Originally Posted by
stapfam
If you ride firmly on the bike and you are new to cycling- You will know when you are thirsty. By that time it is too late as you will be de-hydrated.
I take several new riders out and I always have to tell them to drink. I make a point of stopping about 10 minutes into a ride and making them drink. As they gain more experience- they start sipping as they go. Not much at a time but frequently. I have a rule of 1 bottle per hour when riding but hot weather or high exertion and that will be at least 1 Litre per hour.
You can get additives that are protein based or Carb based and probably lots of others but the one to get is one that is Isotonic. It has essential salts in it that aid thirst quenching and the salts "Supposedly" stop cramps. They come in all flavours so find one that you like.
I sweat a lot so the "tablets in a tube" (Endurolytes) work for me. I go by the following rules:
- Any ride under an hour where I'm not going to be sweating buckets, I'll use water otherwise it's an electrolyte replacement.
- Any ride over an hour, I'll use an electrolyte replacement. Gatorade and Powerade have more sugar in them than I like so I'll use Endurolytes. They are kind of expensive but they've solved my cramping issues.
- I always drink before I get thirsty ( repeat it to yourself like a mantra)
- I always make sure I eat something every hour. Or I'll bonk for sure.
Some people make their own. I've used slightly dilute orange juice with a pinch of salt with some success as well but I've found that things like Endurolytes work a lot better.
A couple of homebrew suggestions:
http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/art...k-drink-14197/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/heal...ss/4289704.stm