Training & Nutrition - Now, about "fluid" on the bike

Okay, we have the thread on gels and food, but what about your sport drinks or fluids? Gatorade vs. Cytomax? Sure, would love to hear. But what I really want to know is if any of you have a secret mix that really works in terms of sustained energy and overall performance (whether real or perceived). I heard someone say once that they mixed Ovaltine with some energy drink for sustained energy as well as Tang with protein powder. And there is something out there called Hammerhead? (or am I mixing two brands?) And would it hurt if I've run out of Cytomax to try a scoop of whatever they offer at rest stops (whenever they even do as some ride organizers do not)? Or is that too risky if I've never tried the brand before?

Personally, I currently use Cytomax, but it's a messy powder that I have to put in baggies to carry. It usually ends up at the bottom of my bento box. As much as I tout EGel, I hate EFuel. It's a sticky liquid that mixes with water well but is extremely messy and bulky to carry in the long tube-pack it comes in.

One trick I was told that I do follow is that on double centuries drink a V8 in the morning before starting (at least an hour before) and somewhere along the route, if you can swing by a store and snag one, do that as well - excellent for sodium and potassium and is very easily digested.

Any other pearls of wisdom?

V8 -- what a great idea.

I was using the Clifshot drink mix, and it gave me a very acid stomach.
Changed to Revenge, and my stomach is now just fine! Probably in my head, but I think it
actually gives me more energy! ( probably because I'm not thinking how much my stomach is tore up).

I need to eat actual food every hour or two. Even with enough carbs, when these's no food in the belly,
I lose energy, and begin to bonk.

I never drink anything while riding that 7-11 does not sell, so water and Gatorade are mostly it for me.

My suspicion is that most "energy" drinks, and in fact a lot of sports nutrition products, are about 1% science, and 99% marketing.

I figure as long as you're getting calories and electrolytes the brand-name is probably of little consequence.

In my personal experience I've never really noticed a difference. I've used cytomax, gatorade, Hammer Heed, Carb Boom, and probably a couple others. Seems as long as I keep drinking *something* with some calories and the right kinds of minerals I do ok.

Heed might be the one you were thinking of. It's one of the many Hammer Nutrition products. I know a lot of people who swear by their stuff (they seem to be really popular amongst the ultra-endurance crowd), but I haven't tried much of their stuff 'cause it's all so damned expensive. They had hammer stuff at all the rest stops at Everest Challenge, and it all seemed to work ok.

On the occasions I've bonked it's been 'cause I haven't been eating/drinking *enough*.

I just go with whatever doesn't mess up my stomach, and will provide me with enough calories to keep pedaling. I doubt there's any one solution that works for everyone. For example, I can't stomach cytomax undiluted. In it's recommended mixture it's way too sweet for me and I have to water it down.

Hammer HEED is great as is just about all Hammer Nutrition products.

www.hammernutrition.com/ (http://www.hammernutrition.com/)

If you are interested in any of the Hammer Nutrition products, PM me and I will forward you a 15% off your first order coupon code.

I was first introduced to their products at some Planet Ultra events. They were in the goodie bags that were handed out.

I ordered some of their products after using the samples and have been happy with them. I like their E-Caps (Electrolyte Replenishment capsules) a lot. Seems to have helped cramping problems I was suffering while on long steep climbs.

I'm about to try Gu2O, but I think I'd rather keep water in the bottles and take something else for electrolytes.

Gatorade here, but I'm not picky about my calories. I can drink that stuff all day long on or off the bike, so it's what I'm used to.

V8? :eek: Nice suggestion - but only if I wanted to puke before, during and after the ride. Come to think of it, I may lose it right now just thinking about drinking that dreck. ewwww... not even if stranded on a desert island.

I'm about to try Gu2O, but I think I'd rather keep water in the bottles and take something else for electrolytes.

I went through a canister of Gu2O this past summer and liked it. I also really liked the Carb BOOM stuff too, which is good 'cause they were a sponsor last season, so it came cheap. Used both their Gel (bought the gel flask and several big bottles of gel. That's definitely the way to go, no matter what gel you're using. Less waste and *waaaay* easier to deal with on the bike.), and their drink mix. Liked the taste of both, and didn't have any stomach issues.

Unlike voltman, I don't particularly like Gu2O, but perfer cytomax. Gatorade seems to upset my stomach during a ride over about 50 miles, but will do in a pinch. On short rides H2O still is the best though - with a good recovery drink at the end.

Mandy

Almost forgot. As long as we're on the subject, has anyone tried Nuun?

Virtually no calories, so it's only really good for electrolyte replacement, but I was thinking it'd be good for use during the times when I'm riding twice a day in the heat of the summer and sweating a lot. I could toss a couple tablets of that into my Nalgene bottle at my desk...

Not sure if there's enough benefit there to justify the cost though.

Cytomax or Gatorade for me. All depends on whatever i happen to have handy around the house. :D I usually dilute a bit though. One bottle is all i really need to go along with whatever water i have in my camelbak.

gatorade is my daily standby, but for whatever reason i always use powerbar for big rides and races. it just goes down a little easier. i've also been known to drop a glass of endurox before a long ride.

Accelerade (sp?) for me only because It's hard to balance a Pint of Guiness whilst changing Gear etc....

I prefer getting my energy from gels and food, so only drink water -- with a few mineral drops ("Elete") for my electrolytes.

For shorter rides, I just like plain water. Afterwards, though, I like to have an orange juice or something similar. If I'm feeling like I need salts, I actually prefer to get a little baggie of potato chips. (Heresy, I know, but I like potato chips.) If my friends are drinking Coke, I'll have some Coke, too. I like that V-8 idea, though. I'm going to try that next time.

I don't like that many of the sports/energy drinks, even the ones made specially for cycling. They just feel "icky" in my body. There is one, though, that i got as a sample at a clinic once, called EnerVite, or something like that (an orange package), that didn't feel like I was injecting "speed." It felt pretty good in my body.

If I do a longer ride, though, like a century, it sounds like it would be prudent to supplement the plain water with some sort of energy drink on at least a few of the rest breaks. I think a long ride could really deplete your body of important minerals. But that's just theory and speculation right now, as I have yet to try a really long, hard ride.

VP

I started using gatorade, but found cytomax works well for me. Unfortunately I bought a huge thing of fruit punch flavor. It's pretty nasty, way too sweet. Anything less sickly sweet? I can force it down with no problem, but hoping there's a less sweet flavor out there.

I can also do gatorade from powder. The stuff you get in stores has high-fructose corn syrup which I try to avoid. The powder doesn't.

Chocolate Milk is supposed to be a great recovery drink.

Smart & Final, BIG container of Gatroade powder for $9. For 9 bux, I'll pretend it works as well as the other expensive stuff!:D..I carry a baggie full of powder and mix at water stops.

I user lemonlime. I actually like the grape, but it makes me pee blue!:eek:

Carry on, I'm just moving this from SoCal to Training & Nutrition.

--J, a Forum Mod

ronjon, I like the grape flavor cytomax. I got a ton of it during performance's $20 off $50, so I ended up getting a few jars at $15, which isn't too much more than Gatorade.

I've been on the Pink Lemondade Cytomax for some time now. I have a half empty canister of Accelerade, but I gave up on it after having recurring stomach problems from it.

Living in Texas I learned quite quickly that there's no such things being too prepared when it comes to fluids on the bike. I've been known to take my 70oz camelbak with pure water (always pure water in that so cleaning isn't such a pain) and 2x Polar bottles of Cytomax. For long rides I'll pack a plastic bag with enough cytomax powder for another bottle or two. However as someone above mentioned, I have had that bag break on me before. Most likely from it rubbing up against something sharp (like my car keys :rolleyes:)

On organized rides where there are rest stops every 10-15mi I will likely leave the camelbak at home and split the bottles 1 and 1 water/cytomax. On my first long organized ride (100k) in the early fall of 05, I ran out of pure water about half way between the last rest stop and the finish. I was struggling (I had a 32lb bike and was attempting a ride double of my previous longest ride) and it was getting hotter by the minute. Thats when I realized that there are times that the body refuses to accept sports drink when what it wants is pure water. For that reason I always make sure my pure water reserves are replenished throughout a ride.

Moved???

I like Gu20 mainly because it's a lot less sweet that other ones I've tried. I don't carry powder with me, though. After the bottle is empty I move on to whatever is at the cornerstore.

My suspicion is that most "energy" drinks, and in fact a lot of sports nutrition products, are about 1% science, and 99% marketing.

Ding ding, teh winnah!


The biggest variant is flavor. But basically you have your pure carb drinks, your carb + protein drinks, your gels, and food-like bars. Inside each of those categories, there's not a lot of variation in terms of actual nutritional content (well, *meaningful* nutritional content).

Hammer talks up their stuff like it's some gift from space aliens, but when you look at the actual ingredients and nutritional info, you see that it's not much different from other vendors' offerings. Possibly the one thing that sets them apart is their e-Caps mineral supplements, which can be useful on endurance rides. But, you can get those same minerals by eating bananas + Rolaids. The pills are just a little easier to take with you.

V8 -- what a great idea.
I drink a small bottle before I ride on hot days. Gatorade in one bottle, E-Lyte diluted 50% in the other.

forehead-doink . . . "I shoulda had a V8!" . . . that phrase jumped immediately to mind . . . talk about marketing!

I prefer just water on most rides.

V8? :eek: Nice suggestion - but only if I wanted to puke before, during and after the ride. Come to think of it, I may lose it right now just thinking about drinking that dreck. ewwww... not even if stranded on a desert island.

I'd say yours is a minority opinion. We stock cans of V8 in the SAG vehicle for difficult and hot rides like the Kiss of Death (http://www.udctours.com/biketours/california/highsierra/kissofdeathitinerary.html). With summer temperatures typically in the 90s, and routes climbing up to 10,000 feet, riders grab the V8 with gusto. Not much nutrition, but it's loaded with electrolytes.

I'd say yours is a minority opinion. We stock cans of V8 in the SAG vehicle for difficult and hot rides like the Kiss of Death (http://www.udctours.com/biketours/california/highsierra/kissofdeathitinerary.html). With summer temperatures typically in the 90s, and routes climbing up to 10,000 feet, riders grab the V8 with gusto. Not much nutrition, but it's loaded with electrolytes.

Yeah, I discovered the "magical powers" of V8 during the Death Ride last year. Indeed, very little nutrition, but excellent for electrolyte replacement. It's also a refreshing alternative to overly-sweet carb drinks.

Don't knock it till ya try it!

Hammer HEED is great as is just about all Hammer Nutrition products.

www.hammernutrition.com/ (http://www.hammernutrition.com/)

If you are interested in any of the Hammer Nutrition products, PM me and I will forward you a 15% off your first order coupon code.

I was first introduced to their products at some Planet Ultra events. They were in the goodie bags that were handed out.

I ordered some of their products after using the samples and have been happy with them. I like their E-Caps (Electrolyte Replenishment capsules) a lot. Seems to have helped cramping problems I was suffering while on long steep climbs.

Thanks, Adam, I will PM you . :)

2 parts fresh squeezed carrot juice, 1 part fresh squeezed oj, 1 part pomegranate. Diluted with water in hot months.

I've come to believe I digest the carbs from the carrot juice more slowly than fruit juice, for more sustained energy.

I originally used gatorade, along with a separate bottle of water. But I could never get me to drink much of the gatorade. I've since switched to accelerade (raspberry!), which is great - the mix of sugars is less sweet and I can keep drinking it. I can drink it for a century, but once I get beyond that I need something different. I'm not sure whether there's another drink that would work longer, or if I'm just hitting food fatigue.

Since I switched to accelerade/endurox, I have more energy and recover more quickly. I wish it was cheaper, but it's worth it to me.

I'd say yours is a minority opinion. We stock cans of V8 in the SAG vehicle for difficult and hot rides like the Kiss of Death (http://www.udctours.com/biketours/california/highsierra/kissofdeathitinerary.html). With summer temperatures typically in the 90s, and routes climbing up to 10,000 feet, riders grab the V8 with gusto. Not much nutrition, but it's loaded with electrolytes.
And tons of salt. Tastes great during or after a hot ride. I still prefer flat coke, though :D

Sure, would love to hear. But what I really want to know is if any of you have a secret mix that really works in terms of sustained energy and overall performance (whether real or perceived)The only secret to any fuel/fluid mix is in knowing your current caloric needs and the status of your hydration and mineral balance.

Any Richard Cranium knows the only thing that matters during endurance exercise is knowing how and when to replace what you use -- before you run low..........