chimblysweep

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?

tibikefor2

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.

bigskymacadam

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.

songfta

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.

ronsmithjunior

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.

Carbonfiberboy 

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.

DanteB

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.

bmike

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.

supcom

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.

chimblysweep

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

maxine

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.

BikerJoeP

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".

Carbonfiberboy 

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.

stormchaser

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

Machka 

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.

ericgu

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.

songfta

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.

richardh

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.

ronsmithjunior

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?

Machka 

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.

spokenword

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.

ldesfor1@ithaca

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.

Machka 

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.

balto charlie

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

ronsmithjunior

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.