Sometimes old-fashioned plain water is sufficient for staying adequately hydrated when on a ride. But on other occasions when the exertion is harder for longer a so-called sports drink is the juice your working muscles need. And your options for what to spike your bidon with has never been greater. The number of sports drink brands on the market is so staggering you could likely use a different one for every day on the Divide route and still not put a significant dent in using up all the options available.
These pre-made liquid concoctions and drink mix powders can serve important purposes for gravel enthusiasts and bikepackers. Firstly, fast-working carbs like maltodextrin and dextrose can aid in keeping your blood sugar and muscle carbohydrate stores from taking a nosedive to fend off the dreaded bonk. I find that too many riders, be it on a long gravel grind or even longer bikepacking trip, fail to take in enough carbs consistently which can diminish performance. So taking regular swigs of a carby sports drink can keep you feeling energized from start to finish. Most also contain a certain amount of sodium to maintain fluid balance and muscle functioning when sweating hard.
Note: many formulations now brag about their other electrolytes in addition to sodium like potassium and magnesium but there is a paucity of research to show these do anything to help people during exercise. Adding B vitamins, herbals, branched-chain amino acids, and whatnot is also more marketing ploy than effective hydration. And, of course, a sports drink is also a delivery method for water to help with hydration efforts. It’s important to remember that both physical and mental performance can plunge with as little as a 2 to 3 percent drop in body weight caused by dehydration. So if you are struggling to keep up with the pack during a gravel race or are wondering why your concentration on the trail is starting to waver it could be that you’ve entered the dehydration red zone. As a general rule, any bike ride lasting longer than 90 minutes can benefit from some form of supplemental nutrition like a sports drink.
Generally, having more options with different techy formulas is a good thing as it gives you more opportunities to choose what works best for you. And, sure, a bottle of Gatorade or a prepackaged matcha-flavoured sports drink mix powder (yes, that is a thing now) is ultra-convenient. But you wanna know the truth? Making your own sports drink is hardly a high-flying feat. I do it and so can you. All you need are a few easy to procure ingredients and a flash of time. Some will appreciate that taking the DIY approach makes it easy to side-step the mystery ingredients in some store-bought options. For instance, whatever ingredient makes a certain drink turn that neon blue. When made with the right ingredients in the correct proportions, a self-made sports drink will do just as much to promote hydration and keep you pedaling strong as anything you’ll find in the cooler section of a gas station.
Here are a few tips to get the most out of your make-your-own sports drink habit:
- It’s a good idea to shake the bottle before taking a swig to help redistribute all of the contents.
- Save for the powdered mix, each of these sports drink recipes makes enough to fill a 24-ounce (3-cup) standard-sized bottle. So simply scale up the ingredients to fill multiple bottles. You can also mix up a big batch ahead of time and keep chilled in the fridge in a juice jug or other large drink container. Another good hack for sultry rides is to freeze one bottle so that at some point during your ride you’ll have a frosty sports drink to suck back.
- You can tweak each recipe to create your perfect formula. Say you want fewer sugary calories and touch more sodium simply replace some of the carbs such as fruit juice with water and add an extra pinch of salt. Or go the other way with the water-cab ratio if you desire a bigger hit of carb energy. But hold back on the idea of going overboard on the carb ingredients as that will greatly raise the carbohydrate concentration of the solution leading to delayed gastric emptying and an increased risk for digestive issues.
- It’s never a good idea to experiment with a new fueling strategy during an important ride such as a gravel race. Unplanned trailside pit stops are hardly ever something to celebrate. That’s why it’s a good idea to try any of these mixes beforehand during training to gauge digestive tolerance and to learn if you like the flavours.
1. Citrus Powder
Consider these powders a way to infuse your DIY sports drinks with that quintessential citrusy flavor, and not in the overpowering lab-created kind of way. You can dry out the citrus rinds using a dehydrator. A spice or coffee grinder is the easiest way to grind them to a fine powder, but a mortar and pestle will do the trick as long as you don’t mind the upper body workout. It’s also possible to press the easy button and use the citrus powders available from the brand True Lemon or others you can find online.
4 lemons, 6 limes or 3 oranges.
Heat oven to its lowest setting (175 to 200°F). Using a vegetable peeler, remove the rind from lemons, limes or oranges. Try to leave behind as much of the white pith as possible as this is bitter tasting. Spread rinds out on a metal baking rack and place on a baking sheet. Place in an oven and heat until the rinds have dried completely and have curled, about 1 1/2 hours. They should nearly crumble to the touch. Turn off the oven and let the rinds cool in the oven. Pulverize rinds into a fine powder. Keep the powder stored in a sealed jar in your pantry for up to 2 weeks.
2. Citrusy Sports Drink Mix
Best for: Multi-Day Trips
Per bottle: 38 grams carbohydrate, 437 milligrams sodium
Makes: 4 bottles
This is an easy sports drink mix to make up ahead of time to bring along on any multi-day bikepacking sojourn as it packs well and has the necessary fast-working carbs to help keep you pedaling strong from one day to the next. And it’s much less costly than any sports drink powder mix on the market. Of course, you can make up a batch and stash it in the pantry to also use as a sports drink to power your everyday rides from home.
Pro Tip: Somewhere between granulated and powdered sugar is what is known as superfine sugar (sometimes called caster sugar or fruit sugar). It has smaller granules than regular white sugar allowing it to more easily dissolve in water, which is key for a sports drink mix. You can also try making your superfine sugar by running 1 cup of regular sugar in a food processor until the granules are finer.
- 12 tablespoons superfine sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon, lime, or orange powder
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Combine all of the ingredients in a small zip-top bag or glass jar. To make a drink, combine 1/4 of the sugar mixture (3 tablespoons) with 3 cups of water in a standard-sized water bottle and shake well.
3. Minty Cherry
Best for: Cruiser Rides
Per bottle: 30 grams carbohydrate, 279 milligrams sodium
Sometimes a ride is just a ride, not a serious workout. This minty, sweet-tart punch has just enough carbs to keep you fuelled on shorter, less intense rides, but where you still need to factor in proper hydration. And it has less sodium than our other mixes for times when you don’t need as much because you aren’t sweating like crazy for many hours. You can replace the cherry juice with red grape juice or pomegranate juice if you wish.
- 2 cups brewed mint tea, cooled
- 1 cup cherry juice
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon powder or 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Place all of the ingredients in a water bottle and shake well to combine.
4. Coconut Punch
Best for: Longer rides with some gutsy efforts
Per bottle: 42 grams carbohydrate, 419 milligrams sodium
Makes: 1 bottle
A combo of coconut water, which contains some naturally occurring sugars and sodium, and pineapple will help make your ride taste like you are riding in the tropics. There are enough carbs and sodium here to help you push the pace for a good amount of time. Again, we are providing a concentration of carbs in the drink that will expedite absorption into the bloodstream so you can use them more rapidly for energy production and to help side-step any stomach woes when you are charging hard. Instead of fresh, you can also use canned pineapple tidbits here.
- 2 cups coconut water
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup chopped pineapple
- 2 tsp honey
- 1/2 teaspoon lime powder or 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Place all of the ingredients in a blender container and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into a water bottle.
5. Maple Orange
Best for: The stuff you want to brag on Strava about.
Per bottle: 57 grams carbohydrate, 468 milligrams sodium
Makes: 1 Bottle
This mix, which tastes reminiscent of maple-flavoured Orange Julius, goes bigger on carbs for times when you need enough energy for all-day efforts. While standard sports nutrition advice is for endurance athletes to consume 30 to 60 grams of carbs for each hour of activity, some of the pro riders are pushing the limit and sucking back 90 grams or more with a payoff of being able to hold almost inhuman wattage on rougher terrain for longer. This drink makes it easier to carb-load on the fly and to help those who have issues trying to stomach lots of solids during a hard ride or who are going long stretches between aid stations (here’s looking at you Unbound).
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1/3 cup frozen pulp-free orange juice concentrate, thawed
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon + 1/16 teaspoon fine sea salt
Place all of the ingredients in a water bottle and shake well to combine.
Ciderade
Best for: Cold Rides
Per bottle: 37 grams carbohydrate, 442 milligrams sodium
Makes: 1 bottle
If the thought of gulping down cold fluids on a chilly ride is unappetizing, this is the sports drink for you. Sweet cider and warming spices make it an energy drink that brings with it cozy feelings. And if you enjoy what you are drinking you are more likely to, well, drink it which can promote better hydration, and that is something you still need to consider when riding in colder conditions.
Pro tip: You’ll want to use an insulated bottle to keep the drink warm on your ride. There are a few good bottle options on the market with the 21-ounce insulated bivo bottle being my preferred choice as it fits perfectly in bottle cages.
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1 1/4 cups apple cider
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/8 teaspoon + 1/6 teaspoon salt
Place all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over medium until the liquid is just hot to the touch. Pour into an insulated sport bottle.
Wrapping Up
So, indeed, there are plenty of reasons why a well-formulated sports drink can transform your gravel grinds and bikepacking adventures into more enjoyable and successful journeys. But why settle for off-the-shelf solutions when you can concoct your own performance-enhancing elixirs? Crafting your own drinks not only gives you control over what goes into your body—helping you avoid those neon-blue mysteries—but also allows you to tailor flavors and nutrients to your specific taste and energy needs. Plus, it's kind on your wallet and fun to experiment with in the kitchen. So grab your ingredients, and start mixing; your next great ride might just be a sip away. Cheers to hydration that's as adventurous as your trails!
