@Criggie Speaking for Belgium here, but I'd assume it's similar in other European countries, there may be technical reasons, like a different composition or processes, but I suspect it's a legal/economical one: recycling is a legal obligation for the manufacturers/importers (they have the obligation to recycle a percentage of their "production", and the burden of proof that they do recycle that percentage). In practice, the manufacturers/importers set up a non-profit to meet these obligations.
That single non-profit then coordinates with the car dealers, tires sellers,... for the collection and the recycling facilities (if manufacturers/importers are grouped with such structure, the percentage target is for the aggregated numbers, not the individual members). There's currently no mandate for bicycle tires, so that structure is only financed and organised by the car tire sector, so they won't accept bicycle tires.
@Criggie Hase Pino, last I have seen for sale second hand was over 1000 euro and worth it.
In many countries e-bike rides replace car journeys, in the Netherlands they almost always replace bike journeys. Giving the impression people work at their health but doing very little for condition.
People here, with exception of the old and those with health problems, do not need E-bikes, long commutes are still done by car, usually. But over 50% of new bike sales are E-bikes. Which have a lifespan of 5 years. Battery dead, controller damaged, engine with problems, .... Each of those means end of bike, not repair as that is almost as expensive as a new bike.
Should you eat something sugary (e.g. energy bar/gel) at the beginning of a ride/endurance activity? Sometimes I get feeling I'm faster after the first ice cream stop than at the beginning 😅
If I’m doing a brief ride 2.5 hours or less), I’ll eat some “ride food” right at the start to and try to keep a higher intensity level than I would for a normal length ride.
More seriously, I tend to not start long rides 1h after having eaten - not something heavy though, and sometimes take waffles on longer rides (and/or bananas and nuts). The faster after the first ice cream stop may be the combined effect of sugar and that you've warmed up already.
I've wanted to ask this question for a while. It doesn't quite fit next to the (very greasy) questions about fixing drivetrain. Given your favourite nuts, seeds, and dried fruits, what is a good recipe for combining them at home into little balls that can be picked up from one's back pocket or from a nutrition pouch during a ride without getting one's fingers dirty?
Basically I'm looking for a way to make little snacks of similar composition to Christmas fruit-and-nut cakes. Cutting such a cake results in parts that are much too sticky.
I’ve made my own Lara bars with dates + other stuff in a food processor. Cut it into chucks and then stuffed those into a reusable sandwich bag. I don’t really worry about my fingers getting dirty on rides. So I don’t have any advise to give you there.
@Sam7919 Some people in the club that do their own food are doing "sticky balls", then rolling them into thin coconut flakes, so that the surface remains dry and non sticky.
@Erlkoenig flapjacks = some kind of pancakes? Would I simply bury nuts/fruits/seeds in the dough before pan frying?
@Rеnаud That's a nice idea. Tasty too!
@MaplePanda I am familiar with the rice paper that is sold in 10-in diameter sheets (moisten, fill with shrimp/coriander/etc, roll. serve), but you seem to be referring to some other kind.
Nutritionally rice would add slow carbs to, say, dried dates inside.
For amateurs on a long (80+ km) ride, it is quite desirable to introduce flour or rice into the recipe to make the effect of the food last a bit longer; is it not?
@PaulH I love those. Confession: they don't last until the following bike ride. Dilemma!
("Lärabar")
@PaulH It's not just a question of my fingers getting dirty. If they're sticky, they'll stick to each other, and it'll be trickier to extract them one at a time, hopefully while continuing to look at the road.
The secret of the Lärabar bars might be a quick baking to dry the outer surface.
@Criggie Hilarious. Also, I wholeheartedly agree with this action. Anyone sitting in the middle of strangers and playing their style of music deserves it. Even among friends, one must (IMHO) ask whether someone is "allergic" to a certain style of music (I'm allergic to country music, and to rap).
If, one the other hand, you're riding solo on a country road for 10 km, only occasionally crossing another cyclist, I don't see what would stop you from playing music (or an audio book) suitable for your own space.
Uh... I thought I wasn't going to debate this. Here we go..
@DavidW That's whom Miles Davis was referring to when he wrote The King of Cool. (My memory might be failing me, but I think it was the name of a MD album/song — perhaps in the elevator-to-the-gallows film.)
@Sam7919 On long rides, I like to mix a bit food, so you can have several recipes. Just an example: last long ride (117km, 1500m elevation, gravel), I mixed nut bars (almonds/peanuts/dark chocolate) and waffles (gaufres quatre quarts), it worked well (I ate the waffles at stops though, it's not the most convenient food to eat when riding).
@Rеnаud Like this: cuisineaz.com/recettes/gaufre-44-60486.aspx ? I bought a waffle-maker on impulse recently, unsure whether I'd really like to switch sometimes on weekends from crêpes to waffles. I have yet to use it, but preparing bike food makes it much more promising.
C'est aussi un gâteau? "Le quatre-quarts est un gâteau1 qui tire son nom du fait que les quatre ingrédients qui le composent (farine, sucre, beurre, œufs) y sont en quantité égale (en masse), et donc représentent chacun un quart." source: fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatre-quarts
@MaplePanda Fantastic. Thank you! I'll look for these at the asian stores.
"Glutinous rice" reminds me of the astonishingly delicious Korean cookies.
@Sam7919 Oui, mais je trouve le gâteau moins pratique à vélo. Les gaufres ont juste la bonne taille pour rentrer dans une des poches du maillot et ne s'effritent pas.
