100+ temperatures
 

I’m going to have to be smart and stay off the bike this evening it just isn’t safe. Heatstroke and heat sickness is overrated :lol:. Going to have to ride in the mornings and I’m not a morning person.

I don't shy away from the high temps. A bottle just doesn't get me as far as when temps are lower. I take it somewhat easier, but not so easy that I'd be out in those temps longer than needed. Also, if I can average 15 - 16 mph or better for the ride, then the evaporating sweat actually makes it seem a comfortable temp.

My higher fluid consumption does take some planning. Some routes I just can't get water or drink along the way so if I can't take it with me, I just don't go on those routes till cooler days. Shade is also a must, and we have plenty of tall pines, shady oaks and other broad leaf trees. So most roads and trails don't expose you to continuous sun.

It's also somewhat important to remember how quick you heat up when slowing and losing the cooling air flow. At times when climbs or other conditions force me to get below 14 mph the heat starts making itself known again. If I have to get down to 10 mph for very long on a climb, I have to be careful, because I can tell I'm getting into unsafe levels of heat.

Stopping for any length of time is potentially dangerous in or near triple digit heat. Not only do you loose the cooling effect, but the foam liner in a helmet holds heat nicely in the least desirable place for your body to heat up-- the brain! So if I have to stop other than three or four minutes, the helmet is coming off. And since I were sun-sleeves, those get pulled down. They just aren't very effective when stopped or slow on very hot days. I also move to the shade as quick as possible.

Probably if I was in your area, I'd be doing the same as you. It's been a long time since I've been to that part of Texas, but I remember it as being pretty open with shade along roads at a premium.

I can ride when it's hot but we don't have the humidity like you guys do. Still, I need tons of water when climbing in the heat. Above 95 degrees is hot to me but I have ridden over 110. I agree about the keep moving part.

The high humidity takes all the energy out of me. 2 1/2 hours with 2.5 liters of ice water is about what I can do. I have no place to refuel but can get avg 30 miles in so it works out ok. I guess I’m just tired I’m in this heat all day :lol:... S Texas I like winter riding...

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I have no idea what this even means.


I bring about 2 liters in a hydration pack. That's good for 100km in this weather. But if I plan to do more I need a resupply point.

Didn't seem to bother me in the past, like it does now. Guess I'm not adapting to high heat/humidity as easily these days. Guess I'm going to have to set the alarm clock a couple of hours earlier--maybe!

I kind of like hot vs. cool - in 80s and 90s even 100. We are having a two week spell of 90s. Did 2 33 mi low 90 rides this week. Just need to keep hydrated and out of direct sun as much as possible.

Since it is so warm, I am going to do some more night rides. It can ride the bike paths (hundreds of miles around here) with nobody else sharing.

Have you considered night rides? You just need a decent head and tail light,.

I think it’s my BP meds since they are diuretics so I slug down liquid constantly. And the RX label warns against heat and sunlight but that isn’t going to stop me from cycling. I love riding my bikes too much..

Yup, I have a niterider system all ready to go so I’m thinking about night riding. I’m just afraid of the drunks which we have many in rural Texas :lol:

I was planning to do about 4.5 hours of a route with more or less non-stop hills this morning, but that turned out to be a bad plan on a 95-degree day. Still did 3.5 hours of the route, but I'd brought only 28 oz. of water. Not happy for the last couple of hours of the ride.

At the turnaround point, I could have and should have gone half an hour out of my way to get to a (somewhat) flatter route for the ride back.

That is a long way with only 28oz of liquid. I was on the C&O close to you’re area and it got hot and humid the last few days of the ride from Pittsburgh I felt like I was back in Texas...

Might be safer in the early morning. They could be still drunk from last night, though. You have some good dirt roads, don't you? I wonder if they would be safe at night.

I'd need at least 100oz for that and then drink water all evening.

The sun angle is lower in the morning also - reducing burning.

I went out this morning but only did about 15 miles. It was 87 when I started and 90+ when I got home. I think it topped out at 94. I didn't push it at all, just enjoyed the ride. Then I cut the lawn. I drank a lot of water.

Biking in the heat is what I like. I grew up where it gets cold and didn't know there was a place where it got to 100+. I use a CamelBak now that summer is here. I usually try to start before 10AM but earlier on Saturday.mornings.

Heat adaptation gets trickier as I get older. Took longer this year. I've done several rides of 20-35 miles with the temperature in the 90s, and one 35 mile ride on a day that peaked around 100F (feels like was supposedly 111F) and did okay. I just need to ride my ride, not try to match someone else's effort. So I ride solo, regardless of the pandemic.

I did my hard training prep work -- intervals and FTP stuff -- when the weather was cooler, and still do some at night after it cools off. I don't do "workout" rides in the heat. When the temp reaches 90 I ride whatever zone 2 is for me based on heart rate and how I feel subjectively.

I track my heart rate, drink plenty of water with electrolytes and whatever voodoo potion I sprinkle in, eat a snack about once an hour (or nibble a Clif bar for an hour), stop every couple of hours to stretch, and gear down my effort to suit conditions and how I feel. Works for me.

I was planning to ride 50 miles Thursday but back spasms stopped me after 30 miles. I had to literally pick up a neighbor who fell earlier Thursday and my lower back and hips are still sore. She's not much older than I am but very frail and alcoholic, and refuses to use a walker or cane. She falls a lot. Good reminder to take care of myself so I don't end up like that.

I'm resting Friday. I planned to ride a full century Saturday for July 4, but I'll adjust depending on how I feel. If the back and hip says 50 or so, I'll do that instead.

I try for 32 oz every hour on 90 degree+ days. I'm in my mid-50's so I don't ride over 100 degrees.

I just laugh at the same message on my Garmin, as I sure don’t feel adapted!

Here in the Land Without Humidity®, 90º isn't hot. That's a "going about your normal business" temperature. Gets warm in the triple-digits, and I just start early or wait until late if it's going to go past 105º.

It seems like all of my particularly foolhardy cycling decisions have come on especially hot days. Spent 3 hours above 110º last July, drinking over 2 liters per hour. It was remarkably unpleasant.

Did 25 miles yesterday with only 951 ft of elev. gain, temps in the low 90's but the humidity was tough. Have not felt breathing difficulty like that as long as I can remember. I ride in all the temps in an effort to acclimate but this year is a new ball game. I am looking to do my first century this October but I think I will have to settle for a Birthday ride and do 72 miles. At least that way I also cover the metric century. :lol: If I didn't ride in the 90's here I would loose most of my summer. Just try to stay conscious of my hydration and stay on top of it. I am fortunate in that I can easily shift my rout and refill my water. This all sounds good until the humidity makes it feel like I am breathing through a pillow.
Frank.

I've done several pass climbs in 100°+ heat on rides from 8-10 hours, mostly in my 60s. One needs to train in the heat, wear an HRM, know where your water sources will be, wear a Camelbak, and use electrolytes sensibly. One also needs to wear a really good wicking jersey.

I’m going to set up my niterider light. I already use a rear light all the time. Take off around 7 pm then ride into the early night before the drunks are around. The backroads are lightly traveled so the drunks use them trying to avoid the cops.

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I'm a few miles inland from the coastline on Southern California. 62F this morning when I went out for a ride at dawn, getting up to about 78F this afternoon.

You're welcome!

I used to like the heat but since I've been on Beta Blockers the heat kicks my butt. I find I'm worn out at the end of my rides and not from the mileage.

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.)

The first sign of serious trouble in the heat is that those nice little beads of sweat on your forearms aren't there anymore. Dry forearms and you need to be somewhere shady where there's water inside an hour or you'll probably have a Health Event. Another thing which starts a little earlier is rising HR at the same effort. Now that I use sun sleeves all the time, I go by my HRM. I've always worn an HRM, so I'm quite familiar with what normal looks like.

I'll drink water no matter its temperature. Even quite warm water will cool one effectively as sweat. Water stays much cooler in a Camelbak, especially a Camelbak that was first filled with ice. Camelbak makes special ice trays which make long ice cylinders which melt more slowly. Even with the Camelbak, I'll have a liter bottle on the bike.

On long rides, whatever the temperature, I'll take enough Endurolytes to make me thirsty enough to drink enough so that I'll need to pee about every 3 hours. That of course has the effect of keeping my electrolytes always in balance. If that much time goes by without peeing, I'll find somewhere to sit and drink water until I pee, then go on. Even on an event ride, losing time this way is much better than a DNF.

I never drink water without thirst. IOW, I drink to thirst. That prevents hyponatremia, which is at least as great a medical risk as dehydration. Only experience can tell one how much electrolyte one needs to create thirst. One doesn't always get thirsty when dehydrated. Thirst depends more on electrolyte balance than it does of dehydration level, which can be independent of that balance. One also will have a much better electrolyte balance on long rides if one always eats a low salt diet, which sounds backwards but is nevertheless how it works.

I didn't figure this out on my own. Hammer Nutrition has a free PDF handbook which explains all of this. I read it when I was first starting to ride long distances, long ago. It works. You don't have to use Endurolytes, their brand, anything with about that composition and strength works fine. I never put electrolytes in my water, because one doesn't always need the same balance of electrolyte to water consumed, though another good way to go is to have one bottle of strong electrolyte concentration and another source of plain water, and to alternate them according to one's need to create thirst.

This was so much typing that I'm going to bookmark it for future reference.

I hear ya. Beta blockers suck. Not getting enough blood to your muscles sucks. But I'm alive 🙂

I have been on them for years. I seem to have worked past them though - built up immunity? My blood pressure is low enough now I skip them on some ride days (not suggesting anybody should).

I got the heat problem solved. No more sun or nasty sunblock..


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:thumb: Be safe. Happy 4th,!