Quoted message said:I find myself loosing 3-5 lbs for a 1 hour 20 mile ride. Is this
normal?
Yes; 2 qts. in a hour, right on the norm.
Quoted message said:I bring one water bottle, but don't find myself drinking too much
(maybe 1/4 of the bottle). It's such a short ride, it doesn't feel
like I need to.
Does weight loss from dehydration (and maintaining salt intake) only
become an issue for long efforts (marathons, centuries, 5+ hours
rides). This is my assumption.
There's a big jump from one hour rides to five hour rides. You seem to
be OK with the one hour ride, losing about 2 qts. of fluid. As long as
that's the maximum ride you take, you'll probably continue to be OK.
The problem I see is two-fold. First, you're probably riding right to
the edge of where dehydration will become an issue. If, as some have
suggested, losing 3% of your body weight in sweat is where performance
starts to degrade, and assuming you weight 200 pounds or a bit less, if
you take a two hour ride, I'd expect you to feel the effects during the
last 30 minutes. The second part of the problem is that you're not
training yourself to drink while riding. No big deal as long as you
keep the ride length down, but you're limiting yourself.
Quoted message said:Went on a slightly longer ride with a friend and he brought 3 bottles
(of various fluids) and food. I brought just a single bottle.
Sounds like he could have taken that ride again immediately after
finishing -- could you?
Pat