For drinks, I've been using SIS lately; it isn't as light as Skratch, but I wanted to try the stuff out and the USA Cycling deal was pretty good.

I'm hoping Osmo is actually back in business and not vaporware, which is what Osmo has seemed to be for the past several years.

For eats, I just stocked up with a mix of Clif and Kind at the Harlem Fairway blowout.  Though I'm thinking of going back to bulk-buying stroopwafels.  

Stroopwafels 4 lyfe. I've got a giant stash from Costco that I should use before they go bad...

I’ve been bulk buying cliff bars for a couple of years now, but I haven’t found a good drink alternative

SIS products are great, the gels are amazing , water based , so less sickly , (SISCP25) gets you 25% off

SIS looks good - is all the mix individually wrapped or can you get a tub? I can only seem to find the single-serve pouches

^thank you!

fwiw, i dont find the flavors that strong , this may be a good thing or bad thing depending on your preference , 

I've been using nuun tabs that are basically just salt and caffeine, and then adding a little bit of clif drink mix to add some calories. Works pretty well and gives me good control how potent I want to make it.

Otherwise, big fan of the Clif Cubes bars and Stinger waffles and bars (I'm a big honey fan)

My go-to bike drink is dirt cheap. 

Water, lemon juice, salt and a jug of maltodextrin. Mix to the desired ratio and you can change depending on temp intensity and all that jazz. 

If you want to get fancy throw a crushed up caffeine pills for marginal gains  

Crushed Up Caffeine Pills is my favorite 3rd wave ska band.

I used to throw in a spoonful of matcha in my bidon for a caffeine kick. Probably not the most economical option.

Incredibly I gave up caffeine this winter, and seem no worse for the wear.

Today after a particularly nasty 30 minute interval I tried one of the (free sample) NUUN (sp?) hydration-fizzy drink stuff and nearly puked onto my top tube. A good reminder to test new foods in training rather than... what was that thing people used to do? With the numbers... aha! Racing... now I remember.

Jules - I have to say my first reaction to reading this was "for god's sake, why is he doing intervals? There is no racing this year."
This should probably go in a different thread but it got me thinking a bit about the type of riding people are doing under the current circumstances.
I'm riding most days but it's far from what I would consider training. For the moment I'm content to be outdoors and pedaling with the wind in my face and sun in my eyes. My only hard rides are weekends on the mountain bike. I like to be able to attack those rides so keeping up a bit of fitness is important but I've not been able to convince myself to "train" for them.
I've noticed a few of us are putting in longer single day rides than typical. Without racing, what is motivating us to ride and apparently, in your case Jules, to do intervals?

^reply in the COVID19 thread

For those of us with work hours encroaching on life hours because wfh means we're sadly forever on call, intervals are the most efficient way to stay in shape. Not that I do them often or properly, but I like them in theory!

Fantastic podcast about hydration. Adios to the "one bottle per hour" rule

TLDRs;

• dehydration isn't all that bad 
• your drink is not replenishing salts
• drink to thirst
• most useful function of drink is a vehicle for calories

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-simple-truth-about-exercise-and-hydration/id1461719225?i=1000488440355

You mean it doesn't have electrolytes that I crave?

Funny thing; drinking salty water makes you crave salty water. 

The Pringles effect!

If you want to be all science nerd about why you want to revisit your breakfast after a particularly hard interval, you're in luck today. 

https://theconversation.com/when-working-out-makes-you-sick-to-your-stomach-what-to-know-about-exercise-induced-nausea-149061

I picked up a few of those new SiS “turbo+“ gels designed for indoor training. They have menthol in them for a cooling effect, 150mg of caffeine (vs 75 in normal SiS caf gels), and the directions say take them 30 min before riding (vs mid ride every 45min or whatever). I almost always take a gel 15 or so mins before races so I figured the caffeine boost would be great for cross. 

I didn't realize they had so much caffeine in them.  If you haven't cleared your bowels before the ride, that could be an unpleasant shock.  

Haha ehh my gut handles caffeine alright and 150 is like a large cup of coffee I think. Granted, i don’t usually drink a cup of mud in 15 seconds. 

Does anyone have an opinion on Athletic Greens or similar product they'd recommend?

I had a couple free samples of Kyoku shakes and didn't love the flavor but felt like it was beneficial (that particular drink has a good amount of protein and carbs so it was a two-fer as a recovery drink too).

I've been curious about AG, too. But $90/month hard to swallow. I'm opting for the occasional juice stand pick-me up instead. 

yeah, the price is insane- I was hoping someone was a fan of something that was a bit less expensive. I also tend to eat a veggie heavy diet so this would just be a supplement to add in every other day or so (definitely not an every day thing)

I totally understand the market and what solutions like Athletic Greens try to solve, and get the challenge, but if you can, invest some time learning a bit about nutrition, perhaps to make some smoothies, or actually cooking.

Yeah totally understand and agree with that- this would really be a supplement to the cooking I'm already doing and filling in the gaps on those crazy busy days when I don't have the energy to spin up a smoothie 

You cannot “feel” nutrition, no matter what the marketers tell you. There is nothing legal you can inject as a “once-off” that will help your performance.

the marketers try to make you feel like you’re deficient so they can sell you the solution in a pouch/box/bottle.

if you don’t have time to make a smoothie your biggest deficit is probably sleep, not greens