wolfchild

Try fueling with some solid food and snacks instead of just drinking your calories.

ThermionicScott 

The symptoms can be subtle and individual. When I start running low, I get sort of an "unsettled" feeling in my gut. Not like diarrhea or nausea, just different. Contact points start to hurt a little more, and it takes more effort to hold myself up. I'm getting better at not ignoring these signals, but often it's the fact that I can't maintain my target speed in the absence of an obvious headwind or uphill that drives home I need to do something.

ZHVelo

All the articles I read on hydration seem to suggest that pretty much no one over-hydrates but under-hydration is incredibly common, so I echo this. Although I find it funny after googling how much 25 ounces is in ml to realise you have 25 ounce bottles which is 739ml but here we have 750ml bottles

I personally aim to drink 1 750ml bottle every hour and plan long rides in advance to know where fountains are to refill. At the fountain I would then drink some additional water straight from the cold fountain. I choose an hour because it seems somehow easier to track than anything else. Although if they did 850ml bottles I would get them and do 850ml an hour I think. As I also think one can almost not drink enough. In fact, last summer I was feeling somewhat bad on the descent of a pass I wanted to come back up the other side but on the way down drank like maybe 400ml of just water while filling up and that got me back to feeling good. Totally anecdotal but to me I think for me, the more I drink the better. Granted, on my ride yesterday it meant I had to find a place to stop and pee, but that is a small price to pay. And in the summer where you sweat more, I have gone 4-5 hours without feeling the need to pee.

qwaalodge

I definitely notice I'm significantly faster and less tired on cooler temps at under 85F. For sure, there is less oxygen in the air at higher temps so maybe helped force adaptations to the blood and lungs. But I certainly don't like the headaches I get from riding in hotter temps. Maybe next month, I'll have another try with lots more liquids and maybe rice bars.

MinnMan

There is the same amount of oxygen in air at high and low temperature, except for the tiny difference induced by greater absolute humidity at higher temperature. There is, however, less air per unit volume at high temperature. It is doubtful that this is having a noticeable on your energy, however.

You have trouble at higher temperature because it's harder for your body to shed heat and possibly owing to dehydration if you are not drinking enough.

Iride01 

And again, don't forget that when dehydrated some people confuse the signals they are getting and think they are hungry.

Google - dehydration confused with hunger

And headaches are a sign of dehydration for some people.

Google - dehydration and headaches

Carbonfiberboy 

Do you use a heart rate monitor or power meter?

Riveting

I've certainly heard of recovering with chocolate milk, but have NEVER heard of chocolate milk during a ride. And doesn't milk (as well as milk chocolate) contain tryptophan which is a sleep inducing amino acid (the same stuff in turkey), which may explain your strength declining? I think iced coffee (with minimal milk, or just black) would be a better alternative in a bottle, or FIGHT MILK!!


Edit: Tryptophan article with known side effects including muscle weakness and fatigue: https://www.healthline.com/health/tr...n#side-effects

GhostRider62

I drink chocolate milk on long rides

MinnMan

I too drink chocolate milk on long rides. I find it to be an excellent anti-bonk tonic.

I've never had an issue with it making me sleepy. Also, "sleepy" and "tired" are not the same thing.

ThermionicScott 

I thought the "sleep-inducing tryptophan" thing had been debunked. There are lots of perfectly-valid reasons why you'd want to take a nap after Thanksgiving dinner, and an amino acid that's in practically everything is way down the list...

Riveting

I don't make these things up, I just report on them. But yes, I just found lots of articles that say the tryptophan myth is debunked. Though I still can't find a single article that says drinking milk (or chocolate milk) "during" a ride is a good idea. Maybe I'm propagating yet another myth?

MinnMan

Actually, you are making things up. You reacted to something that you hadn't heard of by cautioning against it, without reliable evidence.

Several here have told you that drinking chocolate milk during rides works for them. That's anecdotal evidence, which you can choose to believe or not. But you think they could be wrong because you can't find an "article" that affirms it so? What exactly is this faith in "articles" that you have that leads you to think that it's probably bad to do all things that aren't endorsed by these sacred texts? Have you found any "articles" that say that drinking chocolate milk during a bike ride is a bad idea? If not, then, well, you're making things up.

I'll bet you can't find any articles that say that singing show tunes during a bike ride is a good idea. Will you caution me against that also?

GhostRider62

What Riviting might be thinking of is during very long rides when insufficient proteins are consumed, the least preferential amino acid is more easily hitching a ride on the transport mechanism across the blood brain barrier. There have been hypothetical articles (probably wrong) about fatigue in this regard. If I start a long ride at 4 am, I might have espresso beforehand and then start to eat around 45-60 minutes into the ride and will enjoy chocolate milk and Lil Debbies powdered donuts until maybe middle of the day and then start to try to add more protein and certainly into the night, I prefer to have some proteins or BCAA. It all burns. Maybe not ideal for a hard core endurance racer. The key is eating enough protein or BCAA, which is why (I think) many seasoned long distance riders like to eat food.

If you eat too little, the first sign is slowing down a bit because oxidizing fat is not as efficient (uses more o2) and ultimately, after the glycogen is toast and the liver has dumped all the glucose, the real effect takes place. The brain goes haywire (unless on can run on ketones) with shaking, dizziness, confusion, and extreme difficulty standing. Picking the right pace and eating schedule on a long ride isn't rocket surgery but it isn't obvious either.

Riveting

No, I brought it up first, based on fairly common knowledge, followed with a citation to a health website as a source, and THEN you crazy milk drinkers piped in with your experiences. And I never said I didn't believe it, I said I had never heard of anyone doing it. Don't put words in my mouth.

The fact that you didn't quote a single source about the advantages of in-ride milk drinking confirms everything I need to know.

MinnMan

1) You added the link in an edit, after the fact.
2) the link talks about reactions that some people may have to taking tryptophan supplements. It makes no mention of severe side effects from tryptophan in foods in general or milk specifically.
3) the fact that I didn't cite whether drinking chocolate milk is good or bad for athletic performance proves only that no specific information had been introduced to the conversation, and if that's "all you need to know", you aren't really taking part in a substantive discussion.
4). https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exerci...w-sports-drink
5) https://exsci.cuchicago.edu/chocolat...ecovery-drink/
6: https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/arti...970-019-0272-0
7) https://uamshealth.com/medical-myths...workout-drink/
8) etc.
9) bye

GhostRider62

Just to be clear, I was generous with my time with you, a complete no nothing. I won't make that mistake again. You call me crazy? For responding and explaining your ignorance? I'd like an apology

qwaalodge

Great info posted on milk. I found oatmeal with modest amount of milk + sugar is great for refueling AFTER a workout session.

Sometimes, I take 1 cup worth of oatmeal (with milk and sugar) before a ride but never during a ride. Perhaps, I can bring a bottle of oatmeal with me but that means stopping to eat unless I can find a cycling bottle with wide straw designed for drinks mixed with solids.

wolfchild

There is no rule that says, you shouldn't stop during your ride to eat or drink....If you need to stop during your ride to eat a snack or take a drink, then stop and do what you need to do.

wolfchild

I've drank plenty of milkshakes and chocolate milks during my rides over the years and never experienced any issues from it....So yes you are propagating a myth.

qwaalodge

The voice of reason. But I won't be able to eat the whole bottle of oatmeal in one sitting. That means multiple stops.

I found a sports bottle with thick straw in aliexpress. Should allow me to eat oatmeal while riding but not sure if the 600 or 1000 ml will fit the bottle cage.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...rch-mainSearch

MinnMan

Whatever floats your boat, but oatmeal through a straw seems like an inopportune choice for fueling during a ride, whether you are stopping or not. It's better to choose items that are easy to eat and swallow, and there are plenty of options around that are rather easily eaten whilst riding.

Also, as has been mentioned in other related threads, once you begin taking in nutrition during a ride, it's better to eat a little bit at relatively short intervals - every 15 minutes or every 30 minutes, depending on the ride intensity. There's nothing wrong with stopping to eat occasionally, but a solution that allows small portions repeatedly while underway has multiple advantages.

Carbonfiberboy 

I dunno. Maybe the worst possible choice? There's always Ensure (grocery store): 1 bottle/25 miles or whatever works? Put a bottle or two in your water bottle, fill the rest of the way with water. Good nutrition, easy to drink. For two water bottle rides, put 40g of SIS in each bottle, fill with water, shake, Very palatable. https://www.scienceinsport.com/us/go...olyte-1-6kg-us

Another very simple solution is to take some Clif Bars along. Open a bar or two while stopped, break them into quarters, put in jersey pocket. Every 15' or so, eat 1/4 bar. Works but gets old on a double century.

Iride01 

Not sure what kind of oatmeal you are talking about. 40 grams of rolled oats is going to give you 150 Calories of which only 108 Calories will be from carbohydrates that will get converted to energy faster than the other stuff. 40 grams of rolled oats is also the serving size that I eat for breakfast sometimes and that will fill me up till lunch if I'm not doing much else.

150 Calories of carbohydrate being more or less what I put in one bottle for 50 minutes of riding, I'd imagine by 3 hours of riding this thread was originally about you'll have a pretty full stomach with more than 3 servings of oats in you, and probably coming out every orifice since oatmeal does give one a lot of soluble fiber to improve bowel movement. And exercise on a full stomach makes me want to puke.

I suppose you could just do one serving. But still one bottle of anything isn't going to be enough for 3 hours. You'll need to make more allowances for hydration whether you put anything in your bottles or not.

qwaalodge

I'll give it a try. Meanwhile, I have a few strawberry chocolate rice bars I might give a shot. Tastes great but fairly expensive to me if I'm going to eat lots of it in a ride.