Road Cycling - I don't drink water when I ride

And I don't need to. For some reason, I basically don't get very thirsty on rides. I take one watter bottle and it can last me for 2 hours (I only drink half of it in that time). It's a normal sized bottle. Is this a problem, or what? I feel like if i drink too much water i get that sensation that my lungs are filling up with water and it makes me feel naucious. What should I do?

Are you overweight? Obese people claim to not need to hydrate, but people losing water through sweat need water or other liquids.
Need.

It's not a problem for shorter rides (from other threads, it sounds like you're mostly riding under 40 miles/2 hours?). I often don't drink a lot during the first hour, particularly if I started out on the ride pretty well hydrated. By the second hour, I start forcing myself to drink a bit even if I'm not feeling thirsty, but if it's only a 2 hour ride I'll often end it having only used one bottle. I do make sure I drink after I get off the bike, though.

By the third and fourth hour, if you haven't been hydrating properly you'll start running into some pretty big physical trouble! By the time you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated...

thirst is not an accurate measure of a body's water requirement.
at least 4 oz. for every 15 minutes of exercise is a good schedule to adhere to
Need.
yes
as in need to replace water lost through sweat and maintain blood volume
(I cite sources from personal trainer certification manual)

Sounds like I am ok then. I am not overweight either so that's not a problem. Thanks for the input.

Sounds like I am ok then. I am not overweight either so that's not a problem. Thanks for the input.

We have a guy in our group that says he doesn't need water and was bragging about only drinking a half bottle about 5 weeks ago. About 10 miles later he totally locked up and had to be lifted off his bike and hauled off in an ambulance. You know the saying hydrate or DIE.

Philli...

And I don't need to. For some reason, I basically don't get very thirsty on rides. I take one watter bottle and it can last me for 2 hours (I only drink half of it in that time). It's a normal sized bottle. Is this a problem, or what? I feel like if i drink too much water i get that sensation that my lungs are filling up with water and it makes me feel naucious. What should I do?

You might want to look into that. Instead of sweating, fluids may be leaching from your blood into body cavities and pushing on your lungs, hence you fealing like you can't breath. After you ride, do your ankles or wrists look like they are swollen at all?

Personally I would force myself to drink around 1 bottle per hour maybe every 1.5 hours even if I felt I didn't need it.

Something I read years ago has stuck with me, "If you don't need to pee, you're not drinking enough".

I probably drink more fluids than any one else in my bike club, and I need to make a rest stop every 50 miles or so. But not once have I had any signs of dehydration, unlike some of the riders.

if you can't force yourself to drink during the ride, at least make sure your drinking enough water before.

I find that if it's cold (less than 50 degrees) I drink a lot less; maybe 2/3 of a bottle for a 30 mile ride. And exertion matters too - if I'm riding with a slower group, I drink less. I guess it's all tied to how much you're sweating.

After 1 hour of moderate riding just water does not hydrate you, the body will not digest water effective enough for hydration. and not only that water does not have the electrolytes need for hydration. use a sports drink like accelarade, if you use gatoraid dilute it so the body proccess it efficient.

Accelerade. Whether you feel like it or not, you know it's right :D

After 1 hour of moderate riding just water does not hydrate you, the body will not digest water effective enough for hydration. and not only that water does not have the electrolytes need for hydration. use a sports drink like accelarade, if you use gatoraid dilute it so the body proccess it efficient.

I'm not a nutritionist but I don't believe electrolytes have anything to do with hydration. They are two separate issues. Water will hydrate a persons body fine, has been for centuries. Electrolytes will give a person added benefits but they are not related to hydration.

From How Stuff Works :
For example, when you exercise heavily, you lose electrolytes in your sweat, particularly sodium and potassium. These electrolytes must be replaced to keep the electrolyte concentrations of your body fluids constant. So, many sports drinks have sodium chloride or potassium chloride added to them. They also have sugar and flavorings to provide your body with extra energy and to make the drink taste better.

CHEERS.

Mark

You must be in pretty good shape or something. I once rode with an ex-pro rider from Italy. He was visiting out here in L.A. and he brought his bike. So he ask me if I would take him on a bike ride that I knew of. So I did, we rode a 50 mile ride round trip from my house to the ocean. He never drank water once, he didn't even have a water bottle. I downed three lg. water bottles through out the ride. At the time I was riding quite a bit so I thought, about 150 miles a week. I died trying to keep some kind of a pace with him, but he was just taking it easy so as to not to make me feel too bad. He tolded me that I had a strong heart but a weak motor. During the ride some other riders passed us up and he stomped on it and passed them easily. This guy was quite amazing I have to say. I have to say that it was humbling to ride with someone who rides at another level. It was fun and quite encouraging to say the least.

And I don't need to. For some reason, I basically don't get very thirsty on rides. I take one watter bottle and it can last me for 2 hours (I only drink half of it in that time). It's a normal sized bottle. Is this a problem, or what? I feel like if i drink too much water i get that sensation that my lungs are filling up with water and it makes me feel naucious. What should I do?
ride faster ya tortoise

Something I read years ago has stuck with me, "If you don't need to pee, you're not drinking enough".

To elaborate a bit on this theme: Do a post-ride urine colour check. The more 'yellow' (i.e. 'undiluted') it is, the bigger the chance that you did not drink enough...

Not enough water = Leg cramps
Either during the ride or later that day.
I know. I been there.

The fluids (and minerals) you loose as you ride, eventually need to be replaced. If you aren't suffering from severe leg cramps, dizziness, or nausea during your two hour ride then don't worry about it. Believe me, (and the others posting) your body will send you big signals when you've lost too much nutrients by way of persperation.

Hydration and electrolytes are 2 different issues, but they are COMPLETELY related. My grandmother got severely dehydrated, and went to the ER. They treated her by forcing her to drink water. Within an hour or so, she was beginning to rehydrate, and started urinating. The ER did not give her any electrolytes, and when she started urinating, her electrolyte balance dropped off the charts and she dropped into a coma. It took them 3 days to get her hydration/electrolyte balance back in order.

Drink the sport drink!

. . .I feel like if i drink too much water i get that sensation that my lungs are filling up with water and it makes me feel naucious. What should I do?

Maybe you are trying to drink a whole lot of water all at once when you do drink and it is coming back up you throat (think reflux disease). Try drinking small amounts several times an hour to equal your bottle of water.

You might want to check your posture on the bike: are you folded over at the hips or waist or stomach? If it is at the waist or stomach, this may be adding to your problems because it can force water/food back up your throat.

Thirst is not neccessarily a good indicator of how well hydrated you are. Drink before you are thirsty; ideally you should never get thirsty at all, or at least not ragingly so. I used to tend not drink water also, because I was not thirsty, but now I try to drink a couple of times an hour and still don't get thirst, but I have noticed that I feel much better in the hours immediately after a ride and the next day I feel much better also and I am not as sore afterwards. As a result, I am fully able to enjoy my post ride endorphin buzz, and I enjoy it ALOT!

I hardly ever really feel thirsty on a ride. That isn't the point. Its stupid to not drink water just because you don't feel thirsty. I always drink water consistantly.

Check out this article.

http://www.velonews.com/train/articles/6162.0.html

Buddy B

And I don't need to. For some reason, I basically don't get very thirsty on rides. I take one watter bottle and it can last me for 2 hours (I only drink half of it in that time). It's a normal sized bottle. Is this a problem, or what? I feel like if i drink too much water i get that sensation that my lungs are filling up with water and it makes me feel naucious. What should I do?

One more reason to drink even though you are not thirsty.

Kidney stone.

You don't want to go there. I speak from personal experience: the pain from a kidney stone is much worse than pain from childbirth. I have birthed 3 children and passed one kidney stone and I would rather give birth again without drugs or anesthesia as I did with the kids, than have the pain from a kidney stone again.

But, of course, I didn't do any drugs with the kids, but they gave me a combo of "interesting" painkillers with the stone--when I finally got into the emergency room.

Another interesting tid-bit of info. If you want to be taken into the ER quicker, just attempt to ralph (vomit) in the ER's waiting room, especially while seeing the admitting clerk/triage nurse. Boy, do they hustle to get you out of the waiting room when you do this. It works;they don't want to clean up after both you and the people that see you. This is again from personal experience . . .

One more reason to drink even though you are not thirsty.

Kidney stone.

You don't want to go there.

You're right about kidney stones. I had one and it felt like I was going to die when I passed it.

Do you have a digital scale? If so, weigh yourself before and after your ride...you may be surprised to see how much weight you lose due to dehydration. Even if you're not thirsty, dehydration will impact your performance.

The other thing you don't want to do is do a really heavy work out where you don't drink anything, but sweat a lot (ie. lose a lot of body fluids). Then, you go and pound a lot of fluids. What happens is when you lose a lot of water, but still have body salts in your cells, you get really strong electrochemical gradient in your body (osmosis). Side example, you ever notice when you are in water for a long time, your hands get wrinkly? When one side of a membrane has more salts then the other side, water is drawn towards the side with the salts. Your body tries its best to stay in equilibrium, but when you sweat heavily and don't drink, fluid volume goes down, but salt content stays up (when I say salt, don't think of table salt or just sodium. There are many many different types of salts). So, when you drink a whole bunch of water afterwards, you get this huge influx of water being drawn into the cells and they begin to swell. THis swelling can become uncontrolled and swell too much. There have been instances of people dying from their brains swelling too much (I know it sounds wierd). The other thing electrolytes are used for is to bring nutrients/energy molecules across your cell membranes. Without them, your cells begin to burn out. I can go on and on about this, but bottom line is to keep drinking. Your kidneys will thank you also. I've seen people not drink enough and complain of back aches afterwards that were actually their kidneys hurting due to high acid levels. BLAH BLAH BLAH. Sorry.

It depends how you ride, in what kind of weather, etc. It's easy not to loose too much water if you ride in cool damp weather, especially if you ride at a casual pace. But otherwise, something may be fishy.

Of course, we also all have different needs. The "too full" feeling you have may come because you already are full of fluids (though I doubt it), but it may also be because you are not used to take that much liquid... in liquid form.

Fortunately, there are other ways to get water. Eat vegetables or fruits along the road. I find nothing better than a good tomatoe or cucumber freshly taken off the field. As an added benefit, a cucumber has about 95-98% of water. It's a trick I also put to good use with my daughters.

Regards,

You should drink a couple of bottles of water anyway during the day so dont you think if you do something like cycling it makes sence to drink more? 40 miles and 2 hours is two bottles.

We have a guy in our group that says he doesn't need water and was bragging about only drinking a half bottle about 5 weeks ago. About 10 miles later he totally locked up and had to be lifted off his bike and hauled off in an ambulance. You know the saying hydrate or DIE.

Philli...
I agree. Water is sacred. A 2% dehydration factor reduces your concentration by 10%. This is not good at 30mph on a public road. Many people spend their lives so dehydrated they don't know what it's like to have all their organs functioning properly. You should be drinking at least 2 litres of pure, still water a day, no matter how you feel. Also, many people (myself included) have been programmed to associate alleviating thirst with the sensation you get from carbonated drinks. I' rather have ice-cold fizzy water anyday, but this is in fact a trick of your culture. Finally, half a teaspoon of sugar reduces the efficiency of your liver by 50%. Take hydration seriously. You've got many more years to live and only one body.

Well, from my observations, different people seem to need different amounts of water.

Now I live in hot, humid central Florida. I also sweat profusely. So I can go through a bunch of water. I don't even get on a bike without my camelback and a water bottle as back up. On a hot day at a fast pace, I can chug down a 72 ounce camalback in one hour but that is exceptional. Now other people in the local bike club do fine with just a water bottle or two (or they seem to). A camelback and a couple of large water bottles will usually see me through for 50 miles even on a hot day.

The only electrolyte problems I have is hyponatriumia (lack of sodium) on long hot rides. The various electrolyte replacement drinks hawked on the market really do not have a significant amount of sodium in them. For those rides, I use a simpler method. I just eat table salt as needed. However, electrolyte embalance is like dehydration, if you wait until you notice a problem, you have waited too long. Hyponatriumia seems to be pretty rare and even down here in FL, I don't know of anyone else who has ever had it. However, here in FL people avoid long rides in June, July and August. No one even offers an organized century in those months. I guess the thought of having to tow in stacks of dehydrated cyclists is not appealing.

It is usually a good idea to drink at least one water bottle per hour.

A good guide is what one might call the "pee" test. If you do not urinate, you are not drinking enough. If your urine is deeply colored and smelly, you are not drinking enough. If the urine is nearly clear and odorless, you are drinking enough.

You may well be one of those people who really does not have to drink much. But as someone suggested, it would be a good idea to weigh yourself before and after a ride. If you lose more then a couple of lbs, you are not drinking enough. Also it is a good idea to know the symptoms and treatment of both heat exhaustion and sunstroke. Even if you never suffer from these things, they are pretty common among cyclists (rookies anyway) and being able to spot them is a good thing. The treatment is reasonably simple and sunstroke is potentially life threatening.