Any advice on the best method for hydration for medium length XC races (20-40 miles)?

well im not sure if your refering to actual liquid type or method of transporting said liquid so ill try and answer both...

At our club races there is a mix of people carrying bottles and others running backpacks. perosnly i prefer a backpack as its a hell of a lot less fidly than having to get bottles on and off cages esp when riding over rough ground. the pack, while a bit heavier is jsut much easier to use.

As for liquid type, i jsut use water as i dont like using gatorade in my backpack, but i have seen people carrying just water, gatorade, or even a mix of the 2. i think here you need to see what works best for you.

Hi, I prefer to use bottles but this only works if there are laps in the 6 to 10 km range with a feed zone, otherwise a camelback is the best option. As far as what to hydrate with, water is king.

'Rasher

remember to drink a lot all the time off the bike, because your not going to be able to stay hydrated on the bike if your arent even properly hydrated when you get on to the bike! I have been using a camelbak hydration system for a long time, its great but now that the bladder got all dirty i went back to a bottle and think i will cary on with it because the slight inconvinece is worth the weight off my back. Although im sure after the summer when it gets muddy again ill use the camelbak bladder again (i still use the bag, they are great)

I dont drink much water when im racing so im not using a bag again 2 waterbottles would be fine.

20-40 miles for me, would be 3 liters with electrolights and some carbs. That is considering that I'm fully hydrated at the start.