when I was touring long distances I ate food and drank water. Then I started racing and I ate food/candy bars and drank water. Then Power Bars came on the scene and I ate food/power bars and drank water. Now I buy vitamin water because it fits in the bottle cage, eat food and drink water. If the concern is money or convenience popping a couple tabs while eating/hydrating seems a lot cheaper and less messy than powder or bottles given the fairly large caloric requirments of daily riding and the inadequacy of dilute sugar drinks to meet that caloric need.