Best option for "neutralizing" the super sweet high-carb mouth taste for long rides?

Hey all,

I know there’s tons of threads on here about optimal fueling, which whole foods people prefer on rides, etc. - but I’m specifically wondering if anyone has a reliable go-to choice when they are deep into a long ride and the sweetness of a 90g/hour mix has just become too much to handle. I know the general solution would include things like more long days training to stomach stupid amounts of carb drinks, more whole foods mixed in, and all that stuff. But I just had the thought that maybe someone has a particular type of snack that they feel cancels it out. Someone told me they like alternating sour taste in, but I can’t imagine that being very palatable at that point haha

Any thoughts are appreciated

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Depends if it’s for fuelling or just to fill your stomach. On longer rides, using real food is useful to me as energy products, whilst they give me enough energy, often leave my stomach feeling hollow. Something as simple as a sandwich can work wonders for keeping you satiated (and happy) on long rides.

If you want something still particularly carb focused but a bit more satisfying than gels or sweets then i love fig rolls!

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I’m more curious if there’s something to add TO the carb intake to make everything more palatable. Mentally, I feel like if I could shed that “I’m so sick of all this sweet taste” feeling, the actual fuel itself would be no problem in terms of actual effect on stomach.

edit: To clarify, not adding to the actual drink itself, but more like: “I just drank 50g carbs, and now I take a big swig of ___, or chew on a ___ to get the taste out of my mouth”

Maltodextrin is basically flavourless. Buy it cheap in bulk, use it late in a ride if sweetness bothers you. Add some lemon juice or similar for flavour. Maltodextrin gets taken up just quickly as short-chained sugars.

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And does this need to be carbs? As already mentioned, often the best solution is normal food that mixes fat and protein. A sandwich, tortilla chips, peanuts are good choices for me

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this, and its cheap :slight_smile: there are a few flavoured versions that are quite light and not sweet. I like the decathlon tropical but its only available in UK/EU

I may be showing my age here, but back in the day when I started, we were told to use coca-cola, left out over night to go flat and diluted 50% with water and a pinch of salt.

2 bidons of that, a pb or cheese sandwich and a banana or a few biscuits in the back pocket was the standard recipe for long rides!

Modern sports nutrition probably has much ‘better’ answers but it always worked for me.

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I get where you are going here.

I tend to stay with tarter flavors. It seems to help.

My favorite is the cranberry flavor of Infinit. That bit of sour seems to stay happier on my palate after a few hours. The lemonade flavor isn’t too bad for that either, but the cranberry really does it best for me.

I completely relate to your feeling, despite carrying PBJ sandwiches with me. Just recently discovered Ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread from your local gas station. Super easy to put down and the salt from the ham really erases/neutralizes all that sweet yuck. I’ll eat half or 3/4 and save the other half in a bag to eat later.

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Not a snack, but I add citric acid to my basic 20g maltodextrin/10g fructose mix. Cuts through the sweetness :slight_smile: at 0.3g/1%.

I’ve been a huge convert to Torq chews, which is what I use when I don’t want a gel but don’t feel like chewing real food like a bar.

I’d post a code for you to use but then someone ends up flagging it most likely, so message me if you want it.

good luck, and yeah, IDK about sour either lol

Brendan