Nutrition in Hot Weather: My favorite formulas

This summer, New Hampshire has been a mess: hot, humid weather was broke only very occasionally by severe thunderstorms. As a result, we haven’t been shy with our energy and electrolyte supplements on rides; the last thing we want is to bonk or – frankly, worse to me – cramp up halfway up a hill on a 95 degree, 90% humidity day. Earlier in the summer I reviewed Skratch energy+electrolyte drinks, as well as Hammer products (HEED and Perpetuum). After three months of riding with various energy/electrolyte/endurance product combinations, here is what we found worked best in warm, humid conditions. 

Road Biking – 2h+

• Before ride: Protein bar (Hammer, Kind, or Clif) +  banana (for me, not husband); plenty of water
• During ride: 1 serving size Perpetuum split between two water bottles. After 1st water bottle is gone, replace with water + 1 Hammer Electrolyte Fizz [so easy to carry on a ride!] or plain cool water. SIS isotonic energy gels for fast energy every 45 min/hr. I cannot stress how much I like the SIS gels, especially in hot weather, because they are not sticky or strongly flavored, and they’re isotonic, so they don’t require extra water. I don’t feel nauseated on a hot, long ride from taste, texture, or need for even more hydration because of my gel. Their taste and mouthfeel is consistent whether they are cool or 100 degrees from being pressed against my back in the sun. It’s worth the small extra bulk (they’re about twice as big as normal energy gels).
• After ride: Hammer Electrolyte fizz in 8oz water; Hammer Recoverite or other protein shake. If I have Recoverite instead of a protein shake supplemented by fruit/veggies/etc, I need to eat something solid within an hour or so. This is solid practice for intense exercise, anyway. The Recoverite has a very mild taste and dissolves completely in water; I prefer it to protein shakes for this reason.

Road Biking – 2h or less

• Before Ride: granola bar (+/- on extra protein) or banana
• During Ride: 1 Hammer HEED in a water bottle and SIS gel every 45min – 1h OR Hammer Electrolyte Fizz and SIS gel every 30-45m
• After Ride: Protein shake

Road Biking – Less than 1h

• Before Ride: Banana and/or energy gel
• During: Water + Hammer Electrolyte Fizz
• After: Protein shake

Since most of my riding falls into the 1 1/2-2h category because of babysitting availability, I found I tweaked the nutrition here most frequently. If I eat too many calories beforehand, I have a heavy stomach/stomach cramping on hot days, so I have been tending towards granola bars right around 200 calories, with a 3:1 or 4:1 carb:protein ratio. I cannot stress what a difference the Hammer products made in my hot-weather riding. If I took Skratch on my ride, which has “real” sugar in it instead of just maltodextrin, I ended my rides with a sticky, well-coated sugar-mouth. This is especially awful on high-humidity days when my entire body is already coated in an extra layer of yuck, and the air feels thick to breathe. For rides closer to an hour, or in less humid conditions, the mouthfeel of Skratch didn’t bother me as much. But also, who wants to be bathing their teeth in sugar while riding? I could see using this for an early morning commute, as the energy is a little more immediately felt than with HEED.

The real hero of the summer, however, is electrolyte tabs. Since I have found Hammer products so awesomely useful during intense exercise, I will admit that I haven’t tried any other brand of electrolyte-only tabs. I love that they are essentially calorie-free, which makes it easier to tweak my caloric needs during a ride without having to consider what’s in my water bottle. I also love that I can carry them with me on long rides and use them when I start to feel depleted; especially in hot weather, my body needs salt replaced more urgently than it needs extra calories. When my husband bonked on a hot mountain bike ride, two electrolyte tabs in a water bottle revived him without also giving him a sugar hit.