shine2000

so i have a job i do on my bike and it gets realy hot this time of year but wondering whats the best drinK? i drink Gatorade and water right now on rides.

wolfchild

My favourites are: Water, iced tea, chocolate milk, Gatorade.

eja_ bottecchia

Machka 

Water ... and electrolytes.

DrIsotope

I will generally do 3 bottles of water to 1 bottle of Gatorade, on days where I have to drink lots due to the heat-- last Thursday was eight 25oz bottles in less than 4 hours.

Leaving the house for a typical summer ride, one bottle is ice water, the other is 12oz ice and 12oz Gatorade. No need for anything fancy.

Misteraz1003

On a long hot ride I strap on my Camelbak filled with as much ice as it will hold, the rest is liquid Mountain Dew. The Camelbak hangs low enough to cool my kidneys which seems to help a bunch at preventing related problems like heat stroke.

Seattle Forrest

Milk, but that's not great to carry around in the heat. So Nuun.

jeffreythree

Depends on how long a ride, but usually 1 big bottle of water and the rest Gatorade. Camelback of slightly weak Gatorade if I need lots of fluids.

Richard Cranium

You can listen for other cyclists favorite drinks - but the truth of the matter is what works for someone else in some other's situations has little to with your best drinking habits.

Mixing generalities with specific contexts is always a recipe for disaster for advice over the internet.

Rootman

I can't stand sport drinks taste and sugar and I've never tried the high priced electrolyte ones. I go to the grocery store and get Pedialyte, it tastes OK, it's cheap and it seems to suit my needs. Comes in individual portions packs. I put one in each water bottle.

ksryder

Sulfuric acid.

caloso

Usually do 1 bottle of diluted Gatorade (it's cheap and available everywhere) and 1 bottle of plain water.

pdlamb

Water. Supplement with a salt pill with the fourth or fifth quart in a day. Or if you're rich, buy some fancy electrolyte tablets instead of salt pills.

timsmcm

Half bottle unsweet tea to half bottle of water with a little pinch of Himalayan pink salt. Works great in 100+ degrees. I would love to do Gatorade but it just gets too sweet after 15 minutes into a ride. Other sweeteners kill my stomach.

79pmooney

I've been using Vitalyte for 45 years. (Well, no, that name is recent, but the formulation.) It is a very good electrolytes replacement. Works near instantly and can always be drank and stays down. (I also drink it when I have a severe stomach flu for just that reason. And its taste is decent enough that if it does come back up, it isn't horrible. (When I am sick, I figure that if I absorb 1/4 of what I drink of it I am ahead and what returns tastes far better than without.) The stuff is cheap. $18 for 80 WBs. (From REI or the maker. Both have excellent mail order.)

I don't care for either citrus or grape so I always buy the fruit punch if it is an option, but all work for me.

Ben

u235

3+1 is my desired ratio as well. I refill my bottles in route with plain water so it eventually ends up being all water in the end but good enough. Even drinking 1 to 1.25 gallons of water, I've still lost over 5 lbs on some 2 hour rides recently.

Stormsedge

H2O in bottle 1...H2O+Nuun in bottle 2.

TimothyH

+1

timsmcm

Man I would be waterlogged if I drank that much. 2 1/2 hour ride I will have some left over of 2 21oz bottles of water.

DrIsotope

Come to the land of HEAT.



The two downward spikes were stopping at my wife's workplace for lunch (drank ~48oz) and then stopping at the LBS, because I downed both bottles (50oz) in ~18 miles. Twelve miles from LBS to home, another 50oz.

Total for the ride was over 8 full bottles. Oh, and I lost almost 6lbs in water weight on that ride. That's a lotta sweat.

timsmcm

I rode in texas today for almost 3 hours 100+ degrees actual temp (not heat index) same intensity level as you with 3000ft climbed. Not quite 2 full bottles. If I try to drink more I just cramp up.

u235

What is your typical intensity? I'm sure that is a factor. I dont have a power meter and only my HR to go off of. My typical 2-3 hour rides I average about 80% (140-145) my theoetical max HR. At that pace I can EASILY drink 1/2 gallon an hour and still have a net loss at the end but in the time frame it is still okay at the end. Just yesterday had to stop a longer planned ride short because my upper legs front and back all were cramping up terrible, standing first, then when sitting on the hills and eventually even on the level, even had problems unclipping and getting off the bike a few times unless I coasted for a bit first. I was in about 6 hours moving 7 total and I estimate I drank at least 3 gallons of water. I've only had muscle cramps riding one time before. I believe in this case it was lack of fluids and not eating enough on the way. Strange, at no time did I have any signs of trouble or flags to stop or feel sore, weak, tired, or bonked in anyway. Other then the crippling leg cramps and lockups that were lasting longer as time went on, I was feeling great but obviously couldn't keep going like that. I can't blame it on lack of rest. I hadn't been on a bike for 6 days and only some basic weight training 3 days prior.

KraneXL

Try the low cal version -- 30 gms vs 80 gms of sugar/serv. That's what I do. Or you can just add more water (50/50) which was my original solution.

Gatorade was engineered as the solution to this question. Although its been duplicated many times, I haven't come across anything that surpasses it.

Correction: the above was the total calories/serving not sugar. The sugar is 7 gms in G2 vs 21 gms/12 oz in the original formula.

u235

Maybe it's just my imagination but I swear the low calorie G2 gives me headaches. Same with those small low/no calorie packets you put into water and the sugar free flavored syrups you use in things like coffee. I never cared enough to somehow test and narrow it down specifically but I notice a general pattern if I have a lot. Like you said, waterering down regular works fine and it's cheaper

KraneXL

The low-cal G2 contains sucralose (Splenda), so maybe you could investigate that?

In other news: a funny story, on my way to the gym tonight I saw this ad:




Never heard of it before. Anybody every try it?