How far can you cycle with no water bottle?

chris_bass

NewTTer wrote:

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!

you didn't close enough brackets!! bad maths!

Melter

Hoopdriver wrote:

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)

Holy crap!
And there's me calculating whether to take 1 or 2 bottles...

mamba80

Velonutter wrote:

I can't believe that people go without water at all, it free ffs,
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.

anyone would think we live in the Sahara.

Do you think a 1/2 or full marathon runner carries around (let alone drinks) that amount of water?

what really matters is your pre ride hydration, hydrating during a ride is much less effective.

Ouija

I also think it comes down to how you ride. I ride alone so i'm not getting a sweat on to try and keep up with other people. I'm not a Lance Armstrong wannabe, dressed in Lycra and pushing myself to maintain a certain speed or power output. Nor a Mountain Biker monkey, throwing myself up and down and all over gods creation to try and acheive a respectable time on this route or that route.

In other words, i POTTER.

While i tend to do a 40mile ride a day followed by an occasional 20mile ride later in the evening , notching over 1000m a month, i amble along at a stately 12/13mph average, which isn't particularly taxing for me at my current level of fitness and doesn't get me "moist" on anything except the occasional steep hill. Consequently, i don't really get dehydrated and need to lug lots of extra water around with me (a drink before and after is all i need, and on the longer routes i can always stop at these wonderful things called SHOPS and CAFES if i really need a drink). Some people push harder and longer until their leaking like a sieve, so it make more sense for them to carry extra moisture around with them in a bottle. It's a Tortoise and Hare thing.....

navrig

32.965 miles. At which point I fall off my bike and die, well that's what happened last week.

The week before I managed 29.657 miles although it was slightly warmer.

The best I have managed before dying was 51.398 miles but that was on a cold day with lots of moisture in the air and the route was flat.

leedsunitedfan

I never used to take drinking water too seriously until July this year when i cycled London to Brighton with just one bottle of water. I got bad leg cramps, and i felt like crap!

Now i realise the importance of re hydration and wont ever be making the same mistake again!

Nolight, always take water with you, as others have suggested you never know when you may need it. Drinking to keep hydrated, or just having a sip of water to get rid of an annoying dry throat.

Grill

Most I've done on zero fuel is 55 miles. I reckon 70+ is achievable but I depends on man other factors such as weather, route, effort, how, hydrated/fueled you are to begin with, etc. I certainly wouldn't recommend it though as its far safer to drink too much than not enough.

AchillesLeftKnee

Wouldn't want to go more than an hour myself, although have gone an awful lot longer (and further) than that sans drink in my teens. These days I work on about half a litre an hour after the first 30 mins unless it's properly warm or I'm doing something overly sweaty (read as "lots of off-road climbing"), in which case a bit more may be needed.