FWIW, I tend to use the term gatorade generically when referring to sports drinks. Sloppy, I know... When I used to do triathlons, the mantra for longer races was to always make sure to use the type of sports drink provided by the race before the race in order to make sure your body didn't have any problems. None of that stuff ever bothered me one way or the other, so I guess I'm lucky. I will say, however, that after each Ironman race that I never wanted to see a banana or a sports drink again for a long, long time.

I'm just not as far along the evolutionary line as some riders, my body is so "stone age" it stores the things I need for exertion, I don't need anything more than a good diet & then plenty of water when I ride.

I've just come in from a 50km ride, this included a stretch of climbing over 1000m in 22kms, air temperature around 32c, I had nearly four bidons of plain water (mountain spring water on route), about 2 1/2 litres. No powder, energy bars, nothing else.

I feel fine, great in fact, I am now looking forward to eating a nice meal.

I wonder where it's all heading? Maybe plants would benefit from something "better" than water?:lol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vw2CrY9Igs

Anyone tried "Brawndo"?:innocent:

I find that the easiest way to get rid of mouth sores is to rince with a strong salt solution, a rounded teaspoon in 1/3 of a cup of water. Do it in two goes, take 1/6, quick rince and spit, then a longer rince with the remaining 1/6.

It seems that any bacterica I get from sugared stuff that cause mouth sores are not halotolerant.

z

"Not really rockin' the whole humility thing are you? Careful, or you'll choke on all that piety."

I don't know where you get that. I probably had the triffecta of cravings until I was recently put on a low everything diet. It's just a reality. People get weekend headaches when they are away from the office coffee pump. They go from one etreme of exercise and diet to another on the road.

Problem with topics like this is you have people who are doing very modest stuff at one end of the spectrum and super athletes at the other. You have people who are touring Canada in winter, and people touring death valley. There isn't one answer, but I'm still sceptical of the nutritional content of Pepsi products. And fads and brands are what they are.

"The longer the ride and the more gatorade consumed, the bigger and badder the mouth sores."

Oh yeah! Testify!

I've moved from frustrated with this thread to outright laughter. In the original post, I basically asked about the number of people carrying powder mix on tours in the context of the thread title versus buying bottles. Over time, the discussion comments have deteriorated into posts about mouth sores.

I admit I contributed to the drift somewhat myself, but the thread itself has gone off the rail as far as useful information relating to the original intent. You guys enjoy yourselves.

I was wondering how long it would take until someone mentioned "Brawndo"! :thumb:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbxq0...eature=related

Your original post was addressed and the thread took a natural turn. Nothing wrong with that at all, IMO.

New this year is a plastic bottle that unscrews on both ends, so
the goo residue of energy/sports drinks can effectively be washed out.

myself , food water and beer, in the afternoon, got me where i wanted to go.

simple goals, ride till it seemed a good place to stop, for the night,
enjoy the passage in between, get up and repeat.
:beer:

[cabinet has been debating putting water on the plants instead of Brawndo]
Pvt. Joe Bowers: What *are* these electrolytes? Do you even know?
Secretary of State: They're... what they use to make Brawndo!
Pvt. Joe Bowers: But *why* do they use them to make Brawndo?
Secretary of Defense: [raises hand after a pause] Because Brawndo's got electrolytes. :lol:

Drmweaver2, I just read this entire thread. The responses are, ah, quite clear. Some people take liquid gatorade. Some of THOSE people would have loved the powder on their tours. A few wouldn't bother with the weight and would just buy it as they saw it. There's your answer. You got it ;)
Everybody on the forum who is going to contribute HAS already contributed. What more are you looking for? Don't expect to post a topic about something like electrolytes without getting thread drift :)
It's a pretty on topic thread. Most everyone responds to the thread title, which is "Saving money on electrolyte replacements while on tour". Suggestions for homemade electrolyte mix or an electrolyte-rich diet were made. I fail to see why you're frustrated!

(edit) I use a 'half-salt' mixture when I take electrolytes at all. It's called "Light Salt" here in the U.S. Also, think of responses to the thread as a poll. A few people directly answered the precise question you had. They were probably the -only- people around at the moment with that specific information. However, if your question could be answered another way, we'll all rush in to try to do that :) and thus you get the huge range of responses.

Welcome to BikeForums! :)


And as CAJohn mentions above, the thread drift in this thread isn't that bad ... it remained generally on the topic of the title of the thread.


To CAJohn ... I have heard the name "Light Salt" too. The nice thing about carrying a small container of HalfSalt or Light Salt or whatever it's called where you are, is that not only can you sprinkle it into your water before you set off riding, but you can sprinkle it on your food at lunch and dinner. It does double duty ... you'd likely be carrying salt on a tour anyway ... might as well carry a salt with potassium in it. An inexpensive way to get your electrolytes.

If they are unnecessary, then "neither" is an acceptable answer. So is "rolling your own".

Note that most of the dry weight of nearly any sport drink is sugar.

I guess I was not as accurate in my last post as I intended - whack me with .... whatever you want.

I appreciated the responses that I considered on-topic. I've said that. Obviously, what others considered on-topic differs a bit from what I do or intended. No problem. Still, I remain laughing at where the thread got to - vis-a-vis mouth sores (while sympathizing with those who have them).

So, I assume the thread will continue.... as I said last post, you guys enjoy. I've gotten all the information I "need". Thanks again.

From comments like these:

"...Easy for me to say, because we are entering the 2 weeks when we successfully provide our own food...."

"I agree with surgeonstone. How many reputable labs are just dying to spend huge bucks studying gatorade claims, for the love of science... :)"

"While I know there are some people here, like Matchka, who are really serious about their riding, what is probably happening for most people is that they get out beyond the McDonalds for the first time in a while (if that is still possible), and before you know it, they are feeling a huge sugar, salt, and caffein deficit. Then they take some electrolyte replacement stuff just to get normal with their various addictions."

The whole thing sounded like foodie elitism, a la, "I grow my own food, no evil government Gatorade lab is tricking me and no McDonalds ever crosses MY lips...." etc.
I used to be a hardcore foodie, so I've heard a lot of that.
Foodies and road cyclists are good examples of Those Who Do Something Few Others Do, and so must watch out for that elitist stuff creeping in.

I see now that you didn't intend it to sound that way.

Sorry for assuming.

+1

And, this:

Didn't read the entire thread but if nobody had mentioned it I would try Emergence-C. I personally think the stuff is great. It has quite a bit of vitamins in it, but more importantly it has the needed electrolytes and it's not sugary like gatorades, which the sugar makes me sick when it's hot. A box only runs about $10 (100 packets I think). so you only need to take what you need. And you can mix the servings as you need them instead of being stuck with just gatorade. I fight fire in the summer times and have seen alot of dehydration and run down sick bodies and this stuff has helped alot of people.

Exactly ... electrolytes are very small ingredients of sports drinks and can be acquired in pill form, from things like HalfSalt (Light Salt), and in common food. And since you can get sugar just about anywhere, including in foods like chocolate bars, pastries, fruit, etc. etc. (so much better tasting than sports drinks) ........ why carry 2 lbs of sugar around?

The only way I could see it is if you're doing the Dempster Highway, a crossing from Adelaide to Darwin, or something else similarly remote ... and even so, I think I'd opt for "rolling my own".

This thread got me thinking and I did some online label reading. I was surprised to find that the Gatorade products have such a small amount of electrolytes. Same thing for the Hammer tablets, but it has a high amount of Vitamin B-6. The Emergenc-C product seems to be the only thing with any reasonable amount of Potassium.

In contrast, here are some regular foods and their potassium levels. Some examples are:
cup of OJ: 496 mg
banana, 1 cup: 596 mg
1 cup of cantaloupe: 494 mg
1 cup of raisins: 1089 mg

Hammer Endurolytes tablets (dosage is anywhere from 1 - 6 per hour):
Sodium (as Sodium Chloride) 40mg 2%
Chloride (as Sodium Chloride) 60mg 2%
Calcium (as Chelate) 50mg 5%
Magnesium (as Chelate) 25mg 6%
Potassium (as Chelate) 25mg 1%
Vitamin B-6 (as Pyridoxine HCL) 6.6mg 330%
Manganese (as Chelate) 1.6mg 80%

Gatorade products, per 8 ounces:
110-140 mg of sodium 3%
30-45 mg of Potassium, 2%

Emergenc-C:
Magnesium 120 mg, 30%
Potassium 408 mg, 12%

I guess I'll skip the fancy products for now on and just stick to mother nature. Even on a long ride, seems like it might be better to just grab an OJ at 7-11 instead of Gatorade.

I use NUUN, The tabs come in a tube of 12 and make 160z of drink

Yes, that's one problem with Gatorade. If you use it for water and electrolytes, you'll slowly go downhill. Endurolytes, you can take as many as you need, separate from hydration. On tour, we're taking Endurolytes, otherwise just food. Very light, not much space. Doubt we'll need them much, if at all.

Don't really need potassium in an electrolyte replacement, since there's so much in food. I think everyone knows to grab a banana in a store - just don't eat it on the road and drop the peel - that not everyone knows. Salted peanuts, raisins, M&Ms in a bag, by thirds. Tastes good, cheap, works.

Personally, I think the sport-drink stuff is a bit overrated.

Anyway, most people consume more than "8 ounces" of these things as "a serving" (a large Gatorade is 32oz). While cycling, tend people drink more frequently than they eat. Also, there's not much hydration going on with raisins (for example).

According to the label, Endurolytes don't have much in the way of electrolyes. Most of what you're getting is vitamin B6. I guess if you take a bunch you'd make a dent. One thing I haven't found is how much the body loses due to sweat and exercise. From what I understand, the RDA is for an average person, not for a person undergoing heavy and extended exertion. As such, I assume that the electrolyte loss and consequent need is probably higher than the RDA. If so, then these supplements just don't seem to be anywhere close to what is needed and what can be found in regular food.

32 oz of Gatorade would have 8% of the Potassium RDA. A cup of OJ (8oz) has almost twice that. I like Gatorade and think its fine for a combination of water and energy with a sprinkling of potassium and sodium, but if I was starting to cramp or otherwise felt I needed some potassium, I'd grab some OJ or a banana (probably an OJ because convenience store bananas are often less than appealing to me). Raisins would be excellent as well, but I don't like them too much, except in cereal.

On my Randonneuring events, one of my favourite combinations is 100% pure orange juice plus a packet of beef jerky. You get your calories for energy, plus potassium and Vit C from the orange juice, plus sodium from the beef jerky, plus protein to help keep you going longer on the really long rides.

A convenient food with a very high level of potassium are dried apricots. A combination of dried apricots and salted almonds and you're set. I have used the combination on several of my long rides as well.

Dried apricots sound like a good idea, ditto other dried fruits.

Here are the stats for 1 cup of dried apricots, which you might nibble on throughout the day ...
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...-juices/1838/2

They are loaded with Vit A, iron, and potassium, as well as containing smaller quantities of quite a few other vitamins and minerals. They are also a good source of dietary fibre which helps to keep your digestive tract running properly.

Now add the salted almonds ...
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...roducts/3170/2

Salted almonds are full of Vit E, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium, and all sorts of vitamins and minerals ... as well as being a good source of dietary fibre and protein.

Eat both, and wash them down with 100% pure orange juice for some extra liquid, and you'll top up your Vit C and ensure you've got ample Potassium.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...-juices/1971/2

Just with those three food items alone, you'll have calories to give you energy to ride, plus all the electrolytes you need.

For some variety, you might try a baked potato at lunch or dinner, with salt.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...roducts/2903/2
Potatoes with skins on are a good source of Vit C and potassium, and contain several other vitamins and minerals ... salt the potatoes and they are also a good source of sodium. Add cheese and you've also got a good source of calcium.

Try serving the baked potato with ground beef, and you'll get the protein needed to help rebuild your muscles and keep them from wearing out riding day after day on a tour plus a number of other vitamins & minerals, including potassium ... and if you add salt, sodium.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...roducts/6191/2



BTW - I think the reason why the quantity of electrolytes in drinks and the pills is relatively low is because it is assumed that people will drink several bottles of the drink, or consume several pills throughout the day. On a long hot ride, I'll take an electrolyte pill first thing in the morning, then about one every 2-3 hours or so for the duration of the ride. By the end of the day, that adds up.

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2010/05...mythology.html

http://joefriel.typepad.com/blog/page/2/

I loop ride for recreation and fitness - an hour, hour and a half, 4-5 times/week. I'm not really interested in long drawn out cycling events, randonneur riding, or such as that. I generally have other things to do than spend all day, and longer, humping myself or a bunch of gear around on a bike.
So, my needs are geared towards burst demand. I add a little sugar, salt and lite salt to the water I drink, just barely enough to taste it. Too much, and it all gets kinda "icky tasting."
I won't even do that much in the winter, but the hot, intense summers in South Carolina can really tap you out - so I add this little boost.

The rest of the time, I just eat food and drink beer. And I love dried fruits, oatmeal, potatoes - all that good stuff. SO it works out.
Thank you for your well organized response.

On rides from home, I use the bottled Gatorade rather than the powder, even though it is more expensive, simply to get a larger variety of flavors. I stock up when the 32-ounce bottles are on sale for 59 cents.

On tour, I don't want to carry the weight of the powder, and I'm not willing to pay $2.50 for the bottles at many convenience stores, so I just drink water. Furthermore, because it's often harder to thoroughly clean your bottles on tour, I also prefer not to put mold-growing stuff in my bottles. Finally, on most tours I usually pass through towns frequently enough to get food and drink, while my rides from home usually seek out unpopulated areas where I must carry my own replenishments.

Sorry to provide more information than necessary to simply answer the question, but this would be a very dull thread if everybody just answered with only "yes" or "no".

I'll add my voice in here saying you most likely don't need anything special on tour. We rode from Alaska to northern Peru drinking just plain water and were just fine. Looking back on it, I think there were a few times in Central America that I should have added something to my water - but we survived fine on water.

Going through the desert of northern Peru the water was simply not enough for me - hubby and kids seemed to do fine on the water though. For that stretch, I simply strapped a 2-liter bottle of Inca Cola on my bike and took a swig or two of that for every bottle of water I drank - seemed to do the trick. I'm not sure what was in there, but whatever it was it helped.

Now that we are out of the desert, I'm back to plain ol' water and it's just fine.