Am I drinking too much water?

DHA987S

I have a 2L camelbak and usually carry a 500ml bottle on the bike to top it up in case it runs out. I tend to drink most of it on a 2hr ride. However I have to stop and pee at least 3 or 4 times per ride. Am I drinking too quickly? Or am I drinking too much water?

The Northern Monkey

You can overhydrate, but its best to be as hydrated as possible when riding... especially when its sunny.

Check your pee colour - it should have a faint tinge of yellow to it.

If you're feeling thirsty though, then do take on more fluid.

What is your choice of beverage? An isotonic drink would be absorbed much better than normal water.

Have a look at the 1st post in the "what fluid" thread in health,fitness and training for ideas.

As an example... If I take water I'll easily drink 3l. However if I take a proper isotonic solution I hardly drink 2l.

DHA987S

I generally drink an isotonic before I go out, then just water on the ride. Saves getting the camelbak too mouldy!

The Northern Monkey

Your camelback shouldn't go mouldy if you clean it properly

After ever ride I wash mine with miltons and then stick it in the fridge... has been fine for about 3 years

cougie

Do you drink a lot of water normally too - or just when cycling ?

DHA987S

Try and drink water, but I certainly drink more cycling than I would normally.

cougie

Well its more than I would drink on a ride, but I'd not worry too much. Maybe if you tried to hydrate a bit more in the day leading up to your ride you coudl drink less and not need so many wee stops ?

MountainMonster

I drink alot on longer rides as well, I don't think there is anything wrong with it. My wife is a nurse and said the threshold for drinking too much water is somewhere around 8 liters a day or something. Don't quote me on that one though.

I'd switch to Isotonics on the ride though. It helps much more and I normally find myself drinking half as much as normal when drinking the isotonics.

tri-sexual

thats a lot of pee stops in a very short time.
how old are you and what is your general health like?
do you tend to pee alot normally (when not on a bike)?
do you have a history of family problems with those symptons? sorry to be so personal.
whilst it is possible to overhydrate which could even lead to death, this is normally associated with people who follow dangerous weight loss programmes where followers purely drink water and very little else, this leads to a dilution of the body's essential minerals and salts and causes the body to malfunction and can lead to death.
a person's body is the best guide, it will tell you when you will need a drink but the signs have to be recognised early (thirst), in the same way that it will recognise cold, heat, pain etc.
drinking 2litres - 3 litres of water is not overly excessive over a 2 hour period and is probably recommended during hard exercise on a hot day.
small amounts taken often is best.
the colour of the urine is important, light yellow is ideal. the darker the more dehydrated you are.
its better to be well hydrated than dehydrated.
my concern with you is the number of times you stop for a pee, it may be normal for you as an individual but during exercise alot of water is displaced by the body through sweating so people do tend to pee less rather than more during exercise.

.blitz

DHA987S wrote:

I have a 2L camelbak and usually carry a 500ml bottle on the bike to top it up in case it runs out. I tend to drink most of it on a 2hr ride. However I have to stop and pee at least 3 or 4 times per ride. Am I drinking too quickly? Or am I drinking too much water?

IMO you are drinking too much water.

We all have a thirst reflex that tells us when we need hydrating. The fact that water is so readily available to us means that we drink more often than we need to; we rarely feel properly thirsty and so our thirst reflex is subdued and then when it does kick in, we need water...now!

You can train your thirst reflex to behave as is should by not drinking when you don't feel thirsty but always having water available. It will also get your bladder used to the idea of being empty and not continually full, which weakens it.