Whats the best value for money race drink to have in your pack ?

[Breezer]

water and coke 50 50 mix in one bottle and plain water in the other

[DKS]

+1 on the good old Game

[TALUS]

Oros and water. Alternatively Game. For second lap (Suikerbosrand, 94.7, Argus) 50/50 Coke and water - because that is what is what is available. Oh, and nougat.

[mtb impi]

H2O all the way

(Nothing quenching a thirst like water, and nothing like rinsing your eyes or cleaning a wound using energade or coke or any other sweet yummy race drink)

and rehydrate at the waterpoint

[intern]

Water's best also because your bottle won't go feral if you forget to whack it in the dishwasher

[nickc]

1 x liter water, half a cup sugar, teaspoon of salt, 2 x tablespoon of concentrated unsweetened lemon juice, works as well as any energy drink and tastes better than most of them, especially towards the end of a long ride/race.

[TheJ]

+1 with Water.

 

Did the Addo 100 Miler trail run on purely water and solid foods. And in 3 weeks from now I'll be using water at Addo again.

[Paul Ruinaard]

So many diverse opinions. Its the one you ride best on which, as we are a diverse bunch of people, varies widely.  And as the length, intensity and duration of the riding and disciplines vary, the drinks will vary.

 

Dont try 5 hour rides without food and some good replacement drinks. one to two hours fine on water. Are you riding on or off road, are there drinks stops. What intensity - even if training HIT training will likely require some energy drinks if you are going hard.

 

How old are you and how experienced. I have mates who are like camels and others who suck 3 litres in a two hour ride, so this varies considerably.

 

FWIW, i noticed that i was drinking way to little in my training so i have now increased the amount of fluids and have been feeling much better. Thta is hydration - even water would have made me faster.

 

The type also varies - a food bottle halfway through a longer ride can make a huge difference to how strong you finish (as opposed to electrolyte replacements)

 

But nothing beats water as its free. it may not be the one that gives you the highest performance, but that wasn't what you are asking.

 

There are many recipes for energy drinks out there - some quite palatable and are mostly easy to make and are a lot cheaper than the ones you buy in the stores. Google them. experiment with what works for you in your ride format and conditions.

 

And don't believe the labels and all the BS spoken about some of them in the adverts.

 

 

Hope that helps

[Ispeed_V]

I do pure apple juice diluted with a bit of water

[Ed-Zulu]

Oros and brown sugar FTW

[MarcBurger]

1. Water

Banana

Jelly Babies

?

Profit

[Bloukrans]

1 x bottle water with 1/4 tea spoon salt

 

1 x bottle water with 150 ml black label

[lechatnoir]

it depends... I just do water. from the replies here, seems adding a bit of salt would be a good idea.

 

on rides <1hr, i tend to drink nothing

[VicanZA]

Water for the win, using game this year.

 

14600km on just water last year.

[Cruz Addict]

1 x bottle water with 1/4 tea spoon salt

 

1 x bottle water with 150 ml black label

uh beer or whiskey?

beer's going to taste *** watered down, 150ml whiskey is going to make for a very interesting ride  

[jcza]

Here are the facts, make up your own mind

 

Most athletes are under the mistaken impression that they should drink during exercise to avoid dehydration. However, humans are well adapted to withstand dehydration and the evidence for an impairment of exercise performance as a result of dehydration is not convincing. The primary requirement of an energy drink is to provide energy in the form of carbohydrates.

 

At the start of exercise, the body contains a limited store of carbohydrate energy. The liver contains approximately 100g of glycogen and muscle stores of glycogen add approximately 500g depending on body size and training status. During moderate and high intensity exercise, carbohydrates provide the majority of energy to working muscle. As exercise intensity increases above the lactate turnpoint, carbohydrates use increases exponentially.

 

Without additional carbohydrate supplementation, the available energy stored would last for only 60-90min during high intensity exercise.

 

Consuming carbohydrates in the form of a drink, gel or energy bar provides extra carbohydrate, delaying the depletion of liver and muscle glycogen stores and preventing the onset of fatigue.

 

The key factor in designing an energy supplement is therefore providing the most rapidly digestable and absorbable form of carbohydrate energy.

 

The rest of the research is here - http://www.cadencenutrition.com/product-science/the-science-behind-marathon/