Hezz

I thought it might be interesting to see what kind of hydration people are using in winter rides.

I just mixed up some lemon-lime gadorade with hot water in a vacuum flask and it makes a reasonably good hot wassle.

mike

Well, one thing is for sure, hot chocolate is not a good choice. Whatever you drink ends up spilling on you and hot chocolate stains bad.

RoadToNowhere

You read my mind, Hezz - I was about to post about this.

I hate drinking really cold drinks, especially in cold-weather riding. And I find that when I'm out on a day like yesterday (35 F with winds 15-20, 35 miles), I tend to not drink as often or as much as I should. As I was fighting the fight in the wind out there, I was thinking. . . if I had some hot (or even lukewarm) coffee in one of my bottle cages, I'd have no problem getting that down. We don't stop on rides of that length, and we're riding out in the country, not near convenience stores.

Anyone drinking coffee during their ride? What bottle do you have to keep it warm that also fits in the cage?

Beth

Portis

I don't mind cold drinks. My water is usually pretty well frozen by the time i get home. This ice water is usually pretty refreshing when I am all heated up and steaming. This morning i had to pound on my frozen lid and unscrew the top. My spout usually is frozen minutes into the ride, but i can still get liquid out by removing the top.

Winter or summer, cold water fits the bill for me.

IronMac

I was thinking of doing a long ride next weekend and bringing along my Whisperlite Internationale stove along with some milk and chocolate powder...

tsl

That even beats bringing along a St. Bernard with the traditional keg of brandy. No trailer required!

KLW2

Down to about 10 deg F, for rides of about 2 hours, I just do hot water in a Polar insulated water bottle, stays drinklable for the whole ride although cold after an hour...

ViperZ

I have done this one many a short winter hikes. I Pack along the MSR-XGK, some pots, coffe or Hot chocolate. Even Liptons Chicken noodle Soup

For bike riding I would just carry it in the Thermos, unless I just wanted to play with my stuff

2manybikes

I won't say it.

willtsmith_nwi

Use the gatorade of your preference. The sugar lowers the freezing point of the mixture. I usually put it in the microwave and get it warm before leaving the house. When out on the trail, blow the drink back down the straw into the pack after each drink. Use an insulated hose.

ViperZ

OK, Only because you asked so nicely, just for you.....



Firing up the XGK


She's ready to rock n roll


Notice it's not Yellow snow


Almost there (Windscreen not used for clarity )


Boiled for 3 minutes


Let's go!


Stir and enjoy

2manybikes

Good stuff. Excellent photos. Thanks.

How long to boiling?

You finally found something that I don't have....

IronMac

Excellent series of photos! I'm going to seriously consider doing the hot chocolate route and stove.

ViperZ

Thanks The spec on the stove is 2.8 minutes to boiling 1 liter of water in a 2 liter pot, burning Kerosene. 3.6 minutes with White Gas. Not sure what temp the water is at, but it's still PDQ! The Stove will burn pretty much any type of fuel imaginable, white gas, low-grade kerosene, auto fuel, Leaded, Unleaded, Stoddard solvent, aviation (AV) gas, diesel #1, naphtha.... Wax if you could get it to flow .

I didn't time this but I would say it took about 3-4 minutes for the amount of snow I had to melt to boil.



Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed them, I sure had fun doing it

CastIron

Polar bottle and lightly sweetened black tea. It starts hot, is warm by the time I'm sipping it, and cold by the time I'm done. Tastes great the whole time.

MarkS

I wrote the people at Polar a few weeks ago. They say their bottles are not to be used for hot liquids.

My rides are not as cold as you guys, but I guess I'm prematurely geriatric. Nissan makes some really lightweight thermoses that use real vacuums (a lot of thermoses now use a half-vacuum with heavier insulation). I carry along a thermos of coffee or sometimes hot water (for tea). The thermos travels in my bag. If nothing else, it keeps me from stopping at Mac's or Star's for a pricey drink.

Thermos also make a really nifty but expensive small thermos with a pop-lid that you can drink right out of the top without burning and that supposedly fits in a bike cage. I can look up the model if anyone is interested.

Critterpace

I'm interested. Would you please do that? Thanks.

MarkS

Dang. I appear to have cleared out my Amazon favorites. I think this was the thermos:
https://tinyurl.com/y74kk4
I'm pretty sure I saw it first on Amazon and there were some helpful reader reviews talking about the lip protection -- but right now this model is sold out on Amazon. Hope this helps somehow.

momof4greatkids

This bottle :Nissan Leak-Proof BackPack Bottle , Model JMW-500 is AMAZING! I am a total coffee addict, and I love hot coffee on a cold morning ride. This bottle keeps my coffee hot no matter what the ambient temps or wind chill.

I wrap the bottle in one of my daughter's socks to keep it from rattling in the cage.

It's kind of expensive but I feel like it's worth it to have the luxury of sipping delicious hot coffee or cocoa on a chilly ride. It's one-hand operation makes it easy to drink while you are riding, without stopping.

I got mine from www.sweetmarias.com .....they are out of stock, but I googled and Cabela's has 'em.

Colleen


"Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying, when you know you can lose."

Marylandnewbie

I use a 12oz Thermos brand vacuum bottle that I picked up at Target for less than $15. It has a top that snaps down and can be opened with gloves on while riding. It has a flexible straw that reaches to the bottom of the bottle, so you don't have to worry about spills. I find it will keep my coffee warm for 2 hours give or take a little bit depending on the outside temp. And it fits in a bottle cage, although a little bit of duct tape around it keeps it from rattling around. I'm guessing a cozy like they make for beer bottles would make even a better fit and probably extend the time it keeps things warm.

CastIron

Care to expand on this?

2manybikes

Any bottle that has a sports type drink spout (like a bike bottle) especially one that is well sealed is not good for hot drinks. When you close the bottle with very hot liquid, the air gets hot and expands. You build up pressure in the bottle. When you ride you slosh liquid up onto the inside of the spout and make foam too. If you aim the bottle at your face and open the spout you get a good blast of hot liquid in the face.

The straw bottle is even worse !! If it is a well sealed bottle, you build up pressure on top of the liquid as the air heats and expands. Then if you open the top, since the straw is at the bottom of the bottle the air pushes down on the liquid and you get a long shot of hot liquid out until the pressure goes down. You essentially made a "Super Soaker" (the compressed air squirt guns). I have done both, it really works.

If the bottles have a lot of air leaks it's OK, and they won't squirt you, but then the drink leaks all over your bike and turns to ice as you ride.

The Thermos Nissan hot drink bottles mentioned open two holes at once when you openthe top. No blast of hot liquid. BTW they can be used with one hand on the roll, they open with the push of a button. And of course work with cold drinks too.

ViperZ

^^^ Hey I just happen to have one of those. I bought it a while back for I thought the mechanism was cool, however I have never used it. It's doesn't fit to well in a cage, however wrapped with a thin liner it may fit perfect

I'll have to try it out






Here is a small sampling of my Nissan SS collection I really like those Thermos Bottles/Tea makers on the left.

Hezz

ViperZ,

In your last post you said:

"It's doesn't fit to well in a cage, however wrapped with a thin liner it may fit perfect".

Am I to understand that this thermos is actually a little too small to fit in a bottle cage. If so, I would like to get one of those because I have had trouble finding anything that would fit into a cage. It would be pretty easy to get or make a little liner and it would fit snug.

WHat about a neoprene pop can insulator. That would keep it warm even longer.

2manybikes

I use mine in a cage. I found 2 kinds of cheap bike bottles with a neoprene cover and put them on the Nissan bottles. Also some cheap mart stores have neoprene bottle holders to go on a belt, etc. The vacuum insulation in the Backpacker Bottle is a little thinner and does not hold the heat quite as much as the tea bottles, but it's better than the car mug.
I like the Backpack bottle better than the tea mug because the attached top and the push button lets you drink one handed.

Are you positive you are not missing a twin brother ? (see photo) All of these can be made to work in a cage.