I was just watching a Youtube video where they poured like ~380g of sugar into what appears to be a standard 620ml Camelbak bottle in preparation for a big climb and I was wondering... that sounds like a lot of sugar!


Opinions?

If you're drinking a bottle/hr then 50-60g would be appropriate. If they were putting in 380g they could have been making a concentrated solution intended to be sipped with additional water over the course of a long ride. 380g would last 6+ hrs of intense riding.

That makes sense. I never put more than a teaspoon-full of sugar in my morning coffee, so nearly half the bottle full of sugar was like... unthinkable.

I don't understand.

Were they adding weight to the rider for some reason? Making him carry around an extra 380 grams?

To put this into context, I think the video that is being referenced is by Durian Rider, nutter from Adelaide in Australia who has made a big deal about exclusively eating bananas. He and his (nutter) girlfriend made the video about the "toughest climb" in the world, which is purportedly in India. I believe she was demonstrating her way of refuelling on the ride. She is, however, very slim and obviously does ride a bike a lot.

Personally, I couldn't stomach the sickly sweetness. Full horsepower Coca-Cola is about my limit (and it's been a ride saver on randonnees on more than one occasions for me).

Maybe they were also taking the mickey. Who knows. And frankly, who cares.

Yeah, that's almost about right (though the video was on her channel, and the climb is supposedly in Thailand). I didn't really want to post the specific video in mind as I knew Durian Rider has a certain less-than-favourable reputation among some people.

You can make the concentrate less sweet by using maltodextrose instead of table sugar. In comparison it adds very little sweetness while still being an extremely quick carb source.

But using a bottle of concentrate is not the way I'd do it either. I prefer gels if I have to fuel up fast since it's a short moment of ickyness two times an hour and gels are lightweight plus compact.

I've used maltodextrine quite a bit to make up powders for adding to water on LD rides. You are right that it is almost tasteless. But that's still a lot to be mixing in one hit, even in a Camelback.

And yes, atwl77, you are correct, Thailand. My bad on that one. Same comments still apply though.