Homemade "On the Bike" Energy Drinks and Bars

[DarcyInOregon]

Hi Michelem, thanks for the information. I am happy to know the drink is working for you. I will have to try your recipe and I will post to let you know how it goes on an upcoming longer ride.

What do you do on the even longer rides, when you have to stop and refill the water bottles?

I was using the commercial fitness drinks all summer, and I was happy with the results because my energy levels were high and I was able to increase my distances effectively. Then the water retention started to creep up on me. That is when I really looked at the labels on these products and realized that the sodium levels were too high for me, that I can't possibly sweat out that much sodium in one ride. Some of the products have over 200 mg per serving. Cytomax has a low sodium powder, but it is still around 30-40 mg per serving. I might use it for the refill problem on the longer rides.

When forum members post that they've gained weight, oh horrors, what can they do, and then members chime in with oh it is muscle gain or what not, nobody ever thinks that it might be water retention due to too much sodium in the commercial fitness products. Just 20 years ago, the recommended limit for sodium for an adult was 2000 mg per day. Then it was lowered to 1500 mg per day. I think it is down to 500 mg per day now. Well one large water bottle can hold 500 mg of sodium, then drink some more water bottles, plus the Cliff Bloks and other bike food, and you can see why cyclists can get into some water retention problems. I am certainly proof of it.

Anyway, thanks for the information. I will get this figured out, and trying your recipe will be one of the things I do.

Oh, I haven't been absent from this forum. I have merely been busy cycling.

Darcy

[michelem]

Darcy,

So far, my longest ride was about 6 hours and once I ran out of recovery drink that is when I switched over to food (that particular day I had stuck a frozen banana in my back jersey pocket and by the time I got to it it was disgusting black mush, but I needed something so I slurped it down - UGH! - in addition to the banana had some roasted almonds - first soaked the almonds overnight in water and a tsp. of apple cider vinegar. then, spread them out on a cookie sheet and sprinkled with a very teeny bit of celtic sea salt, and put them in the oven at about 200 - 250 degrees until they dried out). Raisins and the roasted almonds have worked well. Another thing I might try when I get to riding even longer rides is making the recovery drink "goo" and putting it into a gel flask (I've heard they sell them at REI). Then, I can squeeze that into my empty bottle and fill with water at a rest stop.

Yes, weight gain can be due to all types of things. Sounds like you are in close contact with a medical professional, so that is good. When I just had my "big blow up" experience, I went in to my pcp and she did blood tests for liver enzymes, electrolytes, and something for the heart. It turned out my my liver enzymes were very elevated and that is what told her that the edema was due to medication toxicity and she didn't want to worsen it by giving me diuretics. So, I had to wait it out. It felt like forever, but in reality was only (ha ha) about two weeks.

Anyway, for each person it is different. When I sweat, it seems pretty clear (doesn't leave a residue), but when my husband sweats he ends up with crusty white residue on his skin and clothing. So, I KNOW he loses lots more salt than me.

Keep us posted.

[Jolt]

Here's a cookie recipe that I haven't tried on the bike (my rides aren't that long) but I almost always take when I hike. My roommate calls them the "bomb cookies" because she thought they looked like an explosion of all kinds of good stuff.

16-oz. jar of natural peanut butter
3/4-1 cup H2O
2 cups white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
5 cups whole wheat flour
5-6 cups old-fashioned oats (I have always used 5 cups)
1 12-oz. bag of chocolate chips
1 cup raisins or other small pieces of dried fruit
1-2 cups nuts (I usually use sunflower seeds)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cream peanut butter, sugars, water, eggs and vanilla. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour; mix. Fold in oats, nuts, fruit and chocolate chips (may have to use hands for this part). Drop by tablespoonful on cookie sheets. Bake for 10-11 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen.

This is an adaptation of a recipe I found in a family cookbook; it originally called for butter but I experimented and figured out that peanut butter could be substituted if some water was added to get the consistency right. The recipe also called for some butterscotch chips, but these tend to have a lot of trans fat and other crud in them so I substituted the fruit (that wasn't in the original recipe).

[BikerDar]

I make the recipe on the Quaker Oatmeal box, substituting applesauce for the oil. They are really tasty and good fuel.

Another favorite is peanut butter/banana/honey burritos.
Flour tortilla, spread some PB, squirt some honey and lay a banana inside then roll it up like a burrito. Stick it in a ziplock and stuff it in your pocket.
Two hours later it's warm yummy gooey fuel.