Pull up to the feed stop at any given sportive and you'll find a table piled high with energy gels from the event sponsors. With such a wide selection of nutrition options out there, it's all about finding one that works for you. We submitted some of High5's new range of flavours, available exclusively through Wiggle.co.uk, to the Sportive taste test...
High5 Mojito Energy Source Drink
The 1910 Milan-San Remo was truly epic. It took over twelve hours for the winner, Eugene Christophe, to complete the course, and only four men would finish as a blizzard covered the roads in over a foot of snow. And to what did Christophe attribute his victory? The rum he consumed during a long stop in a roadside bar as he sheltered from the cold.
So is this mojito drink from High5 a return to simpler times? I'm afraid not: there's no rum. But in its place is a sophisticated 2:1 fructose sports drink that tastes great and will have you riding better than Christophe himself.
It's probably fair to say that taste is the most important factor when choosing an energy drink. The problem with many energy drinks is that they are overly sweet, providing energy at the expense of quenching your thirst. But the mojito version gets around that problem with a much lighter flavour - think lime squash with a touch of mint - which makes it a perfect accompaniment to gels, especially at the end of a long ride.
Now for the science. That 2:1 formula stands for two parts maltodextrin and one part fructose. While traditional sports drinks contain only maltodextrin, this can only be absorbed by the body at a rate of 60g per hour. However, by adding fructose to the mix, High5 ups the rate of absorption to 90g per hour, meaning more energy for that final hill or bunch sprint.
So a great-tasting drink that gives you that extra boost of energy while still quenching your thirst. What's not to like?
£26.39 for a 2.2kg tub from Wiggle.co.uk
High5 Mojito Energy Gel
To complement the drink, High5 have also brought out a new gel in the same mojito flavour.
Over the last year I've been converted to the benefits of energy gels by the excellent SIS GO Gels, which taste great and offer a vital energy boost when you need it most. However, they're also rather bulky, and when you're on a long ride, with half your worldly belongings stuffed in your back pockets, the last thing you need is your gels taking up vital room. But, High5's offering is significantly slimmer and lighter, weighing in at 38g compared to 60g for the same amount (23g) of carbohydrate.
You might expect that this would mean a more intense (read sickly) sweet taste, but thankfully this isn't the case. As with the Energy Source drink, the gels have a lighter taste, and can be easily swallowed even at the end of a long ride when your stomach is not in the mood for solid food. And as an added bonus they're dead easy to tear open, making them an ideal choice for colder conditions or racing.
As is the case with most gels, these can occasionally leave your mouth feeling dry, but as long as you consume them along with fluid this shouldn't be a problem.
£17.42 for a pack of 20 gels from Wiggle.co.uk
High5 Chocolate Orange Energy Bar
Saving the best till last - the absolutely scrumptious Chocolate Orange Energy Bar. To put it simply, this is the best bar I've ever tasted. Surely the fact that I'd quite happily eat these away from the bike is the highest compliment you can pay an energy bar.
The chocolate tastes like chocolate and the orange, which comes in the form of little crunchy chunks throughout the bar, tastes like orange, which is more than can be said for the flavours of some other bars, meaning that you'll be happy to grab this from your back pocket in the middle of a long ride.
In terms of nutritional content, the bars contain a mixture of simple and complex carbohydrates with low GI content, meaning that energy is released over a longer period, making them the perfect complement to the more short-term effectiveness of the Mojito Energy Gel (the combination of flavours is another debate). This slow energy release also makes them ideal for carb-loading or for eating on the morning of an event.
The only problem to be found is that the bars are not always the easiest to open, especially when wearing gloves or when you're in a rush. But this can easily be solved by making a small slit in the packaging before you leave the house, and certainly shouldn't detract from what is probably the tastiest energy bar on the market.
£19.34 for a pack of 25 bars from Wiggle.co.uk
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