How to make sure you have enough drinks with you on a bikepacking vacation? 

While cycling, it is important to stay adequately hydrated. That is why you better take enough water, or other drinks, with you for the road. This is not always obvious since panniers often take up a lot of space. Especially when your traditional bottle cages have had to make way for a frame bag. Not to worry, because there are inventive solutions for this as well. Bikepackers are very creative in attaching luggage and other material to their bikes.

There are different ways to carry enough drinks on the road, which we will go through here. You can simply mount the classic bottle cages in different places, such as the front or rear fork. This does not have to be difficult. You can simply use strong cable ties. It is important to do this carefully to avoid your bottles being blown off your bike.

Besides the classic bottle cages, there are also bottle cages with a universal mounting system on the market, which you can easily mount anywhere. They are often fixed with cable ties. There are also systems to attach bottle and pump holders for bikes that do not have screw inserts. They are an easy solution to carry additional drinking bottles. You can also (dis)assemble without much effort this way. 

Several pannier brands have also looked for solutions for drinking bottles. Most brands designed panniers that are easy to attach, for example, also to the handlebars. Such an additional handlebar bag for a water bottle has the advantage that you can easily drink while cycling. 

You can also always opt for a solution without water bottles, for example by taking a Camelbag on the road. Such a drinking backpack has a large water bag with volumes of about 2.5 liters. However, it is important here to use only water, as the bag is difficult to wash out. The drinking bag is often divided into several vertical compartments, so when you turn, the liquid does not constantly move back and forth. After all, this can cause additional strain on your back. A drinking tube allows you to drink easily on the go. It also has the great advantage of safety, since you do not have to search and reach for your bottles along the way. On the other hand, a backpack is not always ideal for a cycling vacation. It places additional stress on your back, which is already heavily strained.