How much water to drink during a long ride??

gangxu

Been gradually building up the distance on the bike.

Can now cover 50 miles without feeling too bad, however usually by this point (roughly 3hrs) I've gone through both water bottle (750mls each). Did 80miles+ the other weekend but we stopped so lunch so filling up the bottles wasn't a problem, but I noticed my mates were drinking less than I do....I'm I over drinking. Years ago when I was doing 60-70mile trips I use to have a CamelBack to give me another few extra bit of water, but really don't like the idea of carrying all that extra weight around (my legs are 6 years older!!)

I tried drinking before a ride, but that just makes me want to pee with-in the first hour. Ideally I would like to be able to 60-65miles without stopping for water top ups, is that been over ambitious? How much water does everyone else drink?

keef66

For me it depends on the weather and how hard I push myself. My first ever sportive 3 weeks ago when it was still fairly chilly and I was taking it steady to make sure I did the distance. I drank just over a litre over 6 hours / 86 miles, and didn't feel at all dehydrated. In the summer when I'm trying to ride as fast as I can (ie still not very fast) I can get through a litre in an hour.

Getting your clothing right can help a lot. If you're overdressed you'll sweat more in an attempt to lose body heat / reduce skin temperature

Bozman

This time of year roughly 500ml of weak electrolyte every 50 miles and 750ml during the summer months.

drlodge

This time of year or cooler, 2x750ml bottles will last me about 90 miles. When's its hot, a totally different matter, probaby twice that amout needed. That's High5 Isotonic by the way.

SpainSte

drlodge wrote:

This time of year or cooler, 2x750ml bottles will last me about 90 miles. When's its hot, a totally different matter, probaby twice that amout needed. That's High5 Isotonic by the way.

+1

Really been struggling as the temps heat up here in the last couple of weeks. I just never seem to have enough and topping up is pain in the @rse.

elderone

I use 1x750 and 1x500 bottle for 50 miles.As it gets hotter I guess it will go up.Probly over drinking a tad but still learning so rather have to much than to little.I read that if your pee is clear your hydrated,if not then drink more.

drlodge

Actually my reference to 750ml bottles above should read 1 litre bottles (from Halfords)

I've bought some sealable plastic bags which I can put the isotonic drink powder in. Then if I run out I just need to find a water source (or buy some as a last resort) and can make up some more. Ideal for long sportives where water is plentiful at the feed stations.

Had the opposite problem on the Burgess Hill Springtime Classic in March. Used 1 litre bottle until half way, filled it up and drank it over the second half. The other 1 litre bottle remained full for the entire ride!!! i.e. an extra 1kg dead weight being lugged up/down all those Ashdown Forest hills :-(

navrig

You have to go with what your body tells you as there are too many variables:

pre-ride hydration condition how much wine you had the night before fitness ambient air temp wind speed effort/speed what you are wearing time of day colour of socks

Don't be too shy at stopping at a cafe/pub and asking for a refill.

marylogic

Navrig wrote:

You have to go with what your body tells you as there are too many variables:

pre-ride hydration condition how much wine you had the night before* fitness ambient air temp wind speed effort/speed what you are wearing time of day colour of socks

*Don't be too shy at stopping at a cafe/pub and asking for a refill.

FIFY

navrig

marylogic wrote:

Navrig wrote:

You have to go with what your body tells you as there are too many variables:

pre-ride hydration condition how much wine you had the night before* fitness ambient air temp wind speed effort/speed what you are wearing time of day colour of socks

*Don't be too shy at stopping at a cafe/pub and asking for a refill.

FIFY

A KIRK

Everyone is different I tend to drink a good 3-4; of water a day without exercise, so when I exercise I drink even more, especially in the gym. However I have noticed I drink more on the mtb than I do on the road bike.

Todays Road ride I drank half a pint before going out, 750ml water, 1.5 cups of coffee and a can of tango, then drank 2 pints of water when I got home. Maybe over the top or more than other people, but if my body tells me it needs fluid I tend to give it some, otherwise i'll suffer from headaches for the rest of the day.

If your worried about leaving your bike while you get a top up, its worth remembering places such as chucrhes and grave yards tend to have an out side tap.

Velonutter

If you ask any nutritionist or coach they will all advocate 500-750ml per hour of riding, difficult to force yourself, but I have been doing that since the bad weather went and it is easier if you have bottles that really empty quick, I can down half a 750ml bottle in one big gulp.

As you get older your thirst sensors aren't as effective and so they fail to tell you when you need to drink.

I would respectively suggest that 2x750ml bottles in 90 miles means you are quite dehydrated and probably your urine was quite dark when you returned home

zardoz

I posted this on another thread, but you can roughly determine your sweat rate by weighing yourself naked, go out on a 1 hour ride (with kit on preferably) don't eat drink or pee and then on return get naked and weigh yourself again. The difference in weight will determine your sweat rate and from that you can determine what your fluid intake should be to remain fully hydrated. Obviously the test would need to be repeated a number of times for different temperature ranges. Different people will sweat at very different rates so its not always easy to say drink x amount. As a rule of thumb 500ml per hour would be a reasonable average.

It seemed to upset a few people when it was suggested that if you get thirsty then you are already getting dehydrated, but feeling thirsty is the bodies way of telling you that you are starting to dehydrate so better not to get to that stage if you can avoid it.

englander

Did a shade over 50 miles yesterday with 1 x 750ml bottle and there was a splash left. I set off early-ish when it wasn't too hot yet, so I'm going to have to start bringing two bottles with me on rides now.

Grill

Depends on what I'm riding. I did a 400k on Saturday on 2 litres, but I've also done a 12hr on 10 litres. Normal rides I drink around 1 litre per 100 miles although this is way less than I should drink.

marcusww

Did 93 miles Sunday and drank 4 x 750ml with electrolytes and energy.

Wee was bad colour half way round so knew to drink more!

drlodge

Marcusww wrote:

Did 93 miles Sunday and drank 4 x 750ml with electrolytes and energy.

Wee was bad colour half way round so knew to drink more!

Probably the electrolytes are turning your wee a dark flourescent yellowy colour.

I did 100 miles yesterday and drank 2 litres of High5 Isotonic. Should hve drunk more I think, more like 3 litres - same as you. Had 2 pints of squash when I got home.

CrouchingPig

I had 500m for 44 miles yesterday, did not feel like enough, last ten miles I was shaking the bottle in hope there was more I'd missed...lol.

briantrumpet

Navrig wrote:

Don't be too shy at stopping at a cafe/pub and asking for a refill.

And when it warms up, I always look out for people in their gardens - usually only too happy to oblige. The best the year before last was when a couple, having filled up both bottles with squash, then asked if I'd like to stay for a barbeque that evening, then they'd run me the 30 miles back home. Sadly, I had to work, so declined the offer.

Back on topic - all depends on temperature - if it's winter-cool, I'll go 80 miles on 750ml, but last Summer's trek across France had me drinking about 6 litres on the warmest days .... but it was 35C then, and I was doing over 100 miles a day.

marcusww

drlodge wrote:

Marcusww wrote:

Did 93 miles Sunday and drank 4 x 750ml with electrolytes and energy.

Wee was bad colour half way round so knew to drink more!

Probably the electrolytes are turning your wee a dark flourescent yellowy colour.

I did 100 miles yesterday and drank 2 litres of High5 Isotonic. Should hve drunk more I think, more like 3 litres - same as you. Had 2 pints of squash when I got home.

I usually have 2 pints of the kids nestle strawberry milkshake when back home!

The other thing I find is that on a food stop I keep drinking from the bottle? - a lot more compared to actually riding, do you find that?

drlodge

Marcusww wrote:

The other thing I find is that on a food stop I keep drinking from the bottle? - a lot more compared to actually riding, do you find that?

Yes! Much like when you get home, you'll quicky down a pint or two. When I stop off with the club at a cafe, I'll normally order a latte. That way I get a rest, a caffeine drink and the milk is good energy. Saves me drinking too much out of my bottle too.

hatch87

When I've gone out on hot long rides I've put a third bottle in my jersey pocket, I also have a 1 liter bottle which fits at the front, so in total I can take out 2.5 liters which covers most rides I can tolerate.

The other option is to do a figure of 8 from your house so you can top up at home half way, and empty the bladder