12
Jul
7 Minute Read
7 Minute Read
This blog post has taken me entirely too long to write, but I’ve been wanting a place to write down my thoughts on the whole experience for a while now!
This is about an informal event in Los Angeles that’s been put on for the past few years (minus one due to the LA fires) and, in no uncertain terms, is awesome.
Hummingbird Fuels is a small company that creates a simple high-carbohydrate mix made for athletes of all types. It’s primarily marketed towards the cycling crowd, but it can easily be used for anything that requires you to “fuel your fun”.
In short, it’s a high carb mix in that each packet / serving is 60 grams of carbs that you drink once per hour during exercise. And that’s kind of it. No fuss really about it, and the price point is quite good since it contains only simple ingredients.
Lisa Charlesbois and Richard Andrew are both very active cyclists, specializing in the randonneur style of riding (think long-distance), and have since become good friends of mine since we often ride together in the San Francisco area.
Richard is actually some kind of genius when it comes to food because he was both a professional chef and has a Masters in Food Science.
Extremely good and yes. I’m a fan of orange flavored drinks, and Lisa modeled their Girona Orange flavor after Fanta orange soda, specifically the flavor profile that is just better in Europe.
And that flavor is absolutely spot on. Their other flavors that I’ve tried are also wonderfully delicious, too.
The mix hasn’t failed me yet, as long as I’m good about actually drinking on the bike (which I’m kind of terrible at). Even when I was recently traveling and riding in 100+ degree conditions.
I personally add additional salt / electrolytes to the mix, as I’ve noticed that I have fewer cramps with it. How many electrolytes you individually need, as far as the science is concerned, is apparently a hotly debated topic which I’ll leave for another forum!
As for my recommendation here, I like LMNT, specifically the unflavored kind when I’m traveling because they’re individually packaged. When I’m at home, I prefer using Promix (also unflavored), which has a nice sea-salt like flavor that I enjoy, too.
Since the flavor is so pronounced with Hummingbird Fuels, adding salt to it doesn’t alter the flavor too much, which is exactly how I like it!
After reading this post, you should check out their About Us page to learn more about them and their company!
While you’re at it, you should also follow Lisa’s instagram page, since she’s always filling it with great and funny content that’s aimed towards all kinds of cyclists. She’s at @hustleandahalf.
A couple years back, Lisa came up with a great idea for the doldrums that we often experience in January after the holiday season.
Why not grab a bunch of your friends, go rent a hotel somewhere warm and good for cycling, and just go ride around together for a weekend?
Given that Martin Luther King Jr. day is a regular holiday in the second weekend of January, it makes total sense to do a ride camp over that weekend.
And given that this is a nice way to market your product, why not make it a free adventure? Pretty rad if you ask me, especially since they provided:
Seriously, how cool!
Each year, Lisa hosts a specific web page that outlines the details as to what is happening, and it’s generally starting and ending from a hotel in Calabasas. It’s just outside of LA “proper” and basically sits on the other side of the Santa Monica mountains from Malibu.
This means you can climb up and over to the coast and back through some (usually empty) roads with insane views.
Lisa and Richard make changes to the routes every so often as needed, so definitely check their page for more info when it’s available. But this is what we did this year (2026).
Note that on each day, there are options to do a shorter and longer ride depending on what you’re feeling up to doing that day. Since the vibes were high, no one seemed to be too concerned one way or another, and there seemed to always be someone out there with you. The group even coordinated things within a WhatsApp group, which worked out really well for keeping everything connected.
This was a “shorter” ride that really woke us all up! Starting and ending at Pedaler’s Fork was a great way to build community among all of us and then connect us additionally to the area.
They also have great breakfast pastries, lunch for when you return, and, of course, coffee! Note that the coffee is technically 10 Speed Coffee and there is a ton of bike memorabilia inside.
The ride featured:
Fun fact, we saw Sean Quinn riding around near Mulholland that day!
This was a much longer day, and a super scenic one as well. I was quite shocked at how different every road we went up / down really was, despite everything being relatively close to each other geographically.
Some highlights of this day:
Only word of caution is to be very aware of who’s coming UP the Snake as you’re going down it. Often, inexperienced car drivers will overcook the last turn and end up fishtailing or completely crashing out. People can be dumb, but you’ll literally see people camped out on the final turn to watch it all happen!
The last day was another big day, but it included a nice coffee stop right in the heart of Malibu. This, of course, lent itself to some great LA style people watching, which was quite contrasted by all of us roadies from the Bay Area!
What I remember of this day:
After three days of heavy riding, this one left me feeling very accomplished. It was a lot, but it was so much fun riding with so many new and old friends!
If you’re anywhere near the LA area come next January, or want to be, check out the socials for more information a few months before. This event really is pretty amazing, and was far more approachable than you may think, given that it was just a group of friends who all love to drink sugary drinks and ride bikes!
