After the scorching heat of the weekend I feel wiped out and a bit dizzy. I got a quite dehydrated on my ride on Saturday and wondered if that could be the cause of general malaise and dizzy spells? How much is enough water when riding in that heat?

Did you drink gallons at the end of the ride? as to much water apparently doesn't rehydrate you but thins out the amount of salts and stuff in the system. You may need to eat carbs, salts and glucose etc to replace what you have lost. Have you got an after exercise drink that you could try out to see if it helps? Failing that dark chocolate helps, its got iron in it.

Think i drank around 7 litres on saturday, gees it was hot!!!

I know the feeling of dehydration well. Spent 3 days cycling in the blistering heat last week, thurs-sat, despite thinking i was drinking enough, i only started feeling ok yesterday.

How do people get on with those emergency gels? are they nice enough to eat? Thinking i need something to carry "just in case"

I tried the gels and found them yuk. They made me more thirsty and the gel just stuck to the roof of my mouth. I now always go for a 3ltr camleback of water and a 1 ltr bottle of SIS or similar and it seems to work. I have also just discovered the SIS berry bar which is lovely and not at all chewy for emergency backup.

My dentist knows I ride a mountain bike and has specifically told me to be careful with energy drinks because there is a risk of tooth decay if you sip sugary drinks over a long period. As a result I have plain water in my camelbak. On hot days in the summer I carry a bottle on the bike with energy drink in. It seems to me the risk of tooth decay is not mentioned so perhaps its something to think about. Are there any energy drinks that are not like to rot teeth?!

Kim has written an article on staying hydrated see
http://www.shecycles.com/news/article.asp?UAN=740&SP=&v=1

I will ask Dr Kim waht she thinks of sugar free energy drinks if there are any. I know she's been testing TORQ drinks and bars during her TransWales race with great sucess!

When I cycle for longer, ie 3 hours or more I usually start to wee more. I drink regularly from my camelback so I put it down to the fact that I was drinking more than I sweated. But some one mentioned it was a symptom of my salt balance being off?

Kim what do you think?