Source
r/bicycletouring•
CallMeBryce

Any tips on touring through a desert climate?

With a 30C heat, how much water would you expect to get through on your average day? How much back up would be wise?

The reason I ask, is that I'm planning to bike through parts of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. So far, along with the two 750ml bottles and a reserve of 20L - would you consider that enough if I'm refilling every couple of days? Weight isn't something I'm too fussed about, I'll haul anything :D

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Posted Mar 4, 2012, 10:31 PM UTC

1112
cpthompTrek Elance 400, Raleigh Sojourn•

I rode through parts of the Atacama desert, and south west Bolivia. Water stops were several days apart, with no ground water. I tried to carry around 12 liters of water. It was not terribly hot at the time, just very dry, so that lasted me about 3 days with some reserve.

In southern Utah/Nevada/California, I believe I had about 5 - 6 liters on me, but with daily water ups.

I really recomend some kind of kefiyah, or head scarf. They are very effective with dust/wind/sun/cold, and can be used to filter out big stuff from water (pre filtering before you filter/clean it).

Also, in Utah/Nevada/California I did a lot of either night traveling, or getting up around 3 or 4, cycling till 10, and then finding a nice place to nap through the heat of the day (a library, a kiva, a nice shady canyon) and then starting up around 4 and biking until I was ready for bed.

I had luck biking ONLY at night in tierra del fuego to avoid the wind. I wouldn't recomend this too much in highly trafficed areas, as it's pretty scary. (Just southwest of Zion Nat'l park to Las Vegas for instance...)

7
CallMeBryceOPSurly 26" LHT•

Thanks a lot for the advice! I didn't think of napping through the heat of the day.

1
akorb1984 Trek 620•

When I rode through southern Utah/northern Arizona a 6 liter dromedary (~ 2.5 gallons) and two water bottles was enough for a day. And keeping it cold made it twice as effective. We just filled it with ice before topping off the water and wrapped that in a fleece. It worked great when we had American gas stations with full soda fountains, but I don't know how much of an option that would be for the Kalahari.

My best advice would be to bring along a little spray bottle and use that to douse yourself every once in a while. It's like applying sweat directly and uses a lot less water than you would gulp down when you're feeling exhausted from the heat.

6
[deleted]•

Ha. I opened this to type this exact same post.

A squirt bottle in one of your water bottle cages can also be used for waterfights while moving, if you're riding with a friend....

3
CallMeBryceOPSurly 26" LHT•

Thank Joligoon, needanadult, angrysaki and akorb for the advice. I think I'll be packing more electrolytes and packets of salt

1
needanadult•

I rode through se oregon and nevada. I had a gallon of water/day plus two water bottles. This is probably a little less than you should really carry but I had planned refill spots every day.

I recommend getting some kind of electrolyte powder to mix in too. It really helps.

5
angrysaki•

I haven't toured through the desert but there's been some hot days where going on just water seemd to catch up with me, so I would second the recommendation of electrolyte powder.

5
nicbrown•

This is not really a tip as such, but there is a bit of detail to be gleaned in the reports of this trek, unsupported in the desert for 33 days

4
AushikerSurly Long Haul Trucker•

Here in Western Australia in those temperatures I would be carrying three litres to cover my day's riding. This is assuming around 100 km of road riding or 75 km of dirt road riding.

3
salsaneon•

Here is a great tip that nobody has mentioned:

On stretches of highway out West, have trusting motorist drop water at specific landmarks; mile markers, shaded areas. Caution: certain materials ie. bloody plastic baking in the sun, can't be good for the safety of the water.

2
shniken•

There was a post here a while ago about riding across Australia, I think it had a fair few tips.

1
tiredofitdotcaRiding RTW since 2009•

I just rode through Namibia in November - Get ready for 16 litres A DAY. Carry as much as you can, as you now never know where it is going to be next in some cases. Botswana is not so bad, but you may not see it for a day - Of course, this is all dependent if you ride on the beaten path or not. I do not.

1