Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - How do you carry your drink powder mix?

So... I usually bring a scoop of Perpetuem for every 15 miles i plan on riding. I've never gone through it all before, but it's nice to know it's there.

I started out with a big ziploc bag, but last week that bag broke, my powdery stuff was all over the inside of my bag, and i had to scrape from the bottom of my bag to make a bottle. Boo.

i could bring it in a small canister,but that wouldn't collapse as i empty it, which is sort of a pain.

So, all you experienced randonneurs (Machka!), how do you carry your beverage?

I put a waterbottle's worth of perpetuem / sustained energy in a sandwich sized ziploc bags. For long rides I carry numerous bags. If one breaks, I am only down one bag.

yeah. i had to stop carrying bags of powder. messy. my solution was to mix a littel gel, a lot of perpetuem and a little heed (for taste) in a concentrate water bottle. roughly, 1000-1200 calories per bottle which lasted between four and five hours. endurolytes in a bottle in the jersey pocket. 3-5 pills an hour depending on the heat.

during a supported dbl century i have two bottles of food in the cages and two bottles of water in the seatpost cage. i just refill water as needed during the stops. i haven't ridden a solo double so i'd have to plan where to get water.

For carrying powder, I use film cannisters. They're light, fairly unobtrusive, and seal very tight.

I've also gone the route of mixing it into a dense slurry and carrying it in a gel flask. It's fairly easy to mix it up with water when it's time to refill.

You can get 2x3 and 3x5 sized ziploc type baggies from craft stores. A 3x5 hold three scoops of Perpetuem or Spiz. Just right for one bottle for me. The baggies are reusable.

New Ziploc bags, one for each bottle of gump. I make up 750 cal. bottles, or 3 hours/bottle. Plain water in another bottle. Don't reuse the bags.

I use the snack size baggies. They hold 2 scoops of Accelerade, which is 1 large bottle. I found it easier to fill the bottles out of the baggies by just tearing a corner off with my teeth and pouring out of the corner, it makes a handy little funnel. Then I just toss them in the trash at the rest stops. If there is no trash I put them in my jersey pocket.

Ziplock baggies. I use a marker to mark how much 1 serving should be. I pour to the mark, getting it 'close enough'.

I like the idea of the concentrated bottle though. Might have to try that this summer.

The times I have done this, I put one Camelbak's worth of powder in a ziploc sandwich bag. Then I put all the individual bags into a quart size bag. Reduces the chance of a big mess.

oh, duh. and here i was looking for some great-collapsable-tub solution.

Ziplock baggies, but spring the extra $$ for the "freezer" bags -- they are much stronger than the "sandwich" bags. I've used them for tools, too (the bigger sizes), and have never had one break.

Please forgive me for getting somewhat off on a tangent here but I cant help but notice that the only powdered drink that is mentioned is Perpetuem. Is this the powder of choice for long distance cycling or do some of you use others such as Accelerade etc.
For what it is worth I totally agree with Maxine regarding using the stronger "freezer ziplocks".

Please forgive me for getting somewhat off on a tangent here but I cant help but notice that the only powdered drink that is mentioned is Perpetuem. Is this the powder of choice for long distance cycling or do some of you use others such as Accelerade etc.
For what it is worth I totally agree with Maxine regarding using the stronger "freezer ziplocks".Machka uses Heed. I used to use Sustained Energy with a little Hammer Gel in it. Now I mix my own out of maltodextrin and flavored soy protein. A lot of people use Accelerade. The most common thing I see out here is people buying Gatorade in bottles for fluid and eating their calories, stuff purchased in mini-marts along with the Gatorade.

I use ACT Energy drink. It comes in packs. It's convenient & excellent boost. If you haven't tried it you can get it online manufacturer direct:
www.drinkact.com/olivegreen

I carry my powders in a Hammergel flask (or two).

One flask is big enough to give me 2-3 bottles' worth, and it doesn't have all the inconvenience of a plastic baggie. Until I stumbled on the Hammergel flask idea, I used ziplock baggies etc., and had a terrible time with them. My handlebar bag was constantly sticky inside, and smelled terrible from all the spilled powder from when the baggies broke, or leaked, or whatever. And don't ever get a ziplock baggie full of powder wet (don't get caught in a rain storm). Take it from me, the result is disasterous!!

I've got three flasks in my handlebar bag ... one has hammergel, one has one of my home-made drink mixes, the other has HEED. When I finish the home-made drink mix, I'll probably fill that one with HEED too.

(I tried Accelerade and ... let's just say it doesn't sit well with me. I tried Cytomax, which isn't terrible, but I get tired of it very quickly. I tried Gatorade/Powerade, etc., and they give me fuzzy teeth and mouth sores. HEED works!)


BTW - I use film cannisters for my spare bulbs.

Please forgive me for getting somewhat off on a tangent here but I cant help but notice that the only powdered drink that is mentioned is Perpetuem. Is this the powder of choice for long distance cycling or do some of you use others such as Accelerade etc.
For what it is worth I totally agree with Maxine regarding using the stronger "freezer ziplocks".

I use accelerade, which works well for me for up to around 4 hours. Going longer, I need to mix in other food.

For doubles, I've been considering trying something else.

Oh, and if you get accelerade, the best-rated flavors are blueberry and fruit punch.

I'm not overly attached to any particular energy drink.

I like Gatorade Endurance in lemon-lime - tough to find the powder, but it's decent. Probably my favorite, overall.

HEED is okay, though it doesn't sit as well with me after repeat servings. Accelerade is fine, too - love the blueberry. I've sometimes added a little powdered lemon juice to it for some flavor variety.

Perpeteum is okay, but I really dislike the taste. Sure, it works, but... ugh, the taste is not my thing.

I also use a lot of gels. My fave is Honey Stinger Ginsting, and I also like some of the caffeinated PowerShot stuff. Razzberry Clif Shots are also yummy.

Speaking of Clif: thumbs-up to the Shot Blox.

I did a century yesterday and used the small ziplock bags. I measure one bottles worth per ziplock bag and then put them all in a more heavy duty freezer ziplock bag in case any opened up during the ride. Worked great.

Please forgive me for getting somewhat off on a tangent here but I cant help but notice that the only powdered drink that is mentioned is Perpetuem. Is this the powder of choice for long distance cycling or do some of you use others such as Accelerade etc.
For what it is worth I totally agree with Maxine regarding using the stronger "freezer ziplocks".

Well, I did mention Spiz. ;) For liquid nutrition (literally) I have used Perpetuem, Sustained Energy and Spiz. For flavoring my water and getting me a few calories I have Gatorade, HEED, PowerBar's Endurance and Crystal Lite (no calories here). Stuff like Accelerage and Cytomax are too sweet for me.

Lately I have been using Spiz in one bottle for my main source of calories, with Gatorade and/or Crystal Lite in my other bottle or hydration pack for water.

The suggestion about combining small ziploc bags into a quart sized bag helps a lot to keep things organized, and to protect them from the elements. I have never had a problem with mess.

My mainstay on brevets and other self supported rides is Starbucks Frappachinos. The milk product eases my stomach, I get a good amount of calories, and it tastes good. I look to drink one at every control on a brevet. Do they have Starbucks on the PBP route? :D :eek:

Do they have Starbucks on the PBP route? :D :eek:

That brings up a point I think is quite important to make. In the US you can find powdered this and that (and Starbucks) all over the place. You can drop into just about any bicycle shop anywhere and get whatever you want. But in other countries it isn't so easy. Here in Canada some products are considered illegal, and in other countries it seems that cyclists would rather use real food than artificial products, and so they aren't readily available.

On the PBP, I recall one control that had something powdered for sale, and whatever it was was HORRIBLE. Bleck!! <<shudder>>

A much better option at the controls was the real food ... that was great!! They had a wide variety of foods, and perfect choices for long distance cyclists. As for beverages, my beverage of choice on the PBP was Orangeade. They handed cans of it and coke out everywhere.

My plan for this year is to bring a few small packets of HEED with me ... and then to live off of Orangeade and real food. :D

That brings up a point I think is quite important to make. In the US you can find powdered this and that (and Starbucks) all over the place. You can drop into just about any bicycle shop anywhere and get whatever you want. actually, that isn't very true, either. I remember, last year, travelling by train to a 400k in the Berkshires, I realized that I had forgotten some of my energy food at home (Clif Bars and Clif Shot gels ... hadn't started using Hammer products then) and thought, "oh, well, I can just restock at the bike shop that's hosting the event."

No such luck. The shop had nothing in the way food stocked. I had to make do with scavenging Fig Newtons and bananas from a nearby convenience store. Was finally able to pick up a six pack of Gu at a another shop at the turn around control, but even that six pack wouldn't give enough calories to finish the remaining 200k, and I had to supplement it with chili, fruit and more Fig Newtons.

In my experience, with riding around New England, maybe 50-60% of the shops that you'll see on a route will have some kind of cyclists food. It will usually be a Clif Bar, Clif Shot or Gu. 25% might have Accelerade. 10-15% might have Hammer products, and only Hammer Gel at that.

If you're going to plan on going with a powdered liquid diet, you must also plan on supplying and transporting all of that powder on your own. Even in the States, unless you know the course and the shops along the route, you cannot rely on them stocking anything exotic.

i stored my perpetuem in a 20 oz. screwtop garotade bottle (emptied and cleaned, of course) ans stored it in the unreachable (while riding) front bottle cage of my recumbent. This gave me 9-10 260cal servings. i marked the bottle with 3 lines at even points so that i could guestimate how much i was using. It rained a lot on this ride and my mix stayed dry. It was easy to transfer to my waterbottles by tapping the contents out. Having it outside of my bag made it much easier to get at and i could mix up a bottle in 30 seconds, no searching involved. This simplicity will have me doing it again on the Boston 400. One could use a bigger bottle if needed.

i stored my perpetuem in a 20 oz. screwtop garotade bottle (emptied and cleaned, of course) ans stored it in the unreachable (while riding) front bottle cage of my recumbent. This gave me 9-10 260cal servings. i marked the bottle with 3 lines at even points so that i could guestimate how much i was using. It rained a lot on this ride and my mix stayed dry. It was easy to transfer to my waterbottles by tapping the contents out. Having it outside of my bag made it much easier to get at and i could mix up a bottle in 30 seconds, no searching involved. This simplicity will have me doing it again on the Boston 400. One could use a bigger bottle if needed.

You've mentioned several of the reasons why I use hammergel flasks for my powders rather than baggies.

-- the hammergel flasks have marks on them so that I can easily measure out the amount of powder I want.

-- the hammergel flasks have smaller mouths than my bottles so it is very easy to tap the contents out into my waterbottle without getting it all over the place

-- my hammergel flasks sit neatly along the left side of my handlebar bag - very quick and easy to find, access, and put away. I, too, could mix up a bottle in 30 seconds or less.

-- and the contents in my hammergel flasks remain dry even through torrential downpours that soak me and all the rest of the contents of my bags.


Before I discovered the hammergel flasks, I used a small waterbottle, and that was all right too, but a bit more difficult for me to carry as I don't have that extra cage.

oh, duh. and here i was looking for some great-collapsable-tub solution.

I don't see why one would need something to collapse. Once it fits into your gear bag, you're good to go. it is only "air" as it empties. Hard, light containers are easiest. The suggestion about film canisters is good but those will be hard to get in the future. Charlie

That brings up a point I think is quite important to make. In the US you can find powdered this and that (and Starbucks) all over the place. You can drop into just about any bicycle shop anywhere and get whatever you want. But in other countries it isn't so easy. Here in Canada some products are considered illegal, and in other countries it seems that cyclists would rather use real food than artificial products, and so they aren't readily available.

On the PBP, I recall one control that had something powdered for sale, and whatever it was was HORRIBLE. Bleck!! <<shudder>>

A much better option at the controls was the real food ... that was great!! They had a wide variety of foods, and perfect choices for long distance cyclists. As for beverages, my beverage of choice on the PBP was Orangeade. They handed cans of it and coke out everywhere.

My plan for this year is to bring a few small packets of HEED with me ... and then to live off of Orangeade and real food. :D

One of the first things I learned in French (yes, I am learning a bit of the language before I go!) was how to say "chocolate milk". :) That will substitute for Starbucks nicely.

The more I think about it the less likely I am to bring any kind of powder, except maybe Gatorade, and that is simply to flavor the water. Spiz can get yucky when warm, and HEED is no good for me when my stomach is bad or borderline bad.

It is unavoidable that I will be experimenting, but not with any powdered drink mixes. A few years ago on the Death Valley Double I saw people trying Sustained Energy for the first time - right in the middle of the ride. That doesn't make sense, but the look on their face was priceless.

On my last brevet, I had Accelerade in store brand zipper bags - MISTAKE! The bags did not remain closed and I had powder over every thing. I like the idea of pre-measuring into snack bags - I will store them in a Ziplock freezer bag: more expensive than store brand but I have used them without problem.

Last year, my first, I used Gatorade which was tolerable; then I switched to Accelerade, which I find sits well and, once I became used to it, is no more tiresome at the end of a brevet than it was at the beginning. I switch between orange and lemon-lime. I tried the blue berry and the fruit punch: tolerable, but low on my list. Best to try several flavors until you find what works best for you.

I don't see why one would need something to collapse. Once it fits into your gear bag, you're good to go. it is only "air" as it empties. Hard, light containers are easiest. The suggestion about film canisters is good but those will be hard to get in the future. Charlie


I've always been leary of putting anything that I ingest into film canisters, regardless of how many times they may have washed them. Lots of nasty stuff in the photoprocessing business and I wouldn't want to trust my body to an engineering / processing decision at Kodak or Fuji.

I have (re)used empty plasitic spice jars from the kitchen. They hold about 2.x scoops of HEED. Like others before me have noted: plastic bags break, plastic screw lids easy to handle and pour into the water bottle during the ride and the contents don't get wet in the rain. I usually start with two bottles mixed up and carry two "spice jars" of HEED to mix with water along the way. 4 bottles = 4 hours for me.
PS: I (re)used cinnamon spice jars - mebbe other spices have undesireable flavors that linger. Hmmm

I have (re)used empty plasitic spice jars from the kitchen. They hold about 2.x scoops of HEED. Like others before me have noted: plastic bags break, plastic screw lids easy to handle and pour into the water bottle during the ride and the contents don't get wet in the rain. I usually start with two bottles mixed up and carry two "spice jars" of HEED to mix with water along the way. 4 bottles = 4 hours for me.
PS: I (re)used cinnamon spice jars - mebbe other spices have undesireable flavors that linger. Hmmm
<HomerSimpson> mmm... Paprika Flavored Sustained Energy ... </HomerSimpson>

<HomerSimpson> mmm... Paprika Flavored Sustained Energy ... </HomerSimpson>

Tho funny, you make a good point. Why do sports drinks and foods always try to pretend they are soft drinks, candy or cookies? The sweetness gets hard to take, for me, at least. Something with paprika, or chile, or zatar flavor would be a welcome relief on a long ride.

Urine specimen jars.

Seriously, I use them for all kinds of storage solutions (no pun intended).

I use small hard plastic (PETE) 100-count snap-cap aspirin bottles for gatorade powder. Two of these fit into a 4" x 6" ziploc sample bag.

I keep a couple of packets of GU2O in my camelbak, in the chamber the bladder goes in.

I've got a selection of "spice" bottles, as well as smaller "nut" jars. The spice bottles are like the "bacon bits" bottles and fit in jerseys. The nut jars are no bigger than water bottles, but I'd put them in a pack.

I've also used these little pill bottles that have big mouths. They are perfect for 3 scoops, so I use them on shorter rides when I won't need to much..........

I haven't had the pleasure of hitting a longer ride but in the baby section at Walmart there are formula containers that have 3 sections with a lid the turns. This would seem like a possible fix for a container.

For centuries I load up with 12 scoops of Perpetuem; 4 scoops in my start bottle and 2 ziplock bags with 4 scoops in each. Each 4 scoops lasts me 2 hrs so I have 6 hrs of fuel. I also carry Endurolyte tabs and also 5 servings of Heed concentrated in a flask for an extra 500 calories if I need 'em. I just used this recipe for two centuries over the last two weekends (Breathless Agony & TUC) with great results.

I used to use Accelerade however the sweetness factor was getting to me on rides over 3 hrs. Switched to Perpetuem and what a difference! I could go forever on this stuff.

Been using regular ziplocks too, although I have them in my jersey pocket not the bike bag; been doing this for several years without any breakage.

Plastic baby bottle liners, secured with a rubber band.

They're cheap, just the right size, and have no "lip" that'll make a mess when you pour the powder into the bottle.

A RAAM racer clued me in on this . . .

Speaking of Clif: thumbs-up to the Shot Blox.

I just tried the Cliff Shot electrolyte drink powder for the first time yesterday. On a five hour ride, for whatever that's worth, it went down easy, no g.i. unpleasantries, and I felt quite good.

Now you guys have me using gel flasks for carrying powder. It works well. This past weekend I did a double century and carried a flask of Gatorade powder. Five servings, which was just right, easily measured out.

:)

I mix SE and Perpetuem in a mixing bowl with a little water. I use about 1 scoop of each/hour with supplemental food. I can fit about 12 scoops into a 20 oz store bought disposable water container which I store in my back pocket. You can put a sippey cap on the top and drink it like a gel, or you can squirt it into your waterbottles when you refill. Making a gel allows you to carry lots of fuel without the mess and mixing is a breeze, no baggies or powder to deal with. Extra bottle can go in your seat bag in a ziplock for protection against leakage.

Powdered energy? Life is too short to drink that ****.

HTH! :D

Now you guys have me using gel flasks for carrying powder. It works well. This past weekend I did a double century and carried a flask of Gatorade powder. Five servings, which was just right, easily measured out.

:)


It works VERY well. :) I've been carrying my powder that way since 2004.

Those Hammergel flasks even have markings on the side of the flask so you can measure relatively accurately.

Perpeteum and HEED (and Recoverite too) come in individual single-serving packages! They're compressible and fit into the odd corners of the seat pack. They're indestructible, no powder messes ever! Pouring into bottles is a learned talent, but hey it just ain't that hard.

I can only guess that y'all are being more economical than me, but nothing succeeds like the perfect package

Another source for containers for drink powder containers - The Container Store has a bunch of 4 oz., 6 oz. and 8 oz. screw-cap (hard) plastic containers to choose from - all about $1.19 each. I have three or four of the little ones (4 oz.) in one of my back jersey pockets, filled with enough powder for a four- to six-hour ride. I used to use the Zip-Loc bag route, but found these little jars easier to deal with.

Also, FWIW (which is not necessarily much, since drink preferences are so personal - what one person likes the taste of, or finds agrees with his/her system, isn't necessarily going to work for others), I really like Enervit G-Sport, after trying a bunch of other drinks. Not too sweet, and seems to digest well - no stomach problems.

Perpeteum and HEED (and Recoverite too) come in individual single-serving packages! They're compressible and fit into the odd corners of the seat pack. They're indestructible, no powder messes ever! Pouring into bottles is a learned talent, but hey it just ain't that hard.

I can only guess that y'all are being more economical than me, but nothing succeeds like the perfect package

Well, I am hoping to take single serving packages of HEED to France with me. Easier to get through customs with something like that rather than an unmarked baggie of white powder, and easier to carry than trying to bring a big container of HEED.

nalgene makes a huge array of storage bottles, though as you said they do not collapse.
platypus makes severa different size bottles made for carrying liquid. very hard to rip or destroy as they r meant to be stuffed into a backpack check them both out. i personally use the nalgene simply because they're indestructable and easy to spoon out of.

what i drink depends on the weather. if it's not going to be really hot, i will mix 7 scoops of perpetuem and water (enough for 3 hours for me) in one (24oz.) bottle and have another (24oz.) bottle with 7 scoops of perpetuem (sans water) that i can add water to when i stop. the other 2 bottles i carry are filled with water, for standard hydration, and are filled as needed...

if it's going to be really hot, i will use Sustained Energy mixed with either cinnamon apple gel or chocolate banana gel (for taste) instead, because Perpetuem tastes horrible when it gets hot...

if i need the third bottle, i will carry my powder with me in 2 hammer flasks, because even though i've never had a bad experience with a plastic bag i figure why start now. also, if i do get stopped for any reason, i don't want it to look like i have a kilo of cocaine in my jersey pocket... :D