I began riding bikes in South Florida several years ago. I first started with Gatorade but got into the nutritional aspects of things with longer distances. From that I doscovered a powder called Cytomax. Lemon-Lime is a great flavor and doesn't gunk up in your throat. It mixes easily with any water temp.
I drink water during weight training but often hit the eliptical or a spin bike for 45-60 minutes after lifting and add this stuff to my water bottle at that point. It mixes immediately. It also has other beneficial ingredients for recovery from higher intensity wrokouts.
You can find Cytomax at REI and bike stores. I get mine from
www.performacebike.com.