Fifty Plus (50+) - Fluids during a ride

Usually I just drink water or diluted Powerade. Recently, someone suggested Accelerade. My normal ride is about 20-25 miles on relatively flat roads. I tried Accelerade & thought I was going to hurl. That stuff is nasty. So i'm back to H2O. Anyone use anything else? Any suggestions?

Plenty of suggestions:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=318869
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=215003

I generally just drink ice water. Gatorade occasionally. Gu gels, when I need extra energy, washed down with water are my favorite.

Anything under 40 miles = plain old cold water.

Anything under 40 miles = plain old cold water.

Same here except I put just a dash of Cordial in to disguise the taste of a hot plastic bottle.

The answer for you also depends on the weather and how much you sweat. Hot weather and especially if you sweat a lot probably dictates electrolyte replenishment.

Hot weather- and more than 20 and I get it- Cappuchino and a slice of Gateaux.

Anything over 40 and it will probably be a non stop ride so I take the camelback filled with an Energy supplement and a bottle of water. Snacks will be none up to about 50 miles but after that it is cereal bars or, cake or Gu gels- or all of them. Even in winter it is still drink and drink afgain on a ride and that is why I find the camelback so good.

Anything under 25-30 miles is just cold water for me. Over than, some diluted gatorade. Tried the camelback, but found it to be uncomfortable. Now I just use it for a backpack when a ride starts out cold. Peel off jacket and/or long pants and stuff them in the camelback once it gets warm.

Usually I just drink water or diluted Powerade. Recently, someone suggested Accelerade. My normal ride is about 20-25 miles on relatively flat roads. I tried Accelerade & thought I was going to hurl. That stuff is nasty. So i'm back to H2O. Anyone use anything else? Any suggestions?

I had the same results with Accelerade. I do 1 water bottle with straight H2O, and the other with HEED (powder mix).

... Brad

I like this stuff, on any length ride where I sweat. I can really feet the difference between this and water. Don't like the gatorade too much because of the sugar/calories. I'd rather eat fruit or grains than sugar.

http://www.nuun.com/

I agree Accelerade is nasty. There are just so many products out there to choose from. One should work for you. A friend of mine loves "Motor Tabs" a tablet you drop into a water bottle and make an adult "frizzy". I'll do Gatorade (Rain or Endurance) but my favorite is Elete - which is a clear liquid, flavorless drop you put straight into water. Adds electrolytes and other things but no carbs or nasty taste. Carbs I can get from GU.

Under 20, I use water. Over 20 I use one bottle of 1/2 Rain (Lime is my fave) 1/2 water plus 1 plain water.

Crystal Lite makes a hydration product in two flavors - lemon and a sort of raspberry maybe? I've been using them, they are flavored and have what appears to be a good electrolyte mix. I typically ride 20-40 miles taking 3 water bottles in temps that run 80-90 degrees (although with very low humidity).

Anything under 40 miles = plain old cold water.

agree + +

except in summer in these parts, if you wait an hour to drink, it will no longer be cold. even if half or all frozen at the start of the ride, it will not be cold after an hour.

GU20 !!! I can drink it full strength - easier in the stomach than Gatoraid. Nice flavors. I like Lemon-Lime.

Works well with GU brand gel...

Lately, I've been debating between filling my water bottles with Cabernet Franc or Merlot. On truly hot days, I prefer Pinot Grigio or a nice white Burgundy, both of which go well with GU gels and wild-caught salmon grilled with capers and lemon butter.

gu2o - One bottle full strength, one bottle straight water.

Use water.

I would never drink anything during a 20 mile ride, unless really warm.

40 miles or more, yes.

On a really tough ride I'll mix this with just a splash of branch water...;)

Eventually you will bonk with varying degrees of severity. That's the wake up call to concentrate on hydration and nutrition and electrolyte replacement. You will experience things like cramps; hunger pangs, dried salt sweat on your skin, nausea, legs that refuse to spin.

Being in SW Fl, it is always warm. This time of year it's 80+ @ 7AM. The good news is it's relatively flat, so I try to average 18mph for the 20 mile loop. I usually ride w/ 2 bottles & kill one easily. Plain water is usually fine, but there are times I'll bonk. I guess I'll give some other things a try.

Today we took a bottle of water and another bottle containing Capri Sun Sport (contains electrolytes) mixed with water and ice. My legs felt like lead right from the start and I almost gave up. Even the lowest gear while warming up seemed like the middle -- something I haven't noticed before. After 30 minutes we stopped and I drank some of the Sport drink and ate 1/2 a Kashi bar. I noticed a big difference after just a few minutes. We ended up riding 20+ miles and I believe the sport drink helped. But the heat just sucks the life out of me. I'm not a morning person anyway.... I need about 30 minutes just to get my brain in gear, not to mention my legs. :(

On a previous ride I mixed O.J. with water and added some honey, adapted from a similar recipe posted in this forum by bcoppola. Very tasty and next time I'll add a pinch of salt.

I'm prone to hypoglycemia after eating high glycemic carbs and high fructose corn syrup, so I need to be careful of that too. Last time I drank a soda it left me feeling ike the energy was sucked out of me. That was about 2 months ago and it was the first soda (Pepsi) I'd had in months. I must have felt like that all the time before I changed my eating habits. :eek:

gu2o - One bottle full strength, one bottle straight water.


Maybe I got a bad batch but, I bought a large container of it about 4 mo. ago and it is the nastiest stuff I've ever tasted. I went to Gatorade which seems to be OK for me.

Lately, I've been debating between filling my water bottles with Cabernet Franc or Merlot. On truly hot days, I prefer Pinot Grigio or a nice white Burgundy, both of which go well with GU gels and wild-caught salmon grilled with capers and lemon butter.

I send the Catering staff ahead to arrange for snacks on the long rides- but by the time I meet up with them They have eaten the food and Drunk the wine and they don't seem to worry- All they leave is the Rice pudding and the Chocolate.

Gatorade and water.

As a 50s plus Clydesdale, I have a real problem with cramping, particularly post ride. Water alone doesn't do enough for me.

I dilute Gatorade 1:1 with water and that works pretty well. Straight Gatorade is too sweet and causes heartburn. I've also used Elete drops in Crystal Lite lemonade for a different taste. I do lots of fluids, even with short rides (20 miles). It seems to help to push fluids before the ride, and I always keep an extra bottle in the car for the ride home.

Keep on truckin'

Hi

I add a powder called E-Load (mfd by Medion, Toronto) to Brita-filtered water.

I use one 22 oz bottle per hour of hard riding. When the ride goes beyond an hour, I use Hammer Gel at the rate of one pouch per 1.5 hours of riding.

Ted