Nutrition Drinks for a Long Ride

There is a slew of products on the market that claim to promote performance and recovery but I would not fall for many of them. With additives including corn syrup, caffeine, food coloring, artificial sweeteners, fructose and vitamins of unknown origins, the products out there touting health claims may be less healthy than the consumer thinks. Today, for my 5 plus hour ride I started with Vega at home just like every morning. I trust the source of the ingredients; it is vegan which I strongly prefer. About two and a half to three hours into the ride I started the two drinks I carried with me. One was a watered down Community Green Honest Tea (10 grams of sugar in the bottle) which was literally warm from being in the bottle holder on the bike. I separated it into two bottles and watered it down then added 1 ounce of Grape Acai Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar to one of the bottles. So both drinks combined were about 45 calories total with a touch of caffeine from the natural green tea (not concentrated). So I plodded on and was fine while the temperature gage on my bike read 104 for a long time until mile 72 where I needed to stop for groceries for our family anyway. So, there, at the huge character free blah Publix, I mixed myself two more drinks in spring water. One was a packet of Oxylent which was a free gift at a race; it had been sitting around here for months so I tried it and it was tasty and I was desperately thirsty. It has a mix of minerals and B vitamins...10 calories, less than two grams of sugar. I am not sure of the source of any of the vitamins so sort of just like taking a supplement. Then, I mixed myself a trustworthy Macro Greens packet http://www.macrolifenaturals.com/home.htm with 50 calories and whole foods powdered including chlorella, spirulina and a bunch of greens. (See ingredients here http://www.macrolifenaturals.com/formulation%20-%20ingredients.htm ) So, all the drinks were tasty and watery both. Those last 9 miles with 20 pounds of groceries on my back, well, I am not sure I would recommend that at all... Glad to be home with our fresh fruit which I attacked when I walked in; had a popcorn fest to comfort kids in a terrible thunder storm and my salad is sitting there ready if I can make my move to go down and eat it...