How far can you cycle with no water bottle?

nolight

Let's say in cool weather in the morning on average roads, not hilly terrain. How far can you cycle before you need to start drinking water?

estampida

Its not as simple as that:

If you were fully hydrated and with a good level of fitness 10 to 20 miles before you start to dry out (nice and easy bike ride), but water consumption differs person to person

but a dry mouth, if it was a cool dry winters morning, you could have a dry mouth and a raw feeling throat by the end of the road

Runny nose.... no end to fluid in your mouth......

The colour of your p1ss is the best general indicator

charlie_potatoes

I wouldn't set out without a water bottle unless I am only popping to the shops on my Hard tail.
On a cool day I usually have a drink after my first big effort (hill) but always before I 'need' to.

Wily-Quixote

About an hour if you start hydrated on a cool morning if you're just cruising

chaymck

I have a 40 min commute on open roads and don't feel the need to drink when I get to the office. So would agree with the above about 1 hour.

chrisaonabike

I have a 20 mile loop that includes a couple of laps of Richmond Park, takes me about an hour and a half. I don't take any with me for that - I drink about half a pint of water just before I go and it seems to work out fine.

Lycra-Byka

Think I could comfortly manage over an hour.
I would guess after two hours I'd have to stop.

I find I drink more than others on club runs, I take two large bottles on the average club run and drink them both. I'm always amazed that all the others take just one and some don't even consume it all! I don't understand this because I still come home with orange pee! What the others are like I dread to imagine.

desweller

Depends on your definition of 'need' and how hard you're working. I'm no athlete but I've done 60-milers without needing a drink in the right conditions. So in terms of how far you'd get before you keeled over...it must be well over 100 miles for a decent athlete, taking it gently under the right conditions.

Sussed out

Is this a challenge? I'd fancy my chances.

MartinB2444

I don't take any water if I'm only going to be out for an hour or so, there's really no need provided you are well hydrated before the ride. After that, I drink when I feel like it. The old saying is drink to stay ahead of the thirst but it's just as hazardous to over hydrate as it is to dehydrate so it's a case of using common sense really.

desweller

Sussed out wrote:

Is this a challenge? I'd fancy my chances.

Go for it! Get your next of kin to let us know how you got on.

TakeTurns

Sussed out wrote:

Is this a challenge? I'd fancy my chances.

People die from dehydration.

A person can last (7days~) without water. If you are exerting then the process is accelerated. However, there are too many variables to give an accurate estimate as to how long someone can last without water while cycling.

inkz

I commute 5 miles and I hate it when I forget my water bottle lol. Usually dry mouth more than anything.

CYCLESPORT1

Like most have said, about an hour, but thats "how far would you" not can you

giropaul

As a guide, a rider in a 25 mile time trial (about 1hr-ish) wouldn't take a bottle.

Otherwise, weather, temperature and effort level will all have an impact.

Hoopdriver

I go for about 30 miles most morning and never bother taking a bottle; on occasion I've ridden on for 60 miles and not really been bothered. I am going at a fairly relaxred pace, though, perhaps 15-17mph.

markos1963

No problem riding 25m TTs without a bottle, have done a 39.4 mile TT without one as well. I have done a 50 mile club run without drinking as well. As long as you are well hydrated before a ride I can't see a problem with a distance up to 50 miles. It all depends one the intensity and the temperature on a ride.

team47b

what's wrong with drinking? Or am I missing something here?

teisetrotter

After one hour or less I get a raging thirst, no matter how hydrated I am. After that occasional sips are fine for any length of time.

Same with food. Jordan's Frusli. Then I generally pop half a one a little while before the next big climb. Seems to help until the legs really die.

foggymike

How far can you? Certainly 50 miles+ with no real bother, though I wouldn't fancy a century much. How far should you if you feel the need for whatever reason, 20 miles or thereabouts I'd say. If I've got a bottle I'll start on it after about 15/20 minutes though no matter what the weather. As the posts show we're all different though!

rando

I tend to limit my drinking purely on the grounds of the amount of times I have to stop for a pit stop!
Did a couple of hours this morning and didn't have a drink ( always take one with me though just in case) and even though it was a bit chilly I didn't need to find a hedge! That's a first for me.

FlacVest

I'm not sure; I always carry 2.

I did a 27 mile ride at ~19mph pace today before drinking though. It was ~55 F the entire time, so there wasn't much sweating. Oddly enough, I didn't feel thirsty throughout the ride. Of course I properly hydrated myself shortly afterwards.

Ouija

Used to do 40 to 60 miles a day without drinking. In the summer months i might stop and buy a bottle of orange from a shop if it's a really hot day but don't bother carrying any. What always makes me laugh are people riding round with hydration packs with the little blue tubes dangling from their packs (suggesting they are just tooooooooo busy to actually stop and put a bottle to their lips). Invariably warn by out of breath middle aged people who really shouldn't be waring that much Lycra. Makes me laugh because they are probably dehydrated from lugging all that water up and down the hills (sort of a seems self defeating)..

nolight

team47b wrote:

what's wrong with drinking? Or am I missing something here?

It sounds funny, but I am lazy to fill a water bottle sometimes . If I think I can live without one I would do so.

Hoopdriver

I should add that although I do not bother going out with a water bottle on my daily rides here in England, years ago when I was riding through outback Australia at the height of summer, in temperatures of over 50C, I could get about 6 miles (10 kilometres) for a one-litre bottle. On some of the longer desert crossings I was carrying as much as 23 litres of water aboard the bike. I would reckon on getting 15 kilometres for my first litre of the day, then 10kms/litre after that until mid-morning when it was too hot to continue. I'd make a day camp, exist on a litre or so of water (which was more than lukewarm and tasted horribly of soft plastic) until late afternoon and push on into the evening, once more buying distance with water.

And then drink like a camel when I reached a station or river (if it still had water in it)

Monty Dog

Even 1% dehydration can have a significant impact on performance, so the risks far outweigh the benefits, particularly in warm weather. Whilst you can survive for an hour or so without water, riding for longer and risking dehydration is probably counter-productive.

NewTTer

Ouija wrote:

Used to do 40 to 60 miles a day without drinking. In the summer months i might stop and buy a bottle of orange from a shop if it's a really hot day but don't bother carrying any. What always makes me laugh are people riding round with hydration packs with the little blue tubes dangling from their packs (suggesting they are just tooooooooo busy to actually stop and put a bottle to their lips). Invariably warn by out of breath middle aged people who really shouldn't be waring that much Lycra. Makes me laugh because they are probably dehydrated from lugging all that water up and down the hills (sort of a seems self defeating)..

What is it they are warning people of? guess this is why they are waring (waring present participle of ware, Verb Beware (used as a warning cry, typically in a hunting context). But I fail to understand the relevance of wearing lycra clothing to issues these warnings, and also the connection with your NOT drinking heroics. Perhaps this will make those middle aged people laugh at you a little!

NewTTer

Monty Dog wrote:

Even 1% dehydration can have a significant impact on performance, so the risks far outweigh the benefits, particularly in warm weather. Whilst you can survive for an hour or so without water, riding for longer and risking dehydration is probably counter-productive.

+1 to this
OP there really isnt any rules concerning water and the carrying there of, take a bottle with you if you dont use it then fine but it is better to have it there in case you want or need it.

ademort

In the past i have ridden the 16 Kms home from work at a steady 32Km/h and then changed clothing and bike and gone out and done another 45Kms without any water. I havent noticed any major difference in performance but i can tell you that later in the evening and during the night i have had terrible attacks of cramp. Needless to say i never go out without a bottle of juice on a ride any longer. It,s just not worth it.
Ademort

Captainlip

if your arsed about the bottle looking out of place on your frame then use a camelbak like me, no need to follow the crowd

Velonutter

I can't believe that people go without water at all, it free ffs, it doesn't cost anything to fill a bottle up with plain water and have it there for emergencies, not just drinking but if you come off your bike to wash the wound out.

Last years L2P one of our Club Characters doesn't even fit bottle cages to his bike and despite warnings about needing to drink, he didn't.

All through the ride, he became agitated and grumpy as he became more and more de-hydrated and needed to sleep during the stops, the final day of 123 miles he was so grumpy that everyone just left him to get on as to talk to him was a sure fire way for him to be aggressive.

It's a known fact that as you get older your thirst is less but your requirements are the same, thus why OAP often have dehydration problems.

If you are riding with mates on a long ride, then work as a team to remind each other to drink, you should work on 500-750ml of fluids an hour minimum.