isotonic drinks and london to brighton

I am considering making my own isotonic drink and found a chemist and home brew shop on the net who
sell glucose powder, question is are these going to be the same product? The home brew one is
considerably cheaper.

Rather foolishly agreed to do the London to Brighton ride and having looked at the rider pack it
seems that the refreshment stops are pay-as-u-go affairs. Am I right in assuming I will have to pay
for water? If so why do marathon runners get free water and bike riders don't?

MTIA

stratton

 

stratton wrote:
> I am considering making my own isotonic drink and found a chemist and home brew shop on the net
> who sell glucose powder, question is are these going to be the same product? The home brew one is
> considerably cheaper.

You could just use orange juice, water and a little salt. The OJ means the basic brew will actually
taste okay and you won't mind the salt after a few miles.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

"Peter Clinch" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> You could just use orange juice, water and a little salt. The OJ means the basic brew will
> actually taste okay and you won't mind the salt after a few miles.
>
> Pete.

Did think of that but the idea behind the glucose was that we could carry the small amounts of
powder/salt mix and just add to water on route, we are expecting to drink quite a bit and want to
keep our load weight down.

Many thanks for your advice on the panniers, decided to go for seatpost version.

stratton

 

stratton wrote:

> I am considering making my own isotonic drink and found a chemist and home brew shop on the net
> who sell glucose powder,

Glucose is not very good for home brew. ordinary granulated white sugar is better, although
really the sugar should come out from your mash. Remember to dry hop at the end for that little
extra aroma ;-)

John B

 

"Peter Clinch" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> stratton wrote:
> > I am considering making my own isotonic drink and found a chemist and
home
> > brew shop on the net who sell glucose powder, question is are these
going to
> > be the same product? The home brew one is considerably cheaper.
>
> You could just use orange juice, water and a little salt. The OJ means the basic brew will
> actually taste okay and you won't mind the salt after a few miles.
>
Why salt? its only a few hours.

I certainly wouldn't spoil my orange juice with it, if you really think you need it why not just eat
a packet of crisps, or almost any other processed food.

Cycling and Eating should be fun, so premium freshly squeezed OJ & water ).

 

Frank=B0 wrote:

> Why salt? its only a few hours.

A few hours riding on a warm day is enough to cause a salt craving in me =

because of what I lose from sweating.

> I certainly wouldn't spoil my orange juice with it, if you really think=
you
> need it why not just eat a packet of crisps, or almost any other proces=
sed
> food.

If you need it then it won't spoil the OJ, and if it's mixed in with a=20 liquid it's easier to
digest and if you've mixed it properly it's in the =

right concentration. It's also rather easier drinking on a bike than=20 eating a packet of crisps.

Pete. --=20 Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics,
Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

"Peter Clinch" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
Frank° wrote:

You done something to your format? This doesn't appear to quote right?

> Why salt? its only a few hours.

A few hours riding on a warm day is enough to cause a salt craving in me because of what I lose
from sweating.

> I certainly wouldn't spoil my orange juice with it, if you really think
you
> need it why not just eat a packet of crisps, or almost any other processed food.

If you need it then it won't spoil the OJ, and if it's mixed in with a liquid it's easier to digest
and if you've mixed it properly it's in the right concentration. It's also rather easier drinking on
a bike than eating a packet of crisps.

*** My stuff

The way I look at it is for a trip like London to Brighton.

I need : Water + Sun Block. I like : Food + Energy drink.

Now sometimes (once last year) I get cramp. I explained this to myself as lack of water (maybe
energy food/drink). However I do know salt does something important I just can't remember what. I
have always assume that normal diets are so high in salt that the daily loss from cycling would not
be significant, I also try to avoid salt for medical reasons.

So I wondered if you had any firmer info on why it is good to take salt?

 

Frank=B0 wrote:

> You done something to your format? This doesn't appear to quote right?

Just whatever Mozilla always does, and it seems to work okay for=20 everyone else...

> Now sometimes (once last year) I get cramp. I explained this to myself =
as
> lack of water (maybe energy food/drink). However I do know salt does something important I just
> can't remember what. I have always assume th=
at
> normal diets are so high in salt that the daily loss from cycling would=
not
> be significant, I also try to avoid salt for medical reasons.

AFAIK the body doesn't keep a salt store in the way it keeps an energy=20 store (i.e., that spare
tyre in fetching lard), so an excess in your=20 typical diet is unlikely to help you replenish what
you've just sweated=20 out because you'll already have secreted it before you started. The loss
through sweat with considerable exercise is, AIUI, best=20 replaced straight away to allow normal
optimum function. If I don't=20 take on extra salt and sweat a lot I get a craving for it (usually
a=20 hunger that centres on savoury foods), which is a reasonable sign my=20 body thinks it needs
some. If you've just paused for a big meal it's entirely likely that will have =

plenty to keep you going, but you won't always have just paused for a mea= l!

> So I wondered if you had any firmer info on why it is good to take salt=
?

Not info with references, but IME if I drink Gatorade or similar after=20 some hard physical work I
(a) feel a lot better for it and (b) don't=20 notice it tastes pretty damn bogging because of the
salt, which it=20 certainly does without the sweating bit first.

When my body asks me to take on salt, I oblige it!

Pete. --=20 Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics,
Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> Frank=B0 wrote:
>
> > You done something to your format? This doesn't appear to quote right?
>
> Just whatever Mozilla always does, and it seems to work okay for=20 everyone else...

It doesn't, it's just that we normally keep shtum ;-) Your last post was a bit wayward, this one has
lots of =20s in it.

Colin

 

Colin Blackburn wrote:

> It doesn't, it's just that we normally keep shtum ;-) Your last post was a bit wayward, this one
> has lots of =20s in it.

I blame the post I quoted... Just looked at it though tin and my original was okay, but that last
one was indeed somewhat replete with hiccoughs.

Hang on, why blame the post I quoted, I'm sure we can just blame Microsoft (though not from my end,
it's coming from a Sun).

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

"Peter Clinch" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Colin Blackburn wrote:
>
> > It doesn't, it's just that we normally keep shtum ;-) Your last post was a bit wayward, this one
> > has lots of =20s in it.
>
> I blame the post I quoted... Just looked at it though tin and my original was okay, but that last
> one was indeed somewhat replete with hiccoughs.

Your quotation stuff on this post is all in order. Often if I reply to your stuff, the quotation
stuff is buggered, as Frank<degree> says.

If this happens I don't bother replying, as its usually not of much interest anyway.

BTW Frank<degree> might be asking for trouble as thats not an ascii character, and some newsreader
setups may go funny.

 

"W K" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> Your quotation stuff on this post is all in order. Often if I reply to your stuff, the quotation
> stuff is buggered, as Frank<degree> says.
>
> If this happens I don't bother replying, as its usually not of much
interest
> anyway.
>
> BTW Frank<degree> might be asking for trouble as thats not an ascii character, and some newsreader
> setups may go funny.
>

Yep it might be my fault after all. I notice that the problem started when Peter replied to me. When
Peter replies to others it is OK.

I notice it switches the header to Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable from
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

So it is quite plausible that my 8bit Frank<B0> caused the stink.

I'll remove it with apologies.

 

> Why salt? its only a few hours.

I understand that salt in drink speeds up and aids absorbtion of the water (thus hydrating you
faster & better), so it's more than about simply replacing lost salt through sweat.

I add a pinch of salt to my home made drinks - which simply comprise: water, squash, sugar, salt.
Could be better but at least it's quick and cheap - and it does seem to help. Only a small amount of
salt is required. If you can taste it, it's too much.

For the one-off charity ride, Lucozade Sport could be bought from garages on the way (or beer from
pubs on the way!). Both are less expensive than _some_ isotonic drinks.

~PB

 

Pete Biggs wrote:

> I add a pinch of salt to my home made drinks - which simply comprise: water, squash, sugar, salt.
> Could be better but at least it's quick and cheap - and it does seem to help. Only a small amount
> of salt is required. If you can taste it, it's too much.

Though note that your need for it when you've just stood about in the kitchen mixing it up is rather
less than your need for it just after 20 miles of assorted bastard hills in the sun! I find I notice
the salt taste much less after hard work (i.e., when I probably *need* the stuff more).

> For the one-off charity ride, Lucozade Sport could be bought from garages on the way (or beer from
> pubs on the way!). Both are less expensive than _some_ isotonic drinks.

The first Lucozade Sport drinks I looked at (when they launched) didn't actually have any salt in,
probably because it makes it taste awful on first acquaintance... If that's still the case may be
worth adding a little.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

Drink lots and lots before you start, use Isostar or Boots own brand equivalent. For a charity ride
with no real time limit why not take a picnic and enjoy the day.

"stratton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I am considering making my own isotonic drink and found a chemist and home brew shop on the net
> who sell glucose powder, question is are these going
to
> be the same product? The home brew one is considerably cheaper.
>
> Rather foolishly agreed to do the London to Brighton ride and having
looked
> at the rider pack it seems that the refreshment stops are pay-as-u-go affairs. Am I right in
> assuming I will have to pay for water? If so why do marathon runners get free water and bike
> riders don't?
>
> MTIA
>
> stratton

 

"M Series" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Drink lots and lots before you start, use Isostar or Boots own brand equivalent. For a charity
> ride with no real time limit why not take a
picnic
> and enjoy the day.
>
Thanks for the advice, will be trying out ideas over next few days.

regards Stratton

 

>I am considering making my own isotonic drink

I use orange juice, diluted 50-50 with water to get the osmotic pressure right - I think that's what
"isotonic" means.

Jeremy Parker

 

That would be iso-osmotic. Isotonic means that the ionic strength is equal to the ionic strength of
blood, namely that the concentration of ions in the drink is equal to that in the blood. Most of the
positively charged ions in the blood come from sodium (Na+). That is why one should add about 2.3
gm/L salt (NaCl) to the drink, if one wants to have a drink that is roughly isotonic. maf

"Jeremy Parker" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> >I am considering making my own isotonic drink
>
> I use orange juice, diluted 50-50 with water to get the osmotic pressure right - I think that's
> what "isotonic" means.
>
> Jeremy Parker

 

stratton wrote:
> I am considering making my own isotonic drink and found a chemist and home brew shop on the net
> who sell glucose powder, question is are these going to be the same product? The home brew one is
> considerably cheaper.
>
> Rather foolishly agreed to do the London to Brighton ride and having looked at the rider pack it
> seems that the refreshment stops are pay-as-u-go affairs. Am I right in assuming I will have to
> pay for water? If so why do marathon runners get free water and bike riders don't?
>
> MTIA
>
> stratton
>
>

Forget all this isotonic bollocks there are some nice pub's along the route, enjoy the day.
Although a couple of pints does make ditching beacon a bit more challenging especially if you stop
at the pub just before it.