I did it!!!

[Jiffer]

When I'm on a road with a lot of signals, I usually take a swig at red lights. If not, or if the lights are gloriously all green, I try to be conscious about drinking at least every 10 minutes ... or by feel. I'm thirsty, I drink. But I HAVE gotten dehydrated on days that I "thought" I was drinking enough, so I try not to only go by feel. I've only gotten dehydrated on especially long or difficult climbing rides when it was a hotter than I was used to riding in. The hotter it is, or humid, the more you need to drink. And when you're climbing, there are typically no signals to remind you to take a drink ... and if you're breathing hard, and already going rather slow, it's hard to slow down enough to settle your breathing to get a swig in ... but try you must!!!

Sounds like you had a great ride! Keep it up!

[ny biker]

I sometimes forget to drink as often as I should. On long rides, when I get to a reststop, I compare how much I've drunk so far to how many hours I've been riding, and if I'm below 1 bottle per hour I catch up while I'm stopped.

[Bike Chick]

I don't drink as much as I should on the bike, especially when I'm in a fast group and it's all I can do to hang on. If I take a minute to grab my water bottle, I'm off the back. I make myself drink every 15 minutes. I also make it a habit to weigh myself before a ride and then after I'm done to be sure I've taken in enough fluids. You should weigh more after your ride. If you weigh less, you haven't taken in enough. Another sign that you haven't hydrated enough is if you don't need to pee after a ride---especially on hot days.

Congrats on your 20 miles! That's quite an accomplishment. Keep it up!