Seattle Forrest

I put Nuun tabs in one of my water bottles, and plain water in the other one. Figure water is good to drink, but it's also useful for other stuff (somebody's contact falls out and has to be cleaned, or road rash). I'm curious if everybody does this, or if it's just me. I even put the one with brawndo on the down tube so it's easier to reach because it's what I usually want.

Heathpack 

MAK

Water in both. I'll carry NUUN tablets if going long or if it's very hot. I put a rubber wrist band around the neck of one and that's the one that gets the tablets.

DrIsotope

Summer: 50/50 water and ice in one, 50/50 Arctic Blitz Gatorade and ice in the other.

Water on the downtube, Gatorade on the seat tube.

wipekitty

If the dewpoint is ~50F or higher, water in one, Skratch hydration or Nuun in the other. Otherwise, water in both. I started experimenting with hot herbal teas for cooler weather.

HTupolev

Beverage of an appropriate color.







If I'm wearing light blue kit and riding a red bike, I'll sometimes use light blue beverage to match the kit instead of red to match the bike. I did that today.

noodle soup

Frozen Nuun or Hammer Fizz in one bottle, and ice water in the other.

Bryan C. 

Electrolyte water in both. Not a big fan of sweet drinks while riding. Now when I take a break, I usually have some sort of sports drink.

KraneXL

Gatorade and protein in various strengths, i.e. 12.5 gms/hour.

canklecat

Usually electrolytes in one bottle, plain water in the other. The plain water is for pouring on myself, or my eyes if I get anything in 'em, although that happens less often now that I wear safety glasses on every ride -- clear glasses at night.

I carry extra packets of powdered electrolytes in my seat bag, enough for myself and anyone else who might need a boost to recover from cramps. The best and most complete I've tried is DripDrop, but Propel by Gatorade is much cheaper and almost as good. Both come in Mylar packets, which are sweat-proof. The little narrow packets can fit anywhere. Handier than NUUN tablets, which I also used last summer before discovering DripDrop at Walgreen's (in the baby aisle -- it's marketed as an emergency dehydration supplement).

Recently I've added a packet of Picot, a popular Mexican made antacid that contains citric acid, sodium bicarb and a tiny bit of sucrose. The theory is these combine to make for more effective energy and water absorption. Dunno, but it seems to work for me. Combined with my usual electrolytes the flavor is zingy. And I don't get a sour stomach like I used to riding in really hot weather on an empty stomach (I'm experimenting with fasted riding in the morning). A box of Picot with 8 packets costs only a buck at Dollartree, a third the price of the grocery stores.

When Texas temps hit 100 for days at a time I began carrying a Reduce Cold 1 stainless double wall thermos that fits my bottle cages and Camelbak lids. I fill it half full with water/DripDrop and freeze it. The frozen electrolytes will stay cold for 8 hours in the heat. I just top it up with fresh water throughout the day and it's still cold hours later when I get home, usually with a little icy electrolytes remaining in the bottom. It's heavier than my insulated Polar bottle, but worthwhile for the pleasure of having a really cold drink anytime throughout the day and night.

Unfortunately Reduce discontinued that particular Cold 1 bottle and I can't find another that fits my bottle cage and Camelbak lids as well. I bought it for only $4 last winter when Kroger was blowing 'em out. They had two or three more and I'm kicking myself for not buying all of 'em.

John00

Water with a litle bit of salt in my bottles, Warm or hot water is bad, but warm or hot sports drink is awful.

Racing Dan

Diy drink. Water, sugar, lemon juice and little bit of salt.

zoolzoo

Machka 

Used to go with one of each ... but for the past several years it has been water in both.

dennis336

For short work-day rides, just water, if anything at all. For longer weekend rides, especially if it's hot, I'll start with two bottles with electrolyte mix (Cytomax), then refill with water during the ride.

kbarch

Love it!
I tend to put sport drink (half-strength from powder) in both, because I have a childish taste for it when riding, but I definitely see the advantage of having plain water - like yesterday, one rider went down, and it came in handy for cleaning off the scraped thigh, and at the end, a couple of guys had some to pour on their head at the end of the ride - it was very hot! I had nothing left, though.

GrainBrain

I'll often start out with water in one, Gatorade mix in another. Drink the Gatorade in the first hour to get some sugar, then switch to water. I'll stick with water only throughout the rest of the ride, but sometimes if I stop by a convienence store I'll spend $0.40 on a refill from the fountain machine if they have Powerade or Gatorade and fill a water bottle with it. I only bother with that on rides over 80 miles.

Though recently I've been trying out various things like Gu packets, so I'll just carry pure water in both.

Sy Reene

One bottle with nuun, the other with slightly weak gatorade. This thread has me wondering now, would there be any harm squirting nuun beverage on some road rash?

Capo72

I use GQ-6 in one bottle and water in the other. I like GQ-6 because it has a carb mix along with electrolytes. I don't have to eat as much on long rides if I have carbs in my bottle.

indyfabz

Mold

Hermes

mvnsnd

Been using GQ-6 in both bottles with an additional bit of skratch labs mix in each. Been way hot and I sweat a ton, so I need to replace as much fluid and electrolytes as possible.

memebag

Gatorade in all 3 bottles. I tried water plus Clif bloks with salt in them for awhile but that isn't enough for 40-50 mile rides in Houston in the summer.

black_box 

So, sort of like pouring salt on a wound?

Abe_Froman

Water unless it's really hot and i'm going for longer than a couple hours. Then i'll put lemonade or limeade with a bit of salt in one of the bottles.