A bit of background. I purchased this so I could keep hot coffee in it. Found out about it via Steven Scharf's Bicycle Coffee Systems page. And, on the subsequent Cycle Oregon ride (known for whacking cold mornings), it served me well.
But there I was, on a whacking cold morning at a rest stop somewhere outside of LaGrande, setting out to ride up Cabbage Hill over Deadman Pass (through Meacham, a singularly COLD place in Oregon), and I was out of coffee. It was COLD. There was hot water, tea bags, and Gatorade.
A memory stirred in my mind, camping with the Neales in the state parks of Texas in my youth. Mrs. Neale always had Russian Tea mix. I thought it was yummy. It was basically instant iced tea powder and Tang.
I looked at those tea bags and the Orange Gatorade. Hot water, tea bag, scoop of Gatorade. Not only did I have a hot drink, I had electrolytes! And when I'm cold, I don't drink as much. This encourages me to drink more. And it stays warm for hours. On brevets and permanents I'll start with a bottle, and carry extra tea bags and Gatorade powder for refills. It is now my cold weather ride standard second bottle beverage.
3 comments:
What kind of tea goes best with Gatorade?
plain old cheap tea :-) Whatever we have in the house. I think we have Fred Meyer teabags and Red Rose decaf teabags right now. I leave the teabag in, so it brews pretty strong.
However, there is nothing to stop you from trying your favorite tea. Just remember the citrus does dominate.
When I did a trek in Nepal in 1980 we were served tea 3x/day and it was different for each meal. I would swear the morning tea was mixed with Tang! In my early mountaineering days I skipped the tea and just did hot Tang before starting up. But I agree - cheap and black. I buy loose Ceylon tea from the local middle east grocery.
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