The Hydration Issue
Pssst. It's not just about the Camelbak you carry.
Robbe Smith
August 07, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
In today’s send I’m going to talk about hydration before, during and after the ride. I am also going to give you a rundown of the tools I carry(or used to), and why. After reading this, hopefully you will be able to avoid the “Walk of Shame”. The walk of shame is when you have to walk back to the car because of something that’s avoidable like a flat because you don’t have a tube, or you didn’t bring enough water.
I'll also be sharing
Hydration before, during and after the ride.
Hydration is a key factor in finishing your ride. There is a term in cycling know as the bonk. The bonk can result from many factors, but the main reason is water/nutrition. I will be focusing on hydration today. You may have noticed that I included before when talking about hydration on your ride. You should drink plenty of water before your ride, so you start well hydrated. I will usually have a large glass of water before I leave the house, and I will have a seltzer on the way to the ride.
During the ride I drink water with electrolytes. I prefer the tablets because they are easier. Just pop them in the bottle or bladder before you add water. Tablets are also easy to carry for those really long days in the saddle. You should average 1 liter of water an hour while exercising. When it’s hot out it’s not too hard, but when it’s not you need to think about it more. If I get dehydrated on a ride it’s usually in the fall or spring. Since those days aren’t hot I can forget to drink enough water. My body will let me know it needs water when I am on a ride when my hamstrings start to ball up and get really tight while climbing. After I feel that I know I need to hit the water hard.
After the ride, you want to keep the liquids coming. You will help the muscles recover, and you will avoid cramping. It’s always fun when you bend down to get something, and your hamstring wants to ball up on you.
Bike I’m Eyeing: Aper Kompace
Here’s why….. I am not necessarily eyeing this bike as a bike I want, but it’s a very interesting bike. The frame is made in house with CNC machined aluminum. This isn’t uncommon in prototyping a bike. You can make incremental geometry tweaks without the need for a new carbon mold which can be very expensive. This is the first production bike I have seen built this way. Two halves are made separately, and then glued and bolted together.
Aper Kompace, CNC machined bike
What tools I carry with me when riding.
(I’ve linked to a lot of my favorites and these are affiliate links so I might make a tiny commission if you end up purchasing from Amazon using my link, thank you for supporting my newsletter.)
For me, tools and hydration go hand in hand since I carry most of my tools on my hydration pack. Over the last years I also started carrying a OneUp EDC Lite. It’s been featured as one of my favorite tools. The EDC Lite is a small multi-tool that lives in the steer tube of your fork. It’s not the biggest or best tool out there, but the convenience can’t be beat.
One of the most important things you will need to carry with you is a pump or CO2. I prefer a mini pump to CO2. CO2 is convenient and fast, but more prone to issues that will leave you stranded. A CO2 can fail or run out of air before your tire is aired back up. Pumps for the most part don’t fail or run out of air. Most quality mountain bikes will come set up tubeless or tubeless ready, so you can convert them pretty easily. With tubeless tires you also want to carry bacon strips(not for a snack). Tubeless tire plugs are often called bacon strips because they are small and brown. If you get a puncture that is too large for the tire sealant to plug, you need to put in a bacon strip. If you have ever seen a car tire plugged, it’s the same concept in a smaller form. I also carry a small 2oz bottle of sealant with me. Once the sealant in tires dries up, the tires may not hold air very well anymore. A trailside squirt of sealant can keep you from having to walk back to the car/home. I also carry a small valve core tool which removes the valve core, so I can get the sealant into the tire. . Park makes a great one. The last thing I carry for tires and air is a spare tube. Tubeless is great, but there are times where no amount of sealant or plugs will keep you moving. A larger gash requires a tube. The tube will be useless unless you have tire levers.
A good multi-tool is another important tool to carry. I mentioned earlier that I have an EDC Lite on all of my mountain bikes. For a quick access tool they are great, but they are limited in what they can do. I carry a small ratcheting tool with interchangeable bits. The bits are 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, and 6mm. 95% of the bolts on your bike can be adjusted with one of those hex bits. A T25 torx bit is also helpful. Most disk brake rotor bolts are T25. I like the ratcheting tool because they are quick, and with a lower profile they can get into tight place a multi-tool might not to be able to reach.
I also carry two chain tools. One of them is a Wolf Tooth chain breaker that I highlighted earlier. It does a great job of breaking a quick link. It also has a spot to store spare quick links, and it doubles as a tire lever in a pinch. I also keep a chain tool and a few spare links with me. I realize this is overkill for most riders out there I carry these because one of my preferred bikes is a single speed. The chain length is fixed. If its too long or short it won’t work. If I snap a chain, the chain tool will be key to not walking out.
What I’m reading this week
My favorite tires
The recommendations below include affiliate links, if you make a purchase I’ll receive a very small commission.
This tire has great traction and it rolls fast. Good as a front or back tire.  | This tire has insane traction. I love it as a front tire.  | Great back tire. Good traction, solid lugs for cornering, and stopping.  |
