bbeasley

I went on a group ride and let my ego make the decision to ride with the fast guys. I can usually handle 18 - 20 in a pace line. These folks were riding 21 - 22. I've been doing wind sprints 3X week and thought I could hang. At ~20 miles I got dropped and they waited for me. At 25ish miles it happened again. I didn't want to mess up their ride so I got directions back to our post ride coffee shop, thanked them, and began to limp back. One of the guys rode with me about a mile until my turn off and I told him I'd see him at the coffee shop.

Next thing I remember, I woke up 20' from the road laying in some shady grass. I could tell by how my bike was placed, and that I was in the only shade around, that I had chosen this spot as opposed to crashing. I downed a Gu, some water with electrolytes, and made my way slowly back to our post ride coffee shop. Looking at the miles and time, I've got about a 35 minute hole in my memory.

Three days later I did the same ride with the same guys at the same speeds. Both rides were in the early morning of days where the heat index was north of 100. This time I drove to the start point instead of riding (7 miles). I also ate about twice as much, and drank an extra bottle of hydration en-route. This time I finished strong and had a great time.

I'm not sure what happened the first time. When I decided to throw in the towel I was completely convinced, and convinced the other riders, that I was more than okay to slowly ride back. I still had hydration and nutrition with me. I guess from now on if I need to drop I should call my wife and get her to come pick me up.

1FatBikeRider

Dang man! Glad youre ok. Thats kinda scary. I cant believe you laid there for 35 minutes and no body asked if you were ok.

jasonmg1981

Wow, thats scary.....I guess you found your limits. Glad you recovered and thanks for sharing!

CalPastor

Crazy scary! You didn't know that you were close to losing it? Or is it so gradual that it just happens?

bbeasley

I was a bit surprised also. Thing is I was on a road with very limited traffic on weekends. Just one car from the time I woke up until I rode off the road (about 10 min). I also can't say I was there 35 min. I just don't remember, I could have only been there a few moments.

Doohickie

Well, if he could remember.....

indyfabz

Perhaps any passing motorists thought you were intentionally taking a rest in the shade and that nothing was wrong, assuming they saw you at all.

bbeasley

This is the point I don't like. I didn't make a good decision to:
1. Ask for help
2. Call for help
3. Stop and rest/drink/eat when I dropped myself from the ride

I'm competitive and usually blame lack of performance on me being a wimp/lazy. I may have actually reached a physical limit, I just can't remember.

Myosmith

Aliens, its the only logical explanation. Feel around for any unusual lumps that might be an implant.

Glad you're OK and found shade when you did.

bbeasley

Of course, I should have thought of that. There's always an answer on BF!

CraigB

Yes, you might want to check for that probe right now. We'll wait.

Daspydyr 

What a story! Glad you didn't wake to find yourself covered in scorpions or Zombies. I had a similar experience Mountain Biking. I was having a magical dream when I realized I was flat on my back on some rocks. Freaked me out!

laxpatrick

Talk to your doc and get checked out if you truly have had a memory outage. Not worth the consequences if you missed something significant. Just sayin' - not worth dyin' over.

WonderMonkey

Wowzers! That's kind of freaky.

Homeyba

I'm surprised nobody has suggested this yet but it sure looks like heat stroke to me. Your brain gets to hot and it stops working. You were lucky you found some shade.

redvespablur

When you woke up were your bib shorts on backwards?

breadbin

i'd get it looked into to be honest. its good that you are light hearted about it but it would freak me out wanting to know what happened. plenty of reasons and none of them too friendly. you shouldn't just black out like that

WildcatRx

I cannot stress this enough. If you had a blackout, you really need to see a doc.

It does sound like a heat related illness, cant say for sure if it was heat stroke or not, though.

bbeasley

Bibs on right and no probe, that I can find. Those Aliens are good!

I went 28 miles with the same crew (same route and similar weather) today. I've got to give, what feels like, 100% effort to hang with these guys. No problems at all.

I think it was heat/nutrition/hydration coupled with a pace that is a stretch for me. If I feel bad at all from now on, I'm throwing in the towel and asking for help.