Lrdchaos

Recently started drinking, Tailwind endurance fuel. It seems to help with cramps, fatigue and doesn’t feel like a sugary gut bomb.

Sy Reene

? Gatorade's carbs are sugar and dextrose. I assume for most, we're talking about powdered mixes and not store bought bottles.

KraneXL

Nope, the bottles.

HarborBandS

Plain water or Nuun tablets dissolved. One bottle per 15 miles.

If I ride 30+ miles, I bring a Cliff Bar. For 50+, I bring two.

str8jakett

Totally on a whim, and a bit of cheapness, I bought a canister of Hydrasurge Electrolytes off of Amazon. It had excellent reviews so I thought I would give it a shot. One version had all natural stuff, but another had some extra crap in it. I've been using Hammer products for the past few years but I'm just not paying those prices anymore. The Hydrasurge has done what I needed it to, maybe even better than Hammer did, although I've only been using it for a few weeks and nothing over 60 miles. Mixing a scoop and a half into a 26oz bottle. Orange mango flavor is not overwhelming or too sweet, and I definitely notice a boost of energy over the Hammer product. I've also started adding some maltodextrin to the same bottle.

Sy Reene

Does Tailwind Endurance even come in bottles?

roadwarrior

Maurten. Being used by a load of endurance people including most of the top marathoners.

I use it...mostly the gel no water needed won't upset stomach...I have the drink too (powered in two sizes) and it's great but for me the gell and drink are overkill.

I've only found it on The Feed and Maurten's website.

Jewishcowboy

Infinite Nutrition Go Far or Jet Fuel

Beachgrad05

Somehow I seem to miss knowing WHEN the buy one/get one is.

I too use Infinit. I have pretty much stuck with the premix versions such as GoFar, Jet Fuel and Speed. I just ordered some custom endurance blend to try out in Watermelon flavor.

colnago62

This is true, many cyclists over do it. A lot of has to do with the misinformation perpetuated by heart rate based calorie consumption programs that are used by most computers and watches. I monitor kilojoules, because it is more accurate.

Leaa

Does anyone has experience with natural gels or bars based on real food (so no chemicals or syntetic products)? Any suggestions what brand?

RidingMatthew

I have used Honey Stinger and really like them.

Carbonfiberboy 

I use maltodextrin and chocolate flavored whey protein, mixed 7:1 by weight for rides of over 3 hours. I mix 250-750 calorie bottles. I buy the malto in 50# bags from homebrew supply houses. I also used to use Hammer malto products way back when, but cut the expense as soon as I figured out how to make my own.

For ride of under 3 hours, I use Hammer HEED which is the least tooth decay promoting sports drink I know of. A decade of using Cytomax on all my rides and hikes cost me about $10,000 in dental work. Nothing so far using the malto and HEED.

MoAlpha

Those things taste too good to be any good for you.

eduskator

Gatorage G2 + water (50/50 mix) and a small amount of Cafeine (50mg) before my ride.

redlude97

Here is how I made an easy cheap 90g glucose:fructose mix from two easily obtainable premade items. You can probably get them for a bit cheaper or comparable items. I get the gatorade powder from my local grocery store for ~$5/container but the pricing is similar from amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079TD1C4L...DbDXK8SRZ?th=1
This basically a mixture of table sugar(50:50 glucose:fructose), dextrose(glucose), electrolytes, and flavoring.



I assume for simplicity that its essentially 50:50 glucose:fructose by weight since I don't know the exact composition so for 90g, i'll need 30g of fructose or 60g of gatorade mix, which is about 3x the recommended dosage from gatorade. 23g/12 fl oz(350ml) or ~60g/22floz(650ml normal bottle size)

To make up the remaining glucose, you could buy glucose powder or maltodextrin powder. I chose maltodextrin powder as I know it will not be sweet and it will keep the overall osmolality of the solution down. I use this one because its pretty cheap/g and its in a nice container for storage and of known origin and dissolves relatively well. Its corn based and some prefer rice based tapioca maltodextrin or even cheaper from a local brewery supply store in bulk or a health food store
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used a scale I tared and an old SIS container to mix in at a 2:1 ratio, 200g gatorade:100g maltodextrin



Did some back of the napkin math to calculate grams of carbs and mg of electrolytes


Since I didn't know the ratio of sodium chloride(NaCl) to sodium citrate(C6H5O7Na3) or potassium phosphate, I couldn't determine the chloride and citrate ion concentrations to compare to SIS but its in the right ballpark



So for ~$25 you can make ~25 bottles of 90g fake maurten/betafuel or ~$1/bottle with lots of maltodextrin remaining, or for ~$40 50 bottles, or $0.80/bottle, or 1/4-1/3 the cost of beta fuel.

In terms of flavor/sweetness I find it pretty palatable mixed at this concentration and comparable to the SIS GO powder due to its use of artificial sweeteners, and its easy enough to dissolve in a bottle with vigorous shaking. Bonus, you can also just mix 60g of maltodextrin in a bottle for an almost flavorless carb bottle for training when you don't need the electrolytes or going on a short ride for ~$0.10/bottle.

RidingMatthew

I like some honey mixed in peanut butter with raisins for good measure. It seems like a winning combo of stuff. Might just all be in my mind but tastes good when I feel myself running a little ragged. But that is eating and not drinking.

KraneXL

Isn't drinking eating?

metz1295

May have already been stated, but I rode a fully supported century over the weekend and they provided Hammer powder at the rest stops. First time I had tried something other than water and gels. It worked well and tasted pretty good. 1 scoop per 20oz.

KraneXL

I tried gels once and they were ghastly. I ended up giving away the remaining packs. What is the purpose of these gels? Less water weight?

metz1295

They're not for everyone. Some people stick to Jelly Belly's, power bars or powder tablets (in their water bottles). No, not less water weight. You're supposed to take them with water so that they dissolve and are absorbed into your system more rapidly. They're easy to take while riding, compared to eating a sandwich or banana.

surgeonstone

Water. No electrolytes. No energy drinks. Just water. Works just fine. When I need calories, and you don’t need nearly as much as you think you do, then a bite or two of peanut butter and orange marmalade on whole wheat bread. 4 hr ride - One sandwich spaced out over last 2 hrs. Never cramp. Never that hungry. Never bonk. It works and it’s cheap.

KraneXL

Yes, water works fine but only to a point. Then quickly reaches its limits after which time your performance will decline rapidly and you will bonk. The idea behind energy drinks is to keep the energy flow more stable and thereby avoid those detrimental peaks and valleys.

Rollfast

Thanks for the encouragement to go mix my last packet of Kool-Aid...Pink Lemonade

Leaa

Nice instructions @redlude97! Sure is something useful. I'm not that handy to make it myself but maybe in the future I'll give it a try.
I bought my SiS supplements at Velo 04. SiS is nice, however I was looking for some supplements a bit more natural/ less chemical. Not sure where to find them.