So, historically I’ve always carried a bottle of water and a bottle of carbs/electrolyte on the bike. Recently though I’ve been playing around with different drink mixes and brands, and have found a combo I like, BUT it’s basically I bottle of carbs only and 1 bottle of an electrolyte mix. I’m not sure how I feel about not having a plain water bottle with me, and was curious if this is something a lot of people are doing. This was spurred on by ironman ditching gatorade along with me racing the T100 in Las Vegas this year, and trying to figure out what will be on course vs just trying to carry it all with me.
I’ve never had anything but carbs and salt with water in the same bottle
Going pretty good the last 40+ years
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I assume both carb and electrolyte are from a powder? What keeps you from just mixing the two together into 1 bottle? I always have 1 or more bottles of straight water. The hotter it is the more I like having straight water bottles instead of sugar/salt. How much total fluid are you taking in per hour?
I rarely ever carry plain water on the bike.
The only time I do is if I only need one bottle and happen to have two with me. The second one gets water since I’ll probably dump it out.
I had the thought of mixing them together, but I guess I wasn’t sure if that would effect the absorption of either. I take about 750ml a hour depending on the temp.
I haven’t carried just water on a ride longer than an hour in 20 years. It’s the same amount of fluid with a dilluted mixture right or very near the same?
I would say I haven’t carried just water in a bottle when I have left home in close to 25 years. Sometimes if I fill up out on a ride water is the only option but if I’m riding from home I won’t have plain water.
Wow seems I’m the only one that rides with plane water in all my bottles??? Close to big races IM or 70.3 in big training blocks I may run carbs in one or two of my three bottles on my tri bike but never unless I’m generally going over 3 hours, in a big block and wanting to train my gut closer to race day. Electrolytes are an afterthought and I may stop to buy a Gatorade on a long ride but I’ll generally just increase my salt intake in my diet. Of course on race day I’ll have electrolytes in the bottles or capsules.
Don’t you at times just crave plain water especially on hotter days when your bottle is warm?
I carry and use plain water alongside the carb/electrolyte drink. My nutrition is based around a bottle an hour, which for me is ‘cold day’ hydration levels. So that if it’s hot, then I keep the same ‘loaded’ intake and then adjust the water.
In fact, that’s not the full story. I actually have a bottle of 4x concentrated on the bike (downtube bottle), then grab plain water from aid stations and dilute into the BTA, the plain lives in the BTS. Just explaining an alternative to all the hydraphobics above 
Wow seems I’m the only one that rides with plane water in all my bottles??? Close to big races IM or 70.3 in big training blocks I may run carbs in one or two of my three bottles on my tri bike but never unless I’m generally going over 3 hours, in a big block and wanting to train my gut closer to race day. Electrolytes are an afterthought and I may stop to buy a Gatorade on a long ride but I’ll generally just increase my salt intake in my diet. Of course on race day I’ll have electrolytes in the bottles or capsules.
Don’t you at times just crave plain water especially on hotter days when your bottle is warm?
I carry plain water on 3-4 hr rides when it’s going to be hot out in Norcal.
For rides under 3hrs, no problem at all with water in all 3 bottles for me when I’m riding regularly (which is pretty much all the time) - body is used to fat burning and I don’t bonk unless I’ve run/swam like over 90 mins beforehand.
For 3+hr rides I make sure I have calories but honestly, when I’m in shape I can def ride 4-5 hrs with no calories and not bonk as long as I’ve prefueled well beforehand since I’m fat adapted. I’ve ridden hilly centuries and barely need to eat, but I make myself eat just in case.
ditto to everyone else … almost never carry plain water.
Maybe if Im doing an hour before work in central park (where I rarely remember to drink).
Frequently the last hour of a long ride, when Im just refilling a bottle to stay cool as I pick my way back home through manhattan… but its never a “planned” part of my nutrition/hydration.
Everyone is different, but I always carry water during long rides in the Summer. You can always pour water on your neck, back or head if you want a bit extra cooling effect going through a climb, or if you want to clean your face, etc. And for whatever reason it seems as if my brain likes the feeling of drinking pure water even if I sip gatorade/liquid nutrition at the same time as opposed to all mixed.
I almost always carry pure water in at least 1 bottle. I have ridden well over 100,000 miles the past 5 years. This allows more flexibility with water intake vs electrolytes vs nutrition. It depends on duration, temps and type of ride. I probably average close to 400 miles riding per week with nothing in bottles except water.
I carry 3 bottles with me for a 70.3, all of them mixed with high carb + sodium. The advantage of this way is that you don’t have to think, you just need to drink. If you’re 20% through the bike leg, you should be 20% through your hydration (more or less, though you want to drink more at the start)
Though this only works if the weather cooperates and if you know exactly how much liquid you need (thanks Saturday.app!). On a hot day you need more bottles.
At aid stations I grab water, mostly to dowse myself, but if it’s hot I’ll take a few swigs to cleanse the pallet before tossing it in the hockey net.
Wow seems I’m the only one that rides with plane water in all my bottles??? Close to big races IM or 70.3 in big training blocks I may run carbs in one or two of my three bottles on my tri bike but never unless I’m generally going over 3 hours, in a big block and wanting to train my gut closer to race day. Electrolytes are an afterthought and I may stop to buy a Gatorade on a long ride but I’ll generally just increase my salt intake in my diet. Of course on race day I’ll have electrolytes in the bottles or capsules.
Don’t you at times just crave plain water especially on hotter days when your bottle is warm?
I carry plain water on 3-4 hr rides when it’s going to be hot out in Norcal.
For rides under 3hrs, no problem at all with water in all 3 bottles for me when I’m riding regularly (which is pretty much all the time) - body is used to fat burning and I don’t bonk unless I’ve run/swam like over 90 mins beforehand.
For 3+hr rides I make sure I have calories but honestly, when I’m in shape I can def ride 4-5 hrs with no calories and not bonk as long as I’ve prefueled well beforehand since I’m fat adapted. I’ve ridden hilly centuries and barely need to eat, but I make myself eat just in case.
What do you mean by fat-adapted? Are you doing workouts fasted? or is it something about your diet? Just trying to learn more about nutrition as I usually wont take fuel for a 1 hour ride, just ~750mL water.
So, historically I’ve always carried a bottle of water and a bottle of carbs/electrolyte on the bike. Recently though I’ve been playing around with different drink mixes and brands, and have found a combo I like, BUT it’s basically I bottle of carbs only and 1 bottle of an electrolyte mix. I’m not sure how I feel about not having a plain water bottle with me, and was curious if this is something a lot of people are doing. This was spurred on by ironman ditching gatorade along with me racing the T100 in Las Vegas this year, and trying to figure out what will be on course vs just trying to carry it all with me.
I used to but since I have increased my hourly carb intake into the 120g per hour range I need the additional sport drink offering on the frame.
was thinking of your question today on my long ride. generally when riding an hour+, i bring calories. less than that, it’s plain water in my bottle, or a few drops of something for flavour/electrolytes.
but, where i live there are a lot of public water fountains that are clean to drink. so, you’re basically always sure that you can refill often on any ride or run. so on longer rides, i start with calories in my bottles, and when they run out i refill them with water, and keep eating gummies/gels/bars. it’s a very rare ride when i stop at a gas station to buy gatorade/coke.
My personal preference is water only whilst training for anything under about 90 minutes. That is, unless I have a double session later in the day.When on the bike for a number of hours, I generally bring a bottle of water regardless.
I’m curious for those of you with only carbs, where you ride
In summer here in TX, I’m drinking about 1L / hour (or more) and it’s almost impossible to get the right mix of carb in each bottle given the huge amount of liquids. Most of the time sodium is in the bottles, but I also like to do one bottle super salty / one pure water so I have something to dump on my head or glasses when I need.
Carbs get consumed via food (or a separate super concentrated bottle) so I can control intake. This also helps in race situation when the course has water and I need different nutrition
For only a 1-2hr ride, or when it’s not as hot - anything goes. Way easier to put carbs in all the bottles so I don’t need to think about eating
I’m really surprised by all the folks saying they ONLY mix food / hydration. What do you do when you get to a gas station to refuel??
Always start with carbs/electrolyte in two bottles when racing. Once race underway and the first bottle is emptied, I transition to one bottle of water and the other whatever the race offers. Some of what the races offer is nasty, so I carry a packet of powder package (or two) in the jersey (and put in special needs bag if available) and mix as desired. I learned the hard way that water is more versatile than nutrition to use for a cool splash in the mouth AND over the body. Not fun riding with sticky, dried drink on head and body.
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