Colorado Kid

Today it was 95F on the way home from work. I'm not used to this much heat this early in the season. By the halfway point, the water in my water bottle had turned into a boiling cauldron of undrinkable liquid. The last mile or so felt like I was going to pass out. When I finally did get in, I felt anything but stellar. What should I have done differently to avoid these problems?

IAMAMRA

Drank mor water

wphamilton

Drink before starting out, not necessarily right before but earlier during the day. Well ahead of time a snack for fuel, trail mix or even candy bar. It was in the low 90's here - I don't take water with me for a commute.

Mark Stone

↑↑↑↑ This ↑↑↑↑ I would add that I do take a water bottle along. In El Paso we've had a long string of days with highs over 100 (2 weeks? 3 weeks?). If you eat right and drink right during the day, and wear appropriate clothing for the trip, temperature isn't that big a deal. If you don't prepare, then it is a big deal lol.

KevinF

Also, consider getting insulated water bottles. Polar makes them; others might as well. They work well to avoid the "boiling cauldron of undrinkable liquid" syndrome (at least for a while...).

My ride home was unpleasantly hot today as well; I had two polar bottles (30 mile ride) that I had filled with tap water just before leaving, and they were still plenty drinkable when I got home two hours later.

TomCat_Ford

I agree with those who have said that you need to drink more water, not just while you're riding, but throughout the day. I do not know very many people who actually try to stay properly hydrated throughout the day, and I've never really understood why that is.

I also second the insulated bottle suggestion. I use Camelbak insulated bottles, and they work fairly well. The water will still get warm over time, but it's better than using standard bottles.

Walter S

Drink water during the day. If you're not peeing at least every couple hours you're not drinking enough. Take water with you and drink while riding. Don't ride as fast when it is real hot. You will be acclimated over time. Turn up the thermostat on your household AC.

mgw4jc

I do not take water for any ride - or run, for that matter - if it is less than an hour long. I do stay pretty hydrated during the day though, almost going to the bathroom to often.

It was 94F when I left work. My commute is about 42 minutes. For some reason I cannot just stand around in the sun, I seek shade quickly. But if I'm biking, I'm fine. Maybe it is the breeze or something, but I did not get too hot going home and even had a better than average commute time.

Once I got home, I guzzled 2 big cups of cold water and stood under a fan for about 10 minutes cooling off.

cyccommute 

Camelbak. Ice filled, if possible. From my experiences with touring, an ice filled Camelbak will stay cold from 3 to 6 hours in 100F heat depending on the humidity. The higher the humidity, the shorter the time but for a commute you should be fine. The cold reservoir has an added benefit of being cool on your back. It's a personal air conditioning unit. Having easy access to cold water also encourages you to drink more.

Tundra_Man 

This. I kind of live by the adage of, "if you wait until you're thirsty to drink, then you're already too dehydrated."

Another alternative is to move to eastern SD. We've had so much rain this month there's water everywhere. You could refill your water bottle any time you wanted by dipping it into the 3 feet of cool river water covering the MUP.

KenshiBiker

Last week my commute home started at about 100 deg F. Since I knew it was going to be "warm" on the ride home, I did most of the above: I drank lots of water throughout the day (I do so normally - need to stay hydrated to avoid kidney stones), I brought two insulated bottles with me (I prefer Camelback Podium Chill to the Polar bottles - I think the Podiums have better nozzles), but the main thing is I froze both bottles during the day. One was filled up pretty much all the way (leaving enough room for expansion) and the other I filled about 3/4. By the end of 2+ hours of riding (I added some hills and miles to my normal 55 minute commute), the water in the second bottle was still cool. Of course, when I got home, I drank copious amounts of water, and got into a cool shower.

pdlamb

+1

Fill the bottle with ice, then top it with water. An insulated bottle will be cool after two hours in 90F, while an uninsulated bottle will have melted in half an hour. After that the water that's left warms up.

I prefer the Polar bottles, especially for commuting, but the Camelback bottles also work.

DogBoy

When its over 90, I soak my jersey in water before I start. It will be soaked when I finish anyway. The water plus the breeze helps keep me cool. Also, +1 to the hydration comments.

modernjess

I agree with others, you are dehydrated to start.

Pro Tip: Keep a pint glass of water with you all day. Set a timer on your watch or your phone or whatever to go off every hour. If you haven't finished it by then drink it and refill it. If you are drinking a pint an hour all day you'll be good.

BobbyG

When my water gets warm, sometimes even hot, I think about desert Bedouins, cowboys and travelers of yore and think, this must be what their water temperature was like. Then I think about their un-purified water from muddy streams carried in goat-stomach botas and think, I got it pretty good.

cyccommute 

Sorry but I'm not buying that you can get 2 hours out of a "insulated" water bottle. Half an hour out of an uninsulated one I can agree with but the insulation of something like the Polar will only buy you about another half hour, if that. That may be enough for a 40 minute commute but I really doubt that you can get 2 hours out of an insulted bottle. The other part of the problem is the thermal mass of the water itself. There just isn't much there to start with. If you are consuming the water as you ride, the thermal mass decreases and the amount of heat that it takes to raise the temperature decreases as well.

The "insulation" of a Polar bottle (or similar product) isn't really "insulation" but only a dead space between two plastic walls with a reflective material added. That doesn't do much to stop heat transfer. It slows it down a little but doesn't stop it.

CrazyLemurBoy

It's like altitude. You will acclimate.

old's'cool

I've never bothered with water bottles on my sub-1 hour commutes and workout rides, and have never felt particularly thirsty while riding, in spite of sweating copiously. I slake my thirst as needed at the end of my rides, and of course take reasonable care to be well hydrated before I start.

FedericoMena

I read about lemon water with sugar and a bit of salt (say, 1/2 teaspoon of salt per liter of water). It is WONDERFUL. I get much less tired with it than with plain water.

Also: drink enough! 1 liter per hour of riding seems adequate.

fietsbob

It's in the low - mid 60's here F. thanks for reminding me why i dont live were it gets so hot & dry.. as The east side of the CO Rockies .

downwinded

The frozen bottle works best for longer periods of time. A 3/4 full insulated bottle that is frozen and then topped off with tap water, plus an ice filled insulated bottle that is topped off with water will give cool water longer than any other method I know of. That big chunk of ice takes some time to fully melt.

TransitBiker

On top of all the good advice, I'd also say watch your salt intake. Too high & it will offset some or a lot of all that water you're drinking. Sugary stuff should be avoided too on hot days.

Sugar, salt, high carb count stuff, anything that loads your blood with stuff should be kept low low low on hot days.

Me personally, my biology is very weird, as I tend to absorb heat from the environment plus generate my own, and have a high average body temperature to begin with (99.1-99.8). My favorite way of cooling down is a pint or quart of chocolate milk if I'm out, and literally hosing myself off with the garden hose for about 10 minutes after letting the warm icky water pass through. Then I go in and lay by a fan for a while & let my core temp stabilise and then drink lots of water.

I've had to ride when it was 103 in the shade and a humidity of 60 percent. That was probably the closest I've ever come to heat stroke. I was wiped out for 3 days after. I didn't have enough water, too much salt, and too much non-relaxed pushing it especially up some long hills. Lesson learned!!!!

Always learning how to better prepare and handle the heat. Cold is just bundling & windproofing.

- Andy

pdlamb

I can't force you to believe anything. I can only report my observation. Starting with a 24 oz Polar bottle full of ice and topped off with water, the ice will take over an hour to melt when the temperature is in the 80-90F range. The water is still pleasantly cool to drink at the two hour mark.

You do take more than one bottle on long rides, don't you?

jrickards

I don't drink cold water mostly because I don't like the shock of it going into my mouth (I've read that the body absorbs warm water faster but who knows what edition of the Women's Day magazine that came from).

Most people think that cold water cools down the body but in India (just to pick on one), they drink a lot of hot tea, even when it is hot out (when isn't it?).

I agree with drinking water through the day, I drink two water bottles (24oz/750ml) on average through most days.

no motor?

I use 1 water bottle for drinking and another for wetting my shirt when it's hot.