I don’t.

Typical day today – 6 hours of pretty hard riding in the Peak, sweating a fair bit on the climbs. Had about 2l of Torq in the Camelbak, drank about 0.5l (plus a large coffee), Felt like I was drinking absolutely loads and was worried I was going to run out and really couldn’t face taking on any more liquid as I felt awash with the stuff.

Funny old world, I’m feeling a little rough now, and was definitely fading towards the end of the ride (hence the large coffee to get me back up to Foxhouses!)

This is nothing new – back in my mid/late teens my dad and I would regularly do 12+hr walks up on Kinder or similar in the middle of a blazing hot summer day with no shade and less than a litre of water between us.

So how do I get my head round taking on more liquid? I hate drinking on the climbs, as it screws up my breathing. No way I’m going to try it on a descent, and the merest sip is usually all I actually “want” if I stop at the top or the bottom. I can generally force a mouthful down, but nothing more,(and I’m most likely to simply forget all together) and I’m still paranoid about running out.

I’m exactly the same on the road bike too – even when it’s easy to see how much I have or haven’t drunk. 40 or 50 miles, and I may have taken 2″ out of the full bottle…

Maybe force yourself to have a drink every 15 mins whether you want to or not? Your body will hopefully become accustomed to doing this and you’ll start to find it easier.

had you eaten anything ?

Had a flapjack at Fairholmes (3ish hrs in), then a piece of cake with the coffee in Hathersage (5ish hrs)

The Torq is supposed to be the drip feed energy, and anyway, I’ve got a bit soft round the middle recently, so I’m trying to avoid eating too much.

Maybe force yourself to have a drink every 15 mins whether you want to or not?

That involves remembering to! And anyway, if I’m on a climb or a descent (and there’s not much else in the Peaks) I’m simply NOT going to stop unless it’s because I’ve dabbed or crashed.

Shirley during 6hrs of graft in warm conditions you need to be taking onboard hypo/isotonic fluid, electrolytes, energy etc, little and often. Difficult to measure your bodies requirements.

Ah … but you might well be drinking enough ‘in principle’. If you weren’t (or don’t really get) thirsty, your hydration level was (or is) maybe fine (unless you have an underlying condition that means this kinda feedback doesn’t work).

There’s a lot of reasons you might be fading by the end of the ride – maybe mineral balance, maybe not eaten enough, maybe it’s the heat. maybe that day just wasn’t your day (et cetera) …

For another view on the whole hydration thing, have a look online for articles and podcast interviews by/with a chap called Dr Tim Noakes about a book of his called “Waterlogged” … drinking when one is thirsty and still being fine doing stuff, matches both my direct experience, and my expectation of where our evolutionary biology puts us, so I’m pretty much right there in the same place as Dr Noakes.

… but that’s just a view. 😉

I only ever have water in the camelbak and curiously I tend to take sips at particularly tiring uphill moments as it feels like it helps me breathe better and stay cooler. I find energy drinks just too sticky to drink enough of them, though I’ll stick a bottle in the bag for particularly epic days. I try to drink loads before I head out on a big ride especially if it’s hot because generally one’s default state is a bit under-hydrated.

if i leave the house correctly hydrated i can ride all day in heat with very little fluids.

but i die 7 whole deaths if i try not to eat for the same period.

ill bet its lack of food/calories that is getting you feeling rough.