Water Bottles in a Crit?



swimmer88

New Member
Feb 6, 2008
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I'm wondering if any of you carry water bottle(s) when you are racing in a crit. I know that it is aerodynamically better to have the water bottles in the cages, but does anyone fill them up and drink during the race? I'm doing a 1-hour crit, (El Dorado Tuesday Twilight Series), and it will be my first race! It's a short enough race to go without water, but I just want to know what everyone else does and what you recommend, let me know!
 
swimmer88 said:
I'm wondering if any of you carry water bottle(s) when you are racing in a crit. I know that it is aerodynamically better to have the water bottles in the cages, but does anyone fill them up and drink during the race? I'm doing a 1-hour crit, (El Dorado Tuesday Twilight Series), and it will be my first race! It's a short enough race to go without water, but I just want to know what everyone else does and what you recommend, let me know!
I usually carry a single bottle typically filled halfway with my favorite energy drink while riding crits. I don't expect to drink much, but the weight really isn't a big concern in most crits and it can help with some late race cotton mouth. A couple of small drinks throughout the race can be nice when the pace drops a bit.

But if it's your first race be especially careful to pay attention, ride a predictable line and don't mess with water bottles or other distractions unless you're in a safe place to do so or you can maintain a safe line while reaching for your bottle and drinking. Some newer racers swerve all over the place when reaching for their bottles or drinking while riding. If that describes you then leave the bottles off the bike or drink when you're at the back with no one on your wheel. A drink or two can be nice but don't cause a pile up if you're not used to drinking and feeding yourself while riding fast.

-Dave
 
Half a bottle sounds good. I can't imagine I would need both bottle filled up
tongue.gif
. I have been riding for a few years and I have done countless group rides with 30+ riders, so I definitely have developed some good habits and technique for riding in groups. However, I won't be ignorant and say it will be the same thing riding in a crit, because an all out race isn't the same as a training ride (well, most of the time anyways....).
 
swimmer88 said:
Half a bottle sounds good. I can't imagine I would need both bottle filled up
tongue.gif
. I have been riding for a few years and I have done countless group rides with 30+ riders, so I definitely have developed some good habits and technique for riding in groups. However, I won't be ignorant and say it will be the same thing riding in a crit, because an all out race isn't the same as a training ride (well, most of the time anyways....).
If it is hot i will carry two, one with water the other sports drink. The water can be used to spray yourself with and on hot days sometimes the sportsdrink makes my mouth all gluggy so i will swig some water straight after a swig of sportsdrink. My 2 cents. :)
 
leestevens said:
If it is hot i will carry two, one with water the other sports drink. The water can be used to spray yourself with and on hot days sometimes the sportsdrink makes my mouth all gluggy so i will swig some water straight after a swig of sportsdrink. My 2 cents. :)

If anyone sprays themselves in a crit with water, and covers the drafting riders, i'd be spraying them with my sticky sports drink and tell 'em to fark off. :mad:

If it is that hot for a ~60minute race you shouldn't be racing, or be doing more hot weather training to acclimatise.
 
parawolf said:
If anyone sprays themselves in a crit with water, and covers the drafting riders, i'd be spraying them with my sticky sports drink and tell 'em to fark off. :mad:

If it is that hot for a ~60minute race you shouldn't be racing, or be doing more hot weather training to acclimatise.
Whats wrong with slipping down the back for a quick spray off. Believe me i do a lot of hot weather training, a few times this summer it is all i can do s oi am more than acclimatised to it. Where i am out here we race almost no matter what.
 
leestevens said:
Whats wrong with slipping down the back for a quick spray off. Believe me i do a lot of hot weather training, a few times this summer it is all i can do s oi am more than acclimatised to it. Where i am out here we race almost no matter what.

You missed my point. If you spray yourself with such abandon that you get other riders wet, thats a bad thing.
 
parawolf said:
You missed my point. If you spray yourself with such abandon that you get other riders wet, thats a bad thing.
I think you missed my point. How the **** am i spraying other riders when i am at the back of the group? With such abandon, think about it mate.
 
leestevens said:
I think you missed my point. How the **** am i spraying other riders when i am at the back of the group? With such abandon, think about it mate.

No need to get testy, mate.

Your original point didn't say you were at the back of the bunch.
 
parawolf said:
No need to get testy, mate.

Your original point didn't say you were at the back of the bunch.
I always find that I drink a lot more than my fellow racers in crits. I have a full bottle pretty much usually cytomax.
 
I find that I need to concentrate very hard on everything that is going on during a crit, so that I don't miss anything - breaks getting away, coming back, what teamates are doing, what they're yelling into my earphone ;) . So I usually leave the bottle off, or just put it in half-full in case I need a sip to alleviate dry mouth.
I think I read somewhere that for efforts under an hour, you don't need to worry about hydration (assuming you are properly hydrated before the event).