I started cycling this season, and I noticed something I haven't seen mentioned on these forums yet, and I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

Since I started riding, I find myself being thirsty a lot more, even on days when I'm not riding, even when I'm just sitting at a desk all day. I drink almost exclusively water. I think some days I drink close to a gallon of water. I never used to be this thirsty. Any one experienced this?

Can't tell you, but excessive thirst is an early syntom of diabetes, but it's acommpanied by frequent urination.

The other possibility is that you are not hydrating enough on the days you ride and are still dehydrated the off days.
Al

I'm diabetic and confirm that this is correct. But I had the thrist problem before I started cycling on a regular basis due to the diabetes. Yours didn't start until you started cycling. You might want to mention this to your doctor and see what he/she thinks.

Cheers,

Yep, I go through ridiculous quantities of water, but that has more to do with the climate that I regularly ride in than the mere fact that I ride. Around here 5-10 litres of water/day is about normal for most of the year. I have no trouble clearing 10 on the really hot days.

Having said that, much depends on your climate, too. Here in Queensland summers are hot, humid and six months long -- winters are non-existent. When I've been touring in Victoria and Tasmania, I've noticed that my water intake drops to around 3 litres a day at best. In fact, on the Gordon River Road in Tasmania last year, I would have barely cleared 2 litres of fluids in two days total (it was freezing).

If you're really worried, go and see a doctor about it. However, if you're in a warm climate, drinking copious volumes of water is about normal.

I drink approximately two gallons of water per day in the summer months and about one gallon per day in the colder months. However I also increase my tea intake in the winter months as well.

How frequent is frequent? I get paranoid about things easily lol...

If we are talking about having a piss, then frequent is relative. At the time of my Type 1 diagnosis I was consuming about 8 liters of water a day and urinating every 30-40 mins, even during the night. If there is significant weight loss even though you might consume 4000-6000 cals per day then I'd get straight down for a check. You don't want to f**k around with diabetes. It's a sh1t condition to have.

Ahh right, definently not that bad, no weight loss either. Well no harm in being curious...

if you experienced this just when you started riding.. You might not be hydrating properly, before riding, during your ride, and after.

You can loose as much as 2Liters(depending on the weather, and the type of ride) of water in an hour when riding. But your body can only absorb 1Liter an hour (max). So if I plan to go for a 4 hr ride, I drink 2 Liters of H2O 3~4 Hrs before the ride (not at all once of course ). Drink 2 gulps every 10~15mins (thats about 1Li/hr) when I ride.. After the ride, I drink another 1~2Liters.

1 Liter is about 5~6 glasses of water. So for a 4 hour ride, you would loose as much as 8Liters, about 40~48 glasses in which you have to make up for.

If you drink that much a day. Who wouldn't be alarmed!

I get thirsty on days that I don't ride, also. I think it's just from your body getting used to circulating fluids quicker. Like when your metabolism gets faster from excersising a lot.

Same with eating. On days I don't ride, I'm still starving every couple hours, and eat all day long, but my body's used to using up the calories and circulating all that at a higher rate now.

we are 70% saline, not water. tears? salty. saliva? salty. nasal cavity? salty.

there was a dentist who ran the chicago marathon a few years back, and hyper-loaded with water, almost exclusively in the immediate days before the race and died from the abnormal fluid shift, etc. that resulted. this is the story as reported in the papers>>there could have been other factors involved....

man, 2 gallons of water, plus all the water in found in food, etc. is a lot of filtering....

it is theroticaly possible to drink to much water. there is a condition known as "water intoxication." It is usually associated with long distance events like running and cycling. And it’s not an unusual problem. For example, water intoxication was reported in 18% of marathon runners and in 29% of the finishers in a Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon in studies published recently in the Annals of Internal Medicine and in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise respectively.

What happens is that as the athlete consumes large amounts of water over the course of the event, blood plasma (the liquid part of blood) increases. As this takes place, the salt content of the blood is diluted. At the same time, the athlete is losing salt by sweating. Consequently, the amount of salt available to the body tissues decreases over time to a point where the loss interferes with brain, heart, and muscle function.

The official name for this condition is hyponatremia. The symptoms generally mirror those of dehydration (apathy, confusion, nausea, and fatigue), although some individuals show no symptoms at all. If untreated, hyponatremia can lead to coma and even death.

It is not atypical for me to lose a gallon of water through sweating while on a ride. Given that, you can count on me be thirsty most of the time.

In fact, this reminds me of a road race I did long ago. It was supposed to be 80 miles, but somehow the organizers screwed up measuring the distance and the actual race turned out to be 100 miles. (This was discovered only during the race as computers said we should be near the finish, but we clearly were not.) It was a 90+ degree day and I started out with water bottles everywhere--in my tube cages, secured to my saddle with toe clip straps, jury-rigged to my handlebars, in my jersey pockets, down the back of my jersey, in the back of my shorts, in the legs of my shorts, and any other place a water bottle might fit. Still, that last unexpected 20 miles was hell for everybody.

I recall one guy asking me for a bit of water when he saw I had half a bottle remaining. Being considerate, I handed him the bottle. He gave it back empty! I cursed him the rest of the race. At the finish, he went around me right at the line to take a place from me. I cursed him more! But, there is justice sometimes. The officials did not overlook the fact he crossed the center line during the final sprint and they disqualified him. However, I still remember being more thirsty that day than any other I can recall, even now. I was literally screaming for water as I fell off my bike. Someone gave me a bottle. Just plain ol'water can be very, very tasty.

(Footnote: The rider who drank all my water and was later disqualified lived near me, I discovered. We became great training partners. Turns out he really needed that water. He said he'd been without water for 20 miles already when he asked for mine. I could then imagine how he must have felt after 80 miles in the saddle, the last 20 without water, and 20 still to go. All was forgiven.)

Water is good for you. What color is your urine?

Dark yellow - drink more water
Light yellow - just right
No color - possibly drinking more than you need.

Tom