electrolyte replacement

[DebW]

What products do people use for electrolyte replacement on long hot rides? Is this a personal preference on what tastes good to you, or are some products really superior? One suggestion I've heard and may try is to add 1/4 teaspoon of Lite Salt to each quart of water. Lite Salt is a NaCl/KCl mixture, so you get sodium and potassium. Any opinions on whether this is reasonable? It's certainly cheap and easy to carry.

[SadieKate]

Endurolyte pills from Hammer. They work fast, don't upset my stomach and no extra calories so you don't have to plan calorie and electrolyte intakes separately.

I also like Hammer Gel. MP suggested I try using it in a flask rather than dealing with the nasty little bags. So much easier, cleaner and I regulate my calories intake better.

[Eden]

Endurolyte pills from Hammer. They work fast, don't upset my stomach and no extra calories so you don't have to plan calorie and electrolyte intakes separately.

You might like NUUN too - its a sugar free, carb free, electrolyte drink that come in a tablet form and fizzes to disolve - but is not fizzy when its finished.

http://www.nuun.com/index.html

[SadieKate]

Thanks for the suggestion, Eden, but Sorbitol and I don't do well together. I don't even want to think about what would happen during a ride.

[bcipam]

There is a product that I've fallen in love with. It's flavorless, oderless and you drop it into your water source. It's called ELETE. It comes in a little squeeze bottle so you can carry it with you. I usually put 5 - 8 drops of it in my Camelbak and I'm got to go on long, hot rides. It's difficult to find. For more info go to eletewater.com. It's a pure electrolyte concentrate/add-in.

From the website (OK I know this is all an ad - but I really think this product is worth a try):

Athletes love elete™ because it allows them to replace the essential electrolytes they lose without consuming all of the sugar and calories commonly found in most sports drinks. Also, elete™ doesn't cause many of the negative side effects, e.g., stomach cramping and nausea, that may occur with sugar-laden electrolyte "sports performance" products. Because elete™ is an electrolyte concentrate, it allows athletes to consume carbs in the manner that works best for them.

During a long, intense ride and/or hot weather, it's critical to stay hydrated. Use elete™ in your water bottle or hydration pack to deliver metered consumption of electrolytes throughout your ride.

Usage Tips:

If you use a hydration pack, either add the 6.75 ml rip pack, which is specially designed for 70-100 oz. packs, or 2-3 capfuls (2 capfuls for 70 oz. of water; 3 for 100 oz.—or double the dose if you tend to cramp a lot) of elete™ to your pack. Shake pack gently to disperse the electrolytes. Zip the bladder into your pack and you're ready to go. And when you're done, elete™ cleans up easily with water. It won't grow gross fuzzy things in the bladder or valves or leave a funny aftertaste.

For a 20-24 oz. water bottle, fill a cap of elete™ to the threads or add the water-bottle size (2.15 ml) rip pack to the water in your bottle, shake, and drink.

If you normally use a sports drink but dilute it to reduce the sweetness or overall sugar intake, you're also diluting electrolytes, which can lead to cramping as well as impaired performance and recovery. Use elete™ to top off the electrolytes in your bottle and stay hydrated. For people who like to use gels rather than sports drinks to replace calories during performance, elete™ is perfect to use in conjunction with gels because it adds a balanced blend of electrolytes.

For longer rides, take an extra rip pack along so you can stay hydrated and avoid muscle cramps. elete™ rip packs and bottles are light and compact and fit easily into your jersey.

[yellow]

There is a product that I've fallen in love with. It's flavorless, oderless and you drop it into your water source. It's called ELETE. It comes in a little squeeze bottle so you can carry it with you. I usually put 5 - 8 drops of it in my Camelbak and I'm got to go on long, hot rides. It's difficult to find. For more info go to eletewater.com. It's a pure electrolyte concentrate/add-in.

Hmmmm...might need to suggest this to a friend of mine that has troubles with the Hammer Endurolytes.

Another one that I use for shorter rides in hot weather is ElectroMix, made by the folks that make Emer-gen-C. Sodium free, sugar free, calorie free. Goes down easy. (I use the Endurolytes for longer rides where I am obsessing about what I'm drinking and don't want to mess with the formula. )

[Bella]

I was using Electrolyte tabs from Trace Minerals but recently switched to Endrolyte by Hammer. Not switching for any particular reason, but during the training phase, just wanted to test out a few new products.

[maillotpois]

Love the Endurolytes! I also find they help out on hot rides at altitude when I may have trouble drinking sports drink - I can always get down plain water and a few pills.

As SK mentioned, I am a fan of the Hammer gel (BANANA is #1 flavor followed by Apple Cinnamon) in a flask. Easy to take just a bit at a time, and I keep it in the vast empty space between where my boobs would be if I weren't so flat chested. That way it is easy to get at. I'll do 3 flasks in a double century and very little else.

[Bustertb]

Drink V8 out on the ride. It's a nice switch from all the sweet drinks.

[KnottedYet]

I did a hot hot ride a couple days ago. I was out of my usual electrolyte mix (Clif Shot lemonade) and just took water, Clif Shot Blox, and a bottle of orange flavored juice stuff.

I was sooooo miserable! My body couldn't keep up, I got pretty dehydrated, felt sick, sad, and pathetic. Drank more water after I got home, but that wasn't enough. Woke up the next morning feeling exactly like I had a hangover. Drink drink drink and eating salty stuff all morning helped.

Went out and bought two huge jars of Clif Shot Electrolyte Lemonade. Ain't gonna run out of that again, no sir!

When you find something that works for you, dang, it's priceless!

[salsabike]

We've used the Endurolytes twice so far on long hot rides---no problems in any way. Since I love water and don't like sports drinks at all, taking an Endurolyte capsule once an hour with water couldn't be a better solution for me.

[Aggie_Ama]

After my recent sampling of low-sugar alternatives to gatorade I became a NUUN fan. It is compact (nice little tube to carry along) and easy to use! The flavor is light, so DH even likes it. I don't have a sorbitol sensitivity and I love the fact that is has no sugar. My dentist was happy as well.

[DebW]

I got Nuun recently and loved it on my first ride (66 miles). Then I used it on a 75 mile ride and it didn't sit so well. I think it was just the slight amount of fizziness that my stomach didn't like (I never drink anything carbonated so am not used to that). After the first 50 miles my stomach felt too gassy to keep drinking enough and I got a bit dehydrated. The 2nd day of the NEC 150 ride, I drank watered down Gatorade and that worked fine. But my hydration hose grew mold a few days later, so the sugar was a bad thing.

[Kitsune06]

I'm going to second elete, just because I love the vague salty taste of the water and then I can monitor my electrolyte intake independant of my carb intake. (and sometimes the carbs, whether gel or foody will upset my stomach, so I like to switch)

That and it doesn't grow stuff in your camelbak. Important when you're a lazy slug like me. =)