Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Best Way to Carry Max Water

I'm just getting back into cycling and have my eye on a 95 mile ride the last 75 miles without an opportunity to fill water bottles. I realize 95 miles is nothing for those who frequent this forum, but seems like a good place to inquire as to how best to carry additional water. I've got space for two 24 oz. water bottles and a rear carrier which would hold a few bottles plus repair stuff plus "fuel". Would a camelback be reasonable? I'm going to try to do this in the late spring before it gets too hot in the back country. I imagine this will be a 7 hour ride for me and I won't have had a chance to calibrate my liquid needs since I've only taken up riding again recently.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

BTW, I'm riding from Hollister, CA to Coalinga. I'll meet my Wife over there, we'll get a good dinner and stay over. I'm certainly not going to ride back. The back country between San Benito County and the Central Valley is beautiful in a California inland sort of way. Can be hot in the summer though. I've got some hope that through a cycle club I've just joined I'll find someone willing to go along.

A 2.5 litre camelback and two bottles should easily get you through a 95 mile ride. Consider using the bottles for "liquid food," such as Gatorade or Hammer drinks.

That is hard to guage....What month? Do you sweat a lot?

A camelbak will do it but can be uncomfortable. You can get a dual bottle holder for behind the seat. 4 should be enough if you have a good drink at the 20 mile mark.

Nice route! I did a loop around there in May a few years ago, the wildflowers were outrageous.

If things are going badly, you can get drinking water and snacks at Pinnacles National Monument, but it will cost you a couple of miles.

If by "rear carrier" you mean rack, you can strap a water bladder on or put a couple of bottles in a pannier (if you are taking one anyway) - more comfortable to carry the weight on your bike than your body.

I have learned that people's fluid intake varies greatly; don't judge by what someone else needs.

Last long ride I did, I had a gallon Gatorade jug in a handlebar bag (but went through more than that).

I drink six to seven bottles on 100 miles rides.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I don't sweat a great deal and I'll try to calibrate my water consumption over the next 3-4 months. I'm newly returned to cycling, have never tried a camelback and believe they would be pretty uncomfortable so I'll look for additional water bottle carriers and consider a pannier. Valygrl, thanks for the suggestion on the Pinnacles, but this particular route is on the old road and considerably north of there. So far in my return to cycling longest ride has been 55 miles and one solo ride of 40 miles with 2000 ft. of climbing. Planned route if 95-100 miles with almost 6000 ft. of climbing. I'm looking forward to the challenge, but need to be sensible about building a base - 1300 miles so far. I've got a 100K in April and I probably should do a supported century before this back country try. Good news is that the climbing is all in the first half of the ride (see below)

i first started out using camel backs since i mostly rode mountain at the time. its not that bad if your used to it. its quite convenient with one on but its tougher to stay cooler. once i got used to riding without one on for long rides i never wanted to use one for the road ever again. but without a rack on the back i would use it for a self supported LD ride. my new bike has a rack, so now i can once again leave my camel back home just for the mountain bike.

A 2.5 litre camelback and two bottles should easily get you through a 95 mile ride. Consider using the bottles for "liquid food," such as Gatorade or Hammer drinks.

+1 on the camelback.

A handlebar bag with 2 large bottles as an extra precaution.


A camelbak will do it but can be uncomfortable. You can get a dual bottle holder for behind the seat. 4 should be enough if you have a good drink at the 20 mile mark.

That too.

Minoura's PET Cage lets you carry 1.5 L bottles instead of 750 mL bidons, doubling your on-bike water capacity.
http://www.pedalkraft.de/_borders/Versand/flaschenhalter.jpg

I did a hot solo century in the middle of no where and was concerned about water.

I measured the maximum height of bottles that would fit in my frame cages then went to the grocery store and looked at all the water, juice, sports drink bottles, etc. I was able to find one that was a lot longer than a bike bottle that had the right diameter to fit in a cage. It was a long time ago but I recall each bottle holding about 50 oz. Between 2 of those and a 72 oz Camelbak I was fine.

I've also used the double bike bottle racks that hook to the seat rails when I didn't want a Camelbak due to the heat. It worked well also along with the 2 oversize bottles on the frame. I wouldn't put the oversized bottles in the seat rack as I think they might bounce out.

I vote for pannier / rack bag with a bladder or 2 in it. Refill your regular bottles when you stop for a break / food.
Depending how hot it is, most of the water I use, goes in my helmet vents.

For this trip, A CamelBak (at least 2L, maybe even 3L) is a good choice. The real advantage of the CamelBak, besides the capacity, is that it will keep liquid cold much longer than regular or insulated bottles.

However, since you say you are planning to meet your wife at the other end, perhaps you could arrange for her to meet you halfway along the long leg with supplies. Or, if she will be ahead of you, perhaps she could cache some water at a predetermined place that you could retrieve.

I personally don't like using backpacks, even mountain biking (but I do). Minoura makes a nice rack to carry two cages attached to your saddle. Also consider the 30 oz SmartWater water bottles. Not a huge difference but you can get a few more ounces out of them.

If you wouldn't mind wearing a camelbak I'd say go that route. But will there be opportunity to use the camelbak again, like perhaps you will ride this route again sometime, or on other long rides? If this is a one-time thing, then I'd skip the camelback and just buy/bring extra bottles from the grocery store, maybe two or three disposable 20-oz plastic bottles to put in your jersey pockets or otherwise stash on your bike.

Also, I find if I hydrate good the week before the ride (wastewater is clear; gotta get up at least once in the night to use the restroom) and then drink a 16 oz bottle of water before I start a ride, I can go with a lot less water on the ride. As has been said, in your case, at the 20 mile point consume lots of water and the last 75 miles should be pretty good.

Lastly, if it were me, I'd add 5 miles to the start of the ride, so that I did 25 miles before my planned stop so that I could say I rode a century instead of being 5 miles shy of it.

Boy, if I incorporate all the good ideas I can carry about 10 gallons of water. Seriously, great input and I'm sure I won't have any hydration problems. Ride actually tapes out at 104 miles so I'm good to go as far as a legit century.

Just a FYI, you can get "Y" adaptors for Camelbacks, where you can connect 2 bladders inside the bag. I looked at these for my little trip to the Middle East, but ended up not needing one.

I'll be getting one of the behind-the-seat holders, as two large bottles won't do me on a moderate ride when it is warm. I just plain SWEAT!