After Nuun

In January 2019, Trek had such an incredible deal on Nuun hydration tablets that I still wonder about it. I wasn’t in the habit of exploring Trek’s website for sports nutrition. I’ve been a Nuun fan for more than 10 years, but usually I bought it from Nashbar, Performance Bike, or at a local shop. However, Trek’s deal was too good to pass up. I hope nobody got fired for getting the price wrong, if indeed it was wrong, but I should have kept pressing the Buy button until there was nothing left. Showing some restraint, I purchased 8 boxes for $6.99 apiece. Each box contained 8 tubes. Each tube contained 10 tablets. From other retailers, a single tube of Nuun was selling for about $6.99, so to get 8 tubes for that price was suspiciously good. That’s a total of 640 tablets for $58.72 after tax!

At the time, I told a friend I had just purchased 3 seasons’ worth of Nuun. That estimate was a bit off, as sometimes I ride with only water. Today, more than 5 years later, I am down to my last tube. And Nuun tablets are great! Unlike powders, there’s nothing to measure and nothing to spill. I’m still a fan. There’s still a place for Nuun when I am taking my bike somewhere to ride or to race. But to buy 640 Nuun tablets today, I would have to pay more than $500! For everyday rides that leave from my driveway, I’m going back to homemade sports drink. Tap water, granulated sugar, salt, and flavoring agents like lemon juice are cheap. It will be a long time before I go through $500 worth of those.

I use water bottles with a capacity of 750 ml. I have a plastic pitcher with enough capacity to make five 750 ml servings. So, my recipe is this simple:

Add 1 cup of granulated white sugar (775 calories).

Add dash of ordinary table salt (sodium chloride).

Add dash of salt substitute (potassium chloride).

Add ½ cup of lemon juice (25 calories).

Fill with water (approximately 1 gallon).

Stir ... and re-stir before the next serving if necessary.

Chill in the refrigerator.

That’s a sufficient supply of electrolytes and about 160 calories per serving, almost as many as the equivalent amount of classic Gatorade and far more than the 15 calories I was getting from Nuun. Sometimes I will need the extra energy source and sometimes I won’t. In any case, I should be doing a better job of staying hydrated. Nuun is very thinly flavored and I have finished many rides with a nearly full bottle. I think the extra sweetness of my own mix will encourage me to drink more.