Sunday, Sept. 5th - Higashi Chichibu

[Edogawakikkoman]

Actually, just the opposite is true. Your body will absorb water best if you have nothing else in your stomach. Avoid sports drinks and juice, and drink lots of water when you don't have much food in your stomach.

I like to drink quite some juice on my rides, but I avoid them almost completely in hot summer, for good reason.

The body wants a state of homeostasis. If you're losing sugar and salt through exercise and sweat and not replacing it at the same rate the body goes into a stae of confusion. Dousing water into your system can furhter complicate things. You need some salt and sugar...especially if you're not taking in food as well.

Over hydrating causes what is known as "dilutional hyponatremia", or a state of over-diluted blood serum sodium. This is almost as bad as under hydrating. The results are similar: cramping with the added disadvantages of stomach discomfort, bloating, and extra urine output.

The body won't want to take in more water if the blood sugar and sodium levels are depleted. This could be one reason it sits in your stomach.

 

[GSAstuto]

Not wanting to re-injure my torn muscle I was really trying to stay as moderate as possible on this ride. That involved some short sections of 'cyclocross' cause I just couldn't tolerate too much standing mashing. In the long run, I think this helped because I didn't get completely overheated. Humping a big gear up a hill really raises the muscle temp and I wish I had something a bit smaller for the 4km grind at 10% than my 44/19. Anyway - not wishing to revisit the agony of my last near heat exhaustion experience at Nariki, I prepped pretty good for this by having 2 full bottles of Contrex w/ supplement electrolytes and a dollop of Karo corn syrup. Drinking that along with the fresh water really helped. And avoiding any over drinking and just trying to stay to a 10ounce /hr rule except for lunch and breaks. At the end - the frozen grape goo stuff was awesome. Besides keeping my neck cooled down, it was seriously energizing. Must be close to 100% pure glucose. I also went through 3 gel packs of my Malaysian Coffee /Nutella /Karo /BCAA concoction. Next time I think I'll take a hint from travis and try the Coke and Cake!

 

[japanviking]

After reading through the links about hot wheater riding I am pretty sure I had a touch of heat stroke. When pushing up that climb I couldn't really recognize my physical reactions. Usually when running out of breath I just need to back of a bit and I will be fine. This time it didn't help...I felt sick and the HR wouldn't go down as expected after slowing down.
After reading some of the excellent advice around here I am sure I will be better prepared next time.
I usually drink mostly water during excercise. Sometimes I down a bottle of Aquarius in between but I find it to be a bit to sweet. Thinking that the sugarfree electrolyte tablets might be a better choice that sports drinks.

 

[Wolfman]

Thinking that the sugarfree electrolyte tablets might be a better choice that sports drinks.

I get nothing from water which just fills me up and gives me the burps. I also find Aquarius/Pocari sweat a bit too sweet so started popping some Isostar powertabs in my bottles instead. I'm getting a lot of satisfaction from them.

 

[FarEast]

Ludwig is right; the reason why that is all that extra stuff gets digested first and this requires water to do so, thus preventing you from hydrating quickly.

There are some products on the market that are Hypotonic drinks that will help speed up the hydration process and replace lost minerals and electrolytes, these aren't found in the convenience stores though.

One thing to keep in mind is that you should start hydrating 3 days prior to big rides as it will take a few days for you to increase your body water %.

You should be looking at about 60% body water. I normally keep at about 63% and then will push it up to 65-66%. This isn't something you can do over night and requires you to train the body.

One good indicator to see if you are hydrated is to check your urine the day of the ride. If your first passing of water in the morning is clear it’s a good indicator that your hydration levels are very good.

Another thing to keep in mind is that thirst is your body telling you that you are already dehydrated and it’s a warning sign to tell you to stop and rest and drink.

In any endurance sport you should be constantly drinking small amounts, especially in this weather. Your lower intestine can only process about 400ml of water per hour, thus why our bottles come in 500ml sizes and Studies have shown that the rate of water loss through sweating is nearly the same as the body's rate of water absorption. So you should be consuming this amount every hour in these temperatures just to maintain hydration.

On riders longer than 90 minutes it’s good to fuel the body through carbohydrate or Isotonic drinks. If you must use drinks like Dakara and Pocari then mix them half and half with water to help the absorption rates.

Finally caffeine, although a diuretic also helps increase the hydration process as well as stimulation especially in endurance type races (normally over 3 hours long) you should be consuming around 10mg of caffeine per kg. Right now 7UP has a great product on the market which is 85mg of pure unadulterated caffeine in a lemonade style drink.

 

[Mike]

James is spot on here with his comment on Hypotonic drinks. Of all the sport drinks they absorb more rapidly into the body because they have less salt and carbohydrates than your average sport drink. This topic does get tricky though and I'd like to clarify it a bit for those still not sure. There are 3 basic sports drinks:

1. Isotonic Drinks: The amount of salt and carbs in these drinks is about the same found in the body, allowing for rapid absorption. These are in fact the usual choice by cyclists because they hydrate and supply muscles with what they need. (Pocari Sweat is an Isotonic drink)

2. Hypertonic Drinks: have a higher concentration of salt and carbs thatn the body, and take longer to absorb. Good for several hours before or after an event. Examples are cola, lemonade or neat fruit juice.

3. Hypotonic Drinks: The amount of salt and carbs is lower than the body, making them easy to absorb and popular on the ride. If you're riding long though these will not be enough for your muscles, Isotonic drinks are much better.

Asl long as you heed James' advice Pocari Sweat will do the job well enough. I always have 2 bottles with me, 1 for water and the other for Pocari Sweat. This is how the pros do it too, 1:1. Interstingly a lot of Pro's like to have a de-fizzed can of coke in the last hour of races. Maybe it gives them a final kick with the sugar and caffeine? Check out this survey: http://www.sportsci.org/news/news9711/martin.html

I love the stuff too, and if you've ever ridden with me you would've seen first hand the effects it can have!

James I also saw High 5 have a new extreme hydration salts, zero/extreme with caffeine in berry flavor. They got a good review here : http://bodymaxsupplements.co.uk/blog/

Have you tried them?

 

[andywood]

Isn't one of the benefits of being a serious cyclist that you can eat and drink like a king!? I'd say for every hour of training you do, you should have 2 bottles of water (preferably spring water if you're in the mountains), a can of coke (the 120 yen 500ml can if it's available) and a cornetto (choc chips and nuts being the best).

Drink, drink, drink, and eat, eat, eat.

Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time

 

[FarEast]

James I also saw High 5 have a new extreme hydration salts, zero/extreme with caffeine in berry flavor. They got a good review here : http://bodymaxsupplements.co.uk/blog/

Have you tried them?

Hahahaha funny you should say that Mike but HIGH5 called me last week to say they were sending me some. I love the Extreme Hydration tablets and they are great for reducing the risk of cramps.