What is your choice when you get off your bike after a 40+ mile ride? Do you have a special recovery drink or food?
i use “fluid recovery” from infinit nutrition…then after about an hour
i eat the usual good carb/protein meal…
Chocolate Milk started doing it about 15 years ago after hard workouts and practices and have continued using it to this day… Now in college football in particular it is all the rage guess I was unknowingly ahead of my time, I didn’t use it for anything other than it sounded and tasted good to me but apparently it is a fantastic and cheap recovery aid. I know it sounds weird but I just love really cold chocolate milk after a workout!
turkey sandwich and a coke. stretch, nap, wake, beer, pizza, beer.
I usually go for one of these if the ride is less than an hour:
http://www.baskinrobbins.com/Nutrition/Product.aspx?Category=Beverages&id=BV228
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Fluid recovery. Ditto. Best thing I have ever tried.
but it’s not from Infiniti… maybe that’s something different??
I use this:
www.livefluid.com
I usually go for one of these if the ride is less than an hour:
http://www.baskinrobbins.com/...verages&id=BV228
Great source of Calcium. Calcium is really the key.
It is better than infinit in terms of recovery. Best of all made with reduced fat milk. there is slight saturated fat but not alarming.
Lactose-Free Chocolate milk. Sucks being lactose intolerant.
Swimfan, when I first looked at that I thought it said “health shake” and I was all confused. I get it. HEATH shake.
To the OP - chocolate soy milk! or stonyfield yogurt.
It is no coincidence however that ‘Heath’ is spelled very similarly to ‘Health’. Never underestimate the importance of calcium.
Calcium is very important!
Would strawberry milk work the same as chocolate milk? Is it the milk, or the chocolate, that works? I’ve also heard lately that chocolate milk is just as effective as Gatorade for recovery.
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I usually go for one of these if the ride is less than an hour:
http://www.baskinrobbins.com/Nutrition/Product.aspx?Category=Beverages&id=BV228
Wow - that is now officially the most ridiculous edible thing I have seen.
Thank you for posting that monster 
There is nothing inherently better about chocolate or strawberry flavoring. The key components to a recovery drink are carbohydrates and protein*. Chocolate Milk (and Strawberry Milk), have both. Chocoloate milk is cheap, easy to drink, and (at least according to 99% of anyone who knows anything) delicious.
Gatorade may be good for rehydrating and restoring glycogen stores, but it does not have any protein.
*I realize that this is an incredible simplification of the recovery drink.
Would strawberry milk work the same as chocolate milk? Is it the milk, or the chocolate, that works? I’ve also heard lately that chocolate milk is just as effective as Gatorade for recovery.
Strawberry milk is fine. The premise of it is that glucose receptors in muscle cells are closer to the cell membrane in the first 15 min after exercise, so getting sugar in ASAP will help you store more glycogen and speed recovery. The sugar in the milk, and additional sugar in syrup, plus the protein in milk is why chocolate milk is so effective. The fact that it’s already in solution makes it absorbed faster as well (liquid vs eating a bar of some sort, for instance)
I usually go for one of these if the ride is less than an hour:
http://www.baskinrobbins.com/...verages&id=BV228
Wow - that is now officially the most ridiculous edible thing I have seen.
Thank you for posting that monster
You haven’t seen this bad boy!
http://www.nanbelegorn.com/sandwich/
or this!!!
Swimfan, circa 2004, post IM Florida.
more like this…
Would strawberry milk work the same as chocolate milk? Is it the milk, or the chocolate, that works? I’ve also heard lately that chocolate milk is just as effective as Gatorade for recovery.
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Probably. The milk gives you protein and a good amount of nutrients and calories. The chocolate just makes it taste even better and adds sugar bringing the carb:protein ratio close to that 4:1 number. Strawberry, banana, mandarin orange, pina colada… Whatever floats your boat as long as it has around 8g of protein and 20-30g of carbs. It also has some pretty decent sodium and potassium content. 1% or skim milk based is better as the fat can slow the digestion.
Here’s a pretty decent discussion of the study that attempts to understand the results of why chocolate milk performed so well. Essentially there was a very short recovery period (4hrs) between exercise sessions.