Hydration pack or water bottle?

[f0zzy]

First muddy ride coming up Saturday. I have a hydration pack I use on my mountain bike and when snowboarding sometimes.

Do you guys wear body armour and a backpack? I'm wondering if it would be just too restrictive?

[Ming]

Always used a hydration pack on trail rides and still do on road bike rides as I need to drink regularly. Never had a problem with wearing it over body armour and it lends an extra cushion for when you fall off!

[Scotty]

Yup, Hydration pack every time - far easier to access the mouthpiece at a brief stop than having to remove a rucksack to get to a bottle and then get left behind by everyone while you're putting it away again.
Armour-wise I wear a Forcefield armour top all the time, under an MX jersey when it's warm, and under a bigger textile bike jacket (with its armour removed) when it's cooler. It was pretty chilly with the northerly wind when out on Sunday, but a goretex waterproof jacket (unlined, army surplus jobbie) over the MX jersey kept me at just the right temperature all day - plus it would have kept me dry had it rained, but it didn't.

[Tractorwackyracer]

Hi all due to the weather conditions and the difficulty of some of the lanes and we have a few beginners I am either going to cancel or use a different route what’s everyone thoughts