How to cycle and drink at the same time ?

[moogal]

heh heh .. one of the basic skills that I have yet to accomplished. I find it extremely hard to take out and put my bottle in especially using a compact road frame. Ended up using a hydration pack during races.

I've tried using my stronger right hand to steer and my left hand to grab the bottle but my left hand is a little slow and clumsy sometimes :o

Any hints on this ? Thanks.

[Trek420]

Takes practice and you're probably doing all this already....I start by putting the "non water bottle" hand in the middle of the bar, better balance that way. Then somewhere you can see well ahead that there's nothing happening ahead and drop the other hand and just take the bottle out, put it back, repeat etc.

Once you've got that...drink up! :D

You'll prefer one hand or the other but it's good to practice with both. I steer left, drink right and I'm right handed but my left side is stronger...anyone else notice which you use?

On longer rides I still put the water in the camelback and electolyte of choice in the bottles.

You know who's really good at this? Bikerz. B any tips? Actually anyone but me. Once on a ride I was drinking, saw a pothole and kinda flipped out and threw the bottle into the path of the rider behind me. :eek: She was ok and kinda amused.

[RoadRaven]

Now, my connection is really slack and keeps dropping me this summer... perhaps someone else could be kind enough to find and provide a link to the really great thread we had going on this - I think near the end of 2005?

[Veronica]

That search engine is a fabulous tool. :D

V.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=4152&highlight=drink

[Eden]

Practice, practice, practice - any some shorter water bottles may help.
My frame is very small, with compact geometry and I've found the only bottles that fit it comfortably are the small size Tacx bottles. They hold just as much as a regular small bottle, but they are a hair shorter and fatter so they fit under the top tube without hitting my rear brake cable - makes them easier to pull out of the cages without hitting the frame too. The only drawback is that they don't have any indentation at the top so they can be a bit harder to hold onto with long finger gloves on.

[cindysue]

Once on a ride I was drinking, saw a pothole and kinda flipped out and threw the bottle into the path of the rider behind me. :eek: She was ok and kinda amused.

hahaha, sounds like something I would do.

I can ride and drink but I don't like it. I feel insecure every time!

[bcipam]

Why don't use a hydration pack all the time? I do. Easy to use and I feel allows me to drink more water. I hate reaching down and grabbing for a bottle and even worse, having to put it back. Also, if using a nutrition drink, the stuff gets all over. Yuck.

[Dianyla]

You'll have a lot better control of the bike if you move the handle-bar holding hand towards the center stem as you're using the other hand to reach for the bottle. If you keep holding the handlebar on the end it takes a lot more muscle control to not wobble.

And yeah, hydration packs are much nicer anyway. Easier drinking, more capacity. :)

[Geonz]

AFter y'ars and y'ars and many thousands of miles... I never got happy getting those drinks. Went to a CamelBak and life is much, much easier. I will put the Gatorade in a bottle... but don't quaff from it much in close company or traffic. (I don't put anything but water in the CamelBak 'cause I don't clean it enough... I've already got a reputation for drinking from bottles with strange growths in them...)

We've had at least one major crash in the club from somebody dropping a bottle in a paceline, and one near miss when I was riding (fortunately nobody braked in our group).