LGHT

I went on a longer to me ride yesterday of almost 40 miles and I just seemed to really feel thirsty a lot. I refilled my bottle 3 times and just never really felt hydrated during the ride. Plus I only went to the restroom once during the entire ride although I was drinking a lot.

While watching football today the announcer quoted DeMarco Murry saying he would drink 40 bottles of water (400 ounces) in 24 hours the day before the game. They said he would put on about 10 lbs of water weight. I thought wow that's a lot of water, but seeing how hard those guys run and play I figured it was needed.

Do you ever really load up on a lot of water before a ride long or not? I may try and drink a lot more water before the next ride just to see if it helps and how I feel.

Machka 

If you do decide to go crazy with the water ... be sure to take electrolytes with it! Otherwise you risk hyponatremia.

Just aim to drink approx. 8 glasses of water a day. That's not set in stone or anything, but it is a decent starting place. And then aim to consume approx. one 750 ml bottle of water and/or sports drink every 1 to 1.5 hours while you ride ... maybe slightly more if the day is particularly hot and windy. But if you do drink more, be sure to consume those electrolytes.

Carbonfiberboy 

Peeing once on a 40 mile ride is normal. Even on a 60 I usually only pee once. About every 3 hours is good. It's not a good idea to hyperhydrate the day before a ride. If you want to drink a little extra, drink one bottle of sports drink. In the same vein, don't take extra salt before a hot ride. If anything, taper your salt down.

gregf83 

Adding 10 lbs before a ride is a bad idea. I don't know how you could even manage that unless you also consumed a lot of salt. Normally, water would just run through and you wouldn't retain it the next day.

milkbaby

Many people may be continuously underhydrated. Make sure you are hydrated everyday instead of simply trying to drink a lot the day before a longer ride.

Your kidneys want to get rid of excess water. Also extreme amounts of water intake can lead to water intoxication, also known as hyponatremia as mentioned by Machka. If you want to hyperhydrate, maybe try the strategy outlined in this article: Inside Triathlon Archives: Redefining Hydration <-- basically make a quart (or liter if you're metric) solution of half water, half Gatorade, and an added teaspoon of salt and drink that the night before and in the morning before your ride.

hueyhoolihan

before a 40 mile ride i eat and drink normally and don't eat or drink anything before starting out the next morning. during the ride i'll have maybe 8-12oz of water/coffee and 1/2 a pbj. on a hot day with a lot of climbing i'll be drinking at least three or four times that.

BTW, i'm at about 150lbs.

LGHT

I personally had no intention on even attempting to add 10 lbs of water before a ride. I just never heard of anything like that and was wondering why anyone would do that and the science behind it.

LGHT

Ok thanks for the tips. I never ridden that far before and wasn't sure if I was "doing it wrong" ya know.

gregf83 

I've never heard of it either and I'm fairly certain there is no science behind it. It wouldn't be useful to cyclists in a race. There have been quite a few studies on how performance changes with hydration levels. Cyclists and runners can lose a significant amount of weight (up to 3-4%?) before performance is impacted.

njlonghorn

When it comes to hydration, what works for someone else might not work for you. Each rider's body is different. You have to figure out how much water is enough for your body, not for someone else's body. For me, 1 bottle every 1 to 1.5 hours is a sure-fire prescription for heatstroke, even on a cool day. Been there, done that -- and it isn't pleasant. On long rides, I drink at least 2 bottles per hour, 3 if it is hot.

As several posters have mentioned, you should pay attention not only to water intake, but also electrolytes. The more water you drink, the more electrolytes you need.