Bathrooms and Water - Available in your locale?
 

Hi All,

In Chicago/North Suburbs, access to public restrooms has disappeared and water fountains are all shut off. This has created some interesting challenges, especially as the weather warms up.

For water, I have a 32 oz. bottle and added a second 24 oz. bottle mount under the seat, since the Schwinn only has one set of braze-ons. Not a fan of handlebar mounts. This setup gives me a max range of about 60 miles before hydration becomes an issue.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1595eebb_h.jpg

Bathrooms are a whole other problem. All porta potties have been removed and all other public facilities are locked. Having to get creative and discreet, since most of my riding is in a semi-urban area.

What are conditions like in your area? Is this just a Chicago problem?

We visited the birth place of George Washington over the week end. All park were suppose to be open. it wasn't There is area near for picnicking where we went. the WC was locked up. I don't get it. The safest place to be is in the open with fresh air. The location does not suit a large number of visitors. They even had a patrol cruising up an down the road to ensure no one passed the posted signs! REALLY?!

I guess if it is safe and acceptable to randomly pee on the side of the road in Japan and other far east areas, it could be acceptable here. Just need to get over the cultural inhibitions. Pretend you are riding in a Tour!

The rear bottle looks like it barely will go in the cage! Good thing you bike isn't any bigger!

Can you share the origin of the 32 oz bottle? I don't think I have ever seen one of those before. might be part of the answer for my Masi.

https://images.homedepot-static.com/...29-64_1000.jpg

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-4-...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

I wanted to go to the bathroom at Torrey Pines state park a couple weeks ago and was told by the lifeguard that the bathroom is locked. So instead I had to take a wizz on the side of the road in an undisclosed location.

In general, however, things are opening up in San Diego. Water fountains on, public restrooms available. Caveat, my experience is in North County San Diego which is more or less large pockets of suburbs mixed with urban areas. In general, much less populated compared to downtown where it might still be restricted.

I did a 108-mile ride a couple of weekends ago from Mass into NH and back, and realized this would be a problem as soon as I needed to pee! Dipped into some forested area for that need. It was a cool day, so my two large water bottles pretty much held up (I ran out with about 15 miles to do, but that was okay). Convenience stores are mostly open around here, so I could have procured more if I needed to. I'm planning a 200k ride soon, and it'll certainly be warmer, so I'll need to ensure that water purchasing will be possible.

I've worked out how to carry over 2 gallons of water on the bike, so hydration hasn't been an issue for me, but it's annoying that all the public bathrooms are locked up.

I have great luck with these.

Been using them for at least 5 years, Tallac on efbay.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a3841fe339.jpg

It's the same here in the SF Bay Area, but since the late 80s.

The seat tube is hollow

Park bathrooms are still closed here

There are enough "porta-potties" in areas around me where that's never really an issue. I ride a lot of Corps of Engineers park land roads, and there are bathroom and water facilities there but they're not all back open yet. I know a few outdoor faucets that were "missed" by the authorities and weren't shut off. Anyway, this time of year often finds me wearing a Camelbak in the Texas heat, so additional water isn't usually an issue.

Cheers.

My routes have access to convenience stores, so if I need it, I can get water and make a restroom stop. But if I head up into the mountains then that is another challenge. But really, there are not many places to stop anyway, so nothing new, But a Camelback always comes in handy for me.

Walgreens has both a bathroom and water. And there is one in Highwood. Not sure about leaving an unlocked bike though, so another thing to carry.

Like others, I use stores. I will buy something if a bathroom is needed. Spending $2-3 is not a problem for me.

Sunday ride in the San Gabriel River trails picnic bathrooms were open. Portable hand wash stations also but no water fountains worked. Took extra bottled water.

Bathrooms and water fountains (bubblers :D) are closed.

I was at a rest area out of town- guzzling down my water, and some guy had gotten off his bike, sweating like nobody's business- and was visibly distressed about the water being shut off. A random lady just popped a bottle of water out of her bag for the guy. I thought that was so cool so I put a bottle of water into my handlebar bag should that situation arise again.

The restroom part is what's keeping me from some of my rides.

Made my head jerk around to see where in eastern Wisconsin you hail from!

Lucky to be in Portlandia where I can get out in the countryside fairly quickly. Somedays it doesn't even rain, so I find trees that look particularly dry to help out.

As for water, sometimes I'm out riding out in the boonies, and again, lucky to be in an area with lots of creeks and rivers. A filter to safely refill a bottle goes in my kit on those occasions.

When touring I bring a couple of folding 1 liter water bladders that can either clip onto my saddle bag or stow in my handlebar bag.

I mostly ride with a handlebar bag, you can stow a lot of water in them on a hot day.

I live in a rural part of Massachusetts, and plan my rides around corner stores, etc. As for potty stops, lots of trees have my name on them.

NYC is busting out with peeing all over, per the news, as drink "windows" are open, but no restrooms.
Interstate rest stops are open between St. Louis and NC, as I found 2 weeks ago, but that doesn't help cyclists much.

I did back-back centuries on the Madison County Trails in SE IL weekend before last. No bathrooms or water, but one trail head had bathrooms open and we simply used convenience stores, one of which was also selling weed. It worked well. Last weekend's metric, in 90+ heat: I was fine, but some riders with us wanted colder water, etc, so we used convenience stores again. We had to buy ice once and simply share the bag, but it worked. Trails are marked to keep 20' of safe distancing, but the MCT in IL were packed with riders, skaters, walkers, runners. We used roads where we could.

A trip to Iowa County, WI may be scrapped, as our favorite host town is still shut down. The hotel we like will not open, due to close proximity to a convenience store. His main fear is litigation if someone gets sick. The downtown may open 4-8 carryout only. I've not seen such a shutdown anywhere. So. IL, So. IN, masks and open stores. I shopped in Walmart and Costco and Menards and Office Depot in St. Louis, masks required in a couple, optional in others, and being largely ignored. Ate great Indian food last night, two tables in a big room, great food.

Looks like it most places with protests and demonstrations are sort of counting out 14 days to see if there's a spike from those.

Lucky to be in Portlandia where I can get out in the countryside fairly quickly. Somedays it doesn't even rain, so I find trees that look particularly dry to help out.

As for water, sometimes I'm out riding out in the boonies, and again, lucky to be in an area with lots of creeks and rivers. A filter to safely refill a bottle goes in my kit on those occasions.

When touring I bring a couple of folding 1 liter water bladders that can either clip onto my saddle bag or stow in my handlebar bag.

I mostly ride with a handlebar bag, you can stow a lot of water in them on a hot day.

I've seen maps of the use of "bubbler" and it's no *JUST* SE Wisconsin... it's like Oregon, parts of Massachusetts and stuff...

But since it's relevant...

https://www.sheboyganpress.com/story...lers/18254395/


And UWM's radio station has a program called "Bubbler Talk" about Wisconsinisms.

https://www.wuwm.com/post/why-do-wis...nyway#stream/0

This reminds me of the time the train terminal cop caught me walking out of some bushes (and probably adjusting my kit) well away from pretty much everything, back to my bike just a few yards away. "Who else is in there with you??" "Good lord," I thought...