I still like to use a bottle and cage. I had a Camelbak once (1994), but hated it. It was one of the early ones. I hated the way it made my back sweat. I hated the way it rode up and started hitting my helmet on descents. I didn’t like the look of it, and I thought it was uncool. Not to mention all that faffing about keeping it clean.Hydration packs have come a long way since then. Carla has one, and she much prefers it to a bottle. She reckons it’s cleaner, easier to use, and you’re more likely to drink with one. She has convinced my brother, and now he has one. He’s even taken the bottle cage off his bike! Says it spoils the lines.

My brother (Wal) was asking me why I don’t use one. I was joking, but my first two reasons were… what if I needed something to throw at someone? I’d have no bottle, and what if someone was trying to get hold of me? They’d have those straps and things to hold onto making them very difficult to get rid of. While Wal was mildly amused, he thought it said quite a lot about the kind of confrontational person that I am. I disagreed.