Will we never eat food again?

There are plenty of cyclists who wouldn’t dream of spending good money on energy drinks, recovery powders, and electrolyte tablets, and would tell you wearily that post ride, you can get just about all the goodness you need from a pint of milk and a banana.

They might have a point.

However, the marketing men know that, as a group, we are easily seduced by the promise of muscle repair, boosted immune systems, and essential amino acids, and happy to part with our cash into the bargain.

Perhaps that is why an article appeared recently in Cycling Weekly advertising Huel powder, which “claims to satisfy all you daily nutritional requirements, meaning you never have to eat real food again.”

Is that supposed to be a good thing?!

They seem to be saying, ‘imagine a world where we no longer need to bother with ingredients, cooking food, and all that wasted time spent sitting down and eating the stuff; just whack a couple of spoonful’s of Huel into a glass, mix with water, and voila!’

And worst of all, they seem to be thinking, ‘let’s sell it to the cyclists, they’re suckers for this sort of thing!’

I suppose I can see some benefits: long lingering dinner parties and tedious conversation about house prices will be a thing of the past – it’ll all be done and dusted in about 10 minutes, freeing everyone up to head down to the pub instead.

Except for one small problem: for many of us, one of the added benefits of clocking up so much mileage on the bike is the excuse to indulge in guilt free eating in the name of recovery (once we’ve polished off our powdery protein drink, of course).

But can you imagine giving up your dinner, and instead sitting down to relax with a nice glass of Huel?

It’s not going to hit the spot is it?

Of course, on the other hand, we here in the UK are absolutely brilliant at drinking, and might take to it with aplomb if alcohol were added in to the mix. I certainly have a number of friends who would make a strong argument that alcohol is one of the major food groups.

Rather than mixing the Huel powder with water, might it be possible to mix it with beer, or vodka?

That right there would be your entire evening dealt with in one fell swoop, which I suppose would free up precious time to…well…go for a bike ride.

Hmmm, maybe there’s something in this after all.

Take all this to its logical conclusion though, and once we are receiving our solid nutritional needs in liquid form, maybe we’ll introduce an ironic twist and demand all our liquid refreshment in solid form, just to really subvert the food/mealtime paradigm (as Russell Brand might put it).

Slice of beer, anyone?