generalkdi

Hi, Today I went on for 70kms with a hill climb of 450m over about 3.5kms (16% at some places) which is a lot for me. Soon enough, after that climb at about 25kms I noticed I would not have enough water... I tried to drink a little less, and kept some until the last 10km.

What I'm thinking now is... Would it had been better to just drink that water normally, and get back home without water, or what I did was ok? What do you usually do?

***Yes, I know the big solution is to "bring more water", But I didn't .

MrTuner1970

I'm not sure, but I usually bring more water. Was there no place to buy some?

If there was absolutely no way I could get more water, I would have tried to measure it out like you did. I'd rather have some than none at the end, even it was just a little bit.

If it came down to it, stop at a residence and beg some? Around here, there are some churches with water spigots. Filled up mine today at one, actually.

generalkdi

yeah, it's a road with farms on each side (on top of that montain). There's a house and a huge farm each 1 or 2 kms and that's about it. Not many stores there, and not many people too!

urbanknight

According to an article I read in Bicycling Magazine way back in the mid 90's, it's better to drink normally until you run out. The rationale was that you start your dehydration later. I'm not too fond of that answer, though, as the psychological aspect and/or a dry throat might make it more mentally taxing on me. I try to bring more water than I think I need, though.

zonatandem

Drink before you are thirsty.
Mount another bottle cage/bottle on your bike. No room on the frame? You can mount cages behind saddle, on handlebars or carry extra in jersey pocket.
On our tandem we have room for seven bottles but then we live in the desert with few, if any spigots/stores/homes.
Better to have it and not need it than to need it and nopt have it!

rbart4506

I tend to do what you did, but have learned to pick my routes with water stops built in...Even if that means re-filling before I really need it...I have learned to never pass up a chance to re-fill your water bottles...

nosignature

there are some rides i'll do where there are zero water stops for 20-30 miles, so if i know that i stand a chance of running low i'll drink 2-3 glasses before leaving home. i find myself waiting longer to take my first drink, so i don't have to ration my liquids at any point.

feeling sloshy at the beginning of a ride is worlds better than water bonking.

urbanknight

Good point. Even better, prehydrating with something that has electrolytes helps a lot. I tried a few of those Gatorade G1 pouches and noticed that on hot mountain bike rides where I drank one beforehand, I drank less during the ride but still felt less dehydrated at the end of the ride. Very useful for long mountain bike rides where there isn't any water, or road rides up in the mountains where there is little to no water.

Gregory Earl

I've noticed the same thing concerning those G1 pouches. I drink less on the ride if I've drank one 15 minutes before.

garciawork

Camelbak.

MikeyBoyAz

I almost always pound a 32oz sports drink just before I leave. That has turned out really well so far. If I ever don't, or I forget, then I end up chugging my water earlier and faster.

hhnngg1

If you're going to do the pre-hydration thing, it's absolutely essential to not just drink plain ol' water.

It's the salts and electrolytes that help you keep that water in your system if you're already well hydrated. If you're hydrated and just drink plain ol' water, you'll urinate out every last drop - to the final mL (we did this in school - it was amazing.) If you drink a salt or electrolyte solution, your body can accomodate a larger volume. Unfortunately you also risk having to pee at inopportune moments as well - I've henced stopped trying to 'over'hydrate before races, since I invariably end up having to go early on.

urbanknight

Too bad the stuff is so sweet, I can barely choke it down. I'm talking sweeter than Kool Aid... before they reduced the sugar!
Oh, and I figure chugging water and salt tablets would do the same thing as well.

dahut

Ive stopped at houses and asked to get some water. Ive never been refused.
Sometimes its from the garden hose, but hey - whatever!

nosignature

good to know, but i've honestly only had to take three natural breaks during my entire cycling life, i presume because i sweat buckets. still, prehydrating with salt and electrolytes just sounds like a better idea anyways, so i'll probably use this tip in the future for long-ish or hard-ish rides.

my routine of prehydrating with coffee is gonna be hard to break though.