"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Drinking during TT

How do y'all do it?

camelbak! everyone glares at me, but i know i'm right.

http://www.kegfun.com/images/beerhelmet.jpg

Aero and thirst quenching.

I saw Ulrich in a TT get onto his bullhorns, grab his bottle, take a drink. Coast, shake the legs out for 2 or 3 seconds, then get back into the aero bars. I don't remember what TT it was, but he won.

I say go for 5 seconds of comfort during your TT. It may buy you some power back, and it's not going to cost that much. I know a lot of people who don't drink in anything under 40K, but I drink when I normally would.

Last year I did the traditional water bottles/cages. I'm no top 5 finisher (just a top 15 CAT 4 on good days in my area) and it works for me but I'm sure I lost several seconds reaching down and grabbing a bottle (and it sucks on a compact TT frame). This year I'm trying the Profile Design Aero bottle since I'm doing tri's and duo's this year. Some folks do the camelback under the skinsuit deal.

How do y'all do it?

I mix the vodka and tonic BEFORE the start. Separate bottles is just too hard...

reach down
grab bottle
open valve
squirt liquid of choice in mouth(damocles makes a good point)
close valve
return to frame

reach down
grab bottle
open valve
squirt liquid of choice in mouth(damocles makes a good point)
close valve
return to frame

I'm going to print that out, laminate it and tape it on my stem. That's perfect!

Glad to help. :D

I run a arundale bottle but I get so caught up in the suffering i never drink

I decided to vote from my incredibly limited experience of one 15K: NO bottle needed. I probably would still leave the bottle off for anything less than 30K. Above that, a friend gave me a tip that camel backs can be very useful. #1) Place under jersey. Enjoy aero benefits of the added hump and #2) run tube right by mouth. Eliminates step #1,2,3,5 and 6 from the above step-by-step.

whiskey makes you strong

if it could dull the pain of amputations for centuries, it can get you through a TT.

Really depends... .am I thirsty? How hot is it?

Really depends... .am I thirsty? How hot is it?

Ok, let me provide a little more guidance. How about the following scenarios:


thirsty
not thirsty
hot
not hot

If you hydrate properly before the race and it isn't hot as hell, anything under 30-35k no bottles are needed. That said, I usually grab one in case I feel like I need it. What's it going to lose me? 1.5 seconds? I don't care that much.

>25k - yes

<25k but >15k - maybe (only if REALLY hot...love to dump the water on myself halfway through)

<15k - HTFU

I've only done TT's less than 20K -- no water needed. So HTFU.