Do you use public drinking fountains?

[Owlie]

Absolutely. I got just about as sick as I've ever been in my adult life during Bike Virginia in 2003 from just this. We were riding through a rural area with chicken farms, and it had rained recently, so apparently there was chicken poop in the rain run-off on the road. Or at least that's what the CDC came up with when over 100 of us contracted Camplyobacter during or after the event. Oh, I was so sick!

But I do drink out of public water fountains without a thought. I too have a bit of a psychological aversion to drinking water out of glasses or bottles filled from a bathroom sink, though I'll do it.

[strongly considers switching to the Camelbak...]

[Catrin]

[strongly considers switching to the Camelbak...]

That is indeed one of the advantages! I still use mine, though I have to be far more careful how full it is than before my neck injury. I DID figure out how to continue using it, for now at least. Discussing a different approach with my fitter. We will see.

[ny biker]

[strongly considers switching to the Camelbak...]

One reason I use a Camelback while mountain biking is that it's cleaner than drinking out of bottles from bottle cages. And I'm somewhat germophobic -- I do things like press elevator buttons with my elbow instead of using my hands (a habit I developed a few years back when there was a shortage of flu shots and many coughing people in the building where I worked). But I don't think twice about drinking from water fountains or filling my water bottle at them, and I never think about about germs on the bottle when riding through water.

Some friends did a big metric century ride recently in Amish country in Pennsylvania. It rained that day, and I've heard that they encountered mushy cow pies on the road. I was planning to do that ride next year -- maybe I'll bring my Camelback if there's rain the forecast...