A TBD guide to hydration
Keeping yourself hydrated on long rides is crucial, but dialing it in can sometimes be tricky, especially for newer riders. It took me a few seasons of trial and error before I finally figured out what worked best for me.
While everyone’s individual hydration needs vary, there is undeniably a massive amount of information out there about how to give your body the fuel it needs to keep riding. For instance, you may have been flummoxed by a relatively lukewarm take from the NYT last year asserting that, “drinking water when you’re thirsty is enough to keep you hydrated.” That is a pretty sharp contrast to what the big brands in the industry say. Take LMNT’s website: they have an entire tab dedicated to “Science” where they boast that their product contains 1,000mg of sodium, 200mg of potassium, 60mg of magnesium, and zero sugar. This ratio, they note, was developed by their very own in-house biochemist!
Wanting to get to the bottom of this, I asked Teammate Jacob, MD, for his thoughts. He largely agreed with the NYT.
“The amounts of electrolytes in premixed sports drinks like Gatorade are very small and honestly just have more sugar than anything, which does help in absorbing fluid into the blood faster than just water alone,” Jacob noted. “So usually, people are just giving themselves a sugar spike with a small amount of added rehydration compared to water alone.”
He pointed out that medical-grade oral rehydration fluid contains about 1,800mg of sodium, 2,000mg of chloride, and 780mg of potassium per liter of water—a ratio supported by the World Health Organization and used in places where IVs cannot readily be administered.
If you look at many mass market drink mixes, by contrast, Jacob says they “are arbitrary in terms of electrolytes, underpowered, and just a bunch of sugar.”
A few other key takeaways from Jacob, MD:
Food is fuel: A well-rounded diet will often give you many of the electrolytes you need.
Context matters: The average person on a spin bike in an air-conditioned studio might not need electrolytes and pre-mixed sports drinks. However, as Jacob says, “Us masochists who slog away on the bike in this crazy heat should take them.”
Salt is safe: Thankfully, there’s no harm in adding some extra salt to our diet. At worst, it just makes for some expensive pee. Jacob says, “Generally, electrolyte mixes are harmless!”
For the data nerds: If you want to be truly unhinged but very precise, Jacob advises, “The right thing to do is to get a sweat patch kit, test how much electrolytes you excrete, and adjust accordingly.”
So, if you are a masochist, what should you drink? Rather than forcing you into the comments sections of various product websites or the innermost corners of Reddit, I polled TBDers to see what the cool kids are drinking these days.
Here are the highlights:
Skratch Labs (fka Secret Drink Mix, aka SDM): Originally mixed in 5-gallon paint buckets, pro cyclists used to secretly dump out their commercial sponsors’ drinks and replace them with Skratch Labs. Thankfully, us normies can buy the stuff now, too. Known for being easy on the stomach and using real sugar, salt, and fruit, Skratch is a go-to for many TBDers. The Unsweetened, Regular, and High Carb mixes all have different things to offer. Skratch dissolves easily in your bottle, and the summer watermelon flavor is particularly tasty.
Greg, who is known for riding 100 miles on a random Tuesday on a 3-mile circuit in Prospect Park, says the Skratch Super High Carb is: “slightly less tasty than the regular Skratch. It requires more effort to mix, but is easier on the tim-tum than other high-carb drink mixes.”
LMNT: One of the first drink mixes to go all-in on salt, LMNT was a bit controversial when discussed on our team Slack. Some love it, particularly when riding in hot and dry regions, but others (like me) find the Stevia flavor revolting.
Maurten: Many riders on TBD enjoy Maurten, especially their mix that has added caffeine. Maurten uses something called “hydrogel technology” which helps deliver high levels of carbs without wrecking your stomach and allowing for quick absorption. Matt is a particular fan of the Drink Mix 320 with Caf 100, though he is less of a fan of the cost of that mix.
Mortal Hydration: Like Skratch, Mortal Hydration has three levels of drink mix depending on what you need: Regular for your typical workout, Salty for hard efforts, and Everyday.
Scott is an LMNT > Mortal Hydration convert, saying, “I was an LMNT early adopter but have recently switched to Mortal Hydration. All the good electrolytes but less fake tasting flavours.” (Excuse the “u”—he’s Aussie).
Infinit Go Far: Another TBD favorite. You have to shake it up a bit to get it to mix well, and unlike many other sports drinks, it contains protein. This can stimulate glycogen resynthesis better than carbohydrates alone and can help with recovery.
Flow Formulas: A Colorado-based, woman-owned company that makes delicious and allergen-friendly mixes.
Lucia says: “It has become my go-to hydration mix for all my races and workouts where I need calories in my bottles. It’s easier to dissolve than Skratch HiCarb, doesn’t upset my stomach, and has several flavor choices (including no flavor, higher sodium, and caffeine versions). It has a light and/or slightly tart profile which makes it more enjoyable to drink, which helps me want to drink more.”
Other Notable Mentions:
The Feed: Their house drink mix is gaining popularity on TBD, particularly the high-carb formula. Though their is some debate whether 30g per scoop qualifies as high carb given the popularity of > 80g of carbs per bottle.
Nuun: A stalwart companion to all cyclists. It contains no carbs, but boasts excellent bang for your buck, good flavors, and is incredibly easy to find.
Untapped Mapleaid: For a simple ingredient profile, JB likes Untapped. Their mixes contain only three ingredients: maple syrup, sea salt, and some kind of juice.
But wait, there’s more! If you’re not into shelling out for a pre-mixed formula, there are also some DIY options.
Yosef and Leah make their own! You can start with 40-80mg of sugar and add lemon or lime juice. For super hot days, add some sodium citrate. When asked about why he prefers this over over-the-counter drink mixes, Yosef said, “Because it is cheap as shit and has everything you need and none of the potassium and magnesium that barely matter.”
Diane is a HUGE proponent of aguapanela and she finds any excuse to bring it up on Slack. She said: “Will it stain your bottles? Maybe. Probably. Does it taste better than anything else? Hell ya it does. A block of panela at the grocery store sure is a lot cheaper than all this other stuff.”
At the end of the day, fine-tuning your hydration strategy is a personal journey. You really just have to put in the miles, experiment, and figure out exactly what works best for your body, your budget, and your tastebuds. But hopefully, leaning on the collective trial-and-error of the TBD crew helps cut down your research time so you can spend more time having fun on your bike!
