Proper Hydration tips

Did you know? The average adult human body is 50-65% water, averaging around 57-60%. Body composition varies according to gender and fitness level because fatty tissue contains less water than lean tissue. That said staying hydrated should be a significant part of any daily activity. 

When you are heading out for a ride always bring water with you. For example an average ride of 45 min or more your going to want to bring at least one or two bottles of water. Certainly with the many hydration options out there you could take more. 

When is a good time to drink? Follow this rule of thumb..."drink often drink always" In fact in most cases by the time that you are "thirsty" you body actually needs a fair amount of water replenishment. 

Signs of Dehydration:

• Increased thirst.
• Dry mouth and swollen tongue.
• Weakness.
• Dizziness.
• Palpitations (feeling that the heart is jumping or pounding)
• Confusion.
• Sluggishness fainting.
• Fainting.

Cold weather hydration:

When exercising in colder temps you certainly can become dehydrated. Yes believe it or not your body will lose a fair amount of water due to perspiration. The critical point is that because you may not necessarily feel "hot or sweaty" your body is working quite a bit harder than you realize. In cold weather, the body’s thirst response is diminished (by up to 40 percent even when dehydrated) This happens because our blood vessels constrict when we’re cold to prevent blood from flowing freely to the extremities. This enables the body to conserve heat by drawing more blood to its core.

Hydration tips:

• Use insulated water bottles (They have thermal liners which will prolong water from freezing)
• Place water into your containers as warm as you can (This will also prolong freezing)
• Use a back pack hydration system with an insulated bladder and drinking hose. 

Each of the above tips are a few different suggestions that can help you with proper hydration. One key thing to keep in mind that the colder the temps and the more extreme the conditions water will eventually freeze regardless of your efforts. So keeping that in mind you may want to shorten the duration of your outdoor activity. 

Warm weather hydration:

In warmer conditions hydration is even more critical. Because of the fact that it is warmer yes you will be sweating. In some cases if you are riding and there is a breeze etc you might not even be able to tell. So what to you do to stay hydrated? Again follow the rule of thumb, "Drink often, drink always. Make sure to NOT run out of water if you do make sure to stop an replenish asap! 

Hydration tips:

• To keep water cold longer try putting water bottles (not filled to the top) in freezer
• Insulated bottles actually can keep water cooler on rides
• Hydration back pack / waist pack allow for easy hauling of extra water
• Try using an electrolyte hydration tablets (Nuuns / Camel Bak Elixer etc) 
• Mix energy drinks in your water 

We hope these tips and suggestions help, in the mean time, happy trails & don't forget to take time to stop and enjoy the ride !!! Any other question, comments, ideas or suggestions please feel free to drop us a line: info@growlerbikes we would love to hear from you !!!

Tire pressure makes a difference...

First things first, always include checking your bicycles tire pressure each and every time you ride. Just exactly why you do this has a number of benefits that we are going to cover trough out this article.

How to determine the correct  / recommended tire  pressure

In most cases the you can find the recommended tire pressure on the side wall of the tire itself. This particular recommendation is what the manufacture suggests / recommends for optimal performance. Now here's the exception...not all conditions / riding surfaces will require the same tire pressures.

Inflation 

There are a number of effective way's to inflate your tires. The best method without question is to invest in a good quality floor pump that has a pressure indicator gauge. Knowing rather that guessing exactly how much pressure that you are putting into your tires is a good thing. Also for some specialty applications you may want to purchase and old school tire gauge or even a new style hand held digital tire pressure gauge.

Cause & Effect

A tires performance can and will significantly change when the pressure is either too high or too low.

Having a tire that is over inflated will make for a very bumpy and jarring ride. You will also notice that due to the higher inflation less of the tire is actually in contact with the trail etc. This certainly gives you a faster rolling tire...but you will definitely loose overall traction and cornering capability. Most ideal situation for this would be riding on very firm hard or paved surfaces etc.

Riding your tires with pressure too low gives you more tread contact, and climbing traction....BUT beware of flats and or rim damage from running into things or bottoming out the wheel. A lower tire pressure will also create more tire drag which may require a bit more effort to keep the wheels rolling. You may also want to take some consideration in any high speed situations and or hard cornering maneuvers.

Ideally a tire that is properly inflated will take sometime and efforts to figure out. Most will tell you in you can manipulate the tire by pushing your thumb into the tire with a little bit  of effort you are good. Now that by no means is a scientific equation to tire pressure success. Talk with the professionals i.e. those that know. Take the guess work out and go with some recommended pressures depending on the situation and circumstances under which you will be riding. As always be sure to bring a portable bike pump  & pressure gauge with you to make any changes just in case.

Lastly another great bit of advice is keep track of the tire pressures that you run in certain conditions by writing them down, This may seen a bit nerdy, how ever as you get out and ride in different conditions you will be better able to set up your ride more accordingly.

We hope these tips and suggestions help, in the mean time, happy trails & don't forget to take time to stop and enjoy the ride !!! Any other question, comments, ideas or suggestions please feel free to drop us a line: info@growlerbikes we would love to hear from you !!!