Water Carriers: Update #3

Thanks to a very kind friend, I have these mounting rails for bottle cages.

 Well, who knew so many of you were into water bottles and bottle mounting? Gosh! These posts have been big number generators for the blog and, frankly, I am a bit surprised by that. But, I suppose a guy or gal has gotta drink or ya know.....you might die! That's not on the agenda for a good ride, so let's keep those bodies hydrated out there!

And I think I have my situation figured out, finally. But first, I have to thank a very good friend to me and Trans Iowa, Mike, who had another former winner and volunteer of Trans Iowa, DG, machine these awesome bottle mount spacers. They are precursors to the Wolf Tooth B-Rad modular system, and they were made with a similar thought- To be able to move water bottle cages to fit in places more advantageous for bike packers and long distance riders in events or otherwise. By the way, I am not 100% sure, but these were likely made around the time of T.Iv8, so probably 2012-ish? Definitely before the B-Rad stuff was around.

So, what you are looking at here are two 'bars' of machined aluminum with two countersunk, ovalized holes in each. Those are the points where the bars get attached to whatever bottle bosses are on your bike where you want to modify the bottle's position. The holes are threaded for accepting standard water bottle bolts. So, as you can see, you have several possibilities for moving cages slightly this way or that using these. The spacers are for raising the bar a bit in case of interference with cables, front derailleur clamps, and the like. You'd use these spacers underneath the bar bit and mount the cage on top in your preferred position. Stay tuned- I have plans for these.....

So, here is how I used the B-Rad to work out my water bottle situation.

 In the meantime, here is how I solved my dilemma with the BMC MCD and the Elite Jet bottles. I had a B-Rad 4, which is the longest B-Rad accessory mount available. On one end I have the B-Rad Accessory Plate and Strap which is doing the job of holding that ginormous Jet Green bottle in place. Up top I have moved my bottle cage, which is the new Lezyne Side Mount Cage, to the furthest 'up' position. This allows for easy access to the upper bottle on the fly while leaving plenty of space between the base of that bottle and the top of the Jet Green bottle. The wide Wolf Tooth accessory strap locks down that bottle so there is absolutely no movement while riding. Meanwhile, I replaced the weak Velocity Cage with my old Lezyne Side Mount Cage which is far more robust and with that side entry/exit, it makes for a much easier time of getting at that big Jet Green bottle when I need to. 

The two remaining bottles are the Velocity Bottle Traps and they are perfect for where they are at on the bike. I just added that orange ByeKyle Velcro strap to stabilize that Jet + bottle. Basically a peace of mind thing. I'm about 99.9% that this will be it for Gravel Worlds and as far as water goes, I should have enough to get through the entire event, given that there are usually plenty of opportunities to get water on their routes. 

The way I figure it, with the one extra bottle onboard in the Chaff Bag, I have three and one-third quarts of water with this set up, and that should be plenty. Probably overkill, but that's what I am taking. I don't want to have any excuses when it comes to water/hydration/nutrition. I plan on using that GU Energy Roctane stuff too, which seems to be setting well with me. I feel stronger when using it and it doesn't seem to get my gut into a shutdown situation. But that said, I plan on mixing in some regular ol' hydration via Elite and other food as well. 

Anyway, I digress.... This is pretty much the set up unless I can think of something better.