Originally Posted by big john (Post 21569826)

I agree with most of your post with a couple of exceptions. First, I think hyponatremia is extremely rare with cyclists. I've heard of it, once with a friend who was part way through RAAM and had to be hospitalized and another time with a guy who was doing a 150 mile climbing ride on a hot day and he wasn't eating. I think if a cyclist is eating or at least taking electrolytes the risk is minimal. I know people have died from it during marathons, but these are people who spend 6+ hours running with nothing but water.
The other thing is the "drink only when thirsty" idea. This may work for some but certainly not everyone every time. When I do a hot climbing ride I cannot keep up with the fluid loss and have to start forcing water early in the ride. I typically come home from a hot ride (6 hours, more or less) 5 or 6 pounds lighter. I tried to ration water once, still drank a bunch, and was 11 pounds lighter after the ride. To me, thirst doesn't enter it and I must make a conscious effort to drink.

Originally Posted by Iride01 (Post 21574294)

Only issue for the badwater link is that it is for runners that can't go fast enough for the evaporative cooling effect to exceed the amount of heat they are producing. Cycling you can do that. Anytime I'm sweating and over 16 mph in high 90's to triple digits, heat isn't an issue. Slow down and/or stop sweating, then it's time to be alert for heat exhaustion.

Certainly everything in that article is as anecdotal as my statements.

Originally Posted by Iride01 (Post 21574294)

Only issue for the badwater link is that it is for runners that can't go fast enough for the evaporative cooling effect to exceed the amount of heat they are producing. Cycling you can do that. Anytime I'm sweating and over 16 mph in high 90's to triple digits, heat isn't an issue. Slow down and/or stop sweating, then it's time to be alert for heat exhaustion.

Originally Posted by Miele Man (Post 21574491)

If you add salt to your water you MUST add potassium too because without the potassium the salt is worse than nothing. I use half 'N' Half available in the baking section of most grocery stores. I add it to the water only when I need it.

Originally Posted by volosong (Post 21568940)

An aborted self-supported century ride is one of the reasons that I'm spending my retirement years in North Idaho. A few years before I retired, I planned out a nice century ride from my home in Palmdale, (the high desert north of Los Angeles), to a distant mountain town, Tehachapi. Perpendicular to the wind, so that wouldn't be a problem. Flat across the Antelope Valley, then a moderate, but relentless climb to Tehachapi. Stop for lunch in town, then down the hill and across the valley home. Easy. Or so I thought.

Started out in the morning, made good time across the valley and my first stop outside Rosamond, about 22 miles into the ride. It was a nice, sunny day. But I don't remember it being particularly warm or hot. The little corner market had closed so I rested in the shadow of the nearby wine tasting room. I noticed pretty quickly that beads of sweat broke out all over my arms. "Oh, wow!", I thought. A real world example to use in my "Weather and Climate" class that I taught at the local community college. About how wind evaporates water and as long as I was moving, I was creating my own wind which evaporated the sweat off my arms. "Cool."

I noticed my water was awfully warm too. Almost like drinking watered-down tea. There is nothing more refreshing than ice cold water and noting more disgusting that warm/hot water. Anyway, after eating my little snack, I headed off. After a few more flatish miles, I started climbing through the windmill farm. Not a particularly steep climb, just continuous. As I continued to climb, I started feeling terrible. More and more as I continued climbing.

"Uh oh!", I thought. "Something's not right." "I better turn around and head home, I'm feeling pretty bad." I ended up taking a slightly different route home, one with a lot more little convenience stores along the way. The water in my insulated bottles was so hot that I couldn't drink it. I stopped at every store on the way and purchased something cold to drink. The colder the better.

Along the way, a mail delivery truck came from the opposite direction. The mail lady slowed as she came up to me and asked if I wanted something to drink. I must have looked awful, to have her coming toward me and stopping to offer cold water. She said she carries a cooler of water with her when making her rounds.

Finally limped home and checked the thermometer. It read 104º F. With the low desert humidity, it didn't feel all that hot. But I guess under the cloudless summer sky and pushing a bicycle, it was too much. I spent the rest of the day recovering and re-hydrating. It was also the day I decided that "No more!" I'm going to retire somewhere it doesn't get so hot.

Nixed southern Idaho because it gets triple digits in the summer. Not so up north. I get a kick when people start complaining about how hot it is; and it is only in the high 80s. If they only knew. I do not ride in triple digits anymore. I'm sure that on that day, I was suffering from some form of heat stroke or heat exhaustion. Could have put myself in a coma. I was lucky that day. (And foolish me. I didn't check the weather forecast that day.)

Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy (Post 21574531)

I recall doing a pass climb in 100+ with a tailwind, the sweat from my nose dripping directly down onto my top tube. Luckily the top of the pass was only 85, which was still quite warm. That was Cayuse Pass, RAMROD, don't remember the year, but that was the year when I vowed I would work a lot harder on hydration in the first 3 hours of the ride.

Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy (Post 21574531)

. A few years ago the Furnace Creek 508 had crosswinds estimated at 60 mph. Most riders rode on anyway. Heat training works, and not only for hot weather. It improves performance in all temperatures..

Originally Posted by big john (Post 21574872)

I think that was the year Biker395 did the race. I think less than half the riders finished. He got blown off the road once into the sand. He put his bike down once and the wind picked it up and it flew a few yards away.

Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy (Post 21574895)

Homeyba, who used to post here, rode it that year, too. He posted a photo of a bike maybe 40' away, almost invisible in the blowing sand. The sand must have been just hell.

Originally Posted by saddlesniffer (Post 21574786)

What part of northern Idaho did you move to?

Originally Posted by Iride01 (Post 21576423)

I don't care for cold drink while riding in hot temps. My bottles are uninsulated and just are whatever temp they are. I've always felt that cold water doesn't get absorbed as fast in your gut. I know it's a great way to cool down quick if you are in trouble heat wise. But I've so far been able to control how hot my body gets when working or exercising outside by other things.

Maybe it comes from learning to drink warm beer when a teenager after stacking hay bales during the summer. Never were enough ice machines nearby back then to fill a cooler with.