stingers are easy to chew and it makes a difference while I am biking. While I am chewing I am attempting to breathe as well and since I am biking I am also breathing hard. I would rather spend my time and energy breathing and as little time and effort chewing. Honey Stingers formulation makes for easy chewing and that is a big attraction for myself.

    Mind you, I have run into packages of Honey Stingers that were harder to chew (but no more so than other chews) but reading around pretty much indicates that is a result of age,to that is use them quickly.

  • Flavor

    • While the payoff is not having a tasty treat, it makes it all a lot better I do not have to force them down or suppress a gag reflex.

  • Natural

    • Or mostly so. Reading the ingredient list I see nothing that baffles me.

  • Anit-Bonk

    • Honey Stingers does the job and helps to keep my body cranking revolutions. Typically, I feel the need to consume some fuel about every hour or about every 16-20 miles (however, the ride I just completed was a 30 miler with just a packet of pre-ride Gatorade Prime juice). I feel the hunger coming on and I know I had better break open the pack and down them, because shortly after I feel the hunger I will feel the bonkage and unmistakable signs of hypoglycemia and the weakness that hypoglycemia brings.

Honey Stingers — The Drawbacks

Like all products there are drawbacks.

  • The Cost

    • In comparison to other chews Honey Stingers are not cheap.

  • Distribution

    • Honey Stingers are hard to find and I have to go to specialty stores along the lines of athletic specialty shops. I find other brands in almost all grocery stores.

  • The Packaging

    • The packaging is a pain to deal with. This is one point applicable to every energy chew I have had, some sort of Pez-like dispenser would help a lot.

I find the biggest drawback is the distribution, I can find another brand when I am at almost every grocery store and do stock up when I am in a store with Honey Stingers, but I am in a grocery store a lot more often.


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Review of Energy Chews

By: In: Biking, Off Season, Outdoors

Bicycling is another passion of mine. One that has gone beyond being a penance for years of overindulging in food and drink and lack of physical activity. Now I bicycle as much for the challenge of going a Little bit harder, just a little bit more, A little bit further than I’ve gone before. In order to do that, I have been using energy chews and other nutritional aids.

Energy Chews — What Are They?

Energy chews are essentially candies, with the goal of delivering a quick burst of sugars to an athlete in the middle of performing. Wait a minute, are we not taught that sugars are bad? Well, yes and no. Sugars are the primary fuel our bodies run on! Without sugar, our fires extinguish — we die. The problem lays in consuming more sugar than our bodies require and that excess the body stores in other forms most notably fat.

When I am biking I typically consume a pack of sugar laced drink before starting and typically a pack of energy chews every hour of riding. I do this when I feel the symptoms of hypoglycemia starting to hit. Those symptoms are hunger pains and then weak and shaky pedaling.

These are not Koolaid and Snickers, but are for the athlete and contain a variety of sugar types to deliver the sugar both quickly and over a longer period of time. In fact, all I want is something with sugars (and perhaps some electrolytes) and avoid those chews containing protein, fat, and fiber.

Energy Chews — An Investment in Performance

Last summer, I avoided energy chews and any consumption of foods during or prior a bike ride (except for water). I did this because the idea was to burn as many calories as I could and eating energy during the ride cut into that burn. I was simply giving my body the chance to burn fewer calories.

However, during last summer I would occasionally bonk especially on long rides or rides the same day I ate little and or worked out at the Y. I recall one such ride, about a 30 mile ride that for the most part went well, but the last 7 – 10 miles of that ride went slower than it could have gone. I recall at one point getting off of my bike to walk up a mild hill.

I now I have to ride farther to get the same sort of calorie burn I did last summer and energy chews allow me to ride greater distances in the same amount of time as my rides from last year. Plus I am now becoming more interested in logging miles and making sure I log those miles as quickly as possible.

Energy Chews — I Have Tried Three Brands

I have tried three brands: Honey Stingers, Goo Chews, and Gatorade Prime Chews. All three have done the trick for me and staved off bonking and kept me in the revolution! However, in the next installment I will review my favorite of the three.

Keep riding!


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Transition from Skiing to Biking

By: In: Biking, Health and Fitness, Off Season, Outdoors, Skiing

Transition from skiing to biking

Transition from Skiing to Biking

The season is rapidly moving from being my favorite time of the year to the least favorite time. The time between the end of ski season and the start of the warm season. The weather goes from bluebird to blahbird and it is too warm to maintain the snow and too cold to garden, do yard work (which I enjoy), and generally too cold to provide for pleasant biking weather. Time to transition from skiing to biking! Long Live the Revolutions!

That being said, being a skier I know the solution to cold and unpleasant weather is found in gear, and what sort of thing appeals more to men than the study and getting of gear?
(more…)


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Lance Armstrong and His Fall

By: In: Biking, Off Season, Outdoors, The Sharp Edge

the yellow jersey of the Tour de France

The Fall of Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong has finally admitted to using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) during the peak of his professional bicycle competition days. I know many are gleeful to see this day . I disagree with that and think now the dogs have nothing more to chase he can move on to bigger and better things.

In his admission of guilt he can move on, will others?

Lance Armstrong — Still Impressive

There is no doubt the use of PEDs contributed to his amazing bicycle wins. However, one must consider a few things. First, that sport is awash in PEDs. Current grand tour rider (with an equally impressive record) Suspicions of PED usage dog Alberto Contador and he has served suspensions for positive PED tests. In any event, I challenge you to even finish a mountain stage in one of the grand tours, with or without PEDs.

Lance Armstrong did this despite the fight with cancer he had and the absolute grueling grind that professional bike riding is. That is impressive with or without using PEDs.

FYI, Lance continues to compete in endurance events, I saw him on Universal Sports some months ago competing in a triathlon.

Lance Armstrong — LiveStrong

I am a regular visitor to the website he spearheaded — LiveStrong! It is a good website and seeks to inspire others to get off of their ez-chairs and become active! It also provides advice on healthy eating, it is an all around source of information and inspiration on becoming a more healthy person.

I have seen people joke about the site calling it LiveWrong but I do not see anything wrong with LiveStrong despite its founder’s lie. It is attempting to motivate people to a better and more healthy life. Lance knows what it is like to undergo major medical treatment and if the website can help others avoid similar ordeals that is good. I have witnessed (as have we all) people undergoing major medical ordeals brought on by previous lifestyle choices and it is no fun for them and no fun for those of us who love them. LiveStrong provides guidance to prevent taking those wrong turns.

Perhaps we can view LiveStrong as Lance’s penance?

Lance Armstrong — The Lie

As is usually the case, it was not so much the original crime but the coverup and the lie Lance was living that incensed most people. Lance was a part of a team in all of this and the team was falling to the accusations and he called everyone else liars and continued to deny the truth. People can not let that go especially those who were around him when he was engaging in the use of the PEDs.

Lance Armstrong was doing deeds in the dark. The consequence of those deeds coming to the light kept Lance from acknowledging the truth, one has to wonder how much the need to keep his usage of PEDs in the dark motivated his behavior? If someone did that to someone else, would that not be extortion? Of course it would be, in essence Lance was extorting himself and now the lie is over he can live more freely.

Lance Armstrong’s fall was actually a long time ago and not today. I would guess he would still have been an amazing rider without the use of PEDs, just not the legend we thought he was. He is now free from his days of PED usage but now must live with the consequences of the lie.

I am not so concerned one way or the other about all of this, hero-worship is something that can only lead to disappointment and so I avoid it.

How about your thoughts on this fiasco?


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I Like to Bike!

By: In: Biking, Health and Fitness, Off Season, Outdoors

I like to bike!

Have I ever noted that I like to bike here? I think I have, as of this posting I have logged about 1,000 miles in the 2012 year and yesterday I accomplished a 57 mile ride, a personal long and the ride includes a number of best times (best mile, best 10 miles, best 40 KM, best 50 miles) and I am feeling it.

My Bike Fears and Obstacles

Biking is not all peaches here are the problems I had to overcome:

  1. Traffic

    2. Is this a surprise? I kept my biking to a local trail and it bored me, so I had to overcome my fear of riding with automobile traffic. Ditching the music, wearing brightly colored clothing, route selection, and just being careful are all cures to this.

  2. Saddle Soreness

    3. Once I started to ride a number of consecutive days I stared to get saddle sores (similar to bed sores). To overcome saddle sores required me to research, purchase gear, and to grind through it and develop toughness.

  3. Biker’s Palsy

    4. Once I started to ride 20+ miles on a regular basis I started to develop numbness in my arm. Research indicated the problem was due to pressure on my ulnar nerve in the palms of my wrist, again education and some equipment upgrades and acquisitions helped to overcome that problem.

  4. Routes

    5. Finding good routes is more difficult than one thinks. I look for routes that include infrequent stops, broad shoulders, low to moderate automobile traffic, and a mix of terrain (too few hills is as bad too challenging hills) and scenery. Two other factors I look for are distance (duh) and direction. I want to have routes so that when coming back the wind is at my back. Add all of those conditions and it becomes harder to find good routes.

Why would anyone continue to bike in the face of the above obstacles? (more…)


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Are You Inspiring Fitness or Simply Bragging? Share Your Inspiration!

By: In: Biking, Health and Fitness, Off Season, Outdoors

Are you inspiring others or simply bragging?

One thing I have seen, is people criticize are those who post their workouts on Facebook. The critics charge those who do that as braggarts. I use the Endomondo app on my phone to track my bike rides and when the ride is complete it pushes the facts of the workout to FB, with the stats such as calories, miles, time, and average speed. I am becoming active on Endomondo too, designing routes for me to spin and following those routes (I also am using Livestrong, but the Livestrong interface is very clunky).

One frequent theme I hit here often is the need many of us have to become more physically active and being a person who likes the outdoors I try to get that into the mix. Gyms are not bad, but when the endorphins are released the blues of Lake Winnebago seem more crisp, the green hay fields more green, the smell of the fresh cut hay wafting over the roads and trails (wild roses, or other flowers that are common along the trail) more vivid. In the gym all of that is missing.

I remember, we were going to split some wood and I got the maul out and set up to split some firewood. No one believed it was going to happen, sure enough it wasn’t too long before the wood was split, I was not the strongest or most enduring but I got it started.

I am seeing the same with my biking. My rides are not that big of a deal, there are a lot more folks who can ride faster and farther than I do, but at least those people around me can see it is possible for mere mortals.

I am not bragging, but I hope I am inspiring!


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Earn the Joy!

By: In: Biking, Off Season, Outdoors, The Sharp Edge

     
I have wrote about this before, and yesterday instead of settling into my easy chair and watching the Tour De France I took my own bike ride!:


View 07/07/2012 4:48 PM in a larger map

As the ride was coming to a close I knew I could check-mark a goal that has been on my list for some time and that goal was by no means was trivial. Despite the numerous long rides I have made this summer, the ride was a stretch for me which my legs and the touch of cyclist’s palsy (aka handlebar palsy, a numbing of the pinky side of the hands due to extended pressure on the ulnar nerve) confirm; so it was a bonafide accomplishment in my book.

The only drawback is now I have to replace the old goal with a new and grander one!

After I cleaned off I went into town and got some dinner, on the way in some good Grateful Dead was playing and my bloodstream must have been saturated with endorphins as the feeling I had was of pure joy. The best thing about that joy was it was bought with a real accomplishment.

Now it is your turn to accomplish something and earn the joy!


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Speed on Planks vs. Speed on Wheels

By: In: Biking, Off Season, Skiing

Here is the map of my 2011 biking season high (in terms of miles spun):


View 2011-05-21 07:32 in a larger map

Hmmm, for some reason (I would call it a software defect), Google wants to show the area north of my ride rather instead of my ride. Drag the map upwards to bring my ride into view.. Note to Google QA team: time to file a defect!

The hard numbers are :

  1. Total Distance: 19.2 miles (30.85 Km)
  2. Maximum Speed: 29.7 miles/hour (47.73 Km/hr.)
  3. Elevation gained: 1,052 feet (321 meters)

This top speed is entirely consistent with maximum speeds I get on my bicycle, seem rather slow in comparison to the near 60 mph I get on my K2 planks, no?
(more…)


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Warren Miller HAD Best Beware!

By: In: Biking, Off Season, Skiing

Here you see my first composed video. I have posted video here before, most of it videos from YouTube created by others or my raw camera video. However, here you see video composed of scenes I recorded and then put together and edited!

The music however comes from the Grateful Dead’s July 17, 1989 Alpine Valley (which doubles as a ski resort during the winter) appearance and is the opening song from that show Let the Good Times Rolls, a show which I WAS AT!

The first scene is a bike ride I took on the nearby Wiouwash trail, cold day and I caught a long nagging and nasty cold from it. The second scene recorded in my brother’s car on Vilas County HWY A on our way to Ski Brule. The third scene is me skiing down Ski Brule’s Big Bear and this is my second ski film attempt, this time I hang the camera from my neck and tuck it into my jacket. I had to tuck it in because untucked the weight of the lens causes the camera to point at my ski tips and that makes for rather uniteresting video — which happens in the second ski scene skiing down Brule’s Otterslide.

The last scene is our fireplace at home and the credits. The snippet is only about 10 seconds or so of video and I repeat it a number of times.

Nothing spectacular, just something else for me to learn and try to apply to promote the efforts of myself and others!


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First Bikeride

By: In: Biking, Off Season

Here is my first bikeride of this season.

Not so flashy as my ski tracks, but there is some up and down on this trip. It was a nice sunny day today. I went to town bought some bike-clothing to keep me warm on the ride. I did not go for the Wiouwash Trail as it is still snow covered from our last blizzard, I am hoping it will be clear soon.

Not bad in any way shape or form for my first ride, sunny, cool but not too much so, and the wind was not all that bad but definitely felt on the return leg. The drivers on this stretch of road were courteous and gave me lots of room.

The coolest thing about this ride was seeing a muskrat in a ditch. I saw it out of my periphery and then turned my head and I heard the telltale sound of a rapid dive.


View 2011-04-02 15:02 in a larger map


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