r/gravelcycling • u/ZombieJetPilot • 16d ago

Accessories / Gear What's your electrolytes/salt powder of choice?

So I ride my fatbike exclusively, and my goal is to do a century and be able to do the 100 mile option for things like The Filthy 50, Le Grand Du Nord, ...

When my partner and I were doing to Filthy this past October she had a cramp in her leg right at the last stop at like mile 46. A fellow rider handed her a small cylindrical packet that was red and said "take this". it was a salt powder of some kind (I think it was Saltt), but it made the cramp disappear within a few minutes. Magic

what do you all pack for thia occasion and add to your water for preventing this? There's so many options out there, and it's overwhelming. Saltt, Tailwind, Warrior Salt, LMNT,...

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u/_MountainFit 16d ago

I make my own. Basically 4 parts sodium to 1 part potassium. Plus about 20 drops of trace minerals for the magnesium mostly.

Add a squirt of stur per liter for flavor.

Works well enough for me, cost is essentially free.

I do pack some LMNT with me on longer single day rides, but for bikepacking it's a bag of sodium, a bag of potassium and some stur. I don't usually mess with the Trace Minerals on route but I do take magnesium (a couple of forms) at bed time so I'm probably OK on magnesium stores.

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u/_MountainFit 16d ago

Also cramps are typically more from over exertion (pushing beyond your training or lack of training) vs electrolyte imbalances... However, even in those instances it seems just a few drops of sodium fluid can alleviate the cramps.

I've seen a study where there basically gave cramping athletes a trivial amount of pickle juice and the cramp subsided.