Flexible, except last May when we were cycling through the Taklamakan desert with no water resupply. We cycled 22 hours on the second day to reach our distance goal (135km). The wind never died for the remainder of the trip and we switch to a night schedule thereafter to avoid the stronger day time wind. Too bad it was too hot to sleep in the tent during the day. Thank god the desert only took five days to cross. We had one water resupply in 600km.
five days, thats pretty daunting, how much water did you have to carry with you per person? Would an estimate of 10l per day per person be over the top? In really hot riding I have tended to need about a bike bottle per hour (ish) so even at 500ml per hour, plus water to make food wouldnt you need at least 6 litres per day minimum? Even if you had 30l thats 30kg, 66lbs of just water, very daunting indeed.