Ok, Sunday I suffered a fair bit. I drank 3lts of water during the ride (and ran out). On my drive home 45 mins later I still had clear indents/impressions from my helmet on my forehead.
Now with summer coming up as well…

I don’t want to over-hydrate but for a grown male how many litres should you drink before bed and before starting your ride? Any tips?

i drink a 750ml bottle when i wake up, and a 750ml bottle before bed, other than that just drink little and often.

On Sunday I suffered a fair bit too. Mainly becuase about 1am I looked like this:

Sounds like you started the ride dehydrated, you don’t say how long you were riding for but 3 litres is a shitload of water to get through, monitor the colour of your pee is usually a good sign , it should be straw coloured or clear otherwise your dehydrated.

The usual recommendation is 2-3 litres of water a day

little and often, if youre thirsty in a ride youre already dehydrated!

ADH, your pupils are misbehaving.

Cup O’ Tea and some PB on toast.

go ride
come back

another cup o tea

The usual recommendation is 2-3 litres of water a day

I’d check your facts, usual reccomendation is 1 litre per hour of strenuous excercise. Although that will depend on how hard your riding. I find it easier to get in the habit of drinking plenty during a ride and having the occasional comfort stop rather than suffering the symptoms of dehydration at the end of the day.

Drink till your pee is clear. End of thread.

Went on a course the other day and the speaker, who is an “expert” on brain function, said that the 2litres a day fact is a bit of a myth because your body needs to always be hydrated to about 2 litres – so if you eat and drink a sensible diet then you should be ok. If you overhydrate then you end up flushing your system which apparnetly is a bad thing. He may well have been talking blxs.

The usual recommendation is 2-3 litres of water a day

A day. Bollocks!

Oh and dents from in your forehead from wearing you helmet doesn’t mean you dehydrated.

Actually the 2 litres a day is a mis-interpretation. The original study found you need an average of 2 litres a day from all sources. So if you eat a load of grapes and watermelon, you may not need to drink at all.

Post-ride pub session usually ruins it for me.

It would be nice to know how much urban myth surrounds water intake. When not on the bike I personally never consciously drink water unless it is an ingredient in something else or I am very thirsty.

ADH, your pupils are misbehaving.

I was mashed, 80s style, thats why. Still rode 6 hours later

*manly whimper*

On a similar-ish topic, whenever I’m going for a ride, beforehand I need to pee and crap like mad.

Last Saturday morning, got up at 7:30am to get ready for Glentress. Must’ve pissed a dozen times before leaving the house and crapped twice. On the road there I had to pull into a layby as I was dying for a piss. Got to GT and had to run for the toilets for another pissing & crapping session and had to re-visit the toilets twice before I set off.

Now I’m not any more hydrated than normal as I drink my 2 litres a day every day and it only happens pre-ride so I think I can rule out diabetes!

My assumption is my body knows it’s going to be exerting itself and I’m excited so it subliminally lightens itself????

So if you eat a load of grapes and watermelon, you may not need to drink at all.

Most food is made of water really. Just eat a normal diet

Ok, Sunday I suffered a fair bit. I drank 3lts of water during the ride

How much carbs did you take?

It would be nice to know how much urban myth surrounds water intake.

This stuff isn’t urban myths, it’s advice from sports physiologists and coaches. Sometimes it’s a bit chinese whispers tho but there you go.

I stand by the 2-3 litres a day, Hora hasn’t said how long the ride was or whether he was hydrated pre-ride so its difficult to say, keep a training diary and you can then keep track simple as

Ok night before- drink (not lager).
Morning. Wake up- at best 1/2pint of water but usually a cup of coffee and a small bowl of pasta or veggie sausages and two eggs. Then go through 3lts during a 2-3hour ride.
Every accident Ive ever had has happened towards the end of a ride when I’ve ran out of water and my concentration has gone. How to carb/water up properly?

nickc – hyperbole

3 litres during a 2 – 3 hour ride? You’re not dehydrated if you’ve still got an imprint in your forehead, you’ve just got a fat head and your helmet is too small

Err the coffee’s probably not a good idea as its a diuretic, the pasta also absorbs lots of water too from your system , the veggie sausages probably had a lot of salt in them , otherwise as said before check out your wee colour

I think part of the cause may be the sausages. Are they very salty? How strong is your coffee? Do you experience the same effect say on an evening ride or afternoon ride.

Many people can be dehydrated first thing in the morning and 1/2 pint of water and a coffee isn’t much tbh.

The helmet marks are nothing to do with dehydration.

Carbs in your water. 3 scoops per 750ml I’d say, no more unless it’s cold and you’re not drinking much. Mix it weaker than the recommendations.

It’s cheap enough, try it out – you might find it great. I did when I first tried it.

Do you experience the same effect say on an evening ride or afternoon ride.
Eurika! Strong as an Ox in the afternoon/evening. The Coffee is usually very strong.
Is this linked? I normally piss like a racehorse mid ride a few times as well. No Im not diabetic (have checked) 😐

Could be , I’m the same if I have a cup of tea , I’m like a bloody fountain, also as coyote says that may not be enough water

joe1983, you or me?

I stand by the 2-3 litres a day,

Stand by it all you want, other know what they’re talking about.

mark, give me a call later, I’ll explain it all to you in strict no nonsense stuff that I’ve genuinely tested as part of my training. It’ll make sense, even more so than some of the guff up there. (some are right, but those talking about having to drink 2-3 litres of water a day are from another planet)

I tend to drink about a pint of water with a nunn tablet in before heading out, then I’ll take about 1 to 2 litres with me, to be honest last time I just bought two bottles of blue coloured powerade and stuck that in my pack! I went through a stage of riding aound with three bloody litres on my back, maybe ok in the blazing sun but not a drizzly april afternoon in the uk!!

If you drink 3L of water on a ride you may becoming low on salt (sodium) – try an electrolyte drink instead of some of the water (I take water in the ‘bak and electrolyte in a bottle so I can choose what to drink)

Or just carry some food too.

We used to have to lick our salty camelbak straps when drinking at least three litres of water on a summer ride in oz to avoid cramps. Just thought i’d share that.

Not all the time, as a matter of course, just when we’d run out of salted peanuts.

IME if you are riding hard you cannot re-hydrate during the ride – you need to drink after.

Yeah but this was Hora.

Electrolyte drink- good idea. Probably have one before mixed/water and one poured into the bladder with some carb powder.

PK/Ante – will give you a tinkle tomorrow. I dont want to hear about your rampany lovenest jumping tonight as a form of training 🙄 😆

Soda…. 😯

You tried too hard on Sat!

We didnt climb many hills though! Did we?