Hotter than Hell, I agree - Mules in Training

After arriving in Texas on Friday night my 'Super domestique' duties were soon required.

Saturday morning to be precise at 5am. It was like getting up for work at home.

The most significant difference occurred as soon as I stepped outside.
Rather than indignantly starring up to the skies as I slipped on my coat, I was wiping copious amounts of heat induced sweat from my brow.

It was 85f even before the sun had come up, with a level of humidity that could poach even the hardiest of ostrich eggs.

The weather man seem to be in a joyous mood obviously realising that he had a pale pasty Brit as one of his audience.

Hot conditions will continue today as an upper level ridge of
high pressure remains parked over southeast Texas.
Daytime high temperatures are expected to reach 98 to 104 degrees
inland... mid 90s along the coast.
The combination of the heat and high humidity will result in maximum heat index values of 105 to 109 degrees this afternoon.

The next bit was even more interesting !!!!!!!!

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

If you plan to be outside... avoid prolonged exposure or strenuous
physical activity.
Your body can lose up to a gallon of water an hour through perspiration.
Drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration.
Alcoholic and caffeinated beverages can increase the rate of water loss in your body... increasing the risk of heat exhaustion or stroke.
Wear lightweight... light-colored... loose-fitting clothing.
Wear a hat to shield yourself from the sun and use a sunscreen to reduce possible sunburn.

Thank you Mr Weather man.

WE rode 55 miles Saturday and 43 Miles Sunday and the weather lived up to expectations.
I am used to having water dripping off my helmet from heavily laden rain clouds that have raced across the Pennines to great me on my morning rides.
The quantity of liquid did not change but was replaced by sweat. I felt as though somebody had introduced a high pressure hose into my seat post and that all the pores on my body had created a human sprinkler system.

It was great to meet up with the American Mules and to ride as part of a team again.
My intense training since the start of the Year did not go unnoticed which also enabled me to act as a super domestique for Paddy (Le Patron) who is still playing catch up after his recent training set backs.

With a good stock of MuleBars and plenty of fluid we all rode well and things look good for next weekend.

Mules in Training

Mule Bars

It is now less than a week to go before I depart to Houston and I have finally placed my suitcase on the bed the spare bedroom. The packing ritual is about to begin

Doing an event like the Hotter than Hell Endurance ride is not really like preparing for any other cycle ride.

With temperature promised to be in the 100 f and legendary winds ripping across the North Texas plains, the 100 mile distance is only a secondary consideration.

Food and Hydration is essential to ensure that you have a smile on your face when you cross the finishing line.

Despite the fact there are hundreds of sports gels and bars on the market I have usually gone for natural food products.
Bananas, Dried fruit, dates etc but carrying them has often caused problems.
The lovely yellow banana that I placed in the rear of my shirt often turns black by the time I come to peel it leaving a mushy pulp to eat.
With the other items I place them in sealed bags but they eventually all stick together.

Trying to separate my dates was never a problem in my misspent youth.
But with the nutrition type, trying to separate them whilst climbing or descending a 25% gradient can often lead to a departure from the road or prompt curses from the rider following my wheel.
I needed something that was natural, nutritious and portable and tried a whole range of products.
Then I discovered MuleBars.




They were on display in my brothers shop - Cycle Heaven (York).Andy my brother does not believe in gimmicks when it comes to cycling and that applies to food too.
He is also as green as they come.
When I enquired about this product I got a massive thumbs up from both him and his staff (all cyclists) The question they came back with was 'Why would we sell something that we did not believe in ? I agree.

The founders of Mule bar take up the story

'It all started on Cerro Aconcagua in the Andes, pretty high up at about 6200m where we had a lot of problems with our stomachs, were unable to find food you can eat and digest easily when you’re really out there. This is the mule and gaucho which inspired our the name of the bars and the icon silhouette we use.

...That was in 2002. We got back to the sunny Wiltshire-Hampshire border in the New Forest, back to our makeshift office, the “Loveshack” and QMFC kitchen, and we got started on cooking up some ideas we’d had on the Andes expedition. The first bars were all over the place and wouldn’t fuel much, let alone an adventure, but they did spur us on. We kept at it most Friday afternoons, skiving off the day job mostly and finally started getting somewhere in about late 2004. Guinea pigs are easy to find when food’s involved with bikers and climbers and so we kept trying out the bars on mates who we were out riding with and after about ten times of turning up to races and being told our bars were better than the ones on sale we thought we’d better do something about it. We formed Fuel for Adventure, because that’s exactly what it is, and started designing wrappers, getting key nutritional help from our now partner Matt Lovell who just happens to be the England RFU nutritional advisor and took the bars off to a great mountain bike race all round Scotland. The bars went down a storm. Since then we’ve been out there spending long hours cooking up prototype after prototype and getting the bars better and better and tastier and tastier and delivering more and more energy. MuleBar has summited Everest, has ridden and now sponsors the incredible Absa Cape Epic mountain bike stage race across South Africa, is the Official Energy Bar of The 2009 Tour of Britain and the list goes on and on. The key thing is it’s Fuel for Adventure, for everybody’s personal adventure.

There is a large void in my suitcase reserved for these pieces of edible energy.

They come in two sizes the MuleBar 65g and MegaBites 30g each with an assortment of different flavours including :-Chocolate Fig Fiesta, Strudel, Liquorice, Summer Pudding, Mango tango, Hunza Nut and Pinacolada.They also
do a great ReFuel recovery bar- choc & banana and choc & date, which are
naturally high in 20% protein.


You don't have to believe me check them out yourself

You can order on line at http://www.mulebar.com/

Being part of the Travels with my Mule cycling Team we call them 'MuleFuel'.

If you come find us after the Hotter than Hell we can tell you more about them and if your lucky I may have a few left in my Jersey.