In race hydration - weight and watts

[la85]

Hey all,

Keen on everyone’s take on this one. Weight penalty for carrying fluid vs time penalty for refills at aid stations.

Over a four and a half hour gravel race I can carry two bottles on my bike but need four.... not going to risk a bottle drop so would have to stop at an aid station and refill at approx 2hr mark.

What is the weight penalty for carrying 1.2kg of extra water in a camelback?

Basically weighing up whether to stop and re fill the bottles - maybe a 90 - 120 second time penalty?

Or carry a camelback and carry the extra weight for essentially half of the 110km race - 2hrs of carrying 1.2kg.

Let me have it!

Cheers

[Tifosiphil]

What's your course profile like?

On a flatter course I would take the extra weight all day long but remember a Camelbak will probably cause some extra heat and sweat. Maybe go for a bladder down the front if your wearing a skin/speedsuit?

It also depends how well a rest does your legs. Personally 30 seconds off the bike would probably do me good after 2-3 hours but I know people who would stiffen up in that time if they are pushing hard

[robeambro]

Hey all,

Keen on everyone’s take on this one. Weight penalty for carrying fluid vs time penalty for refills at aid stations.

Over a four and a half hour gravel race I can carry two bottles on my bike but need four.... not going to risk a bottle drop so would have to stop at an aid station and refill at approx 2hr mark.

What is the weight penalty for carrying 1.2kg of extra water in a camelback?

Basically weighing up whether to stop and re fill the bottles - maybe a 90 - 120 second time penalty?

Or carry a camelback and carry the extra weight for essentially half of the 110km race - 2hrs of carrying 1.2kg.

Let me have it!

Cheers

I presume you're coming to this dilemma after having watched Dylan Johnson's vid about Unbound.

Look, you can try and model and theorise all you want about this, but you can't predict race dynamics. If you get to the feed zone(s) in a pack and you get dropped for having to refill, most likely you'd have been better off with a camelback. On the other hand, sometimes you may get to the feed zone by yourself, and refilling allows you to join an incoming pack that was behind.

Personally, if you are so inclined about wanting to make the best choice, then I'd remove the worry altogether - wear a jersey / suit with integrated hydration (or an aero-ish framebag with a bladder in it). Any weight gain will be at least compensated, if not surpassed, by the aerodynamic gains. So no more dilemma.

[eins4eins]

If the course isn't all about climbing, go with the hydration backpack. I did gravel and mtb races with a 1,5 or 2l bladder, depending on the duration, and will continue doing so.
It has some other advantages besides not loosing your position in the pack when stopping. Not needing to take your hands of the bar makes drinking a lot easier and safer, allowing you to fuel more. Also not many cages can securely grab a 800-900ml bottle over rough terrain and loosing one will be detrimental for performance.

It also simplified my fueling strategy a lot. With the nutrition i use, i'm able to put up to 800gr of carbs into the bladder. This is enough for all the races i do, so i don't need to carry anything extra. No fuel to carry in the pockets, no fiddling around with gels or bars.
Bottles on the bike only contain water.

[la85]

If the course isn't all about climbing, go with the hydration backpack. I did gravel and mtb races with a 1,5 or 2l bladder, depending on the duration, and will continue doing so.
It has some other advantages besides not loosing your position in the pack when stopping. Not needing to take your hands of the bar makes drinking a lot easier and safer, allowing you to fuel more. Also not many cages can securely grab a 800-900ml bottle over rough terrain and loosing one will be detrimental for performance.

It also simplified my fueling strategy a lot. With the nutrition i use, i'm able to put up to 800gr of carbs into the bladder. This is enough for all the races i do, so i don't need to carry anything extra. No fuel to carry in the pockets, no fiddling around with gels or bars.
Bottles on the bike only contain water.

Good point!

[Greeners]

Hydration is such a personalmatter. I ride with a chap that sweats a lot, & drinks a heck of a lot more fluid than I do. I get ridiculed for not drinking enough, but my performance never really drops off. The difference in consumption of fluids between us is massive,especially when in hot climates. So I am saying there is no hard rule as to how much you should carry or intake.

[Agent041]

Hydration is such a personalmatter. I ride with a chap that sweats a lot, & drinks a heck of a lot more fluid than I do. I get ridiculed for not drinking enough, but my performance never really drops off. The difference in consumption of fluids between us is massive,especially when in hot climates. So I am saying there is no hard rule as to how much you should carry or intake.

Totally agree. I too am a big sweate. In hot conditions about 2,5-3 L/hour. Have measuared once. You just cannot drink that much. And normally I do about 4 hour ride in that condition, so you know it is a challenge.
On the other side, this "warmth2 gives me great ability to also ride in winter in below zero degrees. But even then I still have a problem that I dring too much, but cannot refuel water on cemetaries as the water is closed due to frozen weather.

[Kurt1980]

Bumping this. Has anyone raced with an inframe hydration pack? I see that camelbak and a few others are doing this.

The thought of getting the weight and heat off my body when racing sounds good, but I'm not sure whether the systems are up for racing:
1. Handling of the bike with weight up high
2. Is it flopping around?
3. Are your knees going to rub on the pack?
4. Aero gains are great, but is this UCI legal? Specific race for me is master's gravel worlds in Belgium this year - if anyone else is doing this or has experience with this sort of racing.

Cheers all,
Kurt