for short 1.5hr mtb races, when i carry one bottle (80g carbs) and no hydro pack, ive been leaning on downing extra carbs pre-race, like 15min before the start. Usually thats a gel+caffine or something similar so i dont have to carry an extra bottle or when handups arent available.
One option i considered was pre-race flat mt dew. Its 16oz, 80g carbs + 91mg caffine…is there any reason that wouldnt be a good idea? I guess its HFCS instead of malto, but thats still 45/55 glu:fru so is it really a bad choice? it sure is convenient and cheap.
There’s a reason why most (or at least good) aid stations will have Coke. It and your Mountain Dew aren’t completely optimized for sport, but they’ll get you 95% of the way there.
The other 5% is getting sugar ratios right for your stomach, or really high carb consumption rates, flavor preferences (an occasional soda is lovely but it would get nasty over a long event), or density.
I would just practice using it before an intense workout. My stomach can’t handle the acidity of coke/sodas during exercise, but am in the minority I suppose.
Wow… 16oz is about the equivalent of the 500ml plastic bottles we get in Europe, yes?
I have an empty 500ml coke bottle next to me and it claims to contain 54g of sugars (210kcal). No caffeine info on the label but the Coke website claims around 48mg per 500ml.
Mountain Dew sounds like absolute rocket fuel (I shall have to try and find some in France…). But 16oz sounds like a lot of fluid to be taking in 15mins before a race start - I’d be busting for a pee at the top of the first climb.
Red bull is not carbonated and it has a higher caffeine-to-volume ratio, so you’re less likely to have to pee. If I slammed a mountain dew, first of all I’d teleport back to grade 10, and then would promptly have to pee every 15 minutes
I just looked it up and it definitely is lightly carbonated. I’ve drank my fair share of RBs and can’t say I ever noticed it being carbonated! Now I know…
Most red bull athletes are actually drinking water out of those red bull cans. Red bull gives out cans that look like the drink but its just water because drinking red bull before is actually isn’t great.
I don’t think anyone has accused on-bike nutrition of being healthy
Healthy is all relative, because the body processes that soda very differently during/around a workout than in a sedentary population.
That soda will be converted to glycogen/short-term storage in the body which can be used as energy for activity, but then the excess will be converted to long-term storage and fats. In the absence of activity, the density of calories makes frequent soda consumption very unhealthy. Then the sports nutrition market isn’t going to admit their $3 per scoop sugar mix isn’t much different than a cheaper soda.
Thats why I said “supposedly”. But I don’t know for sure, do you? I’m not familiar with any red bull athletes to be able to get an honest answer to that question.
