How Much Water Should You Carry In The Desert?
Lots! You need to carry a lot of water with you when cycling in hot desert conditions.
During my recent bike ride across northern turkey I found myself often times carrying as much as 6.5+ liters of water on my bicycle. I had three standard bicycle water bottles attached to the frame of my bike and another three plastic bottles (each filled with 1.5 liters of water) on my bicycle’s rear rack. On some days I found myself going through more than 14 total liters of water in a 24 hour period. And still I could have been drinking more!
Good advice Darren! I have just invested in 2 Ortlieb water sacks, and have 1.5l in two bottles on the frame (third position taken up by a fuel bottle under the down tube).
The Ortliebs are flattish when filled and sit inside the back hold-all on top of the frame with the tent, sleeping bag and therm-a-rest (each in its own dry bag). The two litre size is easy to fit into a relatively small space. They are made of very rugged material and I will probably get two more as they roll up small and are light when not in use. Glad you enjoyed the last tour!
I find that I can strap a 2 liter plastic bottle to the top top of each of my Ortleib front rollers underneath the normal strap.
Works quite well and its out of the way.
Hello!. What are the panels between the water bottles. Is that some sort of solar panel for collecting power?
David, yes, that is a Voltaic Fuse solar panel that I use for charging my iPod, GoPro video camera and Canon SLR camera batteries: http://bicycletouringpro.com/voltaic-fuse