Mountain Biking - head aches after long rides in the sun

I pretty sure its a dehydration issue but i have a 2Liter camelbak and drink bottled water after i ride. What else can i do? Yesterday i was in alot of pain at around 5pm. I went riding around 8am for about 3 - 4 hours. Took some pills and it went away but its not the first time its happened. It was just pretty bad yesterday. Thanks for your help.

You can actually hurt yourself by drinking too much water. You need some salt in your system to properly hydrate. After your ride, drink a sports drink, preferably something with electrolytes in it. That should help!

Me, I visit this little hole in the wall Mexican Restaurant on the way home!

L8R

Dumb question but one people don't think of.

How much caffiene do you 'normally' take in during the same time frame on other days when you were doing your 3-4 hr ride?

Good call Trek rider. I always forget the effects of caffeine. :)

Dumb question but one people don't think of.

How much caffiene do you 'normally' take in during the same time frame on other days when you were doing your 3-4 hr ride?

Amen!! If you consume coffee all week and then don't have any on Saturday and Sunday you're asking for a headache.

<caffine free for over two years>

-mark

I get the same thing. You can't just hydrate one day, its a gradual process. You gotta be hydrated before the ride begins, not just keep yourself in the same deficit during a ride.

Also sometimes i take an aspirin before a ride, just to ward off. But just start drinking more water and less caffine than usual the day before a ride. Easier said than done but thats what works for me. The thing is, is to drink when you're not thirsty because if you're thirsty you're already screwed. Another thing could be the light conditions. I know when there's a certain light caused by the clouds it triggers migranes.

To be honest i hardly drink any caffiene. Im a root beer/sprint drinker. But come to think of it when I do stop and eat something before I go home, Im fine those days. Going to make sure i do from now on. Thanks guys!

To be honest i hardly drink any caffiene. Im a root beer/sprint drinker.

Next time you buy Root Beer, check the caffiene content. Barq's Root Beer have 23.0 milligrams of caffiene per 12 ounce can.

Also if you make your own root beer you need to have the sassafras roots processed to remove carcinogens.

the barqs and mug are caffeine free. At least last time i checked. :)

IT ZA TUUMAAR. ;)

Make sure you drink pleanty of H2O during the week. If your rides last longer then 45min you should drink a sports drink during the ride to replenish the lost minerals.

You should also try and keep you head as cool as possible. Try and keep your head cool with a wet down headband of some sort. Also, you should try and keep the water as cool as possible. If it is going to be a schorcher then try and freez the water in you pack the night before. It will stay cool when you ride, you can sip it as it melts and it will also help keep your back a little cooler.
You could also invest in something like a MistyMate (no not a teary eyed Aussi.). My wife just bought me one and it works great on hot days.

:beer:

Not sure if it's the same problem, but, a protein bar about an hour before the ride does the trick for me. (Along with proper hydration,etc.)

Itz Notta Tuumaar.

I am probably way off but it may be the sun is wearing on you.

Me, I visit this little hole in the wall Mexican Restaurant on the way home!

L8R

Care to elaborate on that?? ;) I am a bit confuseddd

I usually take a couple of aspirin before a ride, it thins you blood a little to help with circulation for the workout, and keeps that post ride headache at bay. Bad part is if you crash you'll bleed a lot more.

I usually eat some salty crackers right before I ride, and if it's going to be a long ride I mix up some lemonade and put salt in it (not as bad as it sounds, you can't taste it unless you put too much in). Doesn't get me my potassium like Gatorade does, but it's a lot cheaper and tastes way better. Plus, I like banannas anyway.

I get really bad headaches when I'm dehydrated.

Water, cashews, banannas, Maybe Cytomax mix, Gatorade.Sunglasses. Maybe a power bar..
Plus when the aching starts..Maybe one 10 minute break..I come back just fine. Even when I crash on the living room floor, smelly and all..The living room floor is normally downstream from the kitchen..Eventually , no shower , no dinner...So says my wife.

Salt pills work wonders and are cheap!

Could be two possibilities. It's either a electrolytic deficiency or it's due to sun glare. I can suffer from both. For the glare problem the solution is sunglasses.

My wife and I both suffered from post exercise headaches some 40 years ago. We solved it by adding ERG (It's still available; http://www.gookinaid.com/Order_Info/Product/product.html) to our drinking water to replace the electrolytics lost through sweating. I would suggest not taking salt tablets as they can eventually hurt your stomach and Sodium Chloride is but one electrolytic lost through sweating.

For strenuous exercise levels, the following concentrations (p 146, Serious Cycling, second edition, by Burke, pub. 2002) per liter is:

Sodium - 400 to 100 mg; Chloride - 500 to 1500 mg; Magnesium - 10 to 100 mg and Potassium 120 to 225 mg. ERG easily gets you into this range with an added pinch of salt. I typical use 1/2 to 3/4 of the recommended ERG concentration with about an eighth teaspoonful of table salt per ltr.

Here in the Gulf coast, I'll drink over three liters of this concoction on a 2hr early morning ride in the summer. You can't wait to be thirsty to drink as by then it's too late to catch up and rehydrate. For every 1% loss in body weight the heart rate rises 7 beats/min typically. Burke recommends a rate of 8 ounces every 20 minutes on a warm day. The first 8 ounces should come before you get on our bike.

Al

Care to elaborate on that?? ;) I am a bit confuseddd


Mexican food is salty, thus I replace my sodium chloride and electrolytes from eating some sit-in your stomach, awesome, authentic, Mexican food.

Add to that an Orange Soda and you're covered.

Ever notice how good an Orange Soda with Mexican food can be????

L8R

I remember trying, what I thought then to to be a really steep grade.... My heart went up to over 120 beats.. Got all dizzy, so I thought..
I blamed it on a big, huge greasy Beef burritto....It did set in my stomach..

That brings back horror stories I've had with Chinese Buffets.

I remember trying, what I thought then to to be a really steep grade.... My heart went up to over 120 beats.. Got all dizzy, so I thought..
I blamed it on a big, huge greasy Beef burritto....It did set in my stomach..

I know that on some of the longer flint hills rides we do around here... just having your camelbacks' straps mis-adjusted has given me a headache... you might try that if all else fails. :)

You can actually hurt yourself by drinking too much water. You need some salt in your system to properly hydrate. After your ride, drink a sports drink, preferably something with electrolytes in it. That should help!

Me, I visit this little hole in the wall Mexican Restaurant on the way home!

L8RAfter our trips out to Alafia we usually stop off at McDonald's and grab something. Their fries take care of that salt problem real quick.

got back from a ride in the sun with a headache. All i can say now is take an excedrin before you leave and try your damdest to keep hyrdated

themotabs.they are salt tablets with other things like pottasium,magnesium etc.about $6 for 100 and well worthit if you do anything in the heat. I take 2 in the morning and 1 at lunch 2 if im riding after work. you said you rode over 3 hours.I usually grab an energy bar every couple hours to keep from getting a blood sugar drop headache(feels like a caffiene headache)as well as lots of liquids throughout the ride.I work in the heat of day so I must do this anyway and it works for me.how does your helmet fit? when mine was too low it gave me a headache.do your glasses wrap around(reflection from the bottom and sides can be a pain in the head too)keep the body fueled with calories,water and electrolites and it should help

the barqs and mug are caffeine free. At least last time i checked. :)


bargs is NOT caffine free, mug is, A&W is as well, but bargs is not.

I was forced to go caffine free, found the hardway bargs is not

A&W thats right, my bad.

Hey,

Just though i would comment on this. Im from Australia and its usyaly warm when me and mates ride. WHen i egt home and take full face of i have sore head, and to really hurt u nood up and down. I take a camelback asswell?

anyway

chow