Originally Posted by deliriou5
True, water doesn't provide everything you need, but save for being in a race or doing a really long ride (40+ miles), you can replace your electrolytes when you get home by just eating a nice salty meal, and having some bananas.
I'm against using gatorate and energy bars in training, because they in a sense "spoil" your body by supplying it with quick easy fuel, which put less demand on your body to efficiently store and use glycogen.
Feeding your body every time it gets hungry doesn't give your body a chance to become more efficient at storing blood sugar as glycogen... just like riding easy all the time doesn't give your muscles a chance to become more efficient at generating power at the cranks....
Water only is OK for short rides, slow rides, and rides on cool days. But, if you are attempting to train your body to operate at higher levels, depriving yourself of carbohydrates and electrolytes does not make sense. You are just making it that much harder to train at a high level. If this theory had any merit, one would expect elite cyclists to do this in their training...they don't.
Using water alone on hot and/or humid days can also cause another problem, called hyponatremia (a lack of sodium in the blood). A good friend of mine (an experienced cyclist) learned this lesson the hard way. He spent a day riding in the heat and humidity of Missouri. Throughout the day he ate well and drank lots of water...but, only water. By the end of the day, he felt very bad (weak, uncoordinated, etc.). He ended up in the emergency room where he was given an IV with saline. My friend had had plenty of water throughout the day, but because he only drank water his electrolytes became depleted. You cannot "train" your body to create more salt.