Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
I try to stay out of air conditioned places as much as possible. I find that the more I stay in air conditioned locations, the less I can tolerate the heat. My wife turns the air on quite a bit, but if I'm home alone I leave it off. IMHO people are total sissies when it comes to heat anymore; they go from A/C houses to A/C cars (often with remote starters so the car is already cool when they get to it) to A/C stores and A/C workplaces.
I don't even carry water unless it's over 80 or so, but even at 105*F (hottest I've ridden in) I still don't do any of this "pre-hydration" stuff, and I only finish about 1/2 bottle in 12 miles. I've also ridden the whole 12 miles with no water in 100* weather. It didn't bother me much, I just drank a lot when I got there. I have no idea what the "heat index" is - I just get out and ride in it.
I'm with you on people getting too used to creature comforts, but failing to hydrate is flat-out hubris. Different people have different tolerances to it, so you might be lucky, but that advice might not generalize well. For example, I've been riding every day all summer, but after a particularly long, hard ride in the heat - on a day I failed to properly hydrate - by the end of the ride pretty much every muscle group in by body was cramping badly. I was in agony for about an hour after my ride. Heat stroke is another possibility for many people. Riding in the heat is definitely possible, but most people need to be mindful of it and prepare properly.
Football coaches tend to take that whole 'water is for p*ssies' attitude as well - but a rash of players dying in the heat has made them take it a little more seriously.