As the old-timers may recall, my favorite sports drink is Gookinade ERG. Recently, I've found something that seems just as effective.

Unlike Kerry, who advocates plain water, I always needed something IN the water to help me absorb it, and ERG seemed to work great. But it costs $1.25 for enough to mix 2 liters, and I was having trouble finding it locally, so I experimented with what was in the house. I discovered lemonade mixes such as CountryTime or the store brands seemed to work fine on short rides. Checking the label, I found that these mixes have VERY similar ingredients to ERG. The main ingredient in both is citric acid.

A few months ago, Science News reported that researchers had found that citric acid definitely promotes absorbtion of water from the intestine. That clinched the deal for me.

My present system is to put three teaspoons of lemonade mix in a 2-liter hydration pack, and add three shakes of Morton Lite Salt (half sodium chloride, half potassium chloride). This costs pennies, has a light taste, and seems to work as well or better than anything else I've tried. This is very dilute ... as close to Kerry's idea of just drinking water as possible for me ... but it seems to be enough.

My present system is to put three teaspoons of lemonade mix in a 2-liter hydration pack, and add three shakes of Morton Lite Salt (half sodium chloride, half potassium chloride).

I've always used something a bit similar. Squeeze a few lemons or limes into water. Add some real maple syrup and sometime a tiny dash of cayenne and salt. Probably missing something that's in those sports drinks, but it works for me.

When I first got into cycling, my buddies and I somehow found this English book on training and nutrition. The suggested mix was tea with lemon, honey, and a bit of salt. The book was written in the late '50s, IIRC. Not far off today's high tech sports drinks with carbs, electrolytes, caffeine, and citrate :)

Please note that by eating salted fig bars, you get the same stuff (minus the caffeine), it just mixes up in the stomach instead of the bottle. I used to use Exceed (much like the ERG) and found it worked very well and tasted good. The reason I switched to water was that I was tired of the frame getting all gooked up, not because water has some magic properties that are messed up with energy/electrolyte drinks.

Rides lasting longer than an hour require a carb replacement of some sort to prevent the onset of percieved fatigue. The easiest and quickest way to accomplish this is with a solution of 6% simple carbs in some sort of liquid. However you mix this up is up to you, but the body assimiliates this % of carbs easiest and quicket other than injection or IV.

Would 185 miles in two days count? Or the 97 mile training ride the preceeding Monday (totally self-supported from my pockets and backpack, except for a stop to buy some water and sports drink)?

My secret high-carb fuels:

a) Malt "eggs", bought REALLY cheaply the day after Easter. Basically the same thing as gels (maltodextrose), but without the water, and no messy envelopes to get rid of.

b) Forgot to take this on the 185-miler, but did on the training ride. Ensure Plus, one can in two gel-flasks. Delivers easier than gel. 8 oz is 360 calories. This stuff is reportedly used by the Race Across America nuts.

c) Individually-wrapped alternative to Kerry's fig bars. Fruit bars. Basically just long fruit newtons.

Chase either with copious volumes of water or lemonade.