BY MILES FRANK
If you’ve never seen a River Runs Through It, well that’s how most visitors describe the idyllic scenery and vistas that greet them when they come to northwestern Montana in the summer months. From Glacier Park down the rocky mountain corridor to Yellowstone National Park, summer season brings rejuvenation to the landscape and huckleberries(!) to our mountains.
There’s another aspect that’s at least as important for me: TT times. Montana has always been a sparsely populated state, and that means organized bike racing is few and far between. So, one of our retired riders in the community puts on a self-timed, 10-mile TT on some of the old farm roads out of town, so we can at least mimic some of the organized and competitive road racing that seems to be harder and harder to keep alive out in the “Wild West”. And with short, cold days behind us, the long days of June and July make riding after work practically the heat of the day—in the 90s and 100s lately.
Enough about our racing calendar—the fueling component for this casual weeknight race league is a little out of the ordinary for myself for two reasons. First, I almost always go for Hammer Gel, in a flask, watered down to nearly 1:1 as is my desired consistency. The other is my usual preference for capsules of Endurolytes or Endurolytes Extreme, which is weather and especially humidity dependent. The reason is the very short race format and max effort it requires—which deters me from taking capsules and Gels separately, whereas I can just take sips from my bottle from start to finish.
Modern reinventions of sports drinks that overpromise and underdeliver seem to pop up on every street corner. At Hammer, we have always kept our Endurolytes component separate from our fuels, because temperature and body weight changes the requirement - with the caveat that HEED contains a single serving of Endurolytes, any more would be too much on cooler days. For circumstances like this, I’ve tested our new flavor of HEED with one and most recently two scoops of Endurolytes Extreme Powder. Tastes great and works even better!
What makes this combination so special? There’s something about the watermelon flavor from the Endurolytes Extreme Powder that goes so well with Cherry Bomb flavor HEED, and the caffeine kick is great for a subtle but real difference in alertness when you’re trying to put out a max effort.
There’s more to it—HEED is our go-to for athletes that want to cut away the added sugar, citric acid, artificial sweeteners or flavors, and preservatives that make their stomachs unhappy and made them prone to cramping, bonking, or just feeling bloated as their bodies tried to handle the incoming junk. Not so with HEED, which receives accolades from dentists, parents of student athletes, coaches, and recreationalists alike that can count on smooth burning energy and ingredients that actually promote oral health, not diminish it.
So if you haven’t tried it yet, our NEW Cherry Bomb flavor HEED is a winner, and it’s a perfect mate with Endurolytes Extreme Powder for the hottest of efforts. It’s midsummer, the days are long, events are in (relatively) full swing, and we need all the time and attention we can get to keep products in stock and have Hammer run smoothly!
