Camelback (or other similar hydration system)

[Tim Nunes]

Hello!

Christmas is coming up, and I am curious if I should ask for a
Camelback. My typical bike rides durring the warmer seasons are 30
miles long and last about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I usually bring along
a bottle of gatorade and I always finish it and am still thirsty at the
end. I realize you can't put gatorade in a Camelback (too much sugar)
but water is fine anyway.

So my question is, are Camelbacks good for a situation like that? Is
it too heavy to carry around that long?

Thanks for your input.

-Tim Nunes

 

[Ken M]

Tim Nunes wrote:
> Hello!
>
> Christmas is coming up, and I am curious if I should ask for a
> Camelback. My typical bike rides durring the warmer seasons are 30
> miles long and last about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I usually bring along
> a bottle of gatorade and I always finish it and am still thirsty at the
> end. I realize you can't put gatorade in a Camelback (too much sugar)
> but water is fine anyway.
>
> So my question is, are Camelbacks good for a situation like that? Is
> it too heavy to carry around that long?
>
> Thanks for your input.
>
> -Tim Nunes
>
I have a hydration pack, similar to a camelback, and I have found that
it makes my back sweat too much. The backpack system has adjustments on
it to properly postion the weight on your back. I did not finding
carrying the weight to be a problem. And I wore this on a 1200 mile tour .

Ken

 

[Rich]

Tim Nunes wrote:

> Christmas is coming up, and I am curious if I should ask for a
> Camelback. My typical bike rides durring the warmer seasons are 30
> miles long and last about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I usually bring along
> a bottle of gatorade and I always finish it and am still thirsty at the
> end. I realize you can't put gatorade in a Camelback (too much sugar)
> but water is fine anyway.
>
> So my question is, are Camelbacks good for a situation like that? Is
> it too heavy to carry around that long?

I have a camelback, it's comfortable, carries lots of water, and it's
great for off road use where water bottles were difficult to get to and
would ocasionally bounce out. But those aren't concerns on the road.
For road use, the minor disadvantage of the water in the hose getting
hot relativly quick, and the slightly more difficlty cleaning process
(over bottles), lead me to go back to using bottles for road rides.

So, I'd recommend a 2nd water bottle. I use two for my typical 90
minute ride. One's a polar bottle; I use that last as it stays colder
longer.

Rich

 

[Mee Too]

"Tim Nunes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello!
>
> Christmas is coming up, and I am curious if I should ask for a
> Camelback. My typical bike rides durring the warmer seasons are 30
> miles long and last about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I usually bring along
> a bottle of gatorade and I always finish it and am still thirsty at the
> end. I realize you can't put gatorade in a Camelback (too much sugar)
> but water is fine anyway.
>
> So my question is, are Camelbacks good for a situation like that? Is
> it too heavy to carry around that long?
>
> Thanks for your input.
>
> -Tim Nunes
>

I have found that yes, it does make your back sweat ... OTOH.. I still carry
it on every ride, but not just for the water, but I pack a small set of
tools, tire patches, a tire pump, some spare change, my ID, and a snack or
two in it as well. Also can be used to carry a jacket on days that are on
the cooler side.

....steve

 

[Bill Sornson]

Tim Nunes wrote:
> Hello!
>
> Christmas is coming up, and I am curious if I should ask for a
> Camelback. My typical bike rides durring the warmer seasons are 30
> miles long and last about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I usually bring
> along a bottle of gatorade and I always finish it and am still
> thirsty at the end. I realize you can't put gatorade in a Camelback
> (too much sugar) but water is fine anyway.

I only use my Camelbak on mountain bike rides -- and yes, I *do* use
Gatorade in it (powder mix, not the bottled stuff). When I rode off-road
often, I just kept the bladder in the 'fridge; nowadays I just rinse it out
thoroughly and let it dry between uses.

> So my question is, are Camelbacks good for a situation like that? Is
> it too heavy to carry around that long?

There are many different models, from totally basic to full-on backpack. I
agree with another poster -- just carry two water bottles. Should be ample
for almost any road ride (especially if refill sources available en
route)...

Bill "proprietary Gatorade/Tang/Lemonade (new item!) mix" S.

 

[Ivar Hesselager]

4 Dec 2005 10:21:15 -0800, Tim Nunes <[email protected]> skrev:

> Hello!
>
> Christmas is coming up, and I am curious if I should ask for a
> Camelback. My typical bike rides durring the warmer seasons are 30
> miles long and last about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I usually bring along
> a bottle of gatorade and I always finish it and am still thirsty at the
> end. I realize you can't put gatorade in a Camelback (too much sugar)
> but water is fine anyway.
>
> So my question is, are Camelbacks good for a situation like that? Is
> it too heavy to carry around that long?
>
> Thanks for your input.
>
> -Tim Nunes
>
>
I have noticed that not so few think their back sweat too much with a
Camelback on it - but that never bothered me. Whenever I go for a ride
that requries more than one half liter of water I carry my Camelback - and
it's no problem to put sugar/maltodexrin in the sack. But it's true it
requires a little more cleaning work.

If you are climbing long steep hills, or the riding for other reasons
requires both hands on the bar, it is very convenient to suck a little
sugerwater from the tube.

I carry a long pump by the seat tube so I have room for only one bottle
cage. That's why I started carrying a Camelback.

I think you should know that most "serious" cyclists consider a Camelback
out of style for road racing - like wearing grey everyday socks in your
cycling shoes. ;-)

Better to be out of style than dehydrated, I think.

Ivar

 

[Peter Cole]

Tim Nunes wrote:
> Hello!
>
> Christmas is coming up, and I am curious if I should ask for a
> Camelback. My typical bike rides durring the warmer seasons are 30
> miles long and last about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I usually bring along
> a bottle of gatorade and I always finish it and am still thirsty at the
> end. I realize you can't put gatorade in a Camelback (too much sugar)
> but water is fine anyway.
>
> So my question is, are Camelbacks good for a situation like that? Is
> it too heavy to carry around that long?

I started (maybe 10 years ago) using a CamelBak for off-road, the
started using it for road rides, too. After a few years of this it
dawned on me that I really hated the thing on my back and switched to
bottles for the road (Polar insulated). Now I don't even bother with the
thing for off-road. It's a fad.

 

[Claire Petersky]

"Tim Nunes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> So my question is, are Camelbacks good for a situation like that? Is
> it too heavy to carry around that long?


I have found that if I am riding in the desert, a camelbak or similar is
essential for a ride of 30 miles, as you describe. Around here, in the
damper and cooler Pacific Northwest, two water bottles are fine, especially
for a shorter ride in populated areas.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

 

[gds]

Claire Petersky wrote:
>
> I have found that if I am riding in the desert, a camelbak or similar is
> essential for a ride of 30 miles, as you describe. Around here, in the
> damper and cooler Pacific Northwest, two water bottles are fine, especially
> for a shorter ride in populated areas.
>
I agree with Claire.

I use a Camelback plus 2 large water bottles when on longer rides here
in southern AZ. Especially in summer or when the route I plan is little
raveled and without places to refill. However, I do find it more
pleasant to ride w/o a Camelback so if the ride is < ~35 miles or if I
know of convenience stores along the way then I'm more likely to just
take bottles.

 

[Ken M]

gds wrote:
> Claire Petersky wrote:
>
>>I have found that if I am riding in the desert, a camelbak or similar is
>>essential for a ride of 30 miles, as you describe. Around here, in the
>>damper and cooler Pacific Northwest, two water bottles are fine, especially
>>for a shorter ride in populated areas.
>>
>
> I agree with Claire.
>
> I use a Camelback plus 2 large water bottles when on longer rides here
> in southern AZ. Especially in summer or when the route I plan is little
> raveled and without places to refill. However, I do find it more
> pleasant to ride w/o a Camelback so if the ride is < ~35 miles or if I
> know of convenience stores along the way then I'm more likely to just
> take bottles.
>
Well I bought mine for my first tour and after finding out how much it
made me sweat, I rigged it to the outside of my rear pannier, and that
is where it stayed for the rest of my trip. My next tour I will carry
several bottles. Unless my next one is in the desert and then maybe the
camelback will come riding on panniers again.

Ken

 

[Tim Nunes]

Thanks for your input everyone. I've decided to go against getting
one, I'll probobly go with a second water bottle instead.

Thanks again,

-Tim

 

[Matt O'Toole]

On Sun, 04 Dec 2005 10:21:15 -0800, Tim Nunes wrote:

> Hello!
>
> Christmas is coming up, and I am curious if I should ask for a
> Camelback. My typical bike rides durring the warmer seasons are 30
> miles long and last about 1 hour and 45 minutes. I usually bring along
> a bottle of gatorade and I always finish it and am still thirsty at the
> end. I realize you can't put gatorade in a Camelback (too much sugar)
> but water is fine anyway.
>
> So my question is, are Camelbacks good for a situation like that? Is it
> too heavy to carry around that long?
>
> Thanks for your input.

For regular road riding in mild weather I wouldn't bother with it.

The main advantage of a Camelback is for mountain biking, particularly
racing, where you want to drink without taking your hands off the bars.
You can also carry more water than with water bottles.

Another advantage, discussed here recently, is to prevent disease from
dirt that gets on your water bottles while riding off road -- animal
feces, giardia and other bugs from stream crossings, etc.

A Camelback gets the weight off the bike, which can be helpful for
technical off-road riding, particularly steep, bumpy climbs. On smoother
trails it doesn't matter, and on paved roads it's a non-issue.

On the west coast I used a Camelback all the time. But here I hardly ever
use it, because the trails aren't as steep or bumpy, the mountain bike
rides I do are shorter, and the air isn't as dry so I don't need as much
water. I do find the backpack handy for running errands though, when I
don't need my larger backpack.

Matt O.

 

[rms]

> Thanks for your input everyone. I've decided to go against getting
> one, I'll probobly go with a second water bottle instead.

Why not drink a quart of warm water before setting out? I do this
before a 2-3hr ride, and take along a sandwich & banana. This does the
trick for me.

rms

 

[Tim Nunes]

I guess drinking before you go out makes a lot of sense. Why warm? Is
it just easier to drink faster?

 

[rms]

>I guess drinking before you go out makes a lot of sense. Why warm? Is
> it just easier to drink faster?

Yes, it's a bit less of a shock to drink. You could even add soluble
vitamins to it, like Emergen-C. In any case, for such a short ride, what
you do *before* you go out will have the most effect; for instance, eating a
small pasta lunch will eliminate the need to eat 1/2hr into the ride when
you start running out of ready energy; as will drinking *before* you leave.
You can always take a whiz in a ditch or library during the ride.

rms

 

[Peter Cole]

rms wrote:
>>I guess drinking before you go out makes a lot of sense. Why warm? Is
>>it just easier to drink faster?
>
>
> Yes, it's a bit less of a shock to drink. You could even add soluble
> vitamins to it, like Emergen-C. In any case, for such a short ride, what
> you do *before* you go out will have the most effect; for instance, eating a
> small pasta lunch will eliminate the need to eat 1/2hr into the ride when
> you start running out of ready energy; as will drinking *before* you leave.
> You can always take a whiz in a ditch or library during the ride.

I think I'd hurl if I drank warm, vitamin-laced water before a ride.
"Running out of energy" is a fear used to sell energy drinks. Most
people have enough body reserves to go 2 hours or so riding very hard.