Dehydrated from commuting
 

I have been doing longer bike rides (just for fun) of about 2 to 3 hours and I realized that I was cramping up about an hour into the ride. It was the damndest thing cause I thought I was doing so well with biking. It turns out that I had just been sweating more from biking around town and not keeping a water bottle with me to stay hydrated.

I started drinking and now I'm feeling a lot better and an added bonus I'm loosing weight again. Anyone else had a problem with getting dehydrated just from the commute? I live 2 miles from campus in the mountains so it doesn't seem like it would be as bad as I let it get (although I also bike to get groceries and to see friends or whatever).

We all should drink about one 750 ml bottle of water (and/or sports drinks) every 1 to 1.5 hours while riding.

However dehydration can happen even in really short commutes like that becuase of other factors. If you wake up in the morning and dash out the door without anything to drink ... or if you drink a lot of coffee and not much else while at work ... you're risking dehydration.

Depends on how hard you push, the temperature, and what you've had to eat a few hours before.
I can go through 2 liters of water in an hour if i'm pushing all out in 100 degree temperatures.
Or I once went 2 hours with no water in the winter.

Be careful when it's colder out. We can lose more from breathing in the cold temps than from sweating in the warmer temps.

I feel better when I drink, too.

'life' is waters consipracy to get on a bike

Maybe you just need to drink more water in general? I try to aim for at least 100 oz a day, and on a good day, I can get about 140 oz of water in me. That's just water, not counting my gatorade, orange juice and milk.

Koffee

I tend to take down about a 24oz water bottle a day on my commute.

Given my fluid intake leaves lots to be desired, so I really feel it when riding.

My commute's only 9-12 miles, one way, depending on which way I go. I never drink on the road, not because I have anything against it, but because I just don't carry anything to drink. In the mornings before I leave I'll drink hot, black coffee. On the way to work I usually stop for a Camel Non-Filter and pee break before I hit the last big hill. At work I drink room temp., black coffee most of the morning, a Coke with lunch, 1-2 quarts of water in the afternoon, diet soda after I get home, sometimes water, depends on what my body is telling me. Once in a great while I'll stop for a small, iced, black coffee on the way home. But that's just me and is probably not the best example to follow. I have been considering a handle bar mounted coffee cup holder. :D

I gave up coffee a while ago (except for the occasional cappuccino when I'm really dragging). I've had a water bottle taped to my hand the past few days and I'm sucking them down like crazy. I'm glad I caught this before it gets too warm out. Thanks for the ideas all.

Dehydration is not good. More than just a cramp or headache, you also lose water in your joints which over time can give you problems in your joints, like knee problems.

I keep a water bottle for emergencies on my commute, but usually I just down a big glass of water before I leave and after I arrive because my trip isn't far.

If you do a huge amount of exercise--and I have experienced this on long backpacking or hiking trips--sometimes you can get hyponatremia which is when you lose too much salt. You can tell you have it when no matter how much you drink you can't quench your thirst, especially if you have been consuming gatorade, cliff bars, and basically only sweet things all day. Salty snacks help when this happens.

Yeah, when I did a bike tour through the south in late july early august I lost too much salt. It was a terrible feeling cause we made camp and I couldn't stop from being queezy until I ate some ramen noodles (lots of salt). I cook a lot so when I can tell I'm low on salt I've got potassium salt (called "no salt") and sodium salt that I can throw in.

Oh, and with hydrating myself I went from going 13mph average over and 1:45 to going 16.1mph average over 2 hours. The trick to staying hydrated really is just drinking a lot off the bike.

Here's another idea. Take the tape off your hand and waterbottle. Buy a waterbottle cage, and attach it to your bike with wire ties, hose clamps, or something similar. Then insert the bottle in it for your ride.