Hello,

As my riding season is slowly starting up again after the winter months, I am looking for some alternatives to bring with me on my rides. Last year I used to buy G2, but the price was high and I can't find any local shops here in Montreal with the powdered version.
Besides water, what do you drink on your rides?
Is there a good powder mix that can be purchased in Canada?

Thanks in advance

I tend to carry around Nuun in a camelbak. No sugar in that, and I don't want my CamelBak getting gunky. Often I'll carry ShotBloks or ClifShot or Gu, sometimes Tang or Gatorade packed in a water bottle, for sugar.

Honestly I find a continuous feed of sugar much more optimal than a non-sugar electrolyte feed. I'm burning off energy rapidly and I favor performance over supposed health benefits--there really are none to a sugar-free ride. Without sugar intake, your body will burn more fat on longer rides--both literally by moving to lipolysis to avoid depleting glycogen stores and also figuratively as it's going to take the same caloric output to provide the same performance--but you're not going to supply 100% of your burn via a constant drip of Coca-Cola. Raising blood sugar by intake may slow down your overall fat burn, but it won't decrease your muscle building (might help increase it) and it'll definitely help you maintain peak output performance--although this only goes so far.

The reason I go sugarless is, as I said, I don't want to sugar up my CamelBak. I clean it by a quick rinse with water, drain through the feeder tube, then clear it out and use a sprayer to spray up into the upside down bladder for a clean rinse. Sugar might stick somewhere, and then become fuzzy. They're hard to comprehensively clean--it's 100% doable, but it's very systematic and very detailed. An oxyclean pill (some kind of self-dissolving tablet that's basically sodium peroxide percarbonate, sold as a cleaning kit for CamelBaks) will do it, but they're comparatively pricey while a water splash simply isn't.

I go with electrolyte tabs like Nuun (love the Citrus ones, the Orange not so much, the Berry is iffy... be your own judge) because they're easier on my stomach than pure water. Besides that, I sweat acrid, disgusting salt water--I lose magnesium like crazy as-is, but I have sodium and potassium leaving my body through the lymph system. I'm biking here in 106F, 108F, 110F weather and I don't pay much mind to the heat. Trust me, you don't want to replenish with pure water; you'll die. If you're not a marathon cyclist or a Tour de France racer and you're biking in 70-80 degree weather, you'll probably be fine. Pushing your limits and taking it in the scorching heat demands something more than straight water.

So, water, electrolyte (tablet) water, or sugary electrolyte (powder) water. Those are your choices, each addresses different needs. I can vouch for Nuun over Elixir though, only because I like some of the Nuun flavors more than the Elixir flavors. Nuun is also relatively cheap (Elixir isn't much more expensive, Gatorade can be a little more expensive to MUCH more expensive depending on what you buy).

You could try experimenting with the sugarless electrolyte stuff (Propel, Nuun, Elixir, Zym) and sugar shots (Gu, Clif Shot, Clif Shot Bloks, Gu Cubes) or just carrying around a double of iced tea or tang in a water bottle for sugar, if you're looking to experiment. I will say that I've found the liquid Gu/Clif Shot to give a quicker reaction than the gummies--and let's be honest here, sugar is a magnificent thing. The first time I used a Clif Shot at the end of my rope, all the pain in my muscles and joints dulled out in seconds and my strength and stamina returned to me immediately. You'd think you'd need some hard core drugs to pull that off, but plain old regular grade sugar does it. I rarely use 'em, but I don't leave home without a Clif Shot or a Gu.

I use a mix of maltodextrin powder (try a homebrew shop) and flavored whey protein, mixed about 7:1 by weight. You can get about 750 calories (1 pt.) of this stuff into one water bottle. Or mix it weaker according to your ride length. Quite cheap, especially buying the malto in 50# bags and the whey in 10#. Doesn't seem to rot my teeth, even. The other bottle plain water. Endurolytes (Hammer Nutrition) for electrolytes.

Ohh I've been hearing good things about Hammer on and off, but haven't tried. You a fan CFB?

Hammer HEED is one of the few drinks I can stomach. The unflavored version is the best.

Their Perpetuem is supposed to be good for longer distances (its got some fat and protein) but if you can't stand the taste it doesn't matter how good it is.

Well, maybe I am a fan. A user certainly. They have many interesting articles in their knowledge base about nutrition, hydration, and electrolytes, all of which have proven out in my attempts at riding. They do hawk their products pretty fiercely, can't blame them. I haven't tried their pills other than Endurolytes, which work. I'm skeptical about the other pills. OTOH, I probably get most of what they put in their supplements in my vitamin and mineral supplementation, but I don't do the weird stuff other than CoQ10.

Sustained Energy works as advertised, but it's expensive for someone who rides a lot, hence my homebrew. OTOH it mixes more easily than my homebrew and could be better for some people if they don't mind spending the money. I have a tri friend who spends $1000/year at Hammer, just on food. Hammer Gel works as advertised. It's excellent if you like gels. No muss no fuss and cheaper than packaged. But again more expensive than my homebrew. When I used SE, I added a couple of hits of Hammer Gel to a bottle for flavor because SE has no flavor at all. Tastes like rice water.

I use HEED for my short ride and gym beverage, 2 hours or less. Works as advertised and doesn't rot my teeth, a big money saver! I don't use enough of it to worry about the cost.

Thank you for the suggestions. Is getting the HEED to much product for me? I mean, I don't really consider myself an elite athlete so is it beneficial for me?
For instance, I do martial arts 3 times a weeks for 2+ hrs per session and I sweat extensively, I also cycle for 2 times a week for rides of 2-3 hrs, pace 25 km/hr (15.5 m/hr) and cadence in the 90s. Is something like HEED going to benefit? I just wanted something else besides water to drink.

You don't need HEED. If you exercise more than 60 minutes such as cycling, you need a source of energy and food will do the job - sandwich, fruit, energy bar, etc. When you sweat, you need two things - fluid and electrolyte relacement. Just about anything salty like peanuts will do that. It's also a good idea to include potassium from a source like a bananna.

If you like something sweet tasting that's inexpensive, get powered Gatorade and mix a couple bottles to take with you.

It depends on the person. If I'm working out in the gym, spin class, my rollers at home, etc., and I don't use a sports drink, I'll have my head between my knees in 45 minutes because I'm about to pass out from low blood sugar. OTOH, on the road I can ride moderately for 1.5 hrs. without eating or drinking anything. I think the difference for me is the higher exercise intensity in the gym and possibly the higher arousal of being on the road.

You may not need anything more than water. You should know by now. If there's no problem, don't fix it. Try drinking filtered water. It tastes better and is better for you. If you want to try a sports drink to check out the effect, do try HEED rather than Gatorade, Powerade, or similar sugar beverages. I find the Melon flavor quite palatable.

Secret Drink Mix, best I've found so far, and I've tried more than a few...love this stuff!

https://www.skratchlabs.com/

I drink plain, ordinary water on the majority of my rides.

For calories, I eat real food.

For electrolytes, I take electrolyte tablets and also eat food with electrolytes.

I used to drink a lot of HEED, and I like it, but water seems to work just fine.

Exactly the same for me. Saltstick capsules, water, & food. Sometimes a Cliff or Luna bar. But food is better.

Is there some sort of nutritional benefit of HEED that makes it better than all the other drinks? jw

Cheers
Amanda

Maltodextrin

And the second ingredient is xylitol, which is the base stuff in the gum dentists want you to buy to prevent cavities.

For me the deal with HEED and similar products is that a full bottle of strong HEED is 150 calories. That's about two fig newtons, yet it's all I need for quite a long and strenuous workout, and I can drink just a few sips and save the rest for tomorrow, or drink the whole thing. It's wonderfully convenient and it's good hydration, all at once. No packaging, nothing to open, turn to crumbs, mess my jersey pocket, leave rings in my shorts, etc.

I've been trying Nuun on a few of the warmer days, but find the slight saltiness to be a little disgusting... I will likely stick with Gatorade powder diluted slightly from the recommended solution... Not too worried about the exta carbs, given that I actually lost 5 lbs that I did not need to shed last summer...

Sugar alcohol, this particular one has a range of purported health benefits. It's even said to prevent cancer and improve cardiovascular health. I recommend combining with sodium chloride, just a grain or two.

I guarantee you need more than 150 calories for a heavy work-out. Fortunately your body has glycogen and fat stores to back you up.

I do well with Gatorade, Nuun, and Elixir (love the orange!), and water, but I recently got a tube of Hammer FIZZ (lemon lime) and tried it at home...GADS! Serious gastric distress! Too much magnesium in it perhaps, as it sure FELT insiode, like I had drunk a bunch of Milk of Magnesia! Blech! Plus it has that nasty magnesium aftertaste. No more FIZZ for me!

So says the one who has ridden 6 miles this year ... to the one who has ridden a whole lot more.

I think this is an on topic question, For those of you who have used endurolyte capsules or other capsules, how do you carry them around? Do you bring the whole bottle with you? Or do you just put a couple capsules in your jersey pocket? I'm curious to hear, especially from anyone who uses them and also races with them. Thanks in advance

There's this really handy product out there called ... ziplock bags. They come in all kinds of sizes. You could probably buy the smallest size, and put enough electrolyte tablets in for several races.

If that isn't enough, look through your cupboards ... how many really small bottles and things do you have in there? What about old film cannisters? If you don't have anything like that in your house, you can buy small bottles. These are often found in dollar stores or the camping sections of department stores. You might pay $1 for one.

Hammer sells colored plastic squeeze purses, these:
https://www.hammernutrition.com/produ...ent-organizers

In sunny weather I shove one up my shorts leg. It's easy to get the capsules out one-handed with one's tongue. In bad weather, they go in my jersey pocket. In really bad weather they go somewhere waterproof because I'm probably not going to need them anyway. I hate to stop for things like this because if you have to stop, you won't take them often enough. For long rides, I carry a flip-top Hammer Capsule Dispenser in my bag.

I appreciate your answer, but ziploc bags aren't exactly the safest thing in the midst of a race





Aaaahh, I was not aware they sold that dispenser. Apprecaite the info!