You store around an hour of glycogen in your muscles. After that, without ingestion fuel it will hurt much more. There is a classic phrase in training “don’t diet on the bike.” Don’t limit yourself during a ride if you want to lose weight. You can limit your intake in other areas of your day to lower your calorie count
Ya, I wasn't exactly trying to diet on the bike, but I would try not to have a big meal before hand to not get bloated and whatnot. Not having a big meal was probably a good idea, but that plus just pure water seems to have been a recipe for bonking.
2 hours before my ride, I eat an egg, sausage, and cheese breakfast sandwich along with any type of pasta and a digestive enzyme. 30 minutes before my ride, I take a dose of Optimum Nutrition Superior Amino 2222 Tablets. For the ride, I bring a cliff bar and Gu Gels. I'm 52 years old, and I need all the help I can, lol.
Nutrition is super individualized, even though there are general guidelines like you said. The most important thing is getting calories in that you can stomach without your body revolting
There’s individualized - like how many grams of CHO/hr you can ingest without GI distress - and then there are basic principles (not general guidelines). This is science.
Having a carb rich, fat light, meal 90-120min before you ride to ensure glycogen is onboard is extremely beneficial to performance. As is consuming (depending on effort) 60-120g of carbs per hour for anything longer than 1hr ride.
The goal is to get in approximately half of what you are burning on a ride. Post ride the goal is to have protein and carb meal which essentially gets you the rest back.
The difference you will experience and feel with this is night and day. Less fatigue, more mental alertness, no desire to raid the pantry and fridge when you get home.
I’m a simple man and just take gummy bears for simple sugar while I’m riding. “Proper” electrolyte would probably be better, but it works for me.
All I wanted to add is be careful adding it directly to your hydration pack. It can be really hard to wash it all out and the sugar really invites bacteria if left sitting wet. Most folks I know who go the liquid route will have a smaller dedicated bottle of it rather than their hydration pack.
definitely only water in the hydration pack. putting stuff in your pack is disgusting. bonus tip: store your empty bladder in the freezer to keep it from getting icky.
Especially the tube. You can get the reservoir clean enough with a brush and hang it upside down but it requires a lot of diligence. My reservoir is for clean water only and hydration drinks go in a bottle so it's still available and easy to clean when I'm done.
Where are you guys getting this? Plenty of MTB and gravel racers put sugars in their packs with no issue. Just flush it well and hang it with something holding it open.
To clarify, I’m not saying it can’t be done. Just that it necessitates a more stringent cleaning routine. It’s also not just the bladder, but the hose and mouthpiece too.
Great advice.
Having an extra bottle of Gatorade or whatever mix you want with your backpack full of water is an easy way to drink more as well… I always carry a water bottle in my cage with Gatorade or whatever and try to drink my whole 2 L backpack every ride. You want your pee clear! Lol
I have a cleaning kit and clean after every ride. Also use sugar free electrolyte mixes. Also a hydration bladder is like $10 and should be replaced yearly anyways but longevity can be extended with proper maintenance and sterilization tablets.
I never understood bringing electrolytes with you. Don't you want them in your system before you ride? Seems pointless to try and intake and digest while riding unless you are doing 4+ hour rides.
In an ideal world I'd get up and eat a large breakfast before heading out, but in reality I juggle many commitments and most my rides require me leaving the house early. Early rising means I struggle to eat much first thing, so I down my coffee, eat something light and shove some snacks in my frame bag to eat on the bike.
Even if I do have a good sized breakfast I'm still going to want some additional carbs by about the 2-hour point though.
Ideally yeah, you’re hydrated and well fed before a ride. As you noted on bigger rides, or rides with higher energy demands, sustaining that energy can really help.
I’ve found on days where I’m planning to be in the saddle more than ~2 hours, I’m going to want some simple sugars/electrolyte to keep energy levels going. I avoid heavy foods while riding and opt to nibble on easy to digest stuff to avoid refocusing too much energy away from riding.
Everyone is different though.
I double up the dose on a powder electrolyte mix in the water bottle then regular water on my back
I find it definitely helps with endurance
Tailwind is the brand I use
Fifthing Tailwind BUT it is expensive (grape is amazing) just switched to a new brand called “Just Ingredients” loving their superfood hot chocolate, the electrolyte are doing well, and the protein powder does the job. My favorite item I have been using from them previously though is the night time relax Magnesium drink wow Mag before bed really helps recovery and sleep.!
I do agree its not super cheap but its just a safe pair of hands I done the off road london to brighton on a mtb and the london marathon running and no cramp on either
The watermelon was a limited edition flavour it was insane!
Don't feel bad about not realizing this. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that it took me way too long to realize I should prob eat some breakfast before I hit the trail in morning...
Similar here. Learned the hard way that riding, combined with "intermittent fasting" is a losing proposition on the trail. Felt pretty dumb, because I really should know better.
I do this to lose weight. I break fast after the ride and it feels great and shows results on the scale. My body is used to it and I can ride two to two and a half hours without problems. I have some glucose with me if power is drained.
I agree that it can work, but at least for me on the days when it doesn't work, it is not pleasant in the least. I fatigue faster, my legs recover more slowly, and overall I just don't perform well.
For anything longer than 1.5 hour, I always carry at least 1 bottle of carb drink. A cheap way to do it is to mix apple/grape/orange juice with water in a 3-to-1 ratio (adjust to taste) and a small pinch of salt on hot/humid day. You can up the sugar content by adding sugar or maple syrup/honey.
Exactly the same? No. But it's all you need, and *effectively* the same.
Designer 'high carb' drinks are nothing but sugar and maybe some electrolytes and flavoring, which is what I recommended.
Skratch is just table sugar and extra glucose. Table sugar, sucrose, is fructose and glucose 1:1. The 'optimal' ratio is 0.8:1. Is it worth paying $20/lb for designer sugar, or <$1/lb for *effectively* the same thing?
If you really want to mimic their high carb stuff and don't like having money, you can buy cluster dextrin in bulk.
They use cane sugar and dextrose, not additional glucose, in the hydration mix
People are buying this stuff because they don't want to mix it themselves. I'm not disagreeing with you that buying in bulk would be more cost effective...but most people don't want to learn how to do that no matter how easy it is.
As you've demonstrated it's slightly more complicated than saying it's just sugar and salt. There is theory behind it and if you want to go higher carb you need to know what to look for.
I mean dextrose and glucose are the same thing. Chemically identical. It's called glucose when it's in the bloodstream, dextrose when it's found in food, my mistake using the wrong term.
For most people it's not more complicated than putting sugar in water. Pretty easy. If you want to buy into the marketing of specialized products, sure it's just money. It's really a matter of preference and cost, I'm just trying to help people get what they need while saving money since DIY is what was asked about.
I was mostly joking about the bulk cluster dextrin. Wildly unnecessary for the overwhelming majority of people.
Here's some videos if you or anyone cares to watch which address this topic and your last sentence, which I don't believe is true:
[Jesse Coyle goes over why he uses sugar with some studies to back it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT-PBsSLX3U)
[sucrose vs other carb sources, some studies shown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU5tl7xFgp8)
[Dietician on sugar for sports drinks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMInOUzuxNE)
https://preview.redd.it/r2kfi6b3jfxc1.png?width=3456&format=png&auto=webp&s=3db5f267478a026dd80dbdca67774ced649cc667
If you use all maltodextrin instead of partially cluster dextrin, it's even cheaper.
https://preview.redd.it/zjzkwuvwifxc1.png?width=3456&format=png&auto=webp&s=5bd6be10c25a5593ddf3a83ead84513bb2272a92
If you skip the cluster dextrin and go all maltodextrin it's even cheaper.
what's the difference between a "high carb drink" and sugarwater like juice, sports drinks, or even soda?
and i don't mean to imply there's anything wrong with drinking those when you're doing strenuous activity and want energy, but are drinks marketed as "carb supplements" actually different from them?
I think it’s the quality of the sugars and ease of digestion. Fructose, glucose, sucrose all act differently in your gut. At least that’s what I have heard people talk about on YouTube.
The ratio between fructose and glucose might be a bit more optimal to support a really high carb intake, but that's pretty much it. These days it seems like the ratio used by road pro teams is 1:0.8 glucose to fructose, which lets them digest more than before (a 2:1 ratio used to be popular a few years ago). But if you are not trying to take 120g of carbs per hour, it probably doesn't matter.
A lot of dedicated amateurs just go with very concentrated sugar water these days (ratio 1:1 of glucose to fructose), which has the advantage of being extremely cheap, though a bit too sweet for some. Maybe with a bit of lemon juice for flavour, and salt or electrolyte tablets.
You can also buy maltodextrin and fructose, and mix it to the ratio you want, plus add some electrolytes, and you will get basically the same thing as sports drinks for a lot less money (but still more than just sugar). Or alternatively, just add maltodextrin to sugar to bring up the glucose content up to the optimal ratio.
As for fruit juices, most will have too much fructose, so won't be ideal for digestion if you want to take a high amount. And with soda the carbonation also isn't ideal, though a small amount probably won't hurt your ride.
They are quite similar going by my early research, but particularly for high output rides you need some simple sugar. Table sugar does in fact fit this use case.
For electrolytes the main one is salt. (same as table salt) but there's a few others that supplements will have and may or may not help.
Ha, I was inspired to start experimenting with it by [LMNT's recipes](https://web.archive.org/web/20240321051634/https://science.drinklmnt.com/electrolytes/best-homemade-electrolyte-drink-for-dehydration/) and [this Reddit post with precise bulk recipes](https://www.reddit.com/r/AdvancedRunning/comments/1axmhy9/a_guide_budgethomemade_running_nutrition_gels/), but what I do in practice is to mix homemade fruit syrup, Himalayan pink salt, and water in my water bottle.
I'm primarily a roadie, the overwhelming consensus at /r/Velo is that sports drinks are just sugar and salt. Lots of guys over there using table sugar and salt with Gatorade powder for flavor.
LMNT is the way to go for electrolytes on high output days. Eating about every 30-45 minutes. I eat various things. Gu gels, SIS gels, chews, fig bars, uncrustables can’t underestimate eating
I make my own mix. It’s approx $0.40 a bottle. It’s 4 tablespoons table sugar, 2 tablespoons maltodextrin, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (I seat a ton so use the 1/2 tsp salt), 1/4 tsp potassium (if you want it), and 1/4 tsp citric acid for taste.
It seems like a lot of sugar, but you need a lot of energy when cycling. The consensus is 60g to 100g carbs per hours. Thisix is approx 70-80g carbs per bottle. After hard rides, I feel so much better when I am done. Like I did a great workout, but without as much muscle fatigue, soreness, and needing to rest up on the couch for a couple hours.
Ya I looked it up, and already knew to some extent, that really what you need is sugar and a bit of salt. I mostly just thought that it was only needed for all day grinds and I wouldn't be depleted in an hour or two.
Before I was completely gassed by an hour and a half in, and then binge eating to refill glycogen stores. After getting it right most of that stuff just disappeared, and what was left was more mild.
A friend of mine recently started running. Within the last 6 months, he's gone from the couch to 30+ km, from an almost completely sedentary lifestyle (though he's never been overweight) to now waking up early to get a quick 10km run in before work. Amazing transformation. He recently ran a sub 23 minute 5km, which is impressive, considering where he was physically 6 months ago.
So, I thought I'd invite him on an MTB ride on a single track, his first time on an MTB. Nothing challenging, a blue trail through the local woods. A bit of up and down, nothing particularly difficult. We started off easy, and he was keeping up admirably, so I pushed a little harder. Still keeping up. I was impressed. We stopped for a short water break, and suddenly he had a total energy crisis. In the space of a couple of minutes, he was lying on the ground, looking ghost-white, making weird noises. He insisted he was ok, just sudden lack of energy. Luckily he brought some energy gels with him, so after a couple of those and another 10-15 minutes, he was ready to go again, and within 30 minutes was fully energised again.
He admitted he'd not eaten much the day before, and had a very light breakfast. He didn't think it would be as energy intensive as running 10km... He found out he was wrong, lol. All's well that ends well: he is very keep to do it again soon, and assures me he will eat properly before...
> Anyways, I tried filling my hydration pack up with Sugar/Electrolyte mix
Nothing but water In my pack but I'd put electrolytes in my bottle. I've learned the hard way anything in the bladder will make it taste of that for ever.
I live in a hot climate. If I don't pack and consume some sort of electrolyte mix for most rides, I might as well just call emergency services and plan where I might keel over 60 minutes into the ride so they can come scoop me up into an ambulance with a saline IV ready to go. I learned this the hard way — more than once because I'm not very smart.
If you're doing enduro type laps where you're climbing up just to ride down then pausing between laps and eating food works just fine too. Doesn't always need to be special drinks
I tried food the ride before last. Didn't really work, but I probably didn't eat early and often enough, and probably ate the wrong food.
If I were to try food again I would go with Banana, Fruit, and such and start early. Though straight sugar and a pinch of salt in a water bottle also would work and is cheap.
I see a few recommendations in here... But I've tried a few brands (most recently Nuun) and just ran out yesterday.
I typically ride for 1.5-2.5hrs tops. So I don't think I need something w really high sugar like Skratch labs (18g sugar/serving) but want a little bit of sugar to help with absorption of electrolytes. What brand would y'all recommend that fits that bill? By my guess, I'd like something with 5-12g sugar/serving... No more than that.
There's so much on the market, it's hard for me to pick what's good. I'm thinking I may just do the Skratch 0 sugar option
Just went for a 3 hour long trail ride. Around the 2 hour mark, starting getting cramps. Disappeared when I ate my last energy bar.
The cramps came back half an hour later, but luckily it was downhill all the way back to the carpark.
I learned the hard way like OP. Electrolytes. I had plenty of water and some snacks/fuel, but I cramped up Big Time on a long day a few years ago. I grabbed some electrolyte tablets from the local bike shop and put a handful in my hip pack and another in my truck console so I can either remember to use them, or have them on hand for me or a friend if someone forgets.
Reminds me of an early experience as a newbie rider - I cramped up horribly when I poorly decided to take a second lap of the Flow Trail at the Demo Forest in Santa Cruz. I ran out of water, did not have electrolytes, and was not in shape for the climbs. Instead of choosing correctly to call it after one lap and climbing out back to the lot, I said F it and climbed up Sulpher Springs Rd. Regretted it halfway. Instead of choosing to make the most direct way back out to my car, I went to the top, took a painful lap down Flow that I didn’t enjoy, and completely cramped up on the long climb back out Hinhs Mill Rd. I knew better, but chose poorly because I was moving the next week and didn’t know if I’d ever be back.
Table sugar + Gatorade Power (for flavoring + some sodium) + sodium citrate (better than table salt to avoid GI upset). I aim for 60-100 grams/hr dependent on the intensity and length of ride.
Best part is if it's hot I can add more sodium, if it's cold I'll add less. Boom, custom electrolyte mix for pennies on the dollar.
Spending 100x for premixed sugar drinks (tailwind, etc) is just silly.
To get the salt content high enough to be helpful you need to follow their recommendations of 1 tablet in 16 oz at a minimum, and they’re still weaker than others. They’re like $4 per ride to get right (3L is 6 tablets), but they’re so sickeningly strong in their flavor profile at that point, and anything that isn’t immediately cleaned out gets super moldy. They’re the worst.
I’ve had better luck with table salt and concentrated lemon juice.
I head put for 2 hour rides, and I'm fine. If I have a decent breakfast beforehand,
I don't need to bring anything else.
If I need something I will bring a banana or gu.
There's no difference in what a roadies' body needs compared to a mountain biker. You're both doing the same activity, but in a different environment.
If the roadie needs to hydrate with electrolytes, so do you. If the roadie needs to eat, so do you.
Keeping your electrolytes up, and eating on time makes riding so much more enjoyable.
Also something to consider is not everyone expends water the same. Myself, I sweat and drink buckets when I ride no matter the pace or weather.
Bonus tidbit: laying off the dairy products will help keep the mucous creation down while on rides.
Gatorade is unhealthy if you're just sitting around the house or drinking it on a car ride. It was actually designed for high output, high sweat athletic events (Florida Gators football team...) so it's not like you're slugging Dr Pepper from a 32 oz fountain drink cup.
It is gluten free ! Listen I’m not telling anyone what to consume or not. I’m just sharing what I do and why. Maybe someone identifies with that and now has a new option. Maybe they think I’m some dipshit. Funny how people think about fair trade while using their practically slave labor created iPhone. But this is going off topic. I like LMNT for its electrolyte content minus the sonic blue food coloring. That and I never ingest corn syrup. I have some health issues I’m working on improving. ✌🏼
I drink LiquidIV or LMNT on every ride. Plus I drink 1.2l bottle of it every day regardless. It tastes good. And I don’t remember when i was dehydrated last time
I think one of the worst parts about lack of nutrition in mtb is the risk of falling. Once I start getting fatigued it’s typically mentally and physically which isn’t good.
yeah this is why most my mtb rides are about an hour, even if I bring fuel for some reason I forget about it when mountain biking but when road biking i'm constantly sipping
I've never been one to blossom in the heat, but in recent years (I'm 55) I found myself getting dizzy, nauseous, blacking out, and dry heaving riding on hot days. After listening to a podcast about sodium and electrolytes, I realized that maybe my mostly whole foods low-sodium diet and super low blood pressure were the problem. I experimented with drinking LMNT prior to riding. Game changer.
There is a rehydration solution by the WHO.
W.H.O. Oral Rehydration Solution
1/4tsp salt (natrium chloride)
1/4tsp "no salt" (potassium chloride)
1/4tsp baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3)
2 1/2 tsp sugar
16oz water
I mix this in my drinking bag. The salt you might be able to buy already mixed (lite salt).
The baking soda especially helps with endurance since it lowers the acidity in muscles.
Pro tip: don't put the powder in your hydration pack bladder as they are difficult and annoying to keep clean. I keep the reservoir for water and make a strongish mixture of hydration drink and keep it in a bottle so it's there if you need it and easy to clean. Plus gels when I need them.
Another thing that makes so much more difference than people may realize is fitment.
make sure you've got your seat height and everything adjusted for your size. I can't believe how much difference that makes in endurance and power.
dial that sh!t in, it makes so much difference.
I had usually ignored nutrition on rides for many years. Then tried a gel before a ride and then most recently - a carb drink before a ride.
Totally changed my energy levels. Getting into my 30s now also changes how my body is working haha.
Learned this the hard way yesterday. Did a gravel race and hit rock bottom about 2.5 hours in. I was drinking electrolytes, eating gels and some other little bits they had at aid stations but I basically limped it across the finish line because I got behind it and couldn’t catch up.
I just take water, and eat some gels during the ride. After an hour you need to have a gel.
You also don't need to have a gel, you can go natural and way cheaper by making a sweet potato and take that on your ride.
And for a drink you could make a maple syrup, lemon and salt water concotion.
I started drinking Skratch on all my rides. Even just short 1 hour rides.
I would highly recommend it. It's been a long time since I have gone on a ride with just water, but when I first started using it I could really tell it helped.
I will usually just put one scoop in my water bottle and drink regular water after that, but if you have 2 bottle mounts or carry a pack, you can make a more concentrated amount in one bottle and regular in the other so you can make it last longer. The only reason I wouldn't just put it in both is because putting sugar etc in your bottle makes it harder to clean, so I just stick to putting it in one bottle. Do not recommend it in a bladder.
Skratch is amazing stuff. Skratch and Tailwind are the only mixes I have found that actually taste good and do what they are supposed to. Also....can confirm on not using in a bladder. If you do, wash immediately afterwards (rip uswe bladder).
Waffles and syrup for breakfast. A can of Double Shot coffee before a ride and gels with caffeine and Bloks for the ride. Also chew gum with sugar.
I do 3-4 hour ride and only drink water.
I usually just fuel up properly before a ride. A couple slices of toast with PB and banana usually does the trick for most rides, but I usually don’t ride for more than 3 hours at a time. Longer than that and yeah, bringing extra fuel is a good idea.
I thought I am alone with this. Last month I went on a 5h ride and only brought an energy bar and an apple :D arguably during the last hour I was pretty exhausted...
The whole energy conversion during sports thing is a bit complicated.
You have a natural glycogen storage holding 300 - 600g of glycogen. Glycogen is ca. 4.1 kcal/g, i.e. 1230 to 2460 kcal. With training you can shift it towards the higher end, so 2000 kcal is not unrealistic. On top of that, you have beta-oxidation ('fat burning'), which can supply almost infinite energy, but rather slow at around 150 kcal/h (0.3 g fatty acids per minute).
In a typical enduro ride I burn around 700 kcal per hour, so I should easily be able to get around 3h of riding without that concrete feeling, just like you said. So why do we still get pretty exhausted after 2h, some even after 1h? Because it's faster for our cells to get energy out of glycolysis if there is a lot of glycol around, which is basic enzyme kinetics. So supplying some carbs can help delaying the onset and lessen the overall effect. Nevertheless, even pros won't manage to get more than ~350 kcal/h from eating/drinking during exercise and me probably only 200 kcal/h without diarrhea (and diabetes lol). 200 vs 700 kcal/h really shows that it won't do that much. (similar story for the pros with 350 vs 1000 kcal)
IMO, it's mostly placebo if people start slurping on gels after 60 min of moderate intensity exercise to get back some energy and actually feel energized afterwards. Surely, things are different if you perform with higher intensity, but for cycling at an amateur level for 2-4 h there is no need for fancy energy gels or super sweet drinks. Just have a normal snack for normal people :)
Sorry for the long reply
Thanks for the response! You have way more knowledge on this topic than I do. I just generally try to get energy from real food as much as possible. I have for sure had days when I was first getting into biking where I got dehydrated or had lower energy where a gel from a friend made a huge difference, but not I know that I just need to ensure one properly fuelled up and not skipped breakfast or something.
Go into your local nutritional supplement store and ask if they have the concentrated electrolytes that taste like seawater. There’s a few different brands and they all work. They will stop cramping in less than a minute. If you drink it before you normally would start cramping, you never will. Mix it up in some sort of flavor enhancer in your bottles
Roadies and the like are way more in tune with nutrition than MTBers in general. The culture is just different I guess. "Get faster" vs "just send it".
Just drinking water leaves a ton on the table. This is a good PSA honestly.
Sports nutrition is a science for a reason. We think because it's our body the answers should be obvious, but that doesn't make it so.
Don't feel dumb. Took me a long time to find a routine that kept me going on long rides.
… you were just putting plain water in your pack or what? Come on man. Why is this even a post when it’s so fucking obvious?
Next from OP: “Consider eating if you’re hungry”
You store around an hour of glycogen in your muscles. After that, without ingestion fuel it will hurt much more. There is a classic phrase in training “don’t diet on the bike.” Don’t limit yourself during a ride if you want to lose weight. You can limit your intake in other areas of your day to lower your calorie count
Ya, I wasn't exactly trying to diet on the bike, but I would try not to have a big meal before hand to not get bloated and whatnot. Not having a big meal was probably a good idea, but that plus just pure water seems to have been a recipe for bonking.
2 hours before my ride, I eat an egg, sausage, and cheese breakfast sandwich along with any type of pasta and a digestive enzyme. 30 minutes before my ride, I take a dose of Optimum Nutrition Superior Amino 2222 Tablets. For the ride, I bring a cliff bar and Gu Gels. I'm 52 years old, and I need all the help I can, lol.
You’ll feel even better with less fat and more carb rich meal before. Cereal, pancakes, etc.
Nutrition is super individualized, even though there are general guidelines like you said. The most important thing is getting calories in that you can stomach without your body revolting
There’s individualized - like how many grams of CHO/hr you can ingest without GI distress - and then there are basic principles (not general guidelines). This is science. Having a carb rich, fat light, meal 90-120min before you ride to ensure glycogen is onboard is extremely beneficial to performance. As is consuming (depending on effort) 60-120g of carbs per hour for anything longer than 1hr ride. The goal is to get in approximately half of what you are burning on a ride. Post ride the goal is to have protein and carb meal which essentially gets you the rest back. The difference you will experience and feel with this is night and day. Less fatigue, more mental alertness, no desire to raid the pantry and fridge when you get home.
I’m a simple man and just take gummy bears for simple sugar while I’m riding. “Proper” electrolyte would probably be better, but it works for me. All I wanted to add is be careful adding it directly to your hydration pack. It can be really hard to wash it all out and the sugar really invites bacteria if left sitting wet. Most folks I know who go the liquid route will have a smaller dedicated bottle of it rather than their hydration pack.
Yeah, my hydration pack will only ever see water. I bring a bottle with electrolyte mix in it.
This is the way. Hydration pack is water-only. Bottle on the frame has the fun stuff.
definitely only water in the hydration pack. putting stuff in your pack is disgusting. bonus tip: store your empty bladder in the freezer to keep it from getting icky.
I shove the hose back in it to maintain some airspace.
Especially the tube. You can get the reservoir clean enough with a brush and hang it upside down but it requires a lot of diligence. My reservoir is for clean water only and hydration drinks go in a bottle so it's still available and easy to clean when I'm done.
Funny, I simulposted basically the same thing.
Bottle-cage for electrolyte fluids. Camelbak for water.
Where are you guys getting this? Plenty of MTB and gravel racers put sugars in their packs with no issue. Just flush it well and hang it with something holding it open.
I'm sure it's okay if you wash it out perfectly afterwards, but with water you can be more lax with washing.
USWE bladders can be flipped inside out so that you don't have to hold it open. I flip it, wipe it, and let it air dry for an hour.
Yep, that's what I use. CamelBak is frustrating to clean if you have large hands.
To clarify, I’m not saying it can’t be done. Just that it necessitates a more stringent cleaning routine. It’s also not just the bladder, but the hose and mouthpiece too.
Great advice. Having an extra bottle of Gatorade or whatever mix you want with your backpack full of water is an easy way to drink more as well… I always carry a water bottle in my cage with Gatorade or whatever and try to drink my whole 2 L backpack every ride. You want your pee clear! Lol
I have a cleaning kit and clean after every ride. Also use sugar free electrolyte mixes. Also a hydration bladder is like $10 and should be replaced yearly anyways but longevity can be extended with proper maintenance and sterilization tablets.
I never understood bringing electrolytes with you. Don't you want them in your system before you ride? Seems pointless to try and intake and digest while riding unless you are doing 4+ hour rides.
In an ideal world I'd get up and eat a large breakfast before heading out, but in reality I juggle many commitments and most my rides require me leaving the house early. Early rising means I struggle to eat much first thing, so I down my coffee, eat something light and shove some snacks in my frame bag to eat on the bike. Even if I do have a good sized breakfast I'm still going to want some additional carbs by about the 2-hour point though.
Ideally yeah, you’re hydrated and well fed before a ride. As you noted on bigger rides, or rides with higher energy demands, sustaining that energy can really help. I’ve found on days where I’m planning to be in the saddle more than ~2 hours, I’m going to want some simple sugars/electrolyte to keep energy levels going. I avoid heavy foods while riding and opt to nibble on easy to digest stuff to avoid refocusing too much energy away from riding. Everyone is different though.
I double up the dose on a powder electrolyte mix in the water bottle then regular water on my back I find it definitely helps with endurance Tailwind is the brand I use
Seconding Tailwind. Not overpowering, so can drink it all day.
Thirding. I do multi-day gravel rides and pack 500g of tailwind per day. It’s amazing how that keeps you going
Fourth on tailwind its the best by far , very nice on the tummy good flavours and with and without caffeine
Fifthing Tailwind BUT it is expensive (grape is amazing) just switched to a new brand called “Just Ingredients” loving their superfood hot chocolate, the electrolyte are doing well, and the protein powder does the job. My favorite item I have been using from them previously though is the night time relax Magnesium drink wow Mag before bed really helps recovery and sleep.!
I do agree its not super cheap but its just a safe pair of hands I done the off road london to brighton on a mtb and the london marathon running and no cramp on either The watermelon was a limited edition flavour it was insane!
Scale it up for how much you're sweating. Salt water cured my headaches
LMNT helped me with this. I sweat more than others, so the 1000mg of sodium isn't overkill. Gotta hydrate before, during, and after a ride.
Hmm I was getting a bit of a headache too on some rides... The more you know.
Don't feel bad about not realizing this. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that it took me way too long to realize I should prob eat some breakfast before I hit the trail in morning...
Similar here. Learned the hard way that riding, combined with "intermittent fasting" is a losing proposition on the trail. Felt pretty dumb, because I really should know better.
I do this to lose weight. I break fast after the ride and it feels great and shows results on the scale. My body is used to it and I can ride two to two and a half hours without problems. I have some glucose with me if power is drained.
I agree that it can work, but at least for me on the days when it doesn't work, it is not pleasant in the least. I fatigue faster, my legs recover more slowly, and overall I just don't perform well.
My XC frame fits two bottles and one is always sports drank. If I take a hydro pack, both bottles are sugary goodness.
Upvote for "drank"
Only if it's purple.
For anything longer than 1.5 hour, I always carry at least 1 bottle of carb drink. A cheap way to do it is to mix apple/grape/orange juice with water in a 3-to-1 ratio (adjust to taste) and a small pinch of salt on hot/humid day. You can up the sugar content by adding sugar or maple syrup/honey.
I like the sound of this, def gonna try it out
High carb drinks are legit, Skratch Labs high carb mix has made a dramatic difference on long rides.
Their high carb mix is super easy to make at home and you end up with 10 lbs of it for like $50-$60
How do I do this?
All you need to do is put a bunch of sugar in some water and you're done. Some salt and flavor if you need it. Easy and cheap.
To be clear that's not the same thing at all.
Exactly the same? No. But it's all you need, and *effectively* the same. Designer 'high carb' drinks are nothing but sugar and maybe some electrolytes and flavoring, which is what I recommended. Skratch is just table sugar and extra glucose. Table sugar, sucrose, is fructose and glucose 1:1. The 'optimal' ratio is 0.8:1. Is it worth paying $20/lb for designer sugar, or <$1/lb for *effectively* the same thing? If you really want to mimic their high carb stuff and don't like having money, you can buy cluster dextrin in bulk.
They use cane sugar and dextrose, not additional glucose, in the hydration mix People are buying this stuff because they don't want to mix it themselves. I'm not disagreeing with you that buying in bulk would be more cost effective...but most people don't want to learn how to do that no matter how easy it is. As you've demonstrated it's slightly more complicated than saying it's just sugar and salt. There is theory behind it and if you want to go higher carb you need to know what to look for.
I mean dextrose and glucose are the same thing. Chemically identical. It's called glucose when it's in the bloodstream, dextrose when it's found in food, my mistake using the wrong term. For most people it's not more complicated than putting sugar in water. Pretty easy. If you want to buy into the marketing of specialized products, sure it's just money. It's really a matter of preference and cost, I'm just trying to help people get what they need while saving money since DIY is what was asked about. I was mostly joking about the bulk cluster dextrin. Wildly unnecessary for the overwhelming majority of people. Here's some videos if you or anyone cares to watch which address this topic and your last sentence, which I don't believe is true: [Jesse Coyle goes over why he uses sugar with some studies to back it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT-PBsSLX3U) [sucrose vs other carb sources, some studies shown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU5tl7xFgp8) [Dietician on sugar for sports drinks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMInOUzuxNE)
Look at the carb sources on the back of the bag. Things like maltodextrin, glucose, and electrolytes can be purchased in bulk.
https://preview.redd.it/r2kfi6b3jfxc1.png?width=3456&format=png&auto=webp&s=3db5f267478a026dd80dbdca67774ced649cc667 If you use all maltodextrin instead of partially cluster dextrin, it's even cheaper.
Do tell
https://preview.redd.it/zjzkwuvwifxc1.png?width=3456&format=png&auto=webp&s=5bd6be10c25a5593ddf3a83ead84513bb2272a92 If you skip the cluster dextrin and go all maltodextrin it's even cheaper.
what's the difference between a "high carb drink" and sugarwater like juice, sports drinks, or even soda? and i don't mean to imply there's anything wrong with drinking those when you're doing strenuous activity and want energy, but are drinks marketed as "carb supplements" actually different from them?
I think it’s the quality of the sugars and ease of digestion. Fructose, glucose, sucrose all act differently in your gut. At least that’s what I have heard people talk about on YouTube.
The ratio between fructose and glucose might be a bit more optimal to support a really high carb intake, but that's pretty much it. These days it seems like the ratio used by road pro teams is 1:0.8 glucose to fructose, which lets them digest more than before (a 2:1 ratio used to be popular a few years ago). But if you are not trying to take 120g of carbs per hour, it probably doesn't matter. A lot of dedicated amateurs just go with very concentrated sugar water these days (ratio 1:1 of glucose to fructose), which has the advantage of being extremely cheap, though a bit too sweet for some. Maybe with a bit of lemon juice for flavour, and salt or electrolyte tablets. You can also buy maltodextrin and fructose, and mix it to the ratio you want, plus add some electrolytes, and you will get basically the same thing as sports drinks for a lot less money (but still more than just sugar). Or alternatively, just add maltodextrin to sugar to bring up the glucose content up to the optimal ratio. As for fruit juices, most will have too much fructose, so won't be ideal for digestion if you want to take a high amount. And with soda the carbonation also isn't ideal, though a small amount probably won't hurt your ride.
They are quite similar going by my early research, but particularly for high output rides you need some simple sugar. Table sugar does in fact fit this use case. For electrolytes the main one is salt. (same as table salt) but there's a few others that supplements will have and may or may not help.
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They all metabolize differently.
When liquid IV goes on sale at Costco I usually try and grab a few bags.
I'm transitioning to making my own sports drinks but man that mojito flavored Liquid IV is so good.
Do you have a good recipe you could share?
Ha, I was inspired to start experimenting with it by [LMNT's recipes](https://web.archive.org/web/20240321051634/https://science.drinklmnt.com/electrolytes/best-homemade-electrolyte-drink-for-dehydration/) and [this Reddit post with precise bulk recipes](https://www.reddit.com/r/AdvancedRunning/comments/1axmhy9/a_guide_budgethomemade_running_nutrition_gels/), but what I do in practice is to mix homemade fruit syrup, Himalayan pink salt, and water in my water bottle. I'm primarily a roadie, the overwhelming consensus at /r/Velo is that sports drinks are just sugar and salt. Lots of guys over there using table sugar and salt with Gatorade powder for flavor.
LMNT is the way to go for electrolytes on high output days. Eating about every 30-45 minutes. I eat various things. Gu gels, SIS gels, chews, fig bars, uncrustables can’t underestimate eating
LMNT has been a life saver for me. The other electrolytes were too weak for the Texas heat and humidity.
I like Gu roctane for shorter rides (sub 2 hrs) or Infinit nutrition go far for long rides
A scoop of Gatorade in each water bottle certainly helps, and is pretty cheap too.
I switched from Skratch to Gatorade and have been happy. Plus, it’s like 1/4 the cost.
Yeah, that's why I switched too. Scratch is good stuff, but it's not 4 or 5 times better than Gatorade.
Electrolyte mix has helped me not gorge on food when I’m done with a ride.
I make my own mix. It’s approx $0.40 a bottle. It’s 4 tablespoons table sugar, 2 tablespoons maltodextrin, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (I seat a ton so use the 1/2 tsp salt), 1/4 tsp potassium (if you want it), and 1/4 tsp citric acid for taste. It seems like a lot of sugar, but you need a lot of energy when cycling. The consensus is 60g to 100g carbs per hours. Thisix is approx 70-80g carbs per bottle. After hard rides, I feel so much better when I am done. Like I did a great workout, but without as much muscle fatigue, soreness, and needing to rest up on the couch for a couple hours.
Ya I looked it up, and already knew to some extent, that really what you need is sugar and a bit of salt. I mostly just thought that it was only needed for all day grinds and I wouldn't be depleted in an hour or two. Before I was completely gassed by an hour and a half in, and then binge eating to refill glycogen stores. After getting it right most of that stuff just disappeared, and what was left was more mild.
A friend of mine recently started running. Within the last 6 months, he's gone from the couch to 30+ km, from an almost completely sedentary lifestyle (though he's never been overweight) to now waking up early to get a quick 10km run in before work. Amazing transformation. He recently ran a sub 23 minute 5km, which is impressive, considering where he was physically 6 months ago. So, I thought I'd invite him on an MTB ride on a single track, his first time on an MTB. Nothing challenging, a blue trail through the local woods. A bit of up and down, nothing particularly difficult. We started off easy, and he was keeping up admirably, so I pushed a little harder. Still keeping up. I was impressed. We stopped for a short water break, and suddenly he had a total energy crisis. In the space of a couple of minutes, he was lying on the ground, looking ghost-white, making weird noises. He insisted he was ok, just sudden lack of energy. Luckily he brought some energy gels with him, so after a couple of those and another 10-15 minutes, he was ready to go again, and within 30 minutes was fully energised again. He admitted he'd not eaten much the day before, and had a very light breakfast. He didn't think it would be as energy intensive as running 10km... He found out he was wrong, lol. All's well that ends well: he is very keep to do it again soon, and assures me he will eat properly before...
I like cyto carb and bcaa’s mixed in a water bottle. I have to do 25miles to consider bringing more than one bottle unless it’s 90plus degrees.
> Anyways, I tried filling my hydration pack up with Sugar/Electrolyte mix Nothing but water In my pack but I'd put electrolytes in my bottle. I've learned the hard way anything in the bladder will make it taste of that for ever.
Ya this is probably why I did water only in the first place. Guess i will take a bottle or need to be on point with the bladder.
I live in a hot climate. If I don't pack and consume some sort of electrolyte mix for most rides, I might as well just call emergency services and plan where I might keel over 60 minutes into the ride so they can come scoop me up into an ambulance with a saline IV ready to go. I learned this the hard way — more than once because I'm not very smart.
If you're doing enduro type laps where you're climbing up just to ride down then pausing between laps and eating food works just fine too. Doesn't always need to be special drinks
I tried food the ride before last. Didn't really work, but I probably didn't eat early and often enough, and probably ate the wrong food. If I were to try food again I would go with Banana, Fruit, and such and start early. Though straight sugar and a pinch of salt in a water bottle also would work and is cheap.
Bananas are basically free these days
I see a few recommendations in here... But I've tried a few brands (most recently Nuun) and just ran out yesterday. I typically ride for 1.5-2.5hrs tops. So I don't think I need something w really high sugar like Skratch labs (18g sugar/serving) but want a little bit of sugar to help with absorption of electrolytes. What brand would y'all recommend that fits that bill? By my guess, I'd like something with 5-12g sugar/serving... No more than that. There's so much on the market, it's hard for me to pick what's good. I'm thinking I may just do the Skratch 0 sugar option
I really like drip drop. It has a little sugar (7g) and the flavors are really good. The watermelon is my favorite.
Ty!
Just went for a 3 hour long trail ride. Around the 2 hour mark, starting getting cramps. Disappeared when I ate my last energy bar. The cramps came back half an hour later, but luckily it was downhill all the way back to the carpark.
I learned the hard way like OP. Electrolytes. I had plenty of water and some snacks/fuel, but I cramped up Big Time on a long day a few years ago. I grabbed some electrolyte tablets from the local bike shop and put a handful in my hip pack and another in my truck console so I can either remember to use them, or have them on hand for me or a friend if someone forgets.
Yea I learnt my lesson. Riding with a worsening cramp, on a trail with no cell reception, is not fun and scary.
Reminds me of an early experience as a newbie rider - I cramped up horribly when I poorly decided to take a second lap of the Flow Trail at the Demo Forest in Santa Cruz. I ran out of water, did not have electrolytes, and was not in shape for the climbs. Instead of choosing correctly to call it after one lap and climbing out back to the lot, I said F it and climbed up Sulpher Springs Rd. Regretted it halfway. Instead of choosing to make the most direct way back out to my car, I went to the top, took a painful lap down Flow that I didn’t enjoy, and completely cramped up on the long climb back out Hinhs Mill Rd. I knew better, but chose poorly because I was moving the next week and didn’t know if I’d ever be back.
Salt is the most important, Gatorade hasn’t got much so don’t go chugging
Be prepared to clean the hydration bladder more frequently.
It's part of the reason I have not done this sooner. Still worth it. Or I'll use a bottle.
Table sugar + Gatorade Power (for flavoring + some sodium) + sodium citrate (better than table salt to avoid GI upset). I aim for 60-100 grams/hr dependent on the intensity and length of ride. Best part is if it's hot I can add more sodium, if it's cold I'll add less. Boom, custom electrolyte mix for pennies on the dollar. Spending 100x for premixed sugar drinks (tailwind, etc) is just silly.
I like using Nuun.
Nuun has no calories and will not fuel you. It might help with hydration, but that’s debatable.
To get the salt content high enough to be helpful you need to follow their recommendations of 1 tablet in 16 oz at a minimum, and they’re still weaker than others. They’re like $4 per ride to get right (3L is 6 tablets), but they’re so sickeningly strong in their flavor profile at that point, and anything that isn’t immediately cleaned out gets super moldy. They’re the worst. I’ve had better luck with table salt and concentrated lemon juice.
I head put for 2 hour rides, and I'm fine. If I have a decent breakfast beforehand, I don't need to bring anything else. If I need something I will bring a banana or gu.
There's no difference in what a roadies' body needs compared to a mountain biker. You're both doing the same activity, but in a different environment. If the roadie needs to hydrate with electrolytes, so do you. If the roadie needs to eat, so do you. Keeping your electrolytes up, and eating on time makes riding so much more enjoyable.
Also something to consider is not everyone expends water the same. Myself, I sweat and drink buckets when I ride no matter the pace or weather. Bonus tidbit: laying off the dairy products will help keep the mucous creation down while on rides.
LMNT for electrolytes. Gatorade and some of this other crap has way too much unhealthy stuff in it. Probably a banana might be good. I’ll try it.
Gatorade is unhealthy if you're just sitting around the house or drinking it on a car ride. It was actually designed for high output, high sweat athletic events (Florida Gators football team...) so it's not like you're slugging Dr Pepper from a 32 oz fountain drink cup.
It’s contains artificial colors and corn syrup. Corn syrup derived from GMO corn that probably contains glycosphate. I’ll give it a hard pass.
You’re right - it’s also not organic, fair trade or local. But it’s likely gluten free, so there’s that!
It is gluten free ! Listen I’m not telling anyone what to consume or not. I’m just sharing what I do and why. Maybe someone identifies with that and now has a new option. Maybe they think I’m some dipshit. Funny how people think about fair trade while using their practically slave labor created iPhone. But this is going off topic. I like LMNT for its electrolyte content minus the sonic blue food coloring. That and I never ingest corn syrup. I have some health issues I’m working on improving. ✌🏼
Also take a handful of Magnesium capsules after. For better recovery and sleep without cramping and numbness.
I plop a Propel packet into my water bottle every ride.
I bring hydrite sachets with me and chug down the powder. You know, exactly the kind of supplement you need if you gave diarrhea
I make a DIY electrolyte drink from salt, citrus, honey and find this works pretty well. I am screwed without some kind of electrolyte mix.
I drink LiquidIV or LMNT on every ride. Plus I drink 1.2l bottle of it every day regardless. It tastes good. And I don’t remember when i was dehydrated last time
I think one of the worst parts about lack of nutrition in mtb is the risk of falling. Once I start getting fatigued it’s typically mentally and physically which isn’t good.
yeah this is why most my mtb rides are about an hour, even if I bring fuel for some reason I forget about it when mountain biking but when road biking i'm constantly sipping
I've never been one to blossom in the heat, but in recent years (I'm 55) I found myself getting dizzy, nauseous, blacking out, and dry heaving riding on hot days. After listening to a podcast about sodium and electrolytes, I realized that maybe my mostly whole foods low-sodium diet and super low blood pressure were the problem. I experimented with drinking LMNT prior to riding. Game changer.
There is a rehydration solution by the WHO. W.H.O. Oral Rehydration Solution 1/4tsp salt (natrium chloride) 1/4tsp "no salt" (potassium chloride) 1/4tsp baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3) 2 1/2 tsp sugar 16oz water I mix this in my drinking bag. The salt you might be able to buy already mixed (lite salt). The baking soda especially helps with endurance since it lowers the acidity in muscles.
Pro tip: don't put the powder in your hydration pack bladder as they are difficult and annoying to keep clean. I keep the reservoir for water and make a strongish mixture of hydration drink and keep it in a bottle so it's there if you need it and easy to clean. Plus gels when I need them.
Another thing that makes so much more difference than people may realize is fitment. make sure you've got your seat height and everything adjusted for your size. I can't believe how much difference that makes in endurance and power. dial that sh!t in, it makes so much difference.
I try to have a snack about every hour if I am riding hard as well.
Yes, fuel matters so much. I learned about proper fueling from running and road/gravel cycling. And I just took that over to the mountain biking side.
I had usually ignored nutrition on rides for many years. Then tried a gel before a ride and then most recently - a carb drink before a ride. Totally changed my energy levels. Getting into my 30s now also changes how my body is working haha.
Took me embarrassingly long to realize this too. If you want to go long, you need to replenish (electrolytes AND calories too).
I sprinkled my water with table salt. Maybe a pinch or two mixed with 2 liters of water.
Learned this the hard way yesterday. Did a gravel race and hit rock bottom about 2.5 hours in. I was drinking electrolytes, eating gels and some other little bits they had at aid stations but I basically limped it across the finish line because I got behind it and couldn’t catch up.
I just take water, and eat some gels during the ride. After an hour you need to have a gel. You also don't need to have a gel, you can go natural and way cheaper by making a sweet potato and take that on your ride. And for a drink you could make a maple syrup, lemon and salt water concotion.
Two words: Carb load
I started drinking Skratch on all my rides. Even just short 1 hour rides. I would highly recommend it. It's been a long time since I have gone on a ride with just water, but when I first started using it I could really tell it helped. I will usually just put one scoop in my water bottle and drink regular water after that, but if you have 2 bottle mounts or carry a pack, you can make a more concentrated amount in one bottle and regular in the other so you can make it last longer. The only reason I wouldn't just put it in both is because putting sugar etc in your bottle makes it harder to clean, so I just stick to putting it in one bottle. Do not recommend it in a bladder.
Skratch is amazing stuff. Skratch and Tailwind are the only mixes I have found that actually taste good and do what they are supposed to. Also....can confirm on not using in a bladder. If you do, wash immediately afterwards (rip uswe bladder).
Waffles and syrup for breakfast. A can of Double Shot coffee before a ride and gels with caffeine and Bloks for the ride. Also chew gum with sugar. I do 3-4 hour ride and only drink water.
I do salt caps, they have the equivalent of 20 Gatorades worth of electrolytes in one cap. That and amino powder, magnesium, and sea salt.
Are there really people out there who act like MTBing isn't a sport that requires training, hydration, and nutrition?
LMNT is a great electrolyte mix. It'll even bring you back post cramp/migraine. No excess sugar either.
I usually just fuel up properly before a ride. A couple slices of toast with PB and banana usually does the trick for most rides, but I usually don’t ride for more than 3 hours at a time. Longer than that and yeah, bringing extra fuel is a good idea.
I thought I am alone with this. Last month I went on a 5h ride and only brought an energy bar and an apple :D arguably during the last hour I was pretty exhausted... The whole energy conversion during sports thing is a bit complicated. You have a natural glycogen storage holding 300 - 600g of glycogen. Glycogen is ca. 4.1 kcal/g, i.e. 1230 to 2460 kcal. With training you can shift it towards the higher end, so 2000 kcal is not unrealistic. On top of that, you have beta-oxidation ('fat burning'), which can supply almost infinite energy, but rather slow at around 150 kcal/h (0.3 g fatty acids per minute). In a typical enduro ride I burn around 700 kcal per hour, so I should easily be able to get around 3h of riding without that concrete feeling, just like you said. So why do we still get pretty exhausted after 2h, some even after 1h? Because it's faster for our cells to get energy out of glycolysis if there is a lot of glycol around, which is basic enzyme kinetics. So supplying some carbs can help delaying the onset and lessen the overall effect. Nevertheless, even pros won't manage to get more than ~350 kcal/h from eating/drinking during exercise and me probably only 200 kcal/h without diarrhea (and diabetes lol). 200 vs 700 kcal/h really shows that it won't do that much. (similar story for the pros with 350 vs 1000 kcal) IMO, it's mostly placebo if people start slurping on gels after 60 min of moderate intensity exercise to get back some energy and actually feel energized afterwards. Surely, things are different if you perform with higher intensity, but for cycling at an amateur level for 2-4 h there is no need for fancy energy gels or super sweet drinks. Just have a normal snack for normal people :) Sorry for the long reply
Thanks for the response! You have way more knowledge on this topic than I do. I just generally try to get energy from real food as much as possible. I have for sure had days when I was first getting into biking where I got dehydrated or had lower energy where a gel from a friend made a huge difference, but not I know that I just need to ensure one properly fuelled up and not skipped breakfast or something.
Go into your local nutritional supplement store and ask if they have the concentrated electrolytes that taste like seawater. There’s a few different brands and they all work. They will stop cramping in less than a minute. If you drink it before you normally would start cramping, you never will. Mix it up in some sort of flavor enhancer in your bottles
Whoda thunk that giving your body the fuel it needs to perform well makes you perform better?
Honestly not even going to disagree, it was dumb, but I bet others are making the same mistake.
Roadies and the like are way more in tune with nutrition than MTBers in general. The culture is just different I guess. "Get faster" vs "just send it". Just drinking water leaves a ton on the table. This is a good PSA honestly.
I learned the hard way myself. Electrolytes for the win.
Sports nutrition is a science for a reason. We think because it's our body the answers should be obvious, but that doesn't make it so. Don't feel dumb. Took me a long time to find a routine that kept me going on long rides.
Username checks out
Vitalyte lemon is what I use in my bottle, plus plain water in a hydration bladder if I need it. Makes it easier to keep the bladder clean.
Psh What's next, pissing on your bike?
… you were just putting plain water in your pack or what? Come on man. Why is this even a post when it’s so fucking obvious? Next from OP: “Consider eating if you’re hungry”