What to you drink during a short ride?

[Jiffer]

Okay, so I started the thread on what you eat before a ride. Now I'm curious what you drink on shorter rides, under two hours, lets say. I drink Cytomax Lite on every ride, based on what my husband got me doing when I started over three years ago, but I'm wondering if it's really necessary on the shorter ones. Wasted calories.

I was reading on cptips.com (cycling performance tips) they don't mention having anything other than water for rides under two hours. I guess particularly if you fuel adequately before the ride.

So tell me what you drink (and/or eat) during a ride under two hours, and if it makes a difference if you ride particularly hard or not.

[nscrbug]

For an "under 2 hour" ride, I generally drink just water...or sometimes diluted Gatorade G2 (the low-cal stuff). I also usually don't eat anything on that short of a ride...BUT if I were to have something, it would likely be a mini Clif bar (100 cal), 2 Fig Newtons, or 3-4 energy chews (Shot Bloks, Luna Moons, etc.)...basically something equivalent to 100 calories. I did a 2-hour ride yesterday, and only took in water...no food. It would depend how I feel, too. If I'm riding AFTER I have been to the gym doing cardio and/or lifting...then yes, I probably would want a little something about midway through the ride.

[malkin]

Water.

Anything longer than about 20 minutes also warrants a snack too.

[Biciclista]

I get dehydrated easily and don't need the sugar in so many sports drinks so i use NUUN, i drink it when i get home. I also drink stuff like tea and water and sometimes gatorade while i'm out and about.

[shootingstar]

Water. Or coffee, tea, natural fruit juice. I've never drank a sport drink.

Maybe I've been an inefficient cyclist after all these years.

[marni]

I tend to dehydrate easily and so I always carry at least one, and usually two bottles, one of FRS and one of plain water and then carry extra tubes of FRS powder. On longer rides I can stop and refill the bottles. On Hot and Humid days here in Texas, about 60% of the time, I can go through a bottle an hour and still end up so dry I'm nearly unable toswallow at the end of the ride. It all depends on the weather, but I believe that water is easily carried and important to drink.

marni

[moonfroggy]

i only ever drink water regardless of length of ride.

[OakLeaf]

Hypothetically if it were under an hour and a half and not too hot, then just water... but I never do a road ride that short.

Two hours is too much for me to ride without replenishing carbs. Unless I specifically eat a large meal of complex carbs about three hours before the ride, in which case I can go two and a half hours or longer. I don't get up that early for a morning ride, although I will occasionally cook a large mid-afternoon meal before an evening ride.

Plus, if I'm sweating a lot, I need to replenish sodium, calcium and magnesium (that I notice... no doubt potassium as well).

[ny biker]

I generally stick with water for 90 minutes or less.

Today I had one bottle of gatorade and one water for a ~2 hr ride, because I started mid-afternoon and I knew I'd get hungry early on.

[indysteel]

I usually stick to water for rides less than 2 hours unless it's hot. Otherwise, I have one bottle of water and one of Cytomax. I usually don't start eating mid-ride for rides under 90 minutes. After that, I start adding food into the mix.

[tangentgirl]

Short rides = water or nuun for me. I like the whole sugar-free-ness of the nuun. Not a big fan of sweets, especially in my drinks, but I do like a little something extra.

[tulip]

1/2 G2 1/2 water. Works for me.

[malkin]

Never heard of nuun until now. (I know, I need to get out more.)
I'll try it!

[arielmoon]

I am in the water camp if under 90 mins then I go for my Heed. It rhymes with speed of which I have a need. :P

[Jiffer]

Yeah, I was thinking up to 1 1/2 hours made sense for just water, but any longer might require more. However, if it's hot and/or I intend to ride pretty intensely for that hour and a half, I might want some Cytomax at some point for energy. (Or some other form of energy, but I'd probably go with it in liquid form.)

Today was my first "water only" ride day. And guess what! I survived! It was an easy recovery ride, so a good one to start with.

Someone mentioned NOT using a sports drink BECAUSE they get dehydrated easily. That's backward thinking, since part of the point of sports drinks is to replace electrolytes, which equals hydration. There are many sports drinks that have a lot less sugar than Gateraide ... and less other junk, like food coloring.

Thanks for all your replies.