Sometimes preparing for a bicycle ride makes me feel that I\’m tending bar. I have to prepare take-along hydration.

What to drink while cycling? For me, the shortest ride means bringing along a bottle of water; even two bottles if it\’s hot.

For my weekly long ride, I use the Camel-Bak for my main water supply. Just in case the Camel-Bak runs too low, I bring an extra bottle of water in the seat tube\’s bottle cage.

For long rides, water alone is unlikely to suffice; especially when the weather is hot. The array of drinks out there for hydration, energy, and so on, is bewildering. Maybe this will help with tending bar!

My go-to product is Zym Berry. I like to start a ride of several hours with Zym because it contains caffeine. When the weather gets warm enough that I go through electrolyte drink faster, I pack along Nuun tablets. If the Zym runs out and I still have a ways to ride, I can drop a Nuun tablet into the spare water bottle.

I\’m not sure I\’ve tried any carbohydrate sports drinks. I get the impression that they\’re best reserved for very long sessions in the saddle, when on-the-roll eating will be difficult.

I may not need carb drinks unless I get into riding centuries or other long events on a regular basis; say, at least once a month. Anyway, I rather subscribe to the water-in-the-bottle, food-in-the-pocket philosophy.