In Race Hydration (newb question)
I know there are a myriad of options when it comes to hydration systems for the bike. I am considering the straight forward xlab torpedo setup...no straw, etc.
Now not having done an IM before I have a question - how does the whole water on course thing work? I understand they will be handing water bottles to me as I ride...correct? Do I have to provide those ahead of time...or is it like the gels? Does that mean that the three bottles I may start with I toss onto the side of the road and just keep the ones I end up with? I know that some systems have fill ports for this reason...but I figured I'd ask. I'd feel pretty dumb throwing an insulated camelbak bottle away and getting a $4 LBS special in return 
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You don't even get a $4 bottle. You get an Aquafina-type bottle. Hopefully it has a sport-top......
The aid stations are similar to aid stations at most triathlons, and while I will try to describe it, you should also just take a peek on youtube for 'triathlon bike aid station' and I'm sure you'll get a better idea of what I'm talking about. The aid station will be stretched out over a couple hundred feet of road and have volunteers standing on the side of the road usually in an alternating pattern of what they are handing out.
So you will have say 5 volunteers holding out water bottles, which every WTC (Ironman) event I've been to are retail packaging of water bottles like you might have at a gas station. They will be squirt top bottles with the plastic already removed and they should be ready to drink as soon as they are handed to you. I believe they are usually 20oz, and they will fit in vast majority of bike bottle cages. But, they usually do not fit as securely as an actual bike specific water bottle, so be mindful that they are easily ejected from something like a rear hydration system (cages) if you go over bumps or rail road tracks.
After the line of volunteers holding water, there usually will be a row of volunteers handing out Perform (sports drink). It is the same deal as the water, it's retail packaging with a twist squirt top bottle, seal already removed, ready to drink. Same disclaimer, it'll rack in your cage but not as securely as a real bottle.At each aid station there is also a trash area where you discard your empty bottles. If you start out with your own bike bottles on your frame, you either have to keep them on your bike the entire time, drop them off at your special needs bag after the first loop, or discard them at an aid station and kiss them goodbye. So short answer, don't bring your nice insulated bottles unless you are ok with tossing them.
Final comment, I'm a fan of the torpedo setup, but not for non-refillable setups in an Ironman. I don't think the water or Perform bottles they hand out will rack securely enough for my tastes. I am a big fan of the Speedfill A2 in a torpedo mount however. It is refillable, so I simply top it off at each aid station and dump the empty bottles.
I previously had a standard aero bottle that would slosh all over and would use that for water with another bottle on down tube with my liquid fuel. This made it necessary to have another fuel bottle at special needs.
Question I'm having is whether to get a single rear mount or continue to use the aero Bottle for the water needs.
Although I am on my 4th ironman, this year will be my first using the A2 and I still need to work on my bottle coordination. My thought is to maybe carry only one bottle in addition to the A2 just in case I run out of fluid before I hit the aid station. Once I hit the aid station, I'll refill the A2 with Perform (twist top bottles) and try to stay upright until I get back home. As was mentioned, I don't know that I would want a bottle of water/perform rattling around on my torpedo mount or in one of those behind the seat deals. Maybe a sturdy frame mount would hold it okay.
A2 with a full size (Specialized style) EN bottle on a torpedo mount. I replaced the "straw" with a Blackburn bite valve, due to my "special needs"
@ John - the Speedfil A2 system has a drinking tube coming out of the top of the bottle which allows one to drink without touching the bottle or coming out of aero - see it >here<
Personally, I don't use the straw, in my case as a result of some post cycling injury issues. But on a six hour IM ride, I think it is important to do a *bit* of moving around, and sitting up to drink for a few seconds every 10-15 minutes is probably an overall benefit, making it easier to stay aero the rest of the time - sorta like inserting mini-episodes of stretching into the tedium. So I ride without the straw, and just take advantage of the A2 top which provides a larger volume than a large cycling bottle, as well as being refillable on the fly. I put only water in it, as I don't like getting sticky spray flying back at me if I use, say, Perform in the torpedo mount.
A word on in race hydration and nutrition: unless the race is hot, I don't use the A2 or any bottle in my torpedo mount; I carry only one bottle, on the down tube, with me, which has my preferred calorie dense fluid. For electrolytes and simple water, I simply rely on the on-course stuff , as Trevor outlines above. Aid stations are every 10 miles in a WTC IM, and that's close enough so I simply grab a bottle (hopefully of Perform) at the start of the station, chug what I can, toss it in the middle, and then grab a bottle of water, drink some, put some on my head maybe, then toss it at the end of the station. As I leave, I may then take some of my nutrition to mix in with the water in my stomach.
For a hot race, where it's 80F or above for most or all of the bike (there aren't a lot of races like that, usually, the bike starts out cool and then warms up), I'll supplement fluids with with water from the A2, keeping it filled as necessary at the aid station.
Really, most WTC IM races it's not necessary to carry your own fluids with you, it just adds weight and complications I don't need. KISS
For an Ironman I only bring one bottle with me, my A2. I top it off at aid stations and I have a single behind the saddle bottle cage in case I want to rack an extra bottle for refills in between aid stations for some reason.
But if you can race well on on-course nutrition, absolutely no reason to be lugging tons of fluids with you when you have a restock every half hour.