Sports Drink

Beer!

I like Hammergel or watered-down Gatorade.

There's also this:

I prefer Brawndo. It's got electrolytes.


More seriously, the Powerbar Endurance stuff is good. However, I usually do fine with anything with sugar that's handy(and cheap).

For just hydration, I use the Crystal lite, Lightly Lemon Hydration mix
For Fuel and Hydration, Hammer nutrition HEED is absolutly awesome
For post ride....Usually a big ass Dr Pepper over ice, or a Pitur of Beer


Serious though, check out the Hammer products. Good stuff, if your not sure what you need or when, give them a call, tell them where you are having issues. They are damned smart


http://www.hammernutrition.com/

I use cytomax pre-ride as a meal suppliment. Since I'm only on my xc bike for 3 hours at most, I'll have some form of fuel every hour (usually on the form if gel shots). Post ride i'll have Hammer recoverite.

For downhill I don't really pay attention. I'll still have my recoverite at the end of every day, but I usually have a donut (seriously) and bottle of water every 3-4 runs in hot weather.

Cytomax performance during, Cytomax recovery after.

That said, Gatorade does it's job pretty damn well condsidering it was created for this purpose by the university of florida. I prefer it watered down.

Water. Take care of your teeth.

pelo said:

Water. Take care of your teeth.

Click to expand...

Water doesn't get absorbed into your body fast enough when you are getting dehydrated due tot he loss of electrolytes. This is why there are specialized drinks for this expressed purpose (and is why gatorade was developed).

Cytomax, but it is not that important to me.

Transcend said:

Water doesn't get absorbed into your body fast enough when you are getting dehydrated due tot he loss of electrolytes. This is why there are specialized drinks for this expressed purpose (and is why gatorade was developed).

Click to expand...

Not to mention if you are really worried about your teeth, have some of each, rinse with straight water after eating/drinking enerygy/electrolite products

yerba mate all the way
i'll keep 2 liters of it in my backpack when i'm riding, the stuff is mindblowing! keeps your energy constant all day long, its overflowing with antioxidants, and its totally organic

and it doesnt taste any differnt than the dirt youre riding on! :biggrin:

The yerba mate I have doesn't do much. Maybe it's not the right one.

umm PBR...

But really, usually gatorade or powerade watered down, usually about half and half or 1/3 gatorade and the rest water. The sugar content of gatorade used to really bother me same as the OP.

Cytomax and similar is big on nutrition but its also big on some strange taste, too. But Ill drink it at races or if I'm doing an abnormal amount of riding, or on the really hot days of summer.

Gatorade works well for me, so it is my exclusive ride beverage. I mix it myself from powder, thus avoiding high fructose corn syrup.

Accelerade is one of the better drinks out there. Right percentage of carbohydrates, potassium and sodium. It is a powder drink, I've found most "commercial" drinks have too much crap in them that are bad for you.

For DH I usually drink during the day with a gatorade and a redbull on the way home. For xc and road I either add some salt to some diluted fruit juice or coconut juice or a custom mix of protein and carbs from www.proteinfactory.com.

Nuun, see sig. It's sugar/carb free electrolyte replacement in a dissolving tablet.

Horror Business said:

Gatorade works well for me, so it is my exclusive ride beverage. I mix it myself from powder, thus avoiding high fructose corn syrup.

Click to expand...

Yup, the powder stuff is the jam. I prefer it b/c its very easy to mix just to your taste. Also its a better value than the premade stuff. Does the premade stuff actually have corn syrup in it? I don't have a bottle on-hand so I can't check. But that stuff is just flat out TERRIBLE to put into your body, period.

I've had good luck with the GU electrolyte mix, but I've only used it a few times. Most of which were for hangovers, and it did the trick better than anything else I've ever tried.

I've been wanting to try the cytomax, but my budget hasn't been allowing for it lately.

I like g2 after, or in the middle of a long ride, I usually have a couple of gu's as well.

I havent tried it, but powerade has a lighter sugar version aswell now. The powders are nice because you can control it.

Horror Business said:

... thus avoiding high fructose corn syrup.

Click to expand...

Is High Fructose Corn Syrup really any worse than just sugar, the item it is used to replace? I am not convinced it is.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/business/yourmoney/02syrup.html

Crystal light lemonade is about all I drink next to milk. I just make sure and eat something before going for a ride and try to eat again within 45mins of finishing.

2 Redbulls, 2 scoops of powdered Gatorade, and the rest water and ice in my 100 oz Camelbak bladder for a full day of riding.

matt2991 said:

I asked my coach what he recommended. He told me he wants me to just use gatorade because all he really care about is restoring carbs. Is there any other sports drink that has more carbs than gatorade and doesn't taste bad?


Thanks

Click to expand...

Gatorade should be about replacing electrolytes. There are much better drinks for replacing carbs.

As for cytomax, I love the green apple flavour.

I usually just went with Accelerade for awhile because that's what my dad had around the house. I think that Gatorade is good, but not necessarily the best because of the huge quantities of high fructose corn syrup. I still experiment every now and then, but I think that for long XC rides, I like to drink water with maltodextrin in it. My dad's friend gave us some maltodextrin powder, he's a super hardcore roadie and XC guy. It doesn't have a taste in water, but gives you calories and still helps hydrate.

For DH riding and just general trail riding, I like to hydrate before hand and just carry water with me on the trail. I am prone to cramping when I run in cross country and track, so I have made a habit of drinking Gatorade with an additional electrolyte additive that my dad's co-worker picked up through some of his connections at Gatorade. My dad works for FRS, and while I'm biased, I really love the product. I like to drink a can about an hour before a ride and then directly afterward as well, the antioxidants and other vitamins really seem to help with recovery.

edit: for cytomax, the cranberry grapefruit flavor is newer and hard to find, but i could drink it for breakfast. it's delicious.

jonKranked said:

<snip> Does the premade stuff actually have corn syrup in it? I don't have a bottle on-hand so I can't check. But that stuff is just flat out TERRIBLE to put into your body, period.
<snip>
.

Click to expand...

Yes, the prebottled sure does.

CRoss said:

Is High Fructose Corn Syrup really any worse than just sugar, the item it is used to replace? I am not convinced it is.

.

Click to expand...

Without reading the article you lsited, both my doctors have told me that HFCS is a terrible thing to ingest in your diet. Here is a way to prove it to yourself, cut out any and all HFCS from your diet for three weeks. Tell me how you feel. I can tell you one, you will have more energy, two, natural sugars will be like throwing gas on a fire as far as boosting your energy, three, you will sleep better at night, and four, probably drop weight.

Now dont substitute for these artifical sweetners, go for natural sugars, yes granulated sugar is a natural sugar. Stevia is ok.

Problem, cutting the HFCS out is hard, its in ALOT of foods.

Where do you buy Cytomax? And what are the best flavors that done make you more thirsty?

DirtyMike said:

Without reading the article you lsited, both my doctors have told me that HFCS is a terrible thing to ingest in your diet. Here is a way to prove it to yourself, cut out any and all HFCS from your diet for three weeks. Tell me how you feel. I can tell you one, you will have more energy, two, natural sugars will be like throwing gas on a fire as far as boosting your energy, three, you will sleep better at night, and four, probably drop weight.

Click to expand...

I have and it did not doing anything more than cutting sugar out of my diet did. More energy slept better and so forth. Sugar does not act like throwing gas on a fire for me. It give me energy but now it takes far less sugar for me to start feeling sick.