Gravel Camp and Gear Review

Today on the show, Lindsay and Mike talk gear reviews and Lindsay recaps her time at Gravel Camp by Cycle House in beautiful Montana.  Mike and Lindsay break down the following products:

• Shokz Open Ear Headphones
• LMNT hydration 
• Salt Stick electrolytes

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Transcript

Lindsay Hiken (00:01.612)
Hello and welcome to the Ginger and Chocolate podcast. I am your co-host Lindsay along with Mike. What up Mike?

Mike Ergo (00:09.055)
Hey, hey, hey, hey. Good to see you, Lindsey. It's been a minute, so happy to be back here with you.

Lindsay Hiken (00:15.458)
I know it has been a minute. Some of us are on vacation. So I'm pretty excited. I'm not excited to be back from vacation, but I am excited to share about my experience.

Mike Ergo (00:19.038)
Yep.

Mike Ergo (00:25.951)
Yeah, yeah, I I saw some of the pictures that looked like a really fun time.

Lindsay Hiken (00:30.03)
And it was endurance sports related, that's always a good thing.

Mike Ergo (00:35.453)
Yeah, I've recently got back on the bike as of this morning, so I'm feeling it. I'm fully back in the swim bike run lifestyle. Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (00:44.526)
Ooh, wow, back in the lifestyle. Let's talk about why.

Mike Ergo (00:48.937)
Mm-hmm.

Well, uh, I registered to do Oceanside 70.3 next year. So I am excited to be doing that next year. I was like, I need something on the calendar. had a friend who was, who was doing it from up here. So, um, I, know, I, it was time. It was time. I, you know, I had my four a into just weightlifting and I've been running and I realized.

Lindsay Hiken (01:11.214)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (01:18.111)
I like the lifestyle. like swimming. like cycling. like running. So I do a lot better when I'm training.

Lindsay Hiken (01:27.854)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep. I think that that is a good thing. And I'm really, really happy for you that you signed up for something. You got it on your calendar and that you're rearing and ready to go. That's awesome. That's awesome. Mm.

Mike Ergo (01:37.065)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, needed the break, but here I am back.

Lindsay Hiken (01:45.934)
Cool, I might have to go down there and watch you do that. Oceanside looks like a great race. I know a lot of people who've done it and really enjoyed the race. I do know one person that said they felt something big swim under them when they were doing the race. Yeah, I'm sure it was. Of course, that's not for me then, because I'm a big old chicken.

Mike Ergo (01:48.659)
Yes.

Mike Ergo (01:56.862)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (02:02.527)
Probably a sea lion or a seal, yeah.

Mike Ergo (02:11.935)
It's a cool race. For me, especially having been in the Marine Corps, you get to ride through Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps base down there in Oceanside or outside of Oceanside. so it's really cool. So I get to see some familiar spaces. And I mean, the finish line is great right there. And I guess the boardwalk they have.

Lindsay Hiken (02:30.894)
Bye.

Lindsay Hiken (02:37.038)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (02:38.143)
Yeah, it's it's a it's a special race. I love it. I did it. I want to say it was 2016. So it's been a minute.

Lindsay Hiken (02:45.026)
Wow, that's been, so it'll be a decade. That's kind of cool. Well, I'm not there yet in terms of triathlon. I'm still in my like no triathlon mode. I am registered for Lake Tahoe Tri in August and honestly, I have zero motivation.

Mike Ergo (02:49.073)
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Lindsay Hiken (03:14.478)
man.

Mike Ergo (03:15.507)
I want to get you almost finished your medals for the races you've almost done.

Lindsay Hiken (03:19.668)
my God, I would have so many medals. my gosh. I yeah, I'm going to stop registering for things now because I really don't have the motivation to swim, bike and run. I have the motivation to bike. So that's what I've been doing. And that's what I was doing on vacation. I went to. So there's a.

a cycling company called the Cycling House. And it's pretty cool because they are, it was sort of founded by pro triathletes. So from Bozeman, no, sorry, Missoula, Montana, they started going to Tucson in the winter because Missoula is not a place where you can do much outside in the winter. And

Mike Ergo (04:11.28)
No.

Lindsay Hiken (04:15.406)
So they started doing that to train and then friends started coming and then they were like, let's do a training camp. And this is like 20 years ago or something. And then they decided to do like a tour and now they tour all over the place. I mean, including like Europe, Ireland and Spain and Italy. But they have some great American tours as well. And you know who one of the guides is, is Lindsay Corbin. She was

Mike Ergo (04:23.295)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (04:33.119)
Wow.

Mike Ergo (04:44.191)
I remember her. Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (04:44.376)
the record holder. Yeah, she held for four years. Yeah. So she these are all friends of hers. And she was one of the people that went and trained in Tucson. So so she's one of the guides. Yeah. Yeah. She's amazing. You do very strong. Yeah. Yeah. She's she's quite the athlete even now after retiring from from racing. She's still incredibly fit. And, know, you can imagine somebody that was the

Mike Ergo (04:53.307)
she's great.

Remember seeing her at Vine Man before?

Lindsay Hiken (05:14.114)
that held the Ironman world record for four straight years is someone who's going to be fit for it's a lifestyle, even if they're not racing anymore. You don't just start laying on the couch after that. So this is my second year in a row of going to the their cycling, their gravel riding camp. It's like a summer camp. It's held at Sealy Lake, which is outside of Missoula.

Mike Ergo (05:19.41)
Yeah.

Mike Ergo (05:23.144)
yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (05:44.486)
And it is at an old Boy Scout camp. So it has cabins, pretty rustic cabins. mean, there's no, you know, there's no heat. There's no cooling. There's no bathroom in the cabin. They've got the like. Men's the boys bathroom cabin over here and then the women's over there and, know, they there is a lodge that where they cook food for us. They have a chef, so it's not super, super rust. I mean, it's rustic, but it's not rustic.

Mike Ergo (06:12.787)
Yes, sir.

Lindsay Hiken (06:13.926)
And it's funny because this year I brought Josh and you can get a quote unquote private cabin, but that just means no one else is in the cabin with you. But there's still four bunk beds in the cabin. And that's what we had. So he was he was kitty corner across the room in a bunk bed. And then I had my own bed because they're like single size beds. But they take you every day for a week on these incredible.

Mike Ergo (06:25.949)
Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (06:43.948)
routes through the mountains in Montana. And one of them is along the spine of the Great Divide. And so, yeah, it was just amazing. mean, was so now it was in the high 80s, low 90s. So yeah, your girl, I used to do well in the heat and not any longer since living in Half Moon Bay, I've gotten used to the cold and I was it was pretty, it was pretty.

Mike Ergo (06:51.621)
cool.

Mike Ergo (07:08.749)
yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (07:13.216)
I had heat stroke the first full day and they were like, you should get in the van. You look like you're about to pass out. And I'm like, I get in the van and got through all the dirt. And then there's this like road that just paved road that leads into the Boy Scout camp. And when I got to that paved road, I was like, I can't actually pedal anymore. I was seeing stars and I wanted to throw up. So I got in the van for the last like.

Mike Ergo (07:40.447)
Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (07:41.208)
four miles, which is really, was rough on the ego, but necessary if I was gonna recover enough to do the ride the next day.

Mike Ergo (07:50.535)
Yeah, that's day one.

Lindsay Hiken (07:52.269)
That was day one. day zero, when you first arrive, they do a quote, what they refer to as a spin, but it's like 23 miles on gravel. So with some climbing.

Mike Ergo (07:59.167)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (08:05.565)
love how it's relative, right? Like for me, that would be called a good ride.

Lindsay Hiken (08:07.182)
Mm-hmm.

Right, right. I would have been like, I did a ride today and I was. And we had seven, like there were seven people working there and 21 of us guess. So they had a lot of people guiding us and driving the vans and stuff. And all of these people are like, you know, either race road bikes, gravel bikes or triathlon at a high level previous. So they will like ride up and see what's happening up front. And they'll come back and see people in the back and then they'll

Mike Ergo (08:14.695)
Hmm

Lindsay Hiken (08:39.99)
make sure you're OK and then they'll just ride away from you and go back up to the front. It's like, OK, that's what an actual like highly fit, athletically talented person. That's how they do gravel. Meanwhile, I'm like slog, slog, slog. But.

Mike Ergo (08:56.447)
It's fascinating to watch these super athletes like that. I remember the first time I saw the Tour de California come through and I was at the top of Mount Diablo. It's one of our mountains out here in the Bay. I was at the junction and I was watching these riders, the Peloton, ride uphill faster than I can ride downhill.

Lindsay Hiken (09:02.958)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (09:21.312)
You

Mike Ergo (09:21.885)
I got vertigo because I wasn't sure if I was looking at people going up or down. It just didn't make sense to my brain and I started to get dizzy. So it's something to see.

Lindsay Hiken (09:31.34)
Mm hmm. It really is. was it was special. I loved it so much. And like I said, I brought Josh this year. He was off the front. They were giving him extra routes to do, which was nice. You know, they they kind of had it planned out. So we're actually going back again next year. Yeah, I'm going to try to get you to come. You can bring the you can bring Sarah. I don't think there's kids here, but you could definitely bring Sarah and she could hang out and.

Mike Ergo (09:47.424)
cool. Great. Ooh.

Lindsay Hiken (09:57.438)
And there's fishing if you want to, if you could bring a poll. There's a, it's got a private doc. so that's what I did. And today we are going to do a review episode. And so this was sort of my review of the cycling house adult summer camp gravel. And they've got so many other.

Mike Ergo (10:03.303)
Interest is peaked.

Mike Ergo (10:13.203)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (10:22.53)
great tours, recommend everybody go check them out, just cyclinghouse.com. I signed up again, both Josh and I already signed up for next year, and we also are doing, they've got, there are road camps in Tucson, they also have a gravel camp in Tucson, early in the year. So when it's bad weather everywhere else, you can go to Tucson and ride.

Mike Ergo (10:47.139)
cool. It's yeah, it's pretty down there in Mountain Lemon. That's a pretty spot. At least in the winter. No, I've hiked it a little bit, but I haven't ridden it.

Lindsay Hiken (10:51.786)
Mm-hmm. Have you written it before?

So we're going to their road camp in April, mid April. And I'm excited because the weather here is not horrible, but it's usually very foggy and half in bay. And you're starting out your rides here with it being damp and kind of. So we're going to go to the week long road camp. And that includes if you look at the routes one day is just Mount Lemmon, which is like a 21 mile climb.

Mike Ergo (11:17.342)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (11:27.502)
So the profile of the route looks like a triangle. just goes up and then down. Yeah, so check them out. I think our listeners would enjoy some of the tours that they have happening next year or later this year.

Mike Ergo (11:30.335)
Yeah.

Mike Ergo (11:41.343)
Yeah, just check the show notes. The link will be in there.

Lindsay Hiken (11:45.939)
Absolutely. Alrighty, so I know you have something that you would like to review. Why don't you start?

Mike Ergo (11:54.355)
Yes. So I just got the shocks headphones the other week, last week really from Costco and they are the, the open ear headphones. And so they go through the bone in front of your ear instead of like in the ear canal. And yeah, I, I hadn't used something like that before. So it was new and I gotta say, I'm really impressed with them.

I'm really impressed with them after having lots of different headphones that either get too sweaty or fall out or you have to adjust or you know the sweat runs over the buttons and so they stops and starts the song and it just makes the run a pain in the ass. This, none of that, none of those issues. I've done a couple of short runs and you know longer like a seven a half mile run and

Lindsay Hiken (12:27.054)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (12:49.107)
The advantage of them too is you can hear what's going on around you. So I, know, whereas traditional, headphones or earbuds, you can't, you can mostly, unless you have a special setting, you're blocked out from the rest of the world. So you can't hear maybe the traffic or things you'd want to hear in your environment around you. Not the case now. So it's, it's the best of both worlds for me. And I was,

Lindsay Hiken (12:53.506)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (13:18.047)
I was a little skeptical of how they would fit because they just wrap around the side of your head. Right. And now no issues with falling off or slipping or anything.

Lindsay Hiken (13:21.55)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (13:31.094)
Okay, and so even with your helmet, the fact that it's wrapping around the back, there's no problems.

Mike Ergo (13:37.885)
I haven't tried it with a helmet on yet. I tried it this morning on my indoor trainer. So no helmet, but, yeah, I'll give that a world. We'll, retouch after that. But actually, you know, you'll probably still be on my trainer cause I do all of my training indoors. It's a, not, not a lot of great places to cycle right around where I am.

Lindsay Hiken (13:40.792)
Mm-hmm.

Okay. Okay.

Lindsay Hiken (13:56.919)
Really?

Lindsay Hiken (14:03.118)
Oh my god, how do you even do that? It's crazy.

Mike Ergo (14:04.711)
Yeah. True endurance, right? Well, through Zwift, but it's, it's, yeah. After the third time I had someone yell at me saying, the off the road. and I'm riding the bike lane. Mind you. Yeah. Sonoma County. There's a lot of places up here that don't particularly like cyclists, including iron man.

Lindsay Hiken (14:19.786)
Yeah, yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (14:30.21)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (14:34.619)
Not one, but two years, people throwing nails out in the road out by chalk hill. The disdain level is pretty high. And so whatever.

Lindsay Hiken (14:38.029)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I do remember. Yeah, it's interesting because what I've noticed riding out there is, yes, animosity, but also for no reason. I'm like, there's no one else on the road. Just go around like even when you're on these roads that don't have a bike lane, sort of the more rural roads. I'm like, we're literally not impeding your progress because there's nobody coming the other direction. You're in a car.

Mike Ergo (14:54.601)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (15:10.538)
just drive. But I hear what you're saying. It's scary to write alone, especially alone. It's good right at the group when you've got a lot of animosity, actually. So but wow, so the mental fortitude it would take to train indoors for me is probably beyond what I can endure.

Mike Ergo (15:10.641)
Yeah.

Mike Ergo (15:33.565)
Yeah, no, I, I just made the decision a little while ago after a couple more friends of mine got hit on the road that maybe I'll go for group rides out when I go to a specific spot to do it, but not around here. So that's okay. But shocks, the headphones work great for, for biking and running and, and around the house.

Lindsay Hiken (15:40.046)
Mmm.

Lindsay Hiken (15:52.974)
Yeah.

Mike Ergo (16:00.745)
The only downside to them, I'd say, is that the level of bass isn't quite what it is for the Bose earbuds that I have for just either on the plane or around the house.

Lindsay Hiken (16:11.68)
Right, right.

Sure, That makes sense. that level of bass and those bows, I know are pretty good and it pretty well cuts out everything else around you. Which, when you're on the road, is not ideal. Well, no, I was going to say, just tell us a little bit about where you got them and pricing. But first, just let me know what you were about to say.

Mike Ergo (16:23.497)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (16:27.069)
Yeah. Yeah.

Mike Ergo (16:32.796)
Yeah, so yeah, go ahead.

Mike Ergo (16:46.575)
don't remember. So what I can tell you is that you can get two versions that I'm aware of. well there's the pro, which are about 180 bucks and you can get those in the size, mini size or standard size. So if you have a smaller head, the mini size seems to fit better. And then, I got the, open run se, which is the more of basic model.

Lindsay Hiken (16:49.333)
you

Mike Ergo (17:15.965)
which you lose a few features. but I, you can get those at Costco, at least among other places for $99 price points. Really cool. so that was the mid, I actually, I ordered the pro first, but then the minis came. So I was like, all right, I don't want to wait another day. So I just went to Costco and got the basic model and I like it. I really like it.

Lindsay Hiken (17:26.676)
that's good.

Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (17:42.19)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (17:46.402)
So on the basic model, can you still get the two sizes? Or is there one size? Mm-hmm. I think so. actually, full disclosure, have a pair of these from a few years ago when they were called Aftershocks, which we're going to put the link to shocks in the show notes along with everything else we talk about today.

Mike Ergo (17:50.351)
No, I think it's just a standard size.

Lindsay Hiken (18:07.63)
I have the aftershocks and I don't use them hardly at all because it was a standard size and the size is a little too big for me. My helmet pushes it down. It's just I can still hear really well, which is kind of crazy. Like it actually pushes them away from me, but I can still hear hear the music and things playing. My problem is it becomes uncomfortable after a while.

Mike Ergo (18:15.838)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (18:20.008)
Yeah, that'd be a problem.

Mike Ergo (18:33.939)
That's a problem because if you're an endurance rider, the longer you have it on, the worse it's going to feel.

Lindsay Hiken (18:37.92)
Mm hmm. So I'm excited to hear they've got like a smaller size. I think that that's something that I might try because right now when I ride alone, either I don't use anything or I just use my earbuds in both ears. And I'm like, well, I don't hear a car. I guess I'll know when they're going by me that they're there.

Mike Ergo (18:44.991)
Mm-hmm.

you

Mike Ergo (18:54.377)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (19:04.642)
I've been doing a lot of gravel riding, it's been on the trail, which is a little less scary to have them not have hearing. I think I'll try the pro and I'll try the smaller size. That sounds like something that might work for me. And back when I bought mine, they did have a pair that supposedly worked in the water. I'm wondering if.

Mike Ergo (19:07.913)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (19:31.289)
yeah, I think they I think I don't know if the the open air or open run pro model does that or not, but they still they have one that does. I'm just yeah, it'd be interesting I for for me though. I resist the idea of that, because I like the. The silence of being in the water.

Lindsay Hiken (19:40.97)
Okay, yeah, that would be.

Lindsay Hiken (19:52.162)
Yeah, that's.

Mike Ergo (19:53.375)
I've never swam with music. know a few people have and like it, but it's just, for me, I need to keep the pool.

Lindsay Hiken (19:56.75)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (20:01.85)
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. I like swimming with other people a lot like a masters. I swimming alone. I'm like, I just get bored and then I want to get out. So I'm thinking music might be if they have one that does water and has multiple sizes, then that would be the one I would probably try just because swimming alone, I might be able to.

Mike Ergo (20:04.69)
Mm-hmm

Mike Ergo (20:13.907)
Yes.

Lindsay Hiken (20:27.842)
go a little further and push myself a little more if I have some hip hop going on in my ears. Okay, so that's that's Shocks earbuds and I or I don't know if they're called earbuds, but that's Shocks headphones. And if you haven't tried them and you are someone who goes out on the road riding or running or even wants to listen to music while you swim, this is probably the best option.

Mike Ergo (20:34.301)
Heh heh heh, yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (20:56.0)
out there because it does allow you to hear through your ears what's happening around you while you're hearing the music through your through the bone right in front of your ear. I don't know how that works. Can't even imagine but it works.

Mike Ergo (20:56.744)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (21:10.099)
Yeah, worth it.

Lindsay Hiken (21:12.14)
You know, one thing I did think of when I first saw these was there were those, remember those jawbone like it would go in one side of someone's ear and it would be it's always a guy with like pleated pants pulled up too high. Who is this computer is his phone like on a clip on his belt and he'd be speaking through his jawbone. That's what I thought of immediately. But these look better than that.

Mike Ergo (21:20.734)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (21:25.905)
you

Yes.

Mike Ergo (21:34.844)
yes, that's a lot better than the cell phone holster. Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (21:41.42)
Yeah.

Mike Ergo (21:42.911)
Yeah, that's a rough look. That is a rough look.

Lindsay Hiken (21:46.72)
Yeah, these ones are just black and they kind of are low profile and they just have a thing on your jawbone. They go right around your ear and then back around your back of the head. And the part that goes around your ear and back around your head is very thin. So you don't look like the jawbone at sales guy.

Mike Ergo (21:55.455)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (22:06.591)
Yeah, right. You don't look exactly like like you're gonna give her presentation.

Lindsay Hiken (22:12.27)
Exactly. So I have something that I want to talk a little bit about, is hydration and what I use now for hydration. I've tried a lot of different things. I use the YouCan for a number of years. Remember, YouCan used to sponsor the show and we haven't asked, we haven't talked to them in a while. We should talk to them again, but

Mike Ergo (22:32.852)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (22:38.412)
When they were, they gave me a lot of their hydration and I used it, it was great. It worked just fine. Like many things, my stomach is very sensitive to some of the items created for sports. So gels and goo and things like that. have to be careful what I use because it really be uncomfortable at some point in a long ride or run. And since...

turning 50 and you know my body started changing, my hormones started changing. Not fun. I've become just a hot person and not like hot, she's hot, but hot like she's sweaty hot.

Mike Ergo (23:27.513)
Hahaha

Lindsay Hiken (23:33.326)
It doesn't take much. So I've got kind of a double whammy because I moved to Half Moon Bay where there's, you know, it's the sun's hardly ever out here. So my body has adjusted more to the cool weather. So that's one thing. The other thing is that I find I heat up really fast when it's warm outside and I dehydrate really, really easily. Since turning 50, I have

Mike Ergo (23:42.268)
huh.

Mike Ergo (23:54.079)
Mmm.

Lindsay Hiken (24:00.61)
been hospitalized three times for dehydration because of a workout. Yeah. And needed multiple bags of, know, IV and all of that stuff. these are doing workouts that I've done before that I didn't have any issue with previously. And then I, fueled and hydrated the same way I always do. So it's not like I did something different and then didn't hydrate. just.

Mike Ergo (24:05.855)
Wow.

Mike Ergo (24:28.575)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (24:30.252)
I did my usual thing and it didn't work. So now I need products that have a lot of salt in them because I am just covered in salt when I'm hot. Yeah. In Montana, just was like, you know, my kit's had the white like crusty stuff. Such a good look. So prior to going to Montana, I was using

Mike Ergo (24:40.618)
yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (24:48.903)
Yeah, assault rings. Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (24:58.046)
hydration thing which I use pretty much every day which is called element. I'm sure it's LMNT and I'm sure many of our listeners have heard about it but if you haven't it's very salty. It's got let's see it's got a thousand milligrams of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium and 60 milligrams of magnesium which sounds like a lot.

However, if you're working out and you're sweating, it's not too much to replace those items with that amount. In terms of the taste, the profile, they've got different flavors. favorite flavor is watermelon, but they've got like your standard lemon lime. They also have spicy mango and a bunch of different flavors, but they're salty. So it's like watermelon salt, which sounds weird, but...

Mike Ergo (25:54.943)
No, that's that well also my favorite I think cliff like energy gel was the salted watermelon. So I'm listening

Lindsay Hiken (25:58.467)
Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (26:06.216)
Yeah. So this is my absolute favorite and it comes in two forms, one that you could use while exercising and one that would be good for after exercising. So the good one during exercising comes in like a packet that you just dump into your water and shake up, which is the standard way of getting electrolyte powder. I that's what everybody has. So that's the first way.

The second way is that they now make a sparkling water version of it. Yeah, so you can get an effervescent salted watermelon or whatever you, Josh, think likes the grapefruit sparkling water. And it's delicious. The product isn't cheap. mean, I think we're running like, I should have looked this up, but I think it's something like 46 bucks a box.

Mike Ergo (26:37.055)
Really?

Lindsay Hiken (27:02.158)
and you're getting 30 sticks in the box. But for me, it's worth it because it's actually making it so that I can work out and replenish the salt that I need.

Mike Ergo (27:13.151)
cheaper than a hospital copay for sure.

Lindsay Hiken (27:16.462)
100 % definitely cheaper than a hospital a copay and less painful. The other thing is that and I've shared this on the the show before is that I take GLP one I take terzepatide for weight loss related to my pre diabetes and it's doing really well I should probably write another blog post about it I've gotten down to my

goal weight and yeah, my numbers went down from almost having to go on Metformin, like a 6.2 and some change down to a 5.4. anything under, yeah, so pre-diabetic is 5.8 and up and then type two is like 6.4. Yeah, yeah, it's crazy how much.

Mike Ergo (27:47.709)
wow.

Mike Ergo (28:00.681)
Wow.

Mike Ergo (28:06.751)
That's awesome, Lindsey.

Lindsay Hiken (28:11.918)
what a positive impact this has had. And so now I'm on a maintenance weight. But one of the things that you need to do when you're on this is really, really hydrate. And I found that the element is one of the ways that I can hydrate that really helps me. So I drink this even on an off day, I'll still drink one. And it's been very helpful to me.

Mike Ergo (28:21.833)
Mm.

Mike Ergo (28:34.675)
That's cool. Yeah. I remember a Rob Wolf, one of the original paleo guys was pushing this a while back and it was kind of when it was, when I think they were smaller companies still, but now I'm seeing them. Like I saw him at target the other week. So they're, they're out there.

Lindsay Hiken (28:45.838)
Mm.

Lindsay Hiken (28:49.358)
Mm hmm. Yeah, they are out there and Lance Armstrong has his podcast. I think it's called The Feed, something like that. And they have been on TV. He and his co-hosts have been on TV doing Tour de France recaps after the after the race. And they're sponsored by Element. So they've definitely stepped it up. Yeah.

Mike Ergo (29:11.39)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (29:16.031)
Nice. I'm going have to give that a try this week because yeah, these training runs out in the sun. seem to wait until like 2 PM on the like to go running, which yeah, it's been a mild California summer, but still a bit warm outside the hotter part of the day.

Lindsay Hiken (29:21.262)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (29:26.326)
dang.

Lindsay Hiken (29:33.642)
Mm Yeah, absolutely. But one last thing I'll talk about is they have like chocolate flavors like regular chocolate, chocolate caramel and chocolate mint. And those flavors are not great to put into your bottle. There's just a slightly different texture the powder is and it doesn't mix as well. They're made to drink warm or hot.

Mike Ergo (29:49.619)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (29:53.92)
And so if you are, if it's like middle of winter and you're done with a rider run outside and you're like freezing cold, you just heat up water, dump it into that water and you can have a nice like hot cocoa type drink. Yeah. Yeah, it's great. And it's very tasty. So you can have a hot cocoa type drink and you can hydrate, be hydrating at the same time.

Mike Ergo (30:06.783)
I see. Okay.

Mike Ergo (30:16.827)
I see. Okay. So all our listeners down in Argentina right now will be enjoying that for their winter.

Lindsay Hiken (30:20.718)
Yeah, and I did try as an experiment, heating up water, mixing it, and then putting it in the fridge and cooling it down. And that does work. It does stay that way. So if you wanted to drink chocolate while you're writing, you can you just do it like the day before by heating, you know, heating up water, mixing it and then putting it in the fridge. That does work. Yeah. Yeah. So that's element. And I'll just talk quickly about one other.

Mike Ergo (30:43.335)
Okay, cool. Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (30:49.848)
thing that I just used in Montana. They had it there when, last year, but I forgot about it. And when I was there this year, I was like, that's right. These are really, really helpful. And Josh just ordered some because he found them to be very helpful too. It's called Salt Stick. Have you ever seen that Salt Stick?

Mike Ergo (31:09.309)
Hmm. I've heard of them, but I've never used one.

Lindsay Hiken (31:13.742)
It's chewable electrolytes, which is kind of crazy. No mixing, no waiting. You just chew them. You just pop them in your mouth. Yeah, yeah. I did not bring my element to Montana because I forgot to. It was not a choice that I made. And they use a lot of scratch.

Mike Ergo (31:18.547)
Wow.

Mike Ergo (31:23.631)
Interesting.

Mike Ergo (31:33.703)
hahahaha

Lindsay Hiken (31:43.042)
you know, on the they provide all the stuff that you need for your rides. And so they use a lot of scratch, which is fine. But I get tired of the way scratch tastes. It's pretty sweet. And, know, it's a very standard taste of electrolyte replacement for a bike ride. mean, scratch is very standard. And but as I mentioned, it was very hot and I was covered in sweat. So they were giving me the salt stick and.

Mike Ergo (31:43.103)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (31:52.436)
Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (32:10.54)
I could just pop like while I was writing, just kept a little packet in my pocket. I think there's four chewables in the pocket in the little packet, and then I would take two at a time.

Mike Ergo (32:21.367)
awesome. Yeah, so how long did it take for you to feel the effect?

Lindsay Hiken (32:23.04)
yet.

Lindsay Hiken (32:27.95)
Pretty much right away, pretty much right away. When I was getting leg cramps, I started getting cramping and chewed a couple. I stopped for a minute in the shade, chewed a couple, and then got back on my bike within just a few minutes. Yeah, and the cramping stayed there for a little tiny bit, but it didn't get worse. It was like, it had just started, and then it kind of halted it in place. And then it went away completely within, say, 10 minutes. Yeah.

Mike Ergo (32:29.766)
that's cool.

Mike Ergo (32:40.905)
That's quick.

Mike Ergo (32:55.251)
Wow, yeah, that's the testament.

Lindsay Hiken (32:57.134)
Mm hmm. One of the chewables has 100 milligrams of sodium, 30 milligrams of potassium, 10 milligrams of calcium and six milligrams of magnesium. And that's just one of the chewables. And you can chew multiple at a time. Mm hmm. And they do have different flavors. We happen to like the coconut flavor, but they've got, you know, like a berry flavor or a lemon lime flavor.

Mike Ergo (33:14.747)
that's cool. Okay. Yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (33:27.148)
All of that. So highly recommend.

Mike Ergo (33:31.519)
Can you find that at stores? You get to order it Amazon.

Lindsay Hiken (33:34.902)
I've never seen it in a store before. And so we did order it through, we ordered it directly through the website. And I can't tell you how much it is, apologize for that. Josh paid for it. And I'm just gonna use the ones he bought. That's my plan. So anything else that you're interested in sharing with the listeners today in terms of review?

Mike Ergo (33:42.747)
Okay, cool.

Mike Ergo (33:49.989)
Perfect.

Mike Ergo (34:03.615)
Not today, but we'll come back at it with some more review episodes. I think maybe we'll talk again about UCan. Maybe we'll talk about some other stuff that we've been using. But yeah, this is a fun one to go over a few things that we've been trying that we like. And I'm actually probably going get some element this week and try it out for my longer runs.

Lindsay Hiken (34:26.914)
Definitely, I definitely think you'll like the results. Really quickly, just offhand, in just a couple of minutes, what are you using to fuel yourself right now on runs or if you did a longer bike ride? Because I'm having an issue figuring out what to eat now that I'm on the tersepidide. A lot of things don't taste good. I tend to under-fuel now, so I'm trying to figure it out.

Mike Ergo (34:48.115)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (34:52.979)
I am not really doing anything. Here's, here's, here's my strategy for my long run is I ate a Turkey sandwich, had a glass of water and went on a run immediately after. So that was that. And then usually I just, you know, an espresso and hit the road. Yeah. So no, no, nope. No, it won't. for, runs, usually I'll, I'll,

Lindsay Hiken (35:04.174)
Hahaha

Lindsay Hiken (35:11.279)
Wow, that's not going to help me at all on this ride.

Mike Ergo (35:22.449)
If I'm feeling with anything, I, like morning wise, it's, it's maybe a banana with peanut butter, or something lighter. would be like a, you can gel, or powder, drink, but usually I haven't reached the point where I'm running longer than 90 minutes yet. So I haven't needed it, but after this long hot run, I came back and slammed a couple of Gatorades. so I needed it. Yeah, I did.

Lindsay Hiken (35:34.773)
okay.

Lindsay Hiken (35:43.438)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (35:49.142)
Okay. Element is better than cater, right? will, I will tell you that.

Mike Ergo (35:55.781)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. I was in the mode, you know, where I was like, I got back and I'm like, I, I need something now. I need something right now. That's what we had. So yeah.

Lindsay Hiken (36:03.862)
Mm hmm. Mm hmm. It will work. Gatorade will work. It just does something to my gastrointestinal system where it makes me look like I'm 20 months pregnant. Like, are you having twins? Like, no, I Gatorade.

Mike Ergo (36:17.151)
Not a desirable outcome.

Mike Ergo (36:26.289)
I know, it's just Gatorade.

Lindsay Hiken (36:30.262)
Alrighty, well, I guess we could end it there for today. Yeah, any last words to the listeners?

Mike Ergo (36:37.607)
No, I, I accept, I'll, I'll continue to update everybody in my training journey as I get closer to the Marine Corps marathon and then Oceanside after that. And if we add any more races that we're going to do together or separate, we'll, we'll be talking about our progress towards those along the way.

Lindsay Hiken (36:54.72)
Awesome. And listeners, if there's one thing that you could do to help the show, it would be to just share an episode with a friend. Any episode would be good just so they get to know our show. You know, highly recommend this one or else, you know, for example, we had a recent episode with Maddie, who's a trans athlete, which is a very hot topic and a little bit controversial.

Mike Ergo (37:03.923)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsay Hiken (37:19.796)
and she's coming back on in a week or so. And so I recommend sharing that one with friends, even if it makes them a little uncomfortable, it's really good to understand other athletes out on the road with us and have a better idea of what they're going through, I think. So maybe share that one. And with that, we will see you next week. Bye.

Mike Ergo (37:22.633)
Mm-hmm.

Mike Ergo (37:31.805)
Yes.

Mike Ergo (37:42.601)
Later on, guys.