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How to Drink From a Water Bottle

06.06.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

Boy, today’s ride was uncomfortably humid. Not terribly hot, just humid. The kind of day where you start sweating when you open the door and step outside. The kind of day where your cycling gloves are soaked through before you’ve ridden five miles. And when the group takes a short break, you can take the gloves off and wring them out — and they drip moisture all over the road. Ditto your sweat band.

I found myself reaching for my water bottle more than usual today. That’s a good thing, because I tend to drink too little when I’m on the road. But both of my slightly-larger-than-normal water bottles were almost drained when I finished the 33 miles — about all I felt like doing. I had plenty of trouble keeping the group in sight today.

I also noticed the way other riders took their water. It seems there’s not just one way to drink from a bottle, but three distinctly different ways. I couldn’t get shots of all the different ways as we were riding, but when the ride was over I had young Alexander, who rode with us today (and who left me well behind), demonstrate.

The first way is pretty normal. You grab your bottle, and drink from it like you drink from a glass. Or a beer bottle.  Most people seem to use this method.

The way most of us drink.

But there’s a variation I often see, usually from riders with many years of experience. Saw a lot of pros in the Philly International Championship on TV today drink that way, too. They reach down for their bottle, but instead of keeping their thumb at the top, they turn their hand over so the thumb points down. That brings the water bottle to the mouth already pointing down.

The upside down method.

But there’s a third way, that I’ve seen associated with European racing teams. You hold the bottle normally, but then turn it so your hand is on top of the bottle.

Hand on top. You don't see this very often.

I once read about a team of French cyclists using the hand on top method, and figured what the hey, I’ll give it a try. It seemed that the water flowed more freely. Of course, that could be just my imagination.  But I use this way from time to time, if I think about it while on a ride.

Personally, I’ve never liked the upside down method, but in my experience, cyclists who use it won’t drink any other way.

Ultimately, the important thing is to get the water in the mouth. So I suppose whatever works for you is the way to go.

Do you have a preferred method of drinking during rides? And if so, what’s good about it?

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Categories // food, Technique Tags // hydration, water

Convenience Store Food

04.01.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

Whenever I go on longer rides — more than an hour and a half or so — I take along an energy bar, some Nuun tablets, and two water bottles. I make use of them all, but I usually add another source of sustenance: the convenience store.

Often, our informal rest stops happen in convenience store parking lots. It’s only natural to go inside and make a small purchase. But what to buy?

I start out by looking for G2, the lower-sugar Gatorade. I prefer the flavor to the original Gatorade. I’ll knock off half a bottle, and pour the rest into one of my water bottles. If I don’t want the energy bar I packed — usually a Lara Bar — I can always scour the shelves for a substitute. One of my favorites is the good old Pay Day candy bar. It’s a layer of peanuts, wrapped around a caramel-nougat center. The peanuts are a little salty — just the thing to help replace all the sweat I’ve been losing.

I’ve also noticed that Snickers now makes an energy bar of sorts. It’s still a candy bar, but not the Snickers we’re all familiar with. Good for a quick shot of energy, but I’m certain it provides nowhere near the nutrient replenishment of a real energy bar.

Salty snack food might be a good choice, too. Maybe a small bag of pretzels.

Honestly, I haven’t been riding far enough lately to test all of my in-ride junk food urges, but I think that once my mileage picks up, I might be doing it more often.

How about you? Are you a healthy eater while on a long ride, or do you occasionally (or frequently) give into temptation and pig out on some yummy stuff? And if you do, what kind of convenience store food do you prefer? I’m always open to new ideas.

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Categories // food Tags // food

Tryptophan and Biking

12.22.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

It’s close upon us — the big Christmas dinner, usually featuring turkey with all the trimmings. And we all know what turkey brings to our bloodstream: tryptophan. That’s an amino acid that flows through your blood vessels to the brain, where it’s converted to serotonin, which is blamed for inducing the post-feast drowsiness that results in nap time after dinner.

But maybe you’ve had the experience of finishing a long and/or strenuous bike ride. It might be nothing out of the ordinary given your level of fitness. Still, a little while after the ride, a wave of drowsiness comes over you. You make your way to the bedroom and flop. And you’re out cold for two or three hours.

Tryptophan.

It turns out that the poor turkey gets a bum rap for our sleepiness after dinner. Tryptophan is found in most proteins, so it’s not the turkey. It’s the amount of protein we ingest.

What does that have to do with feeling tired after a ride? During strenuous exercise, your muscles use branch chain amino acids for fuel. Tryptophan competes with branch chain amino acids to get into the brain, and since you’re burning the BCAA’s, the tryptophan wins. That can produce fatigue during exercise, not after.

That’s why we munch on energy bars and gulp exercise drinks during rides. The muscles use the carbs as fuel, and in turn that cuts down the amount of tryptophan that can make it to the brain.

My ride the other day was a perfect example. I rode 25 miles, a distance I’m used to, although I don’t do it more than twice a week, and I felt pretty good. I carried one water bottle, and it was nearly drained when I pulled up to the house after the ride. But sure enough, while watching TV after my shower, I dozed off. I awoke just long enough to get to bed and zonk out for two hours.

During the ride, my body was using fatty acids — including tryptophan — for fuel. I just drank water, so I wasn’t doing anything to inhibit the tryptophan from getting to the brain. If I had brought an energy bar, I’m certain I would have stayed awake longer.

So if you’re going to do any riding over the Christmas weekend, keep these hints in mind:

  • Don’t fast before you ride. Fasting raises blood-fat levels, and makes it easier for the effects of tryptophan to be felt.
  • Don’t eat fatty foods for 12 hours before your ride. Fatty foods create the necessary condition for tryptophan to move through the bloodstream.
  • Do eat a carbohydrate meal two hours or so before your ride. That will reduce your blood-ft levels.
  • Do drink a sports drink every 10 minutes or so during your ride — and depending on how long you’re out there, take in some carbohydrate foods, too.

Following these steps not only will ward off fatigue during your ride, but keep you from napping — and missing Christmas activities with family or friends — once the ride is done.

Bike Noob will take a short break over Christmas, and we’ll be back next weekend. I wish the blessings of the season on everyone.

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Categories // food Tags // tired

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