I use skratch (regular) in the pack so it still needs cleaning but it does not get goopy. It’s about 39g of carbs an hour so it supplements blocks, gels, high carb bottle etc.
I really like it in my bottles, but i am also now carrying around water for the sake of having water. If i make the hydration pack fuel i can dump water on my self to cool me down or use for mud or something else.
Last year i used water bottle of carbs for mud clearing and ran out of food for 90 min.
I am worried about the mixture being off. If I had it my way I would just use gels or blocks. Maybe I should look into that method, I can get GI distress pretty easily.
Yeah, I’m a big fan of a more concentrated carb mix in my pack, then water in bottles to supplement….both for hydration depending on how hot it is, and as mentioned above, using it to dump on myself or drivetrain when needed.
If it’s cool I won’t be overhydrating just to get the carbs, and if it’s hot I can drink extra water and pour it on me.
I also find it easier to drink more frequently with the pack if it’s technical at all, so I can keep on top of fueling better in my experience.
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I could always just do 2.5 cliff blok packs an hour.
What about mixing a high concentration mixture of powder & water in a flask, so it’s really thick, and then you can do water in the bottle, and electrolytes in the bladder?
Or, have one of those at the sag stop, so the powder is already in solution, and then dump that into your bladder…no lumps, should dilute into the water in the bladder pretty evenly, maybe.
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Willing to try it.
Just have a spare bladder ready…faster and relatively cheap to buy an extra. Support crew can keep it cold / iced down in a cooler until you get there. Since @ABG is using the Rule28 gravel kit, it would be a fast swap.
I run carb mix in my pack. After a while you just get an idea on how long it’ll last. For me, testing wise, I would take out on 4-6 hour training rides even if I knew I could just fill up bottles at a store or gas station. Long road rides with a pack. Looked silly but was necessary to get an idea. I had no know how long it would last. Of course, how hard I was going and temp come into play. I started out drinking the mix out of my pack first so the weight would go down, but I got paranoid not really knowing how long it would last. So I started experimenting with drinking bottles first, then the pack. A bottle is usually an hour. Eventually I determined I went through my pack in about 3 hours.
I put in 3’ish bottles into my USWE pack with 3 scoops of Flow per bottle, one bottle of Flow, and my last bottle is typically water but I’ve been just doing all bottles and pack with carbs to see if my stomach will hate me.
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I find that filling half or more with water and then adding powder rather than putting powder into and empty (dry or wet) container helps prevent it from clumping. I also find that adding ice before the powder is dissolved really slows it down.
I make a couple glass sized pieces of frozen mix that I drop in the bladder. IME even on the hottest day a 1:3 ice to room temp ratio keeps the mix nice and cold for 2-3 hours of riding, without ever reaching a point of frozen mix only.
Larger pieces of ice last longer which is why I chose this route. That and less splashing noise from the bladder.
I’m a long time fan of racing and training with hydration packs and you eventually get a good feel for how much you are drinking. One trick is reaching back and flicking the pack up with your hand to feel the weight of what’s left. A few other things I’ve found with packs -
Some products leave a slimy layer on the inside of the bladder and some don’t. Skratch is really good (no layer) and that’s primarily what I’ve used historically. But sometimes I’ll get what I can at a convenience store and it’s crazy how slimy the bladder gets from a single use. Gatorade is terrible. Body armor seems OK. I’m currently experimenting with a DIY mix that is mostly table sugar and dextrose and it is just like Skratch. I’m hopeful it will work going forward, sick of spending the $ on skratch.
When filling at a an aid station or store, ice first, then water, then mix. You can still have some issues with mix going to the bottom, but it seems to help with the mix starting at the top.
If you do long events with your own support, get extra bladders and/or an extra pack if you can. I have 2 packs and lots of bladders. Support stops can be under 5 seconds with this approach, very useful if you are trying to stay with a group. Old pack is off before you stop rolling, sling on a new pack and a new flask of fuel and there is basically no stopping time.
I train/race with a pack pretty much any time I’m on the bike for more than a couple hours. I like to train how I race, so I’m the guy who usually has a pack on for saturday group rides. Besides aligning with my race approach, I’ve come to appreciate the convenience of a pack. Even when I don’t need the hydration in the winter, it’s great for storing the cloths that are shed as the day warms up. And nothing wrong with a little extra weight for training and I often don’t need to buy or mix hydration at store stops (I’ll start with enough for 100+ miles when it’s not hot).
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