Best Stuff To Drink On Long Road Ride

[KLR600]

INB4 beer.

I know everyone will have a different idea of what a long ride is but currently I'm riding on average about 45-50km per ride in one go without stopping so that is long for me.

I'm currently just drinking water and I ration it a bit over the ride as my bottle is only 6-700ml but it does last me the whole ride (for now). I'm going to get a bigger bottle soon as it gets pretty hot during the summer here (it got up to 41 degrees last year) but I was wondering whether water is the best stuff to drink or if I should be using some kind of water/sugar solution or something. I don't use any gels or eat anything during a ride. I usually end up waning a bit towards the very end of a ride but I'm guessing that's down to my fitness more than anything.

So does anyone have any good tips on what to drink during a ride? If it's free/easily DIY-able then that would be better as I don't really want to pay loads for some powder pouches to put into water.
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[D O G]

Squash. Tastes nicer, so you're inclined to drink more, and it has some sugar.

Simple.

[Pigeon]

Did a bit of cycling, nothing heavy, 40-80 miles, but usually around 30.

Found that Lucozade Sport etc (powder or drink) did nothing for me, it brought forward my energy usage in terms of cracking on, but did not extend it.

In the end, I found the best thing was consume just water + reduced sugar squash + electrolyte powder on route.
Then I'd stop and snack on cashew nuts and dates.

I found that after 50 mile rides I'd get home and within 10 minutes be comletely recovered.

Just my 2p

[Ste]

Water bottle?

Hydrate or die.

Which means that you need a CamelBak.

[bamt]

High 5 Zero tabs. One in a bottle adds flavour and electrolytes. They take less space in a saddle bag and are less messy than powders - it's difficult to carry enough powder for multi-day rides whereas a couple of these tubes easily sees me through 1200km+.
I dislike "energy" powders as they are just too sweet (though High5 4:1 is much better than SiS in that regard - SiS add artificial sweetners to a sugary drink!) and I end up craving something else towards the end of a ride.

I expect to get through about 3L of drink in 200km, but on very hot days that can be much higher. I use a CamelBak off road (where drink bottles get filthy) but on road prefer not to have anything on my back so use traditional 750mL bottles.

[defblade]

If you're feeling at all thirsty, you're already dehydrated.

Drink plenty.

I pretty much have to use electrolyte mix (and I like some carbs, but not so much of a "must") when doing any exercise as, despite being reasonably fit, I'm a sweaty bugger and if I don't replace the salts as well as the fluid I end up with muscle cramps and getting dizzy.

I did discover that I'm quite intolerant of fructose though, which many/most energy drinks contain - caused me to have nasty stomach cramps and the shits every so often if I drank a bit too much. Took a while to narrow down the cause. So now I use glucose-only ones (currently Gatorade).


I get laughed at on long rides as I always have 2 x 750ml bottles in the cages... I don't tell 'em I've got 2 more in my pannier!
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Honda Varadero 125cc => Suzuki Bandit 650 33bhp => 77bhp =>
BMW K1200R Sport 163bhp => Aprilia Shiver GT 750 95bhp

[monkeybiker]

[Seb]

I usually get whichever hydro tabs are on offer in Evans or on discount-supplements.co.uk at the time. (120 750ml tabs for a tenner? https://www.discount-supplements.co.uk/ez-fuel-hydra-tabs-60-x-4g-tabs#.VWA4SmAVStg). They keep forever so it's generally best to buy up a few tubes whenever the price is good. Don't be fooled into thinking you need to pay the £5-£7 per tube premium for these things
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2010 Triumph 1050 Sprint ST

[stinkwheel]

I was making sure I drank my full 2l camelback full of water every day on my MOTORCYCLE tour. Never mind a cycle tour.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[bugeye_bob]

If you go down the squash route, dont over fill the bottle and part freeze it, so its slushy, it will stay cooler longer, dont forget a pinch of salt in the drink.

[cagiva gezzer]

for the distance you're doing i'd just have plain water. From years of cycling I've worked out that to maintain reasonable energy levels I need one bar or gel every 45 mins on the road bike and a bit more / more often on the mtb.

Most of mine is Torq:

https://www.torqfitness.co.uk/torq-fuelling-system
https://www.torqfitness.co.uk/news/tag/Nutrition-and-Performance (A bit on electrolyte tablets in there - Pretty much useless if you're doing any exercise that requires energy, only to be used where sweat levels are high or combined with other fuel source, and in that instance use a sports drink). I do however pop one after being on my feet / out of the house all day and not having time to drink at work - mobile technician. Nunn tablets are my favourite.

You need to weigh up the needs. Are you:
1) Trying to replace fluids due to high levels of sweat
2) Trying to supplement energy intake to sustain you.

You can generally get the same amount of energy in one gel / one bar / 500ml of drink, so it comes down to what is the easiest to take on board / carry.

25 Miles = water only and maybe a gel before I head out if feeling iffy
50 Miles = 1 x 500ml water and 1 x 500ml torq energy. Gels / bars alternated every 45 mins
75 miles = Start off with the above, but take some powdered energy drink to mix up part way around.

Drinking one bottle of energy drink will only make the same difference as eating one gel/bar, so pick what every is easiest for you/ your stomach.

Edit - sees the DIY option.. 1 x electrolyte tablet + a squirt of concentrated Robinsons juice and eat a block of malt loaf every so often. High quality energy food/fuel is expensive.

On that subject, i did John o groats to lands end with some friends. We had different approaches:

Me - Torq = expensive = looking forward to the tasty bars/ gels and enjoying the drink. No untoward reactions.

2 x friends - High5 and SIS - Grimaces on their faces when taking down the sickly gels / drinks. Bad case of the squits on a 150 mile training ride as he found out his body doesn't like all the sweeteners / artificial ingredients SIS use...

1 x Friend - Complete budget - Lucozade energy drinks watered down and topped up with some powders. Malt loaf instead of bars, couple of gels. It did the job, just bulky and boring.

On a related subject, if you're doing 30+ miles and coming home feeling a bit worn out, consider some form of protein shake/drink afterwards. Be it milk or a specific branded one. This will fill the gap you're created and help build strength.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[Pete.]

[KLR600]

Wow, BCF delivers!

I probably should have given a bit more info in my first post but I have plenty to digest here already (see what I did there ).

I'm hoping to be able to increase my ride distances soon as I've found a few loops where turning right makes it a 45km loop and turning left makes it a 60km loop and then another left turn... etc etc. My goal is to complete a few 100km rides in the summer and depending on how soon I can do that, possibly even longer rides. It's already averaging low to mid 20's temperature-wise here and that will only get hotter in the summer. I should mention that Berlin/Brandenburg is pretty flat and in a normal 40-50km I only manage about 100 metres of climbing so there's nothing strenuous in that regard though I do try quite hard on various Strava segments (for my own fitness, of course ).

I do sweat quite a lot on these rides but it's probably a combination of the heat, trying quite hard to push myself and my fitness not being great. I have noticed a couple of times that I cramp up a little bit towards the end of a ride so I will definitely be looking into adding a pinch of salt to my water as an immediate change and I will get some squash to squirt in while I do a bit of hunting around for some electrolyte tabs. I suppose a tenner for 120 tabs is pretty good really, I didn't realise they'd be that cheap. A bigger bottle is definitely a priority too and I may get another bottle on there as I have holes for two bottle cages.

Thanks again
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Now: '00 Kawasaki ZRX1100R - Past: '84 Yamaha DT125, '89 Kawasaki KLR600, '97 Yamaha XJ600N
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[stinkwheel]

We have to feed Mrs stinkwheel on triathalons.

I make her energy bar* which I cut into mouthful sized squares and she keeps in a "fuel tank" pouch on the top tube. She drinks water.

She has also has problems with energy drinks/gels so we try to stick to known ingredients. You need to eat before you feel like you need to or the gut shuts down to conserve energy and wont absorb it.

Mrs stinkwheel eats at pre-defined points in the race. I also carb load her on the run-up to a race although I suspect she doesn't notice this.

Strategy works well for olympic distance. She's currently training for a half iron-man so we'll see how that goes.

* Basically crunchy nut cornflakes, rolled oats, peanut butter, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, honey, golden syrup. Shoved into a tray and baked then cut into small squares.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Wull]

I use hydration tabs and it just water. I struggle to drink on longer rides,I need to get use to it.

I might try the squash as that'll work well.
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"Scooters are for men who want to ride motorcycles but prefer to feel the wind on their vaginas"

[G]

A can of coke zero.
Maybe real coke if I want some energy.

The only time I've made a real effort is when I did the ultra' - took me 7.5 hours in total.
I went for the 'new school' carb-loading, 2 1/2 minutes moderate exercise, followed by thirty seconds very intense exercise. Then 10g carbs/kg of body weight (so yes, that was about 800g carbs for me.)

Seemed to work, as energy never felt an issue.

[defblade]

[monkeybiker]

[defblade]