Longer rides and "bonking"

[OakLeaf]

I don't like my food salty either, plus I'm a heavy sweater, and it took me literally DECADES to figure out why I would get sick for days at a time, unable to eat much or drink almost any water, to the point that I ended up on an IV once (when they finally found a vein, which wasn't easy, as dehydrated as I was). Doctors never figured it out, because they think no one ever eats anything that doesn't come out of a box with several grams of salt already added.

Any more, I don't even drink much plain water in hot weather or when I'm in a heavy training phase. I toss a Nuun U Naturals tablet in almost every bottle.

Gatorade is actually kind of light on electrolytes when you really need to replenish them, but it'll help, and it's what most organized rides use. Personally I just can't tolerate fructose during exercise (not even natural fructose from fresh fruit or honey), so drinks with HFCS are right out for me.