BikingLasVegas.com

[Gitane]

I know what you mean about the weight of the Aqua Racks. However, on the 7 Peaks challenge, I was sure happy that I had mine on my bike. My bike has a small frame and allows for only one water bottle cage, but with the Aqua Rack, I have room for three, two waters and one Gatorade. Hydration is a good thing!!

[Loon]

For those interested; July's issue of "Bicycling Magazine"has an article about staying hydrated.

[lisa]

Loon...I saw the article you were talking about. I don't subscribe to Bicycling anymore (don't know why ....) but I read it at the Library yesterday. Good article.

[EnduroCoach]

Lisa's comment about weighing yourself before and after a ride is really the only way to truly calculate your need for hydration.
It's called doing a sweat test. Take your nude body weight before you go out for a ride. Also weigh your full bottles. Then go out for an hour long ride at a moderate/ hard pace.
When you return weigh yourself again and also what's left, if anything in your bottles. Your weight loss ( lets hope you didn't gain weight ) will give you your sweat rate and the amount of fluid you should consume each hour while riding.
The caveat on this is it does depend on the weather conditions but it will get you pretty close to where you need to be.
The issue with salt is a big thing here in the high desert. Salt helps your body retain water so keeping your salt levels up are very important. The difference between drinking just water and using an electrolyte or sodium enhanced drink is that water is a great thirst quencher, but not a good rehydrater. Plain water reduces your urge to drink but does not fulfill your needs for hydration.
Hypernatremia is something that has got a lot of press. But in reality is not that common. I can't remember the year but in either a Chicago or Boston marathon the aid stations mixed their drinks too diluted. So instead of taking in electrolytes runners were taking in just water. This caused plasma levels to increase while reducing sodium concentration and triggering the onset of hypernatremia in a number of runners. The Globe, New York Times & a couple of other papers got hold of the story and now we all live in fear
Keep your sodium intake at a sensible level, don't drink 3 gallons of water on a 15 mile ride and you should be ok.
To sum up ... use a sports drink that has a higher than normal sodium content in the hotter months. You can supplement your water intake with salt tablets or a product like Elete.
A good rule of thumb for hydration/ nutrition on the bike is drink every 15 mins, eat every 30 mins. And remember your not drinking or eating to catch up to your needs, your're doing it to stay ahead of your needs and stop yourself from hitting the 'wall'

[lisa]

A good rule of thumb for hydration/ nutrition on the bike is drink every 15 mins, eat every 30 mins. And remember your not drinking or eating to catch up to your needs, your're doing it to stay ahead of your needs and stop yourself from hitting the 'wall'

Nice post EnduroCoach...thanks for sharing your expertise. Not sure if you saw one of the other threads I've participated in, but wondering if you could look at it anyway and give your two cents. When I did my longest ride ever 85 miles...it was a hot 100+ degree day. I bonked big time...and it made me realize that I needed to take in the right nutrients if I wanted to sustain for longer endurance rides. Would love your input and advice! Here's the link to my posts....

what-you-use-for-fuel-t3-40.html

[Gitane]

All I know is that the first time I ever tried Endurolytes was the day that I climbed Cold Creek and rode 100 miles in 100+ degree weather. I have to be honest, I don't think I could have made it without them. I was shocked at my endurance level. I felt strong and my legs never gave out. I didn't even know what they were when I took them, I just thought that they looked interesting and after reading the ingredients, I figured they wouldn't hurt me. I had no idea how strong they would make me feel. I just don't see how pretzels could do same thing.

[EnduroCoach]

With it getting hotter I thought I'd share some research with you which is particularly interesting to us desert dwellers.
Published by the American College of Sports Med the research by Lee, Shirreffs and Maughan was to investigate the effect of drink temperature on cycling capacity in the heat. The test had subjects ingest a cold drink or a warm drink 30 mins prior to exercise and 100ml of the same drink every 10 mins during exercise.

The results showed that the subject group that ingested the cool drink was able to exercise longer than the group that ingested the warm drink. The group with the cool drink felt cooler and their perceived exertion was lower.
The take home for us is it's better to keep your drinks as cool as possible. If you're using bottles you could freeze them before you go riding and just drink as they thaw. If you are using a Camelbak or other hydration system try adding ice before you go riding. I've tested this with riders and found liquid in a Camelbak is still cool after 2 hours of riding in 95F. Just beware of drinking too much cold liquid as it can sometimes cause stomach cramps.

[maw702]

Chia seed for hydration!!!

Biking Las Vegas crew Chia Seeds are a fantastic new suppliment for our long rides in 2010...

http://icreatewisdom.com/chiaseed.html

Here are two of the reasons, among many, that I'm adding it to my supplimentation program: 

1. Water loving.  The seed can soak up ten times its weight in water.  Do this fun experiment.  Put one tablespoon of chia seed in a cup of water and stir.  Wait a few hours and see what happens.  When inside your body, the seeds help you stay hydrated longer, and retain electrolytes in your bodily fluids.

2.  Endurance enhancing.  Chia seeds are known as the "Indian Running Food".  Also, the ancient Aztec warriors used chia seed during their conquests.   I'm a runner, and I've used chia seed to enhance stamina and endurance on my mountain runs, some of which are several hours long! (excerpt from web site)

[photogrun]

Will something that looks like Barak Obama or Bob Dylan grow in my stomach if I use these Chia seeds

[lisa]

Will something that looks like Barak Obama or Bob Dylan grow in my stomach if I use these Chia seeds

Thanks for asking the question we've all been thinking about!!!