Way too much water recommended on rides

[cobbwheels]

I find the 1 liter / hr recommended amount way too much. I am 120 lbs body weight and my max water consumption on a 6 hour ride (with only few minutes of pee stops) is only 2.5 liters on the hottest days where it reaches 100F at sea level. If I bring more water, I'll have a bit of leftover and the added weight is probably adding to the effort during long climbs. I don't need to drink much and I feel perfectly fine as long as I fueled and replaced my electrolytes adequately and I always bring more than enough fuel and electrolytes on rides I often have leftover fuel at the end of the ride.

I start the rides early, not later than 6am in the morning and goes up to the mountains where temperatures are lower but can still see 90F heat index on the mountains in the summer due to high humidity.

I think bringing 6 liters of water would make the long climbs a lot harder on a hot summer weather. We don't have free water dispensers along the roads to refill the bottles so I have to bring all the needed water on the ride.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Must be your size. I'm double your weight and figure on a 100 mile ride, I'd use at least double your 2.5 liters.

 

[cobbwheels]

Must be your size. I'm double your weight and figure on a 100 mile ride, I'd use at least double your 2.5 liters.

You don't look double my weight. I'd think less than that!

But if you're really double my weight then 2x my water intake would agree with fitness site recommendations. I'd be over-hydrating if I follow those recommendations.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

You don't look double my weight. I'd think less than that!

But if you're really double my weight then 2x my water intake would agree with fitness site recommendations. I'd be over-hydrating if I follow those recommendations.

Yup, 240 pounds at 6 ft 1 inch in height.

 

[cobbwheels]

Yup, 240 pounds at 6 ft 1 inch in height.

You're definitely twice my weight! My weight changed quite a bit as a cyclist. I'm 5'8". Initially I was 145 lbs. It went down to 118 lbs when I started riding. In two years, it went up to 140 lbs. Went down again to 120 lbs when I started eating less calories and burning more in training. I went as low as 115 lbs. <118.5 lbs is where I become underweight. As long as I'm above, I'd be in the normal/healthy range.

I tried eating less and burning more calories as an experiment to try to curb my symptoms of prediabetes which led to my weight dropping to 120 lbs and sometimes below. High family risk of diabetes. Never did it before as it gives me headaches but this time, I went all or nothing. The headaches went away eventually and most of the symptoms gone. The headaches going away is huge improvement. I used to get headaches even on short rides.

Anyway, I wish they post more accurate hydration requirement for cyclists. Should be based on weight like mL per kg of body weight per hour.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Either way, I prefer drinking plenty. On a 40 mile ride, I will have easily downed 2 large bottles. Some riders tell me I drink a lot but by the end of the 40 miles, they're complaining of headaches and I'm not.

 

[cobbwheels]

Either way, I prefer drinking plenty. On a 40 mile ride, I will have easily downed 2 large bottles. Some riders tell me I drink a lot but by the end of the 40 miles, they're complaining of headaches and I'm not.

On 40 miles, I'd have drank 750 mL of water alone (electrolyte goes with the solid fuel). I used to get headaches but they've since gone altogether with most symptoms of prediabetes when I started managing my recovery diet.

 

[cyclintom]

I find the 1 liter / hr recommended amount way too much. I am 120 lbs body weight and my max water consumption on a 6 hour ride (with only few minutes of pee stops) is only 2.5 liters on the hottest days where it reaches 100F at sea level. If I bring more water, I'll have a bit of leftover and the added weight is probably adding to the effort during long climbs. I don't need to drink much and I feel perfectly fine as long as I fueled and replaced my electrolytes adequately and I always bring more than enough fuel and electrolytes on rides I often have leftover fuel at the end of the ride.

I start the rides early, not later than 6am in the morning and goes up to the mountains where temperatures are lower but can still see 90F heat index on the mountains in the summer due to high humidity.

I think bringing 6 liters of water would make the long climbs a lot harder on a hot summer weather. We don't have free water dispensers along the roads to refill the bottles so I have to bring all the needed water on the ride.

I don't drink any water on a ride unless it is long and very hot. We generally stoop for a coffee though. But this is all wrong. Doing it my way you end the rides totally exhausted while if you keep hydrated you very rapidly recover even from hard rides. My problem is that because of a concussion I don't have any balance so if I want to drink I have to stop and there are few rides where the other people are likely to stop at convenient places to drink.

 

[cobbwheels]

I don't drink any water on a ride unless it is long and very hot. We generally stoop for a coffee though. But this is all wrong. Doing it my way you end the rides totally exhausted while if you keep hydrated you very rapidly recover even from hard rides. My problem is that because of a concussion I don't have any balance so if I want to drink I have to stop and there are few rides where the other people are likely to stop at convenient places to drink.

Hmmm, have thought about using a 'hydration pack'? Quite popular item in running and hiking but many cyclists also use them. It's a water bag with a tube. Water bag goes into a small backpack called 'hydration vest'. You drink via tube. I don't know if it's possible to put something on your helmet strap to hold this tube so you don't have to grab this tube whenever you needed a drink. But obviously, getting the tube into your mouth and drinking from the tube is way way easier than grabbing a water bottle and holding the water bottle while you drink from it while you keep riding one-handed.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

My problem is that because of a concussion I don't have any balance

Knowing this, do you not worry about putting others in danger? I've ridden with a group that had a guy with balance issues and after a couple of noticeable occurrences, I figured I'd be much safer staying far away as possible from the guy. I brought it to his attention kindly but he insists on riding with the group knowing. I guess he'll think a little more about it after he takes someone down.