Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - How much water do you carry with you?

On your long distance trek, how much water do you carry with you? How many bottles is that?

What distance travelled would this be for?

I have a 1 litre bottle and a 750 ml bottle. On the premise that one 750 ml bottle is good for 1 to 1.5 hours of cycling ... those will usually take me 3 to 3.5 hours up the road before I have to refill.

After being a mountain biker as a young lad, in hot weather I do like the camelbak, 100oz version. Take it with a water bottle filled with perpeteum. It keep it riding low to keep it from hurting my back. That well definitely get me between watering holes in any but the hottest, longest rides.

I always just take two 24 oz Polar (insulated) water bottles. In the heat of summer I can go a good 2-3 hours before running out of fluids, and everywhere I ride I have stops a lot more frequent than that, so two bottles is no problem.

My riding buddy only has one 24 oz polar bottle, and somehow he makes the thing last as long as I go through two bottles.

I've never tried a camelbak but know I would not like a large mass on my back while riding. I prefer to keep the weight off me and low on the bike frame.

A 3 liter Camelback.
Depends on the size of the bottle.
It lasts til its gone and that certainly depends on how much I drink and everyone is different in that respect. It also depends on what kind of riding you are doing not just how far.

On my distance bike or my mtb I can rock a camelbak with no problem, and love it but on my road bike with a real agressive position it is a no-go, makes my back hurt.
I have to be totally honest though, in any function but one where it is physically not so good, camelbaks rock. The military has even done away with canteens now and just issues camelbaks.

A 2L Camelbak and two 24oz Polar bottles. Good for 50 to 60 miles. I also carry some pertetuem premixed in a hammer flask.

Two 24oz bottles last me 30 miles/roughly 2 hours, longer if it's cold and wet. One of them has Perpetuem mixed in. If I know that I've got further to the next watering hole, I've been known to carry a bottle in my jersey pocket or rack-pack. I've avoided camelbacks so far.

3-24oz on the bike, 1-16oz in the jersey, and a thermos of coffee in the trunk.

Depends on the circumstances. I've carried a gallon bottle in my handlebar bag before. Usually, not that much, though. On a 100 mile ride, I'll go through two gallons of fluid, so that pretty much means restocking along the way no matter what.

2 800ml bottles usually, lasts me around 100-140km in cool weather.

I carry 2-24 oz. bottles, that's ususally good for 2-3 hours. On most of the routes I ride know where I can get water to refill my bottles. If I'm on an unknown route that's hot I'll also take my 100 oz. CamelBak.

Two 24oz Polar bottles and when it's hot, I'm good for two hours. I've gone as much as four hours (70 miles) on the same two bottles before.

can someone post pictures of how they manage to get so many water bottles on their bike?

i only have two bottle cages

Two 750ml ounce bottles at a minimum.
I try to budget a bottle for every 15 miles of riding in decent weather. I carry additional bottles in the back of my Jersey if it is greater then 40 miles between rest stops. In really hot weather, or 60+ miles between I pack a Camelback along with the two bottles on my bike.

two 24-oz bottles, and if there are 100km+ stretches without water then I'll bring a third 16-oz bottle along, either latched to the handlebars, in a jersey pocket, or stuffed in a bag.

2 X 600ml bottles. We have some remote routes but I've never run those dry; there's always somewhere to refill. It's important to keep on top of that though.

I usually add Perpetuem or E-Load to one bottle. I have a Camelback but try to avoid using it as I don't like weight on my back.

Under normal conditions, is it not said, a cycist should drink 1 bottle per hour.. On long trips I carry three bottles. Familiar terrain,two cause I know where the drinking fountains are located.

If Its a long enough ride for my pack a gallon /Kenneth/not many places to get it on my usual rides:crash:/

On your long distance trek, how much water do you carry with you? How many bottles is that?

What distance travelled would this be for?

On a century yesterday (<6 hours) I carried two 20 oz bottles and refilled once. That was enough to have some extra for head-cooling toward the end.

On the century before I carried just one 20 oz bottle, but that meant 3 refill stops and didn't work nearly as well. The only thing as bad as running out of water on the road is looking at the 1/4 bottle left and not being sure where the next bottle is going to come from...

can someone post pictures of how they manage to get so many water bottles on their bike?

i only have two bottle cages

I have a rack trunk bag, in which I keep a thermos in a ziploc. The trunk also has a bottle holder built on the back of it. One small bottle in the back of the jersey, and 2 big bottles on the frame--almost a gallon total; some coffee, some tea, some water(approaching home, a six pack of Sam Adams might find it's way in there, too...):beer:

on longer unsupported training rides my camelback with approx two quarts of gatorade, one tweny four ounce bottle of gatorade and one tweny four ounce bottle of water. on all but the very hottest days this should last at least four to four and a half hours-65 to 85 miles. i found that at the end of 100+ mile day i'll go more water and less gatorade.

The thermos with coffee is a fantastic idea. I bet it would be a great pick me up on a long cooler ride. I never even thought about hauling a thermos with me