What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

enduro2
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What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby enduro2 » Tue Dec 12, 2017 1:20 am

I started off using a straight electrolyte drink, however as I moved to rides of 50km plus I found I needed some more energy on the go and picked up a canister of Endura with carbs for about $35 which has done the job thus far.

http://www.endura.com.au/Products/Product?groupkey=EPFL

Now that I am nearly scratching the bottom of my existing product, I am wondering what others use and why?

human909
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby human909 » Tue Dec 12, 2017 1:56 am

Water is normally fine for me. No extra energy intake necessary for rides under about 60km.

I cycle and do a whole host of other energy intensive activities. I normally just consume regular food supplemented by energy dense foods such as nuts, dried fruit, chocolate and lollies. If carrying space and weight is at a premium then there is a stronger focus on the latter.

Why? Because I rarely find the need for products marketed to athletic activity as opposed to regular items found in our diet. The choice of energy dense foods is an obvious one for energy intensive activities. As far as electrolytes go, I find that with a normal balanced diet I don't need supplemental electrolytes at least in the first day of exertion.

If I exert myself in the heat over several days however I do find I need to be concious to include salt in my diet. I would normally add more salt to meals or choose salty processed items.

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g-boaf
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby g-boaf » Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:11 am

Drink? What's that? Real riders don't need no stinkin' water!

Er, anyhow, I tend to just use the tablets that dissolve in water - one tablet in a bottle of water is okay for 100km.
human909 wrote:I find that with a normal balanced diet I don't need supplemental electrolytes at least in the first day of exertion.
How would you go if you really exerted yourself, riding really flat out? My guess is you'd the be looking at at least going to some of the better electrolyte powders. Stay away from lollies and chocolates, those aren't all that good.

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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby Cyclophiliac » Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:44 am

I used to drink Powerade, until I woke up and realised how much cr#p was in it, and that my teeth would rot if I continued drinking it. Now when I need the extra electrolytes, I use High5 tablets in water. This worked well enough in my mid-year Alps and Pyrenees trip (and last year's similar trip).

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OnTrackZeD
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby OnTrackZeD » Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:54 am

I use one High5 berry tablet and one scoop of Powerade in a 750mil bottle.
The Powerade adds some energy and taste, where the tablet adds electrolytes.
I drink about a bottle a hour in warm weather.

Neddysmith
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby Neddysmith » Tue Dec 12, 2017 9:26 am

Usually itll just be water for for me but on longer rides, say 70k and up or on hotter days ill take electrolytes such as this

https://www.bulknutrients.com.au/produc ... -plus.html

Find it works great

human909
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby human909 » Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:20 am

g-boaf wrote:How would you go if you really exerted yourself, riding really flat out?
Fine.
g-boaf wrote:My guess is you'd the be looking at at least going to some of the better electrolyte powders.
People have been exerting themselves flat out for centuries without electrolyte powders. That aren't a necessity. But sure in high electrolyte loss situations they are a easily consumable way of replacing lost electrolytes.

I say " high electrolyte loss situations" because if you are highly exerting yourself in colder conditions you electrolyte loss is less of a concern.

Also it of course depends what you mean by flat out. Flat out over 15 seconds is different from three hours and is different to going hard for for 12 hours.
g-boaf wrote:Stay away from lollies and chocolates, those aren't all that good.
For energy they are great.

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g-boaf
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby g-boaf » Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:39 am

human909 wrote:For energy they are great.
It's junk food though.
human909 wrote:People have been exerting themselves flat out for centuries without electrolyte powders.
I bet they weren't pushing themselves to the levels that elite athletes currently do. Let's stick you in 35 degrees C, send you off on a 5 hour ride in tough hills and make you really work hard - so you are really sweating it out. On just water and see how you go. That'd be a good experiment.

When I say flat out I don't mean just a little 10 or 20 minute session, I mean many hours and not just cruising about. I love those kinds of bikes rides. I like riding in hot weather too. I don't go excessively on the drink mixes, but I do use them on those kinds of rides and never have a problem.

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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby trailgumby » Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:59 am

It depends on how hard you go. For endurance pace up to 75% FTP, I can go without carbs for up to about 2 hours. But if I'm doing race pace stuff, high intensity intervals, or trail riding on the MTB I need carbs in the mix, usually about 1-1.2g per kg of body mass per hour.

I like High5 EnergySource, and High5 4:1. The latter includes protein, which really helps with recovery after a hard session. I used it at the Mon 24hr this year and I reckon it enabled me to back up better with fast laps and I didn't feel anywhere near as fatigued as I was expecting afterwards.

Apart from being very competitively priced from Wiggle and c r c, they contain a mix of fructose and maltodextrin like Endura, but without the stomach-upset-causing magnesium. So you get the quick lift and sustained burn instead of the spike and dump you get with the all-sucrose drinks like Gatorade et al.

Their zero caffeine gels are quite good too - more liquidy so they don't stick to the roof of your mouth. My preference for racing though are the Endura gels. The 8mg low-dose caffeine is enough to sustainably light the blue paper when I need it without the overdose feeling I get from the 30mg in the High5 caffeinated gels.

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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby human909 » Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:04 pm

g-boaf wrote:It's junk food though.
:?: Surely we can discuss things with more sense than that. Most normal sports drinks would fit into the vague definition of "junk food".

Like I said. There are energy dense foods. When exercising calories are what are most needed. When sweating you need water and sometimes additional salts.
g-boaf wrote:I bet they weren't pushing themselves to the levels that elite athletes currently do.
Sure they were. Plenty might not have been performing to the levels of elite athletes but lets not kid ourselves that people of the past didn't sweat or consume energy is large amounts.
g-boaf wrote:Let's stick you in 35 degrees C, send you off on a 5 hour ride in tough hills and make you really work hard - so you are really sweating it out. On just water and see how you go. That'd be a good experiment.
I prefer to choose a cooler day. But I'd go fine on just water. I'd probably want some salty snacks though. That said I did enjoy hammering out some hills in the Arizona desert. My hydration was water and cold beer afterwards. :mrgreen:

I have several friends who have ridden for months on end through hot and cold. Hitting 200-300kms a day. Top elite athletes? No. Damn fit? Yes. They have a regular but larger and more calorie focused diet.
Last edited by human909 on Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Calvin27
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby Calvin27 » Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:07 pm

I usually only do water with some food for rides under 50km. Over that It's maccas and coke.

I had one event where I was completely bonked riding 1 hour to the next pit stop. When I got there I put down 600ml of coke the energy was instant!
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby P!N20 » Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:11 pm

I subscribe to Adam Hansen's nutrition plan...

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human909
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby human909 » Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:15 pm

Calvin27 wrote:I had one event where I was completely bonked riding 1 hour to the next pit stop. When I got there I put down 600ml of coke the energy was instant!
Yep. I've had that too. Fries and a 50c cone fixed me right up. It might be 'junk' food as others have labelled but when your body needs calories and it doesn't have them easily accessible you really slow right down.
P!N20 wrote:I subscribe to Adam Hansen's nutrition plan...
That's how I carb load on Friday nights. :wink: :lol: In all seriousness there is some interesting research on the beer and hydration.

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g-boaf
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby g-boaf » Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:19 pm

Calvin27 wrote:I usually only do water with some food for rides under 50km. Over that It's maccas and coke.

I had one event where I was completely bonked riding 1 hour to the next pit stop. When I got there I put down 600ml of coke the energy was instant!
Coke is an old trick, particularly if it is flat. It's not ideal, but it does give a quick hit.

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ColinOldnCranky
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby ColinOldnCranky » Tue Dec 12, 2017 5:47 pm

Water now I am on the low-energy unicycle commuting and for thirty years of bike commuting before that I still stuck with water. Even for that substantial component of riding hard to support my sports of choice (squash and basketball). All endurance.

Why? Because the market dealing in high priced inappropriate or unproven products and constantly and massively improving product (allegedly) can have someone else's money but not mine.

If every NEW wonder product is such an improvement over the previous wonder product, why did we buy the previous wonder product. So much of it reminds me of toothbrushes, razors and, further in the past, kitchen and laundry detergents. All constantly improving massively over the prior version. I am in wonder that we ever had a clean shaven face or white clothes in the sixties and seventies. :roll:
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby human909 » Tue Dec 12, 2017 6:33 pm

ColinOldnCranky wrote:Why? Because the market dealing in high priced inappropriate or unproven products and constantly and massively improving product (allegedly) can have someone else's money but not mine.
Pretty much this. And there is a host of evidence supporting this. (Also a host of research sponsored by the companies selling the drinks too, no guesses what their conclusions are.)

http://www.bmj.com/bmj/section-pdf/1875 ... e.full.pdf

Hmmm... Maybe a thread on which expensive vitamin brand is best should come next...

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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby silentC » Tue Dec 12, 2017 7:06 pm

I drink water only, mainly because I'm way too lazy and disorganised to have any special sport-related products in the cupboard. I have tried a couple but meh.

All the reading I have done suggests that the usefulness or otherwise of these drinks is in dispute due to lack of good unbiased studies as to whether they are at all beneficial for the average person exercising.

At the end of the day they are delivering fluids, salts and carbs that your body needs, but not necessarily as and when it needs them. I gather they would taste quite horrid without some flavouring hence the sugar, and for that reason they have been linked to increased obesity in children, whose parents allow them to consume it by the gallon under the false perception that they are healthy drinks.

I suppose it's like anything, use in moderation and read the label so you know what you are consuming. And where possible distinguish the difference between marketing claims and actual proven benefits.

I would hesitate to recommend a Coke and a Mars bar as an alternative though. It used to work for me back in the 90's but I don't think it's a more healthy option than Gatorade!
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby Duck! » Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:00 pm

I use the Torq stuff on the bike. The energy component is a fructose/maltodextrin mix, which is absorbed rapidly from the gut into the bloodstream, so you're not really waiting for it to kick in, but it's burnt at a slower rate than basic sugar, so delivers a more stable energy release, and it's also not as sweet as table sugar, so the mixes are quite palatable. It is specifically formulated as an energy source as well as electrolytes, so it is higher in carbs than some other mixes, but that's not a bad thing when you actually have need for it; if you drink a little, often, you have a virtually constant energy "trickle charge". The electrolyte mix is pretty well balanced, and includes magnesium, but not in the stomach-churning levels of Endura.

I use it on all MTB rides, because I'm usually out for at least two hours, often more, but my commute is only 15 minutes each way, so I rarely even take a bottle with me at all.

EDIT FOR DISCLOSURE: I work in a shop that sells Torq stuff alongside other products. However, I choose Torq over those others because I like it.
Last edited by Duck! on Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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g-boaf
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby g-boaf » Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:25 pm

Duck! wrote:I use the Torq stuff on the bike. The energy component is a fructose/maltodextrin mix, which is absorbed rapidly from the gut into the bloodstream, so you're not really waiting for it to kick in, but it's burnt at a slower rate than basic sugar, so delivers a more stable energy release, and it's also not as sweet as table sugar, so the mixes are quite palatable. It is specifically formulated as an energy source as well as electrolytes, so it is higher in carbs than some other mixes, but that's not a bad thing when you actually have need for it; if you drink a little, often, you have a virtually constant energy "trickle charge". The electrolyte mix is pretty well balanced, and includes magnesium, but not in the stomach-churning levels of Endura.

I use it on all MTB rides, because I'm usually out for at least two hours, often more, but my commute is only 15 minutes each way, so I rarely even take a bottle with me at all.
+1 for Torq, that stuff is good and it isn't so commonly known about. Endura I've tried and for the reasons you mentioned, that's why I avoid it.

I had just half a bottle today with an electrolyte tablet in it. About 65km with average speed 34km/h in 30°C temperatures. Not a bad way to finish the day. :)

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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby fat and old » Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:37 am

ColinOldnCranky wrote: I am in wonder that we ever had a clean shaven face or white clothes in the sixties and seventies. :roll:
Never watched TV, or a movie from that era? Even my old man had some vomit inspired shirts, and he was as conservative as Johnny United. Let alone the sideys :lol:

Water here. Like most I'd hazard I went the whole gamut of drinks, powders. tablets etc. Then worked out that not being an elite, semi elite or indeed semi anything water did the trick. If I get enough food, it's all good.

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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby human909 » Wed Dec 13, 2017 5:31 pm

One thing that occurred today while sweating it out working in the sun. Was the notion that electrolyte consumption is correlated with 'effort' is a bit spurious. The best proxy is obviously electrolyte loss, but that is pretty hard to measure. The more easy to measure item is liquid consumption....

AKA at a rough guess if you are riding hard and only need 2L then I don't exactly see additional electrolyte intake is highly needed. If I'm consuming 10+ L then that is a different story, I'd be looking to replace my electrolytes during the day. But again that need no be a liquid for. Plenty of other ways to get salt.

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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby silentC » Wed Dec 13, 2017 5:56 pm

Obviously this stuff has all come from the medical world where fluid replenishment is commonplace therapy. Drinking lots of water on it's own can be quite bad for you (even fatal). Adding salts makes the drink isotonic (you can google that yourself if you want but basically it means that the water you consume is at equilibrium with the water in your cells). If you've ever been on a saline drip, I think that is the main reason it is saline. Lots of sweating can also cause low sodium, which is where the electrolytes come in.

I would say that if people find these drinks helpful, then they shouldn't be mocked for using them. We are all different and I readily accept that for some people it might make a noticeable difference. Some people sweat a lot more than others. I don't see anything wrong with getting replacement salts via a convenient and refreshing delivery method, two birds with one stone, so what's the problem?
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby mikgit » Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:47 pm

For me just water...I'm weird and can't handle all the energy drinks... for rides over 60km I munch on a powerbar to keep me going.
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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby baabaa » Wed Dec 13, 2017 7:10 pm

silentC wrote: I would say that if people find these drinks helpful, then they shouldn't be mocked for using them. We are all different and I readily accept that for some people it might make a noticeable difference. Some people sweat a lot more than others. I don't see anything wrong with getting replacement salts via a convenient and refreshing delivery method, two birds with one stone, so what's the problem?
So you are saying that the mid 40s bloke who can shear 137 wethers day in and day out, mid summer in Three Springs is not the same as the Pitt St CBD desk bound air-con-ed office early 30s Marketing Manager for Smiggle?

But yeah, don’t listen to the know-it-alls here, just let people eat and drink what they want so that any saddle time remains fun and worthwhile.
But yes, I also find that a box of Endura is a nice thing to drop in the pannier bags and ration out for multi-day rides during summer.

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Re: What's your favourite drink to ride with and why?

Postby fishwop » Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:08 pm

Water mate. Do I need a reason?

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