Pre-ride fluid intake

What does your pre-ride fluid intake routine consist of? Mine is a bottle of water followed by coffee/cappuccino :hot_beverage: :hot_beverage:

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Similar. Water w an electrolyte tablet, then coffee, then I start working on a performance drink on the way out the door.

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i do all my rides early in the morning. So I have 8-16 ounces of water before every workout (cycling or running) unless it’s just a recovery ride.

No coffee/caffeine until after unless it’s a caffeine gel before or during a long Saturday ride.

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Same here, coffee and/or water, because that’s the only beverages I drink during the day. My post-ride fluid intake would be beer, not because it helps recovery (I think it doesn’t), but because that’s my reward :grin:

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I do not take any fluids before a ride unless I am thirsty.

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I know it’s not a fluid, but I found I have a ton more energy if I eat two or three marshmallows before a ride. Something about your body not panicking if it already has sugar on the way.

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Agreed. For longer and harder rides I often have a sugary/carb snack before I start, too.

Here’s an older thread with more info and coach input:

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It absolutely does! Perfect carbs! :clinking_beer_mugs:

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Cyclocross staple!

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That is an entirely different issue, if I am going on a long ride, I definitely have some carbs before I go depending on the fueling requirements of the ride. You need to have the fuel available before you need it.

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As my HS track & cross-country coach used to say “chronic dehydration leads to chronic fatigue”.

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If you drink to thirst you should be OK.

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I’d have to disagree, at least for me. I suspect it depends how well you stay hydrated NORMALLY, and also just how sensitive you are to FEELING THIRSTY.

I can (and do) put myself into hydration debt far too often. I’ve “acclimated” to being partially dehydrated over far too many years. I’ll eventually get thirsty, but then it’s too late. Playing make-up on long rides just doesn’t work well.

My Garmin Eat/Drink reminders help some, but I tend to ignore those too. In fact, I often ask friends who ride with me to nudge me when they drink, just to alert me. :roll_eyes:

I’m better about this than I used to be, but I dehydrated myself so many times over the years in my work that I just don’t listen as well as I should to how the body feels, at least until it is already in significant distress. It went something like this, “I’ll just get this one more thing done first…” One more, one more, one more…
And then the lights would go out…

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Over the years I’ve just set my brain to 15 minutes. Fluids every 15 minutes. Gels/solids every 15x3 (or 15x2 for harder or later in the effort).

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Nope. Once you’re depleted on-the-bike there is no “quick fix”. Sure, you can take on drink and food to help you get through but it’s going to be a long drag to get through, especially if your depleted with a long ways to go. Once you bonk, your bonked for the duration, at least that’s been the case in my experiences with it.

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I have managed to semi-recover from a bonk.

I once bonked on a mountain ascent, stopped had something to eat, waited about 15-20 minutes and I was able to continue. Not every well, but I could continue.

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Yes, to both, in my experience. I’ve definitely hit the wall that took the rest of the day/evening to even begin to feel like I was happy to be alive again, usually after coming home, drinking and eating light to eventually heavier food, and resting as much as possible. All that after having finished whatever ride was remaining, which sometimes was another 20-30 miles. Those were worst-case-scenario bonks.

But like @Heretic said, I’ve also recovered when things didn’t get so dire before I responded with the right actions, which are, in my opinion,

  1. getting the hydration going WITH the proper electrolytes, and I mean a stronger than normal dosage, unless I’m sure the issue is NOT due to having already depleted that too much. (So for me, I always have HammerNutrition Endurolytes tablets on hand, and usually take at least 2 but maybe 4 or even 5 of them if the situation is extreme, i.e. really hot.)
  2. getting nutrition going as well, something very digestible that appeals if possible (sometimes NOTHING appeals, making this step even MORE critical; I’m already into some heat exhaustion, most likely) and pushing more than your body says you need, within reason. I’m already using Perpetuem and FIZZ electrolyte tablets in my drink on long rides, but probably just didn’t keep drinking enough, so at this point I start pushing HammerGel, maybe a figbar or Clifbar, and try to keep drinking the Perpetuem and FIZZ drink.
  3. EASE UP the effort level, but keep pedaling unless it’s not possible or unless the terrain is so steep that you cannot spin a lowest gear. Sitting it out is unlikely to bring me back. It can destroy any mental fortitude, and make you wish for hole to crawl into.

I have definitely been able to get back out of the bonk hole more than once following the above. I’m not going to bounce back to anything like a PR effort, but have seen this work well enough to finish a pretty good chunk of miles as long as I eased up long enough for things to settle again and then don’t get stupid by thinking all is back to normal again. I MUST REMEMBER to KEEP ON DRINKING AND EATING after that, which can be easy to ignore because I just pushed in extra amounts of both and my body won’t really be asking for more, though it’s now very critical to continue even though the stomach may be a little unhappy about it.

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Like many here I drink water before a ride, especially if it is hot out or it’s going to be a hard/big day. Also as mentioned above my normal non exercise hydration has to be good or I will be starting in a deficit. I have definitely done this and paid the price!

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