funrover 

Sunday the 26th was a great/not great day for me. I did get in almost 50 miles of ride time, this I love. I also was able to watch the last leg of the USA Pro Cycling event downtown Denver. I had a great time. However I did not drink enough water. I had sucked the camelbak dry and could not find a place to replenish it. I was helped by a nice older couple who called 911 and the ambulance took me to the hospital. I will spare the details but just be careful out there. I normally cover all my bases but this 1 time I did not and I ended up in an ambulance.

I made many mistakes:
1. Didn't have enough fluids
2. Didn't eat enough during the day
3. Kept pushing when should have stopped
4. Did not find shade/area to cool down

Started off a nice normal ride




Some time trial fun

funrover 

Some random shots of bikes/amount of bikes/crowds












Heading back home







Where I actually ended up at!

10 Wheels

Learn to carry extra water. Nice pics. Thanks.

PhotoJoe 

WOW. Glad you're ok. And thanks for letting us all learn from your mistakes. Feel better, drink more and get back on the horse!

TrojanHorse

Wait, you rode 50 miles on that bike?

you're officially Hard Core.

It's good to learn from your mistakes but more gooder to learn from the mistakes of others - thanks for sharing.

TrojanHorse

You know, just thinking more about this, running out of water is a problem I have all the time, but not to the extent that you managed it - went on a 50 miler Saturday and for maybe the first time ever, I thought about refilling long before i ran out - was going to top off at a water fountain on the LA river trail. Well, it was broken, and there were no other opportunities until I got off the trail (it's a paved bike path down the LA "river"). Got off the trail in a sketchy neighborhood and was unwilling to stop at any of the gas stations along that route (10 people loitering in front of all of them, what's up with that?) so I didn't end up refilling till maybe 5 miles after I ran out.

Sunday, did another 50 miler and was smarter about it - topped off at a known working water fountain but I still ran out 7 miles from home or so - not terrible but the difference between riding with water and riding without is really uncomfortable for me.

funrover 

I am normally good about that. I felt like an idiot. But I will be picking up a few bolt on cages now.

Will be back to it soon! I love to bike!

LOL, I don't know about hard core. That bike seems to just go! All that helped me. The nice couple, the paramedics, the doctor and the nurse staf all said the same thing about that bike. They couldn't believe I rode that distance on that bike. Made me laugh a little. I rather like to cruise on the old 3 speed! But I have completed this route numerous times on my road bike w/o issue. So there may be something to it after all....

Black wallnut 

IMHO this thread should be sticky! I think many folks underestimate the dangers of dehydration. Glad you found help when you did. Hope you spring back quickly. Awesome pics by the way.

Mr. Beanz

IMO, another one of your big mistakes was not planning a head, where to refill water. Everytime we go for a ride, road or trail, we plan water stops and make sure we know exactly where to refill whether it be a fountain or a mini mart. If we do not know of any resources, we change the course.


For example., Many local riders heading through the mountains often ask where to refill. I keep my images like this to inform others of their options.


mtbaldyfacilities by gulpxtreme, on Flickr

Doohickie

I've done similar mileage on bikes like that.

1855Cru

This is really crucial, if you do rides over 30-35 miles, especially in summer, you must think about where you will refill.

Water is life!!

goldfinch

I am glad you are OK.

There have been several heat stroke/exhaustion posts lately. Thanks for posting your experience. Previous history of heat illness is a risk factor for heat illness in the future so please be extra careful, especially when it is both hot and humid out.

Your bike is cool.

funrover 

Thanks!

NZier

As a new rider I have numerous questions about water consumption. How much water should you drink per 20 miles? This is my maximum ride currently, and I always find I drink about 3/4 a water bottle. I think it's not quite enough based on how thirsty I always feel after the ride is over. When I ride about 12 I hardly touch the water bottle, save for a couple sips (maybe 1/3). How much water should I be consuming? Food also often becomes a concern of mine, especially since I'm altering eating habits to be slightly more health conscious. By my estimates today I burned ~1400 calories based on my height/weight/speed. At this point I'm starting to get close to a negative calorie consumption on the day, which always causes me concern, but I'm not quite sure what to do? So.... then that makes me ask. What is a healthy rate of water consumption, when should food be considered for rides?

jim p

Sorry to hear about your ER visit. I hope that you are going to fully recover.

That bike looks almost exactly like the bike that I had in the 60's. Mine was a Sears JC Higgins 3 speed
english racer. I didn't know how to maintain it and after many years of riding the handle bar finally broke and I parked the bike and finally it got lost.

funrover 

I will make it! Just sucks my ride today/tomorrow is a no go.

Bummer you don't still have the bike. They are fun to restore and ride!

RichardGlover

Whenever I plot out a new route that's going to take me more than 1 hour per bottle (30 minutes per bottle in temps over 90), I use google maps' search function to find convenience stores along the route, and the "Street View" option to examine the place to verify that it's not too sketchy, and is likely to have something for refills. It also helps to know what it looks like.

TrojanHorse

you burned 1400 calories in a 20 mile ride? No. No you didn't. Most of those calorie estimators are way off. The Training Peaks power analyzer guy on the US Pro Challenge mentioned that Jens Voigt averaged 380 watts (measured, not estimated) for the last hour of racing in his stage win and probably burned 1,000 calories, so that is probably near the absolute peak of what's possible for a human on a bicycle. And nobody posting on this forum can average anywhere near 380 watts for an hour or they would have gone pro a long time ago.

Don't worry about eating on rides until they're 3 hours or more.

If you really want to know if you're drinking enough water, weigh yourself before you leave on your ride and weigh yourself immediately after. The only difference will be water weight from sweating, and a little drop in weight is fine. Off hand, I'd say your water consumption is probably fine if it's cool near you, otherwise you probably need to up your consumption a little.

EGUNWT

Jens also weighs in at probably 130 pounds and is riding a 15 pound bike, and trained in a wind tunnel to learn how to hold himself on the bike to reduce his wind resistance while keeping up a high cadence. That stuff matters. A lot. We trade a lot of efficiency for comfort, and he doesn't have that luxury.

EGUNWT

Oh, and my rule of thumb for water consumption is 1 bottle per 10 miles. I use the 24oz bottles. That's not an absolute, it's a starting point. In hot weather, I drink *much* more, and in cooler weather I drink a *little* less. I don't take food unless I'm going more than 30 miles. And if I'm doing 30 urban miles, I usually just stop at a coffee shop and get a rice krispie treat or something if I get hungry.

Rowan

At least the hospital let your bike keep you company in the ward!

apollored

Get well soon and back on your bike, am glad you got to a hospital before your condition became more serious.

And glad as well you didnt have to leave your bike unattended on the road.

CACycling

Trojan pretty well covered it but that answer assumed you were fully hydrated and had some good energy stores available before starting the ride. If you start in a deficit in either hydration or nutrition, you are fighting an uphill battle.

vesteroid

Power is power...other things you mentioned may effect his speed based on a give power but his calorie output and power output aren't effected.

And from a Clyde that trains with power...holding 380 watts for 3 minutes is crazy hard for me, much less 60

TrojanHorse

Vest nailed it - his weight is what lets him be faster at a given power (particularly up hills)... but for such a light guy to churn out that much power is amazing.

Obviously sprinters will blow those numbers out of the water, but only for very short periods of time.

You can go here: https://home.trainingpeaks.com/races/...challenge.aspx

if you want to see some actual power figures from racers in the US pro challenge. Obviously they're all pros and in peak condition, which means comparing to anything we would do is ludicrous, but it's fun to see what they're capable of.