Kit Smith

I drink fresh fruits juices before starting the riding, and after riding I drink protein shake, and milk shakes.
These drinks work well for the energy boosting, fitness improving, and muscles gaining in a natural way.

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Cyclelogikal

I drink CytoMax prior and during my ride. I need to find a good after ride drink to cure that insaciable thirst!

Myosmith

I'm with Machka on this one. Too many people fall for the hype of the "sports nutrition" industry that tells you to drink special concoctions and eat gels, pastes and bars instead of real whole foods. The "sports nutrition" companies brag about all the money they put into research when, in reality, the bulk of their expenditures are in marketing. Though I sometimes use dilute PowerAde in my bottle, I do just as well with a 50:50 mix of orange juice and green tea, or weak lemonade or limeade. On longer rides, my on-bike food is usually granola bars or trail mix that include nuts and dried fruit.

Post ride I like a light meal that includes some lean protein or a smoothie or shake made with milk or yogurt.

badbikemechanic

I have a very nasty habit of drinking a couple of beers after hard training rides. I find that it makes one great recovery drink, but I haven't been able to drop to my desired weight. The reason for that is probably obvious.

ruirui

i use to do that too.. until i found out i'm high risk of getting gout and high uric acid from my dad's genetic side. since then.. i've dropped beer and just red wine occasionally now. it's amazing how much weight i can shave off my belly.

Gramercy

How is the CytoMax? I see they always have deals on Nashbar's site, is it pretty much powdered gatorade? Are there any benefits of this over gatorade?

Carbonfiberboy 

IMO it's better than Gatorade, though to each his own. The downside of almost all sports drinks is that they encourage tooth decay unless you follow each drink of sports drink with a drink of plain water. Ask me how I know. HEED is the only one AFAIK that doesn't, because it contains a lot of xylitol, a tooth decay preventative.

flashpoint145

Muscle milk is full of chemicals too. Get a nice whey protein powder as a minimum and mix it up with milk, water, whatever. BCAA's, glutamine, casein are also things you should look in to.

Gramercy

Are you talking about a post-ride drink mixing whey protein powder in your water bottle for when you ride? I'd imagine that stuff would separate if you were riding.

Cyclelogikal

I like the taste better than Gatorade and it seems like the CytoMax replenishes my energy quicker than Gatorade alone. Plus Gatorade always made me thirstier the more I drank.

So for $22 for a 4.5 lb. tub I will say it was a great find that works.

smahler

I take water in one bottle and Gatorade in the other. Post ride? Organic chocolate milk from our CSA. The very thought of it helps me the last few miles of my ride.

Alloyrider

I just drink water when riding, 2 bottles on longer rides or hot days.

when i get home i normally make a smoothie that includes 3-4 banannas, strawberries blue berries and other misc fruit i can find.

I see that a lot of people drink milk after a ride, but I switched to almond milk so would chocolate/vanilla almond milk be as good as regular milk?

gregf83 

Any combination of carbs/protein in a roughly 4/1 proportion will work. It doesn't have to be chocolate milk. Some cereal and leftover chicken would work just as well.

And if you didn't ride for more than 3 hrs and aren't planning another long training session the next day you don't really 'need' a recovery drink/food. It's only if you are concerned about optimizing how quickly you replenish your glycogen that you need to think about anything other than eating a normal balanced diet.

chiefDave

1st endurance EFS on bike and ultragen capuchino recovery in water post ride. After much trial and error over the past few years, EFS has been the only on bike drink that kept me from cramping in the Texas heat on rides longer then 2 hours. This holds true for race as well.

My on bike nutrition has evolved to shot blocks as they are small and easy enough to eat quickly. Several flavored are great for me and they are easy on my tummy and keep me gong. On the mountain side, on long rides, I prefer honey waffles (the ones w/ LA on them) every hour after 3. Taste great and loads of energy but I can not eat them without washing them down immediately so they are a rest break food only.

IMHO lots of products out there just need trial and error to see what works for you. Good luck!

MileHighMark

Break rule #32:

https://www.gravelbike.com/?p=2289

RiPHRaPH

Muscle Milk is a game changer. After hard group rides I have a scoop in organic milk. Recovery is unreal when compared to other foods. It also allows me to not eat and give back the calorie loss so quickly.
The article posted by the OP has high levels of heavy metals when used as a supplement 3 times daily. I use it 2 or 3 times weekly before my glycemic window closes.

Use an Accelerade and a water on the bike.

jimxyz

Rides over 90 mins, or harder rides/hotter days - drink Skratch Labs, not overly sweet and really seems to hydrate well. Recovery - I still like Muscle Milk, though the above mentioned reports have made me shy away from it lately. I have tried many others (too much free time with Amazon and a credit card) with the latest being Osomo Acute Recovery. It seems to work after long rides, but who knows. Has anyone else tried it - have anything good or bad to say about it? I'm hoping it isn't full of lead/arsenic/cadmium as well.

dchristianl

Water and gatorade during - Muscle Milk post ride. I have been taking SportMax Energy shot before and working great - loaded with good stuff. Those 3 are a nice combo for pre/during/post.

OldTryGuy

Tried Hammer, Cytomax and today gave E-Fuel from Crank Sports a shot. Tasted great and worked great. Going to be my choice for Ironman Florida in November.

Divtos

Long bike rides are catabolic. I love riding but I also wanna keep my muscles. I work out with weights 1-2 times a week and drink organic whey protein with some added BCAAs daily. I like https://www.jarrow.com/product/566/Wh...avored_Organic and Now's BCAAs. BCAAs which are also right in the Whey protein have lots of nice body composition effects. Look it up.

psee

Two bottles, 500 & 700ml with water, where i put a High5 Zero Electrolyte tablet and a couple scoops of Dextropur which is just Dextrose in the 500ml bottle. The 700ml usually just contains clean water. Back home i drink a protein/carb shake.

Gramercy

I bought a couple sample packets of Skratch Labs and put it in my water bottle this week. It certainly helped more than water and seemed to keep my energy level up, but the powder didn't seem to mix perfectly, and before taking sips I would shake the bottle. It seems easier just to buy Gatorade bottles.

WonderMonkey

For immediate post-ride recovery you want easily digestible protein that goes to work right away. Protein you get from your meals such as chicken are not digested that fast. It's still awesome, just not "quick".

deltarocket

I read thru this thread and I see that there is a bit of confusion, for obvious reasons. The original post asked about what people drink following a ride, but in his particular case he drank Muscle Milk, which is really more about post ride nutrition vs hydration. I think that the coworker was trying to be helpful with respect to muscle repair and muscle building when they suggested Muscle Milk. Depending on the version (regular or lite) it can have as many as 20gms of protein. It is actually a good source of protein following a ride, maybe not the best, but it tastes great and is not particularly high in calories. For hydration there are a lot of options, water is likely one of the best, but I have been using OSMO during rides and use their acute recovery following a ride. I think even a couple of beers, full of B vitamins is a good choice, but there are lots of good choices out there. My 2 cents

rwwff

I'm not a diet religionist, but your body can get plenty of energy from fats, carbs, or even protein (protein being the most troublesome and has limits if I recall). In the end, calories really are just calories. I'd do a more low carb diet if I could stand the cravings, but I'm so tuned to sugars that its just not going to happen; eventually I'll need metformin to handle my diet...

nb, do protein shakes exist that don't have carbs in them? I don't know of any.

To the OP... If I want liquid recovery assist: Ensure. (whatever the current 350kcal version is at the moment)