devianb

On the flip side, gives your normal everyday drinks a little pizazz. I love me some Rum and Eggnog. I was drinking a quart a day. Had to quit as it was getting expensive real quick.

indyfabz

Aluminum rum and eggnog is a lot cheaper. And it doesn’t fade.

shelbyfv

I love eggnog, with or w/o enhancement. I'd weigh 300# if I drank all I wanted, I'm lucky it's seasonal. I try to limit myself to a couple of quarts a year.

Cougrrcj

As long as the whiskey is stored in the freezer! That's where I keep my Crown Royal - AND the shot glass... Goes down like the sweetest syrup, then the explosion of warmth when it hits the belly... The other 'mixing' boozes are stored in the fridge...

OR - if you're feeling tropical -- Try some Bacardi Pineapple Rum or the Cruzan pineapple-, banana-, or coconut- flavored rums with Hawaiian Punch - or with Dole Pineapple-Orange-Banana juice... (DO NOT USE Malibu, Parrot Bay or those other ultra-sweet cordial rums)

Wife like the Pineapple or Coconut-flavored rum mixed with the Margaritaville Pina Colada drink mix tubes https://www.margaritavillefoods.com/...html?dc_id=292

Chuck M 

We somehow wound up with a huge bottle of dark rum we didn’t drink. One Christmas we decided to put some in eggnog. We drank a lot of eggnog that season.

79pmooney

Speaking of feasible - you cannot do your "proper hydrating" and win a race in hot weather.

I never put ice in my bottles or make any attempt to keep the contents cool. I also don't drink plain water. I always use Vitalyte (2 scoops) in my bottle. I can drink 1/3 of a bottle or more at a time and do often. Easier if the contents are 80 degrees or higher. For me, drinking enough is paramount. Drinking a fluid that goes down easy, gets absorbed fast and always stays down allows me to do that.

Edit: got sidetracked and forgot the question. I always drink from bottles. In King SS cages, 2-3 per bike except I still have a couple of TAs in use. (TA cages, the cage just as good as the Kings except their lifespan is shorter. For me, a little tired in 10 years. But almost always still usable after 20. Can't tell you how long Kings go. And I might not live that long.) I never stop to drink unless I have put the under the DT bottle into rotation. (Used to race.)

79pmooney

"Alum cages are fine and give nothing away ..." No. They give waterbottles away, often on fast descents. (Unless you are willing to stop, turn around and ride back up to get it.

Almost every aluminum cage I have ever owned has broken on a ride and shed the bottle. A shed bottle on a fast group ride on a long descent on a hot day? Could well be a nightmare to forget. (Either you- dehydration or those behind you who might hit it.)

Related aside. When I raced, in the '70s, we all knew the steel TAs worked. (I've broken TAs. But they have always gotten the bottle home. Usually I noted the break in the garage.) In the '80s. weight became "the thing", new aluminum cages flooded the market and US importers stopped ordering TAs. I'd ask about them at bike shops. Had several owners tell me over a span of years that TA still made them because pro riders demanded them. No, not the big name riders in the photos and film. The lowly domestics who do the hard work mid-race, get dropped and finish long after the camera crews went home. These are the blue collar guys of the peloton. Their work was done, BUT they had to finish inside the time limit to start tomorrow's stage and do it all over again. For them, losing a bottle or breaking a cage on a mountain descent long after the support cars went up the road could be career ending. Steel cages - think job security.

rekmeyata

When I use to live in the Mojave Desert area of California I carried 3 24 ounce Polar bottles and a 70-ounce Camelback on long rides due to the heat, and due to I was riding in the mountains where there weren't too many places to refill, so I carried what I needed, drinking roughly 34 ounces of water per hour gave me a run time of 4 to 5 hours. The small 70 ounce Camelback wasn't too bad on my back in regards to weight.

Now that I no longer live in the desert on most rides all I need is 2 bottles for a 4 to 5-hour ride...but, I can refill them now since I'm never too far from a water source.

Of course, when I go bike camping I carry enough to have water to cook with as well as to drink.

Kabuki12

I always stop to drink and use the break to stretch as well. I find that taking a break is nice and stretching really helps with tight muscles that cycling for hours seems to induce. I prefer handlebar mount on my vintage road bikes but a few of my bikes have braze on down tube mounts but the bottle top gets road grime. No perfect world but a clean bottle top is preferred. I put Nuun in the water and that helps with fatigue , especially the caffeinated one!

Koyote

I'll drink Bourbon and Rye, but prefer proper Whisky every day of the week, and twice on Saturday. ALWAYS served neat, unless it's cask strength - in which case it might get a few drops of water.

Crown Royal? The only time I buy that is when my father-in-law visits, so he won't drink my Scotch. When he leaves, I pour out the remainder or my wife cooks with it.

Yep. Though I suppose that if you only ride on smooth roads and never cross RR tracks, aluminum cages might work fine. My oldest pair of King Iris cages, on the other hand, have never lost a bottle after 15 years and at least 40,000 miles. Right now, they are on my gravel bike, and have held bottles securely on some insanely rough, high-speed descents.

79pmooney

If you always ride smooth roads, all that changes is that it takes 3 times as long for that aluminum cage to break. Still breaks on the road and probably on a descent.

I have many times stuffed bottles into my Kings crooked. Looked down 20 miles later and it's still crooked, just like I stuffed it!

phughes

From a wine glass.

Cougrrcj

My Old Man was a Scotch drinker - never liked that or Irish whisky either... Bourbons? Nope, but that was my sister's choice.. Wife likes her Jack Daniels... Why I like Canadian, I don't know...

indyfabz

The only thing Crown Royal is good for is the purple bag. I keep my CO2 cartridges in one in my bike junk cupboard.

badger1

Heh! Up here, in t'Hoamland, one prefers one of three for a regular tipple: C.C., Crown Royal, or Forty Creek. There are some outliers who go for Wiser, but in the main it's one of those three.

C.C. man myself. I recall that Crown was the thing at the yacht club when I was a yute, but I never got on with it. Could have been the pompous bottle shape ... dunno.

badger1

Oh dear, no. I'm afraid we must differ! A good whiskey (or whisky) should never be stored or served at other than room temperature. Vodka, yes -- no question: ice cold, straight up, with just a dash of ground pepper .... yum.

As far as the other things you mention are concerned, I'm afraid I have no opinion at all. Never liked 'mixed drinks' of any kind, not even martinis and so on. Like my poisons (or 'carcinogenic neurotoxins' as I believe an earlier killjoy post in this thread described the staff of life) pure.

79pmooney

I don't drink much and keep it simple. Good scotch. Straight, room temp. But there was one mixed drink I'd do in my sailing days. After cold races, especially if windy and wet or a capsize happened (cold Puget Sound), a hot coffee with a shot of dark Meyers and a tsp honey really hit the spot.

shelbyfv

I've witnessed some impressive launches from those back-of-the-saddle Tri cages. Dodging an errant water bottle bouncing around amidst a group of cyclists will spike your heart rate.

Kapusta

Just use warm water that you spit in..

Joearch

Keep one or two 21 oz water bottles in a carbon holder and grab as needed. Never really considered another option as my max time on the bike is 2.5 hrs.

Brauer

I hope this is a proper answer to your question.

How do I drink?

I try to drink under way, before I get thirsty to maintain proper hydration.

I use the Camelbak large bottles that are nicely retained in my 18g carbon cages.

The bottles are filled exclusively with water.

While continuing to pedal I remove the bottle from the cage on the down tube with my right hand without looking down . I raise it up to my open mouth while tilting my head slightly so the left I stop breathing through my mouth and squeeze the bottle to generate a stream pointed at the inside of my left cheek to prevent choking. Swallow between breaths

While continuing to pedal I replace the bottle in the bracket, using my right hand.

It helps to practice grabbing and replacing the bottle without looking at it. This way you are more likely to steer a proper course and maintain proper distance from other riders and drivers.

The Camelbak bottles impart less flavor than inferior bottles and bottles of days gone by. They do impart more flavor than PET bottles that you can occasionally find to fit bottle cages. The problem with them is they aren't squeeze ready. They have, at best, a pop up top that you have to pull with your teeth or a screw top that is very awkward. PET bottles do not secure in bottle cages as well as the thicker walled, stiffer BPA free type 5 plastic.


When I get back home I have a pint or two of my ultra fine, hombrewed beer or alternately a can coconut water.

Phil_gretz

Bidon when riding on paved roadway or even surfaces. Very pro to carry it in the center back jersey pocket.

Hydration pack when mountain biking. Taking a hand off the bars for more than an instant (while MTB-ing) will result in a crash eventually.

pennpaul

On shorter rides, I only use water bottles. On longer rides I strap on a Camelback, but more recently I've been stuffing the hydration pack into my frame bag and then snake the tube around the stem. I never stop to drink unless I also want a break.