Skratch Labs Co-founder, Dr. Allen Lim has been a champion of Athlete Care since the 1990s. As a former bike racer and an exercise physiologist, Allen understands the nutritional, physical and psychological needs of athletes from a wide perspective. When he founded the company, the ethos was to provide healthy, easy to digest, science based nutrition to athletes. The business started with drink mix and ballooned to include cookbooks, energy bars and gummies, cookie mixes and recovery drinks. Having worked in the World Tour for many years, many of his ideas have taken root and are now the norm in pro cycling. He helped usher in a wide range of innovations that included using biological markers to detect doping, the use of portable power meters and GPS enabled computers to quantify training load and optimize aerodynamics, a host of strategies to better manage body temperature in extreme heat, and a wide array of sports nutrition innovations.
As a former lecturer at the University of Colorado Boulder, Allen also has an innate ability to teach and help athletes learn how to perform better. When our son, Ashlin Barry was invited to join a group of Skratch Athletes, which included Olympic Silver medallist and 6 time U.S. National Champion, Ruth Winder and several up and coming athletes at a training camp in Los Angeles the first week of January, he jumped on the opportunity. The camp was designed to prepare the riders for the upcoming racing season, to teach them how to train and eat to improve performance and test new sodium and carbohydrate enhanced energy drinks.
We had worked with Allen during our careers and he remains a good friend and mentor. He has always been ahead of the curve, as he is open to experimenting with new ideas and is skilled at synthesizing all aspects of performance: training load, recovery, nutrition and psychology to help athletes perform better.
Training rides were structured, led and supported by Allen. Nutrition on and off the bike was provided by the Skratch Labs team and Chef Biju Thomas. For Ashlin, it was great opportunity to connect with elite cyclists in warm weather and ride in the mountains, but also to learn how to fuel both on and off the bike.
Olympic Silver Medallist, Ruth Winder and Ashlin Barry leading the group.
Pre-ride race cake preparations.
Ashlin following Ruth as she does threshold efforts on a climb.
Ashlin and Michael Barry climbing.
In the Hollywood Hills.
Olympic Silver medallist, Mari Holden, Allen Lim, Ruth Winder and Ashlin Barry taking a mid-ride refuelling break.
Ashlin taking a feed from the support car.
Easy day antics with Ruth Winder taking the selfie.
In case you missed it, Allen was recently interviewed on Fast Talk Femmes podcast, where he discussed gut health. Listen to “An Athlete’s Guide to Gut Health”>>
Photography by Avery Stumm
