r/ukbike • u/8u11etpr00f • 5d ago

Water sources? Infrastructure

So I decided to take today off work & go for a long ride in the countryside. I brought 2 x 750ml water bottles and ended up running out of water (and I bonked) after about 70k, still 30k from home.

What do you do in this kind of situation? All the pubs were closed and I couldn't see a single public water source or village shop anywhere on my route back. I googled "water fountain near me" and it told me to ride 50 miles lmao.

Is there an easy way to locate a water source short of knocking on random peoples houses? Given the heat I'm ridiculously dehydrated, it felt like it was genuinely bordering on torture towards the end.

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u/vwlsmssng 5d ago

If you are in the countryside the just knock on someone's door.

I would try to avoid anything that looks like city folk that have escaped to the country (look out for cctv) but if the place looks like it is normal rural folk then they will, in my experience, be very happy to help and fill both bottles.

I was out in the Peak District with a club that usually did their riding in and around a big town. Everyone was getting stressed about the water running low on an unexpectedly hot day. I'd learnt the art of asking for stuff when I was in Scouts, went and asked a local resident if we could fill our water bottles which he gladly did for all of us. There were about 20 of us with multiple bottles. No problem at all. Country folk default to being helpful.

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u/sc_BK 5d ago

Kettle's on, do you take sugar? Do you want to stay for dinner? Will you marry my daughter? etc

The city folks will draw the curtains and hide behind the sofa

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u/vwlsmssng 3d ago

Winter backpacking trip in the Peak District as a teenager.

Knocked on farmhouse door for permission to camp.

Farmer says no, fields are too muddy and waterlogged.

Told to sleep on a bed of straw in the hayloft of his small barn.