Proof Positive! Sushi Rice Bars, Insulated Bottle Comparison

The Tour is on! 

It's the Andy and Alberto Show! 

At least right now.  But anything can happen. (Ask Lance.)

Are you watching the Tour De France?

We record it and watch in the evenings.  If you're in the shop today, DO NOT tell me what happened!  I can sleep through the big finish myself.
 
Yes, even with the fast forward, no matter how exciting, it's just too late for me.
 
So, the extensive weekend coverage was more to my circadian rhythm.  I finally got to watch some of the interviews with my eyes open.

One of the team nutritionists is making sushi rice bars!

I watch carefully. Popeye volunteers to take notes, but this is one I've made a lot.  I make mine a little differently, though.


Sunday is an early up.  Santos. Two and a half Elephant-hours from door to trailhead, and then enough miles to last longer than a 100 oz. Camelbak.  The perfect opportunity to test the Tour version of Sushi Rice Bars. 

There is no point making this for short rides. Gatorade will carry you along just fine for an hour or two. This is nutrition for the long haul.  Rice is quickly and easily digested, add some proteins, good salty soy sauce, vinegar, and Ta Dah! - perfect fuel for the long burn. 

Watching the interview, I'm already thinking that my way is better. 

I have an advantage, though - a kitchen.  When you're prepping food in a different hotel room every night, you gotta do what you gotta do. 

But kitchen or not, they're the pros.  We decide it can't hurt to try it their way this once.


For the Pro version of Sushi Rice Bars check out:

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=WHATS_NEW&WHATS_NEW.ID=213&PRSET_VERSION=1

Sushi Rice Bars - Pro

Sorry, guys.  These were pronounced "OK, but a little slimy" by my veteran taste testers, Popeye and Krafty.  I had to agree!

There's another way, but you'll need an oven.

Sushi Rice Bars - Performance

3 cups cooked sushi rice (or any cooked white rice)

1 or 2 eggs, and enough egg substitute or egg whites to equal 6 eggs.

handful of diced ham or crumbled turkey bacon (optional)

apple cider vinegar

soy sauce - full sodium

Cook up your rice, put it in a bowl.  Mix in a tsp of vinegar and let it cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook up the bacon or dice the ham.

Whip the eggs and whites together.  Don't cook 'em - yet.

Start easy - a couple tablespoons - and mix equal parts vinegar and soy sauce into the rice.  Taste.  If it isn't TWICE as salty as you would want to eat while standing in your kitchen, keep going! 

*This is the tricky part - you can't taste it with raw egg so you have to taste it now.  Remember you will be adding the equivalent of 6 eggs and also, once you are sweating buckets on trail your cells will appreciate the salt and vinegar much more than they do standing in your air conditioned kitchen. 

OK, it's SALTY.  Add in the ham and stir in the raw eggs.

Pour it into an olive-oiled pie plate or baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until the "pie" is firm, and an inserted knife comes out clean.

Let it cool, slice it up, and wrap it in individual servings.  We wrap 2"x2" squares  in waxed paper and put a couple in a pocket sized baggie. 

There's one advantage to the pro version.  If you don't have a crew member to hand bars straight from the cooler out the team car window, then you have to be careful.

This is food for the long haul, yes.  It's especially good for loop workouts (like Wickham Park Marathon or loops at the Econ). 

 

But keep it in the cooler until the last moment when you take off down the trail. 

 

Take note of the time.  

 

Proteins (even cooked) shouldn't be eaten if they've been in the heat longer than two hours.  If your camelbak stays ice-cold, keep it in there for a little extra time before the bacteria takes over in the heat.

 

If you aren't doing loops, these bars will give you a two hour jump  on hunger.  After that, insulated bottles with a mix of Gatorade and protein powder will have to take over.

 

(And yes, I do have a recipe for home-made-"gator"-ade. Will publish in a later post - if I haven't already?)

 

Oh yeah!  So, Saturday afternoon, we also did a side by side, insulated bottle comparison.

 

3 bottles, hot sun, watch with timer

 

Insulated bottles - left to right:

Polar, Camelbak Chill Jacket, Camelbak Podium Ice

 

Filled the three bottles with crushed ice and water from the fridge door. (I use crushed ice because it fuses together and lasts longer than cubes.)

Start timing!

 my notes...

Bottom line:  Yes, the new Camelbak Podium Ice bottle really does  keep water colder, longer, as advertised.  The water was still cool at four hours.  It's a little pricier than the other two though, so if you don't do three-plus hour rides, you can get away with one of the others.

Oh yeah - I'll let Krafty have the last word. Polar Bottles are made in the USA, Camelbaks are made in... you know where.