Drink & Ride Simultaneously?

Okay I saw on the achievement thread that someone was able to get their water bottle out of the cage, drink, replace without crashing. I just thought about trying it and wobbled! I have a hybrid and I'm wondering if this task is better suited to road bike geometries. Any tips for how to do this without crashing? I imagine it's important to keep your eyes on the road, so you would be reaching by memory. Would it be easier to reach the bottle on the seat tube or the other tube (not sure what it's called)?
I'd appreciate a blow by blow tutorial from someone who has mastered this. Also what [I]not[I] to do would be helpful.
Thanks.

Nope, you can do it on a hybrid. In fact, I think it would be easier to do on a hybrid because of the fact that it's heavier and less responsive/squirrelly than a road bike. (I could ride no-handed on the bike I had as a kid, but not on my roadie!) I'd imagine it would be easier (for me, anyway) to reach the bottle on the down tube rather than the seat tube, since you're reaching down in front of you, rather than down and under you.

I'm still trying to master this, but for what it's worth: I think it's a mixture of core strength, balance and practice. I think there's a number of threads floating around on the forum about it, so try a search. One of the tips I seem to remember seeing is to break it into individual steps and visualize each step.

Practice practice practice. I do not remember learning, but I suspect I got the hang of it while on my first bike tour when I was 15. That was a long time ago.

Start by just touching the waterbottle while on your bike. Do it by feel until you feel comfortable just with reaching down and learning where the bottle us by feel.I never look at my water bottle; my hands just know where it is.

I carry two water bottles-one on the seat tube and one on the down tube. I can use either one, although I find myself reaching for the one on the down tube more often.

Be patient. And if you drop it (I have), don't panic. Just slow down and go pick it up and try again.

Yes you need to do it pretty much from memory -- you can look down very very quickly if needed, but with practice that usually won't be necessary.

I have one bottle cage on the diagonal tube running from the stem to the crank (the down tube?), so the bottle is slightly in front of (and below) me. That is the bottle I'm actively drinking from. The other cage is on the seat tube (running down from the saddle to the crank). That is the backup bottle. Most of the time I stop in order to switch the back up bottle to the front cage and move the empty to the backup-cage. I can do it while riding but only do it in very safe conditions (no cars, no other riders nearby, flat road).

It's easier to drink while you're coasting or pedaling lightly on flats or small downhills -- times when you're comfortable taking one hand off the handlebar. Be alert to obstacles in front of you. When Mark Warner was governor of Virginia, he was participating in a big ride (I think Bike Virginia) and crashed because he tried to cross a railroad track while he was drinking from a water bottle. (People sent him a bunch of Camelbaks after that. :D)

Wait until you have a nice clear stretch of road, with no intersections, no bumps or debris, no traffic at first. Move your hands toward the center of the bars, near the stem. You'll be more stable there. Take your favored hand off the bar. Then put it back on. Just do that until you get comfortable. You'll also want to be going at a decent pace so you can coast when reaching down. When you finally do it, take just a few little sips.

Oh thanks for the replies. Okay, I will practice in mini steps and will do so in a safe place.

When I had my 1975 Schwinn Le Tour I could literally ride for miles with no hands, as long as the road was flat and relatively straight! I wouldn't dare try that now.

I like my screw-cap bottle, it gives me a good excuse to take a short break on those brutal hills on the way home from work.

I totally hear you Velocivixen. I've got terrible balance and while I can do this with my left hand, I have zero trust in my left hand's ability to control my twitchy road bike steering. I probably need to do some situps :D

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Originally Posted by Velocivixen

Oh thanks for the replies. Okay, I will practice in mini steps and will do so in a safe place.

When I had my 1975 Schwinn Le Tour I could literally ride for miles with no hands, as long as the road was flat and relatively straight! I wouldn't dare try that now.

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Mini-steps and getting the guts to do it is what helped me. I think I held a bottle for a 1/4 mile before I could get it put back. It didn't help that I was laughing because I was embarrassed.

What helped the most was just practicing placing my hand down on the bottle for a moment or two. In the very beginning I could only reach halfway for the bottle. It was a very gradual process.

Glance down to where the bottle needs to be returned to. If you can't find it, reset (sit back up, pedal with the bottle in hand) and try again. Having straight stretches of road/trail to practice on helps a lot.

Baby steps and smile. ;)

You've got good advice. The only thing I would add is on your original question, it IS easier for me to reach the bottle on the down tube. That might just be because I had so much more practice with down tube shifters. When I drain that bottle, I hold it in my teeth and switch the full one from the seat tube to the down tube cage, so I never actually drink out of the bottle on the seat tube.

I can get the bottle out and drink, but tend to miss when putting it back in the cage (though my old cage was smushed in a wreck and required a lot of force to get a bottle in). Haven't tried with my shiny new cages - I have so many lights on my way to work that drinking then gives me something to do while waiting (and waiting and waiting...)

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Originally Posted by Reesha

I totally hear you Velocivixen. I've got terrible balance and while I can do this with my left hand, I have zero trust in my left hand's ability to control my twitchy road bike steering. I probably need to do some situps :D

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Remember to keep you left hand and upper body relaxed while you do this, too. A death grip will make you wobble even more.

@indysteel, yes, I agree that when I hold on too tightly I'm actually less stable. Okay, well I haven't ridden in a couple of days, so I'll have a new skill to practice.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

When I drain that bottle, I hold it in my teeth and switch the full one from the seat tube to the down tube cage, so I never actually drink out of the bottle on the seat tube.

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That's how I do it, too.

I was really hoping this thread was about a bicycle pub crawl.

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Originally Posted by tulip

Start by just touching the waterbottle while on your bike. Do it by feel until you feel comfortable just with reaching down and learning where the bottle us by feel.I never look at my water bottle; my hands just know where it is.

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This was how I learned. I had a Camelbak for years, until the TNT folks gave me this tip. You don't have to grab the bottle and drink and seamlessly put it back on the first try. Or the fifth. Or the 25th.

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Originally Posted by tangentgirl

I was really hoping this thread was about a bicycle pub crawl.

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Now that would be fun! How many miles do you have to ride to bike off a beer?

I love my Camelbak - I have enough problem remembering to drink when it is so easy to use it - I KNOW I would never drink enough with a water bottle.

Lots of good advice already. When I started riding last summer, I picked a straight, quiet stretch of street to learn. Didn't take long to master when I remembered to practice at least once or twice on each ride. (Rides were shorter then!) I'm right-handed and so I keep my right hand on the bars and grab the bottle with my left. Had to keep my hand close to the stem at first but now I have more "range. I don't think I could switch hands to do it but that would probably be a nice skill to have.

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Originally Posted by redrhodie

Move your hands toward the center of the bars, near the stem. You'll be more stable there.

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This is good advice - this is how I get my bottle, I move one hand to the center. It feels much more stable that way. I also move my hand to the center when I signal and/or need to look behind me.

I also do the same thing Oakleaf mentioned with switching the bottles.

I try to avoid drinking when I know there will be potholes to dodge or traffic to watch out for. If traffic is heavy or the road is rough, and I'm very thirsty, I will pull over for a sec to safely drink. You definitely don't want to take your hands away from your brakes if you know you might need them :)

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Originally Posted by Catrin

I love my Camelbak - I have enough problem remembering to drink when it is so easy to use it - I KNOW I would never drink enough with a water bottle.

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Me too! I keep an energy type drink in my cage and only drink that when I stop. I love my camelbak!!!Have 4 of them. small to large. One has a rainfly!