ianm wrote:
The only downside I find with soft flasks is that it's tricky to ascertain what rate your sticking calories down your throat. With Gels, chews, etc and a timer, you've got a good idea if you're on target with food consumption.
Anyone got a soft flask solution to this issue, or is the solution just not to over think it?
When I did Marmotte des Alpes last year, I planned to simply put a few gels sachets in a bento box velcroed to the top tube of the road bike, and stuff the rest of the sachets into my cycling jersey pockets. The night before the event I was setting out my clothes, nutrition, etc. The weather forecast meant needed the ability to stow arm warmers and a light jacket which put jersey pocket space at a premium. I did a test run and put on the jersey and put everything in the pockets....they were on the verge of bursting and it was very difficult to remove a gel or put back an empty sachet. I remembered I'd been given a small 250ml bottled water with my meal on my flight to Lyon. I didn't drink it and it was still in my bag so I grabbed the bottle and put that in my pocket instead of 7 of the gels. Much easier to fit. I tried the "sports cap" from a standard bottled water I had on hand and it fit on the small bottle no problem. So I ditched the water in the small bottle, and poured in the contents of 6 or 7 gels. I marked a few graduations on the bottle with a permanent marker so I'd be able to track roughly how fast I was drinking from it.
On the ride, it was much quicker and easier to use this bottle than a gel pouch and if anything it was easier to keep track of how much I was using. I may look for a similar solution for triathlon, but the bottle/flask will need to go on the bike.
