Drinking during LEL

[chris]

No not beer, but water. In order to stay hydrated on long rides I find that I need to drink a lot. My usual rule of thumb is about three and a half litres per 100km, more if it is hot or hilly. I do this by having two large bottles on the bike, and a two litre Camelback, and this has worked well for rides of up to 600km. I do not however like the idea of wearing the Camelback for the hundred or so hours that I will be riding. I know that the distance between controls is generally less that 100km, but I don't really want to run out so I think I will probably still need to leave each control with around three litres of water. In the southern part of the ride it should be easy to get water, but further north in the more remote areas oppertunities for getting water will be fewer. I had thought of trying to use less water, but I rode 72 miles yesterday with just 1.5 litres and suffered for it afterwards. So I am considering my options -

• Use the tried and tested Camelback and two large bottles. I don't fancy wearing the Camelback for five days. I don't know what the effect on back muscles and sweat on skin might be. Cleaning the Camelback and keeping the pipe/valve germ free for five days will be a chore if I can't get to the kitchen at controls. I might be tempted to not do it if I am very tired / behind schedule.
  
• Put the Camelback bladder in a small pannier and tape an extension tube to the crossbar. Same cleanliness issues as above, but at least the weight is on the bike, so no back issues.
  
• Take the two large bottles and another water container and decant from that into the two large bottles. Easy to keep clean, but I will miss the ability to sip as I ride without having to reach down for the bottle.
  
• Just take the two large bottles and buy on route where needed. I'm worried that I will run out of water.
  

What does the panel think?

[hellymedic]

Two bottles and buy for the southern half, Camelbak in a pannier, in addition on northern half.

Keep Camelbak dry in pannier until Thorne.

Hygeine issues should not arise in less than 48 hours.

[Greenbank]

Why can't you take sips from a normal bidon whilst riding?

If you do that you can just shove 3 750ml bidons of water in a pannier and swap them for the empties whenever you pause. Refill all empties at controls.

For endurance events, camelbaks just create more problems than they solve and you really don't want that weight on your back for that long.

[teethgrinder]

I wouldn't use a Camelback for LEL myself. It would give me the hump.
You could use 2 bottles and carry a 2 litre fizzy drink botte in your saddle bag. You don't have to fill it up. You'll have to stop to refill your bottles from your 2 litre bottle, but it's better than getting dehydrated.
Or if you use a bar bag, use two 500ml Coke bottles. Or even just a 3rd bottle and a 500ml coke bottle in the saddle bag. Those fizzy drink bottles are very sturdy (They can handle over 7bars of pressure), cheap and readily available. They're very light when they're empty too.
A lot of the southern route isn't much good for shops either. There's a thread here somewhere for unoffcial facilities on the LEL route.

[LEL]

I wouldn't use a Camelback for LEL myself. It would give me the hump.
You could use 2 bottles and carry a 2 litre fizzy drink botte in your saddle bag. You don't have to fill it up. You'll have to stop to refill your bottles from your 2 litre bottle, but it's better than getting dehydrated.
Or if you use a bar bag, use two 500ml Coke bottles. Or even just a 3rd bottle and a 500ml coke bottle in the saddle bag. Those fizzy drink bottles are very sturdy (They can handle over 7bars of pressure), cheap and readily available. They're very light when they're empty too.
A lot of the southern route isn't much good for shops either. There's a thread here somewhere for unoffcial facilities on the LEL route.

This seems the most sendible suggestion.

Water bottles can be refilled at controls - however, you are not allowed int eh kitchens.  Each control will have its own system for water bottle refills.  Just watch out for them and it not obvious, ask.

[hellymedic]

Yebbut the problem is that chris needs more than two bottles of water between controls, innit?

[Really Ancien]

There are enough shops, garages and pubs to get water from, except at night when you'll be drinking less anyway.

Damon.

[MattH]

When I first started riding Audaxes, I only had one bottle cage on my bike (an old 1980s frame with a frame fit pump against the seat tube).

I put one of these onto my saddle:-
Minoura SBH-300 Dual Bottle Cage Mount. It needed a bit of fiddling to fit a B17 (it expects rails to be closer together - fixed using a couple of bits of scrap copper to make a bigger clamp).

Assuming you have the standard two-bottle configuration on your bike, this will let you carry four bottles in total - 3L with standard 750mL bottles. You can swap them between front and rear whilst on the move; I'd finish a bottle, hold the empty one in my teeth and move a full one to the front, then drop the empy in the rear.

The problems are that you need good bottle cages (I had a problem with bottles jumping out of cheap Blackburn ones), and you lose the ability to have a saddle bag (it worked with my rack pack, and would be fine with panniers that you spoke of).

[Greenbank]

There are enough shops, garages and pubs to get water from, except at night when you'll be drinking less anyway.

Exactly. Thinking about the route, it's only the last stretch (Canonbie to Dalkeith) where there is a prolonged distance with possibly nowhere to buy water either on the route or by a very short detour off it.

Possibly also the Washingborugh to Thorne leg, as that will be Sunday evening (8am start) or early hours of Monday morning (2pm start).

From memory you'll be able to get stuff in:-

Cheshunt (control), Hertford/Bengeo (shops+petrol stations), Gamlingay (control + shops), St Neots (lots of shops), Kimbolton (shops), garage on the A47 near Wansford, Thurlby (control), Bourne (minor detour), Sleaford, Washingborough (control).

For the Southbound leg between Thorne and Lincoln: Thorne, Gainsborough (or detour to Rosies cafe), Lincoln (lots), Washingborough (control).

For the more northern bits there's Thirsk, Middleton Tyas (control), Barnard Castle, possibly something in Middleton-In-Teesdale, Langdon Beck (Youth Hostel), Alston (control+shops), Brampton (shops), Longtown (shops), Canonbie (control).

For just water stops you can always wander into a pub, they're usually always happy to top up water bottles although it's polite to ask if it's necessary to buy something (like a packet of crisps rather than a pint).

I'll have more info in a couple of weeks when I've done the northbound half.

Personally I only have one full 750ml bidon on the bike. The other bottle is usually empty. If I'm on a long stretch I'll fill up both, more often I just drink a litre of water or so whilst I'm at the control or shop/garage stop. 3.5kg is a lot of weight to add to the bike.

[Keeff]

As Greenbank says

Riders will need to be careful that they carry enough water on the Washingborough-Thorne leg on Sunday evening/night.

I can't remember any obvious places on that leg where you could buy water, and the leg is 100km.

Keith

[Greenbank]

As Greenbank says

Riders will need to be careful that they carry enough water on the Washingborough-Thorne leg on Sunday evening/night.

I can't remember any obvious places on that leg where you could buy water, and the leg is 100km.

And I'm not planning on riding that leg when I do the route in mid March. I'll be doing the direct route through Lincoln and Gainsborough almost identical to the Southbound route.

Hopefully whoever does check that section of route can make notes of possible places and whether they're likely to be open 24 hours.

[Manotea]

You can use 1l bidons to gain an extra 500ml but they are a bit cumbersome. I bought a 800ml bidon (that extra 50ml makes all the difference!) but the extra width catches my thighs when stored on the seat tube.

Maybe I need thinner thighs...

[Chris N]

No not beer

   Five days without a pint?

As for the rest of it, a third bottle cage under your downtube (various bolt-on mounts are available) with a big bottle in will allow you to carry a bit more water without filling your saddlebag.  Hopefully 2 big bottles will do me.

[chris]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have discovered that we have at least four Camelbacks in the house, so I could take some spare sterilised bite valves and change them each day, but I think rigging up a long tube from the pannier to the handlebar will be a bit cumbersome and as Greenbank infers it will not be much different from reaching down for a bottle. The great thing about wearing a Camelback is that the valve is only a few inches from your mouth so reaching the valve is easy and you dont have to put it back aterwards. I think I will probably go with TGs suggestion of a 2 litre pop bottle in the pannier and buy en-route if necessary.

[vorsprung]

I am training myself to drink less when riding

I didn't ever get to 3.5 litres per 100km- that sounds excessive to me. You must stop to pee pee a lot.  The max distance between controls is currently listed as 119km for Dalkeith to Canonbie.  However, there are rumours of a feed stop or intermediate control on this leg.  The next longest leg is to Thorne, 106km.  So all you have to do is learn to make do with 2 litres of water for 100km and all will be fine.  Unless it's very hot

At the moment I am on approx 1 litre per 100km
Hot summer, double that

A litre of water weighs a Kilo.  So if chris decides he needs double the usual dose of 3.5 litres due to heat etc on the longest legs then he will be carrying 7Kg of water(!).  I think he will reach the point where the weight of the water slows him up so he needs more water...like a person trying to walk across the sahara and carrying their own stuff

[MattH]

The most I've got through is about 9L on a 200k. It was a very hot day, and a very hilly ride; it got to the point where I wouldn't pass an open shop without nipping in to grab a bottle of water.

Normally I expect around 1.5L/100k (I aim to refill both bottles at the half way mark of a 200k).

[Bianchi Boy]

I would suggest that you drink as much as needed. This may be a lot.

The problem with comparing the amount you drink on short events (i.e. 200Km) to a really long ride is that you know you can fill up at the end. I would suggest that if you have not visited the bushes for 100km then you are not drinking enough. I have used this measure before and if you are aware you have not peed for a while you can increase a little and see if this is enough.

You are also better off with too much rather than too little liquid. Losing a couple of minutes for a mid-section pee is a lot better than getting dehydrated and losing hours.

Also if the water does not taste good then add something like Zym or Nuun. These also have a bit of salt in them. Which should not go amiss in late July.

[Hummers]

Isn't there a bar at the rugby club in Dalkeith?

Please tell that there is and that it will be serving beer 24 hours a day.

H

[rae]

Not quite the same as LEL, but Etape training in Spain presented similar difficulties, especially as the roads were deserted and dehydration was a real danger.   I did Camelbak and 2 bottles.   The Camelbak was a small one (1.5 litre) and for water only.   I always drank this first - so in terms of weight on your back, most of the time it wasn't there.    One of the 750ml bottles was super strength SIS Go - at least triple stength, so you needed water from a different bottle to rinse it down, but it did last all day.   This combo was good for 128 miles hill climbing in the blazing sun...