Anybody been ill after bikepacking?
Wish you'd filtered/sterilised that water?

I've come down with a case of gastroenteritis after the café racer - And this is the only time bikepacking I've not filled up at a natural water source, and hence filtered my water.

So this got me thinking.
What's your experiences (and advice)?

I've being ill twice over the years. I believe on both occasions it was caused by contaminated bottles rather than water itself. Sheep are often fed on tracks / paths at this time of year so there's a lot of sheep poo in a very small area. The sheep paddle it about, it gets rained on, they mix it up a bit more, we ride through it, gets splashed over your bottle which you then drink from ... lovely

Not after, but during the course of. Pretty sure it was water either on or in the bottle. To be honest I can't be sure which. It was straight through in about 4 hours, but then all ok.
The combination of sleeping bag and bivy as well as bib longs and darkness when it all went wrong at about 2 am, shall we say, resulted in a change of plans.
No recurrence, but I've been pretty careful where I fill my bottles since.

Bottles with a cap e.g. https://www.decathlon.co.uk/sport-bottl ... 91756.html

Yes, I was pretty ill after a trip this summer. Two days in bed with S&D (well, you know, I crawled out of bed to actually do the the S&D bit). I'd filtered all my water. Stu makes a good point. I'd used bottles on that trip. Even the one I bought with a cover over the nozzle, specifically to under the downtube on one of my other bikes, got covered in c**p, including the nozzle. I've tended towards a hydration pack recently, mainly for this reason. Bite valves aren't immune to getting splashed either, but it happens a whole lot less.

The other thing is, endurance exercise does weaken your immune system. If you were pushing yourself harder than usual, that may have contributed. I think I may suffer from this more than most as I've had a two or three incidences over the years where I've been ill after hard weekend or even day, particularly when I've over-indulged at the end with a big, rich meal in a pub, with a couple of pints (not getting sloshed but just celebrating with a nice stout).

Another cap suggestion
This time for a camelbak podium bottle

https://www.evanscycles.com/camelbak-po ... p-EV255315

I got pretty ill after the last BB200. I put it down to having a very heavy cold the week coming up to the event, did a "do or die" bit of exercise mid week which sort of reduced how bad the cold was - shouldn't have really lined up, then pedalled through in one hit whilst coughing up my lungs. I was exhausted afterwards, guess my immune system was rock bottom and caught something at work without having the strength to fight it, so was severely ill. Oh well!

I used a combination of single water bottle and camelback this weekend. I found it much easier to manage water levels knowing I had a reserve.

Yes water bottle was pretty disgusting, I did unscrew to drink to avoid the sheep sh!+

I've used a bite valve cover on the camelbak for years. Really appreciate it.

But then it may even be an ill prepared ready made salad I ate for lunch one day. There's no telling for sure.

On the WRT that went abroad I was ill afterwards for months. Grumbling tummy and very loose stools, not D&V levels, just ill.
Ended up seeing the GP, she told me I might have arse cancer but the consultant inspected VERY closely and told me it was probably sheep poo related and I had colitis.
After the clear out from the picolax and the inspection, I've been fine.

BB200 2016, swallowed too much cow muck thrown up by my tyres that I ended up with an arse like a cow for two weeks afterwards.
Not pleasant.

I always think Matt's waterbottle cover fashioned out of a plastic milk carton is a good idea - but ive never got around to making one myself. tbh I try and make sure the outside of the bottle is clean before I go near it - and I don't tend to drink much anyway as I ride either way ive never been ill

I've been severely dehydrated and had heat stroke a couple of times ... bloody awful.

Thought I was going to turn myself inside out after last years BB200! Definitley got a mouth full of sheep egg along the way

Never been ill from it, but always have the dirty water bottle problem. Always unscrew the cap off and drink that way, but stuff somehow usually ends up on the inside anyway. Just maybe luck i havent been ill then it seems. Perhaps ill switch to the hydration pack this year..

My incident was after a ride on Jacob's Ladder in the Peaks. Just as the snow as melting - and you could see the dog turds emerging from the melting snow that the owners had not been able to retrieve. My mate had a front mudguard - and a clean face after the ride and enjoyed his steak and wine that night. I had no mudguard, spattered face and amongst the worst gut upset I have every experienced.

Still researching the best shape/coverage...

I run the Sea to Summit versions of these https://www.evanscycles.com/camelbak-po ... p-EV255315 for this very reason, modern bottles seem to be susceptible to collecting mud.

Ive heard sheep poo on the trails can cause stomach upsets, best avoided. Also if anyone has read Tim Moore's Tour De France you'll know bottle cleanliness is of the upmost importance

Heat stroke a couple of times, but thankfully never throwing up etc. Do spend a bit more time in the toilet on return, but that's because my diet drastically changes when I'm doing rides.

Thinking about it, never an issue in 20 years of biking, but then I stopped using water bottles in my first year ans have stuck to platypus et al.

Water bottle with a top for me too (from Halfords) I have added a cord loop to ping the top off when wearing mitts.

Scotroutes : The picture doesn't show - would be interested how far you have got with the design !

Twice last year

- once from the Chilterns Winter Event. I think I caught a chill while waiting around for everyone to sort their stuff out and head to the pub. I was realy cold. Took a day off work the following week (first one all year) and then passed it to the kids when we went to Lapland... great!

- had some sort of stomach bug thing for a few days after one of the trips I did. Really not sure why but I was left with a nagging doubt that it might be related to dodgy water somehow. I'd grabbed it from a average looking stream but not sure if my filter is slightly dodgy, I've taken it on a couple of very cold trips and got a bit worried that maybe the freeze cycle has killed it. Need to order another one, thinking of moving to a Trailshot from a Drinksafe, partly for the packability/flow

Once, after the 2016 YD200 but I'm not sure it was from the water bottle but a panini from a cafe in Hawes. I was fine up to that point but felt distinctly queezy shortly after that. The "illness" was short lived and I was fine the following morning.

Man Flu the day after I DNF’d in Rovaniemi, or at least that’s one of the excuses I’m using.

Interesting to note the links from contaminated bottles, generally if I’ve been some suspect, I’ll open the bottle and drink it that way

All this talk of getting ill has made me think.

What sort of water filtration should we consider other than boiling

nrimmer1005 wrote:All this talk of getting ill has made me think.

What sort of water filtration should we consider other than boiling

Boiling isn't really filtering. You can use one or more of
-Water filter
-Boiling
-Chlorine tablets
-Selecting a good source for your water

It's also worth noting it's probably not a good idea to fill up downstream from an old lead mine or such.