trobinson017

I'm 49 years old, male and have been cycling most of my life. The past 3 years I've gotten into more performance oriented road cycling. By that I mean faster and longer rides. I've gone from 215lbs to 188 in the past 2 years. I ride 5 days a week; 33 miles on weekdays, 40 on Saturdays and 50+ on Sundays. I've done 5 centuries this year, including the mountainous 6 Gap ride in Georgia. I ride well and don't suffer. But my concern is, I never, ever have to pee during these rides. Even during the 6 Gap century over 6 mountains. I hydrate well before the rides, drink one bottle of electrolyte mix and one bottle of water between SAG stops or about every 25 miles when unsupported. Other people I ride with pee at almost every stop, but I never even feel the urge. Most of these rides are tempo rides around 20-22mph. I do know my body doesn't have to pee very often, but this seems extreme to me. I'll bring this up with my doctor on Friday when I have an appointment for a different reason. But I thought I'd throw it out here to see if this is highly unusual and if anyone else experiences this. My thinking is that my body either holds a lot more water than I think or it's always on the edge of dehydration and I'm barely keeping it there.

T Rob

rumrunn6

I've read that the act of cycling inhibits the urge to pee.

Also, I think I recall reading that perspiring may affect the amount of fluid in our system which can put less strain on the urinary system.

Personally, I have hyperhidrosis, which means I'll be sweating most of my fluids out through my pores. On all-day rides, I do still pee though, not a lot but at least at every 25 miles. So, about 4 times over 8 hours, which is much much less than what I normally do, which seems like every freakin 15 minutes ...

Carbonfiberboy 

Can you weigh yourself before and immediately after? Bring a scale in the car? If you're losing more than 2%, that's bad. If you're heavier, fine. Personally, I try to drink enough so that I have to pee every 3 hours. Then I know I'm OK. If I don't, I assume I'm dehydrated and increase fluids until I pee. But every one's different. You seem to be fine with what you're doing or you'd notice that things are not OK. Another thing I look at is: do I have moisture on my forearms? If they're dry and hot, I need water. If they're moist, I'm fine. Maybe in really low humidity that sign wouldn't work but it does here.

trobinson017

I live in Florida where it's humid much of the year. During summer months I sweat tons, so maybe that's why I don't need to pee. I also suffer from hyperhidrosis (excess sweating) but mostly from armpits, not everywhere else. Also, after these long rides (65-100 miles) when I do finally pee it can either be dark yellowish or clear. It's not consistent, which tells me my pre-ride and during ride nutrtition/hydrations may be inconsistent as well. Although I do try to eat the same things so as not to upset my system. We're going into the cooler season now so I'll continue to track this and see if I can draw some conclusions.

Thanks for the input!

T Rob

Carbonfiberboy 

Be careful of your electrolytes, too. Heavy sweaters get into trouble with that more easily.

travelerman

I make perfectly normal pee-stops when off-the-bike, yet - like yourself - do not have the urge while on the bike, even on long rides. My long-ish rides the past couple of years have ranged from between 43-75 miles, and I can recall having to relieve myself only once during a ride, primarily because I misjudged the start time and stood around drinking too much liquid before the ride.

If you do not find yourself feeling ill or cramping, I doubt that you are suffering near-dehydration. Your doctor - whom I hope knows a bit about the body's response to endurance exercise - should be able to put your concerns at ease.

daihard 

I've actually been told that the more dehydrated you are, the more urge you have to pee. It may just be that your fellow cyclists don't drink enough water during their rides while you do.

prathmann

Same here unless I make a real effort to drink much more than I feel I need to during the ride.

Fat Boy

Drink when you're thirsty. If you're not thirsty, don't drink. If that means you pee a lot or a little, so be it. Don't try to over-hydrate yourself. Yes, you'll make yourself pee, but you could very easily make yourself sick (many marathoners do this to themselves and some have died).

Coming up lighter post-ride is no big deal. You should make no effort to drink enough to replace all of your sweat on a 4-6 hour ride. If you're doing very long races (i.e. ultra's), then there is a certain percentage of weight loss that you should probably stay above (drinking to thirst will address this), but for a century it's really no big deal.

travelerman

Gotta disagree with the "drink when you are thirsty" advice - I have frequently ridden past the point when I should have taken a drink, whether I was just too intent on riding performance, or stomach was a little resistant to having anything else put into it, I will at times have to remind myself to drink. I like the concept of pre-hydration.

Carbonfiberboy 

The question of whether to go by thirst is more complicated than it might appear, due to the danger of hyponatremia. I approach it from the other end, so to speak. I drink by the pee interval. So if I think I might be getting behind on my hydration because I haven't peed in the last 2 hours or so, I take an Endurolyte or two. If I'm still not thirsty in about 20 minutes, I take another, etc. Then when the Endurolytes make me thirsty, I drink plain water to my thirst. This practice avoids the possibility of hyponatremia, keeps me well hydrated, and of course keeps my electrolyte balance where it should be. Note that I thus separate hydration from electrolytes.

Fat Boy

Please read.

https://www.irunfar.com/2012/08/water...marathons.html

https://www.outsideonline.com/blog/ou...ce-sports.html

travelerman

I know my body and thirst needs a little better than the folks who over-hydrate; I do not sit and guzzle all of the time while riding; on the other hand, I do not always wait until I feel thirsty to take a drink. In the middle of a humid Ozarks summer, it is just too dangerous to let yourself go too long without hydrating, and the reason I have to sometimes remind myself to drink is that - during a grueling ride in higher-humidity full-sunshine summer heat, the stomach is not always welcoming to anything you put into it.

The OP is concerned that he might not be hydrating enough because he does not feel the need to urinate, and I postulate that - as long as he is not ending his rides feeling ill, and since he is obviously hydrating during the ride - he most likely does not have to worry about dehydration. Any hint that I am encouraging over-hydration by suggesting pre-hydration during high-temperature cycling is a silly mis-reading of my original statement. It seems to me that- at least among cyclists with whom I am acquainted - over hydration is very rare, and is at the extreme opposite end of the worry spectrum.