What do you drink in the winter?

[JohnBrooking]

On your ride, I mean. The thread on keeping water from freezing in the cold made me wonder. Personally, I never drink water or anything else on my ride in the winter. I'm sure it helps that I have only a 5 mile ride; I suppose it would be more necessary on longer rides. But I only associate dehydration with warm weather, so it never occurred to me to drink water in the winter, especially given the freezing problem. Besides, anytime the air temp is below freezing, I'm likely wearing something over my mouth and nose, making drinking difficult except through a tube (which happens to also be something I've never thought about).

[Hezz]

When it is above freezing I use my water bottles and drink plain water. When it is below freezing I make a hot tea sweetened with honey and molassess which is very high in potassium. For some reason the difference between 20 F and 35 F is significant for me. Perhaps because below freezing the windchill is so much more shocking to the body. I use vacuum flasks in my small backpack when I take the hot drink.

[Machka]

You can become just as dehydrated in the winter, in sub-freezing temperatures, as you can in the summer. You still sweat just the same in both conditions, and your urinary output system is still functioning the same in both conditions.

The difference is that you probably don't feel like drinking when it is cold.

On your 5 mile ride, drinking while riding is probably not critical (in either summer or winter), but if you were out there longer, you definitely should be thinking about either bringing something to drink, or planning to buy or acquire something to drink along the way.

On my winter centuries, I don't bother carrying a bottle with me because I know it will freeze ... but I ride loops. So, I drink 2-3 cups of fruit juice before I set off ... 2 hours later I'm back at home and I drink another 2-3 cups ... 2 hours later, I'm back ... and so on until the ride is done.

As for your poll ... if I do bring something with me, it is exactly the same as what I bring in the summer ... one bottle of pure water, and one bottle of sports drink. So I'm not sure how to answer your poll.

[2manybikes]

Machka has it exactly right :rolleyes: . Same amount of work, same sweat. Same hydration etc.

I drink exactly the same thing in the winter. I drink 50/50 water, and the $1 a gallon fruit drink from Shaws. If I added salt it would be the same as Gatorade. But, I read the label on what I eat and there is plenty of salt in that anyway.

After about 11 years of bicycling in the snow and about 25 years of motorcycling in the snow, I may have tried all the headgear on the planet, plus a few of my own inventions. Again Machka has it right :rolleyes: , the neck gaiter.
I wear balaclavas, the number depends on the temperature. Then the neck gaiter goes over that. The neck gaiter can be pulled down under your chin to drink. It can be pulled up under your glasses or goggles to prevent frostbite or for a fast down hill. And anywhere in between. I usually leave my nose uncovered until the teens. With practice one can pull the gaiter up or down while on the roll, wearing mittens. No drink problems.

Again...Machka beat me to it. .. :rolleyes: ..
For a five mile ride drinking in not critical. Even if you go hard and sweat a lot you can drink before and after your ride and be fine. One less thing to carry. But if you decide to go longer, bring a drink. You probably saw the insulated stainless bottles in the other thread.


How far north do I have to bring two bikes to donate to Katrina victims?

[Walkafire]

hard as heck to make pit stops in the Winter!

Lots of layers!

[2manybikes]

hard as heck to make pit stops in the Winter!

Lots of layers!


Pedal hard, :) sweat more !!!

[CBBaron]

My winter riding is usually limited to commuting and errands. I've havn't bothered with carrying liquids or food on my commute for some time. At 8.5 miles and 35-45 min I can keep reasonably hydrated by downing a glass before leaving and another up on arrival.
Now if I was going to do some longer rides that would be a different story. I would probably just drink water and maybe suplement with gatoraid, same as I do in summer.
Craig

[JohnBrooking]

Personally, I hardly sweat in the winter, and if I do, I conclude that I overdressed. Again, only 5 miles, and I don't push myself too hard. And since this isn't the Commuting forum, I should probably have mentioned that I'm only talking about commuting, which is all the cycling I do. But thanks for enlightening me on my erroneous assumption; I shall keep it in mind.


How far north do I have to bring two bikes to donate to Katrina victims?
Our main collection point was in Saco, and if we do it again, it will likely be either that area or Portland, certainly nothing more north than that. But I think I recall hearing that Boston's Bikes Not Bombs group was or might be sending them south, too. I can't find the email I saw about this, but you probably have contacts or can find something on the Internet about it. We haven't determined yet if we will be accepting more bike donations, or just trying to send the extras we already have and calling it done. Right now we are concentrating on getting money to send at least what we have. But thank you for your interest, and I will be updating the website to reflect our next steps, when we figure them out.

[CastIron]

Bourbon. My hydration system never freezes!

[geeklpc1985]

I *gasp* slow down and take it easy, only doing about 10mph on avg. My commute is only 6-7miles one way. If I do a fun ride, I buy something on the road. In the winter I cut back on my miles. I keep things from freezing I have Ortliebs. Keep things hot or cold, I have good luck so far.
Super Geek