What it is: low levels of body water impeding proper biological functioning

Our bodies need water for 2 reasons.

1) we need an adequate amount of water and electrolytes in order for our cells, muscles, organs, and systems to function properly. In fact, we are quite sensitive to decreased levels of water. Performance decreases can be noted with as little as 3% dehydration levels.

2) During hot weather riding, we also need water to allow us to produce sweat for evaporative cooling.

The main players

Water and electrolytes go hand in hand. We can think of water and electrolytes in this way.

• Water is like the workers that show up at the factory on Mon. morning looking for work. They are ready for action but need to be told where to go and what to do. Alone, they accomplish little.
• Electrolytes are like the foremen and supervisors that tell the workers where to go and what to do.

A factory that has one without the other gets very little accomplished in any kind of structured order. If you want to get things done, you need to have a balanced ratio between the two groups. More on this later.

So why do we need to keep drinking?

We continuously lose water throughout the day. This occurs mainly by skin evaporation, breathing, and urine. If you ride in the dry desert, you lose a significant amount of water vapor with each breath you take. If you sweat a lot, you lose more water.

We’ve all heard that the recommended minimum water intake per day is 8 glasses of water. If you sweat heavily for many hours at a time ie when riding through a hot day, you will need to drink considerably more in order to not become dehydrated.

Dehydration is serious. It affects vital processes in our body in many ways, one of which is a decreased ability to cool. This happens in two ways:

• When you dehydrate, your body loses much of its ability to sweat for evaporative cooling.
• Dehydration lowers blood volume and turns it into a thicker sludge. This thicker blood does not circulate as well and is not as effective in transferring heat.

How do you know if you’re drinking enough?

You should be urinating. Urine color should be pale. A dark color indicates a degree of dehydration. No urine indicates dehydration.