Carrying recovery drink
 

Wondered if anyone had any good advice on how I might carry recovery drink power?
I am going on my first long tour (13 days) and have found that a recovery drink after all day in the saddle really helps. Ideally id like to be able to weigh out the powder at home so it's ready for each day - I have a huge great tub at home already.

Google hasn't turned up much - any smart ideas?

I buy beer at the end of my touring days where available. Powder? Ziplock bags would work.

+1 on the zip lock bags. Snack size (the little ones) for a bottle-size portion.

Or buy individual packets. Packets resist tears and punctures better than lightweight zip-locks. Get a box of a dozen, or mix and match.

Nuun tabs are very convenient.

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they are, but this late in the game I don't want to experiment with a different brand (Do they do a post ride one?) Plus I already have the powder on hand.
I'll have a look at zip lock bags and see if I can find some small ones...

I use Ziplock freezer bags. I also mix electrolyte powder into my water as I go.

This isn't a direct answer to the question, but a small warning. I've seen a some people having problems on long trips in warm weather with mold developing in containers and especially hydration tubes after mixing and using products like that.

I was about to mention make sure you are in a dry, non humid environment when repackagaing your stuff, and it is sealed good. A few buddies tried to repackage bulk freeze dry food into vacuum seal pouches for a trip, they must have done it on a humid day because some of it went off pretty bad.

I do not bring a recovery powder on trips, but on some trips I have brought psyllium powder (the stuff in Metamucil) to drink. I carry it in a quart sized freezer ziplock bag, I leave the scoop for it in the bag, one scoop is the exact volume that I want.

If you wanted the extra precision of pre-weighing it at home instead of using a volumetric measurement, buy a box of snack sized zip lock bags and measure out how much you want in each snack sized bag. I have done that with coffee for my french press on some trips.

You should never put drinks with sugar in them in a hydration pack. Water only. I usually carry Gatorade during the day but I keep one of my three bottles for water only...and mark it as such. After a couple of weeks of Gatorade and not being able to wash the bottles, I often just throw the bottles away, especially if they look like something is growing in there.

I don't know how much you need to carry but the ziplock will work. However, I've found that ziplocks get beat up pretty quickly and can puncture. Look at REI (or other outdoor shop) for Nalgene containers. Alternatively, you could use PET containers. They would be lighter. These spice jars would be ideal if you didn't have to buy 48 of them. Look for PET (polyethylene terephthalate). It's the same plastic as you'll find in bottled water or soda bottles. Check Amazon as well.

those bike water bottles that unscrew the bottom of them, would be easier to clean out the gunk that settles to the bottle bottom.

Good luck on your tour and give Nuun a try when you get back.

Most find them very benign and however many tabs you need can be tossed into a single ziplock bag for a trip. Maybe double bag it in case there is rain but that's it.

I carry at least one with me every ride. Just drop one into a bottle, no powder, no mess, super easy.


-Tim-

I carry my ground coffee in a doubled up Zip-Loc bags. Don;t see why it wouldn't work for powder. Started doubling after one time when the single bag developed a little puncture. Not fun to have to get coffee grinds out of a pannier. Powder would be worse.

Lot's of trouble.
 

I have used Spiz meal replacement drink for years. I feel a definite advantage while riding and after riding when drinking Spiz as a recovery drink. I've gone so far as to have Spiz mailed to me on tour and to have people joining me on tour bring a fresh supply. It's quite a lot of trouble.

I tried drinking chocolate milk instead. It was not the same.

Over the past couple of years I've made a determined effort to travel light weight. Carrying 3-5 pounds of powder is not light weight. For 2018 I've ridden an 11 day Arizona tour and a 4 day Colorado tour. On both trips the only supplement I used was Hammer brand Perpetuem tablets. I found them to be an acceptable and lighter weight substitute for Spiz on big effort days. On normal effort days, I've been eating food only and have done just fine. Imagine that - just food!

As much as I am a happy customer of Spiz, I'm happier to have more room in my panniers.

To answer your question - I carried my Spiz powder double Ziplocked bagged and I had one specific bottle to mix it up.

Would it not be easier to buy and drink a bottle of Gatorade type product at a gas station each day and just drink it? Electrolyte replacement drinks seem to be ubiquitous.

The OP did not say what his recovery powder is, but specified recovery instead of energy so I suspect it is high in protein. Not just carbs and electrolytes.

That right there. I haven't tried the PET bottles but I think I'll start because they would be tougher than ziplocs without being that much heavier.

Ground coffee in individual serving vacuum packed cubes is in the grocery stores
Ortlieb has a folding melitta cone like paper filter-support ,
you hold over your cup with chopsticks tent pins or whatever..

And grocery stores carry Velveeta "cheese" too, but I stopped eating that junk when I was a kid.

La Colombe Corsica and my Bodum Travel Press mug keeps the coffee hot and gets the juices flowing. Con't leave home without them.

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I was the first one to mention coffee when I said: "If you wanted the extra precision of pre-weighing it at home instead of using a volumetric measurement, buy a box of snack sized zip lock bags and measure out how much you want in each snack sized bag. I have done that with coffee for my french press on some trips."

I appreciate all the suggestions on how to carry coffee, but I put the little snack sized zip lock baggies inside the french press when traveling. Thus, they were well protected from puncture or anything else that could cause coffee ground leakage in my pack. And this way I had one pot of coffee per day on the trip since I counted them out when I bagged them at home. I have only done this on canoe trips where resupply during the trip is impossible.

So, thanks for the input but I got it figured out. Now if I could figure out how to make sure there is no frost in the morning, ... ...

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There is one other hazard that did not get mentioned for bag punctures, ... ...

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I don't think you'll find a better option that good, strong zip locs. They don't weigh much, and only take up as much space as what's in them. But why pre-measure at all? Why not put it in one bigger ziploc and carry the scoop in it? Pre-measuring means more work and more complication. I like to keep things simple myself. (Just a thought, of course. You do what you'll enjoy the most)

Oh sure, just blame the chipmunks for everything that goes wrong. 😋😁
I've been carrying an extra 2.5 liter bottle of pop, in each pannier lately. Temps in the 90s F pretty steady, here in Eastern Colorado, so you need a lot of actual liquids.
In case anyone needs advice, I like Sprite or Mountain Dew. 7-Up has that weird lime aftertaste, that tastes like dish soap or something. 🙄

Forget the chipmunks. I've had more trouble with dogs (took my breakfast and tried to dump my coffee supply in the Missouri River), crows (robbed my stash of breakfast bars and snacks in Arkansas), raccoons (tried to raid my panniers in West Virginia) and sea gulls (stole my keys in Michigan).

Yep, I kept my coffee and loose leaf tea inside my cookware. Worked perfectly.

I too am a bit pickier on my coffee, but I am more of an espresso guy:
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