robow

This kind of got hidden in another thread but I'm just curious if you have ever experienced cramping within the legs or stomach after taking in carbonated drinks while on a longer ride. Once on a quick century after swigging down a large diet-Pepsi, I experienced significant acute out of the blue leg cramping and was told that the carbonated soda was the culprit. Is there anything to this or coincidence? Thanks for your replies.

hi565

well, no. But I wasnt drinking a large. Thats where I think your problem is.

rpc180

Geez no - can you imagine the issues with burps and flatulations in a group/pack ride especially with drafting?! OMG J/K -- I try to stay away from them.

Urban Shooter

Any carbonated beverage on a long ride, regardless of conditions, causes me to have painful, unreleasable stomach gas.

nova

Well the biggest problem was the fact it was a diet pop. Diet pops like pepsi etc use nutrasweet.Nutra sweet causes cramping etc. Best advice ither drink non diet sodas or none at all on rides. I use to drink surge all the time doing 40 + miles and never had a isue. My prefered drink is non carbonaed fruit punch.

No Exit

Saw something on the discovery channel about Lance and the TDF... there was a part where they were handing out their bags of food and junk during the race and they said there was a Coke in there. I assume that it doenst effect everyone the same way and the riders can choose whether or not to drink it but I dont think they would bother putting it in the bag if nobody would ever want it.

cycleprincess

Since when was a century ever quick?

DannoXYZ 

Those little 1/2-size sodas serve many purposes near the end of a race. There's a quick sugar rush, not quite as many calories as the sports-specific bars or drinks, but it goes in quickly. Then the caffeine is a stimulant that picks you up mentally as well. It's also a diuretic that makes you pee, which flushes out anything in your system that's remaining that may cause embarassment on a drug-test...

As for stomach cramps and stuff, yeah, it's probably the CO2 fizzing out that's doing it. I always shake up my sodas and pour into a glass of ice to get most of the bubbles out before drinking it. The actual amount is pretty minimal, so it doesn't cause any problems from as far as metabolism goes. Just that the volume of gas causes you to feel bloated, especially if you hop up and down a lot after drinking it...

Yeah, and stay away from Nutrasweet and all those artificial sweeteners. Even though the HFCS in the sodas isn't the best thing for you either, it's not as gruesome as the artificial sweeteners, and you can burn off those 100-calories in a soda within 10-minutes anyway. And after a ride, you really do need about 400-500 calories of carbs to replenish your glycogen stores so your body don't take apart good muscles.

nova

Hence the reason why many carb dieters are often low on energy and feel weak. Dieting and exercise like biking hiking etc do not go to gather well.

mollusk

I'll often drink a 12 oz Coke after 80 miles or so and I haven't noticed any ill effects. The sugar/water/caffeine combination really helps the mental attitude part.

Undiluted Gatorade on the other hand always leads to trouble. I have to dilute it about 3 parts water to 1 part Gatorade in order to tolerate it.

dfw

It can be a problem on group rides. When you see a flatus bubble working it's way towards a leg opening on the spandex, you know it's your turn to pull.

JF1

That made my day.

bike756

Carbonated beverages aren't good for anything

Hawkear

When you hear about Coke being used in endurance events, it's usually flat Coke. No carbonation, but plenty of calories and other stuff. It goes down much better.

Urban Shooter

Flat Diet Pepsi I can handle.

bike756

But why would you want to?

spingineer

At the end of a really fast pack ride, I do see riders (fast riders) downing a coke ... not diet ... but then again, they are just spinning back on their way home.

gurana

I played ultimate in college. One of my first real tournaments was at Rutgers University. There was this Red-Bull tent there. I hadn't ever tried it at the time, and I wasn't going to, but this hottie red bull rep walks over to our sideline and says, "any of you boys feeling tired?". Needless to say she got most of the team to try it. She hands me the first can and says, "now you need to drink the whole thing to feel the effect. You should feel nice and energized right after you drink it." So I did. I figured it was only like 8 or 12 oz, so it couldn't hurt me that much. I finish it and instantly feel the sugar/caffeine high, and right after that I'm called onto the field. As soon as I get onto the line, the cramps start in. It's been a while since then, and I don't remember what happened, but I do remember the horrible pain.

I'm not sure if carbonated drinks would cause a problem on a long ride, but that experience keeps me from attempting it.

puddin' legs

Drink, belch, pedal...repeat.

gurana

In college, we used to have the "Puke'n'Rally" . . . I'm sure we were not the ones to come up with this, although knowing my teammates, it wouldn't've surprised me.

Urban Shooter

I hate being way out in the middle of nowhere, without trees or bushes and needing to have to make poo. Very upsetting.

AtlAllez

Biker7, im with you i HATE PEPSI. Well im from atlanta where coke was made. I love coke and hate the over sugary taste of pepsi.

trayer350

French papers are reporting that Lance Armstrong drank several cans of cola before one of the mountain stages and because of some jet-like exhaust factor he won the Tour. French officials are investigating.

One French observer of Le Tour, who declined to be identified, said, "These American tricksters will do anything to win. We French like a small bottle of wine before a race, though this sometimes leads to our teams going down a wrong street."

jyossarian

I had a red bull during a longish (for me) 35 mile bike ride and I felt fine. I also had a couple krispy kremes and potato chips at the same time and mixed in some accelerade. A couple of burps, no flatulence and no urgent need to pee until after the ride was over.

merlinextraligh

At L'etape De Tour, they provide bottles of Perrier at the feed zones. It appeared populat with the French Riders, but I couldn't imagine drinking it during a race.

As for Coke drunk by pro riders, the best use of it appears to be using the coke can as an energy transfer system, when the can is passed over a few seconds with a little push on the cars accelerator.