Fair enough, I’m sure almost no one has ever had an issue. For fuel I’ll be taking sachets of High5, so that angle’s covered.
It’s just standalone electrolytes I’m trying to cover here. I could take a small tub + measuring spoon like I use at home, but don’t want the hassle (and want something in pocketable form) - see Justin below. Or, I could portion up Sodium Citrate into 1/4 teaspoon baggies, but if anyone is ever going to get “delayed” by airport security carrying something innocuous, it’d be me with my tiny 2.5g baggies of odourless white powder… .
Prior to hearing about sodium citrate a couple of years ago (thanks @Dr_Alex_Harrison) I’d have just packed some Nuun tablets as they were the least offensive of the few things I’d tried previously (price OK, flavours OK, stevia sweetener maybe preferable to alternatives), but now I’ve been spoilt by the simplicity of sodium citrate (dirt cheap, water still tastes like water, no sweeteners) there’s no going back…
I’d thought I was asking a simple question in this thread, but so far everything I’ve looked at is either flavoured or has a daft price - and the fewer ingredients the dafter the price becomes. I think salt & sugar sachets from a caff + the @JonGreengrass breakfast strat are looking like my answer. My trip is for leisure, not competition, so I won’t be “sweating” the details too much. It was convenience I was largely looking for.
evening @AldridgePrior could you share where you purchase this from in the UK? I’ve been using tablets for years but the price is only ever going up, so your solution seems a lot easier!
I’m in US, but I just get order it on Amazon. They have lots of brands here, but the plain Nutricost brand is fine.
I like a little flavor, so I buy the Mio or other (Crystal Light, Hi-C, etc.) concentrated squirt bottles and just use as much as I feel like (my first bottle often has more flavor, and the 2nd one less if it’s hot, because my stomach doesn’t like much sweet later in a ride).
FWIW I never did find portable sachets/tabs of an electrolyte “sports product” that wasn’t either (a) a total rip off or (b) full of superfluous/undesirable additional ingredients [or usually (c), both a rip off and full of unwanted ingredients!], so I just bought catering/cafe sachets of sugar and salt off ebay, which are dirt cheap.
Thanks, just being ultra cautious, but looking at my SIS Hydro tablets they have the following ingredients (I’ve not pasted the bulking stuff etc), but does Sodium Citrate have the potassium, magnesium etc etc
No, it doesn’t have any of the other stuff in; it’s used solely as a source of sodium ions.
⠀
See “Is salt really all I need?”. Alex Harrison, fella behind the Saturday App, posts on here now and again. There are probably plenty of older posts on the subject if you wish to read past discussions here.
For my bottles delivering just electrolytes (ie. not fuel, not sugar) I’ll just use plain water + sodium citrate.
At ~1/4 teaspoon per bottle, there’s no real taste (v slight salty, which I don’t notice on the bike), so no need to mask it with added flavourings IMO.
If I’m also carrying solid food and/or a 2nd bottle with fuel (sugar & flavour) in it, I like to have plain unflavoured water (always with sodium citrate in too) as a contrast so that I don’t get sick of tasting the sweet/flavoured stuff all the time, and to clear my palette. Much easier for me to drink larger volumes (and stay hydrated!) if drinking unflavoured stuff.
On the turbo, I always have one or two bottles of plain water + sodium citrate, plus if fuel is required for the workout have some high sugar solid food on the side such as jelly babies, haribo, etc.
.
) I’d have just packed some Nuun tablets as they were the least offensive of the few things I’d tried previously (price OK, flavours OK, stevia sweetener maybe preferable to alternatives), but now I’ve been spoilt by the simplicity of sodium citrate (dirt cheap, water still tastes like water, no sweeteners) there’s no going back…