Sometimes, I think I am getting too old for this stuff.

A few weekends ago, three friends and I decided we would take advantage of the warm weather and do some riding in the Santa Monica Mountains. Ordinarily, we would start the ride from Pacific Coast Highway and ride up into the mountains, and end the day with a sweet descent and a flattish cooler ride back to the start.

But with the SoCal fires months ago, eastbound Pacific Coast Highway remains closed to other than local residents. We could have taken a canyon road down to PCH and started from our usual spot, but we decided instead to start in Calabassas, ride down to the beach, then climb back out at the end of the day.

Oy, was that a mistake.

We took Mulholland Drive westward. Mulholland is interesting in that it is about as flat as roads get in those mountains, but it is anything but flat. All went fine and thinks really didn't get tough until we did the Rock Store Climb.
Rock Store is only about 1000 feet or so, and I never regarded it as a particularly tough climb, except perhaps at the very end.



But it was hot. And my memory, as usual, was clouded with optimism. (Yea, I'm an optimist ... shoot me.)

We all got to the top in pretty good shape, but the heat took a chunk out of us by the time we got to the top. And yea, there are significant 8-9% grades. So much for me remembering it as 5% or so. I drank water fairly prodigiously ... with Nuun tablets. And also downed Endurolytes like a pill popper.
From the top of Rock Store, Mulholland is mostly downhill to the beach. I say mostly because it has lots of climbs on it ... lots of up and downs.

We got to the bottom at Leo Carillo State Beach and were rewarded by cool breezes. We also stopped at the General Store for some chips and something cool to drink. But what's this? My heart rate is still 110-120! And we had been sitting there for some time. Ordinarily, my heart rate goes back to normal very soon after exertion, but not today. I was relieved that we would be riding the next 15 miles or so along the cool coast, but not at all looking to the long climb back up to the cars.




And oy, that climb. I climb Latigo a lot. It is my favorite climb in the Santa Monicas. It isn't terribly steep ... again to my optimistic memory ... mostly 4-6%.

But as we all climbed, getting more an more overheated (it was 105 at one point), I noted that some of the grades were closer to 8-9%. And extended too. Ooof. I don't like stopping on climbs, but I did that multiple times. I was relieved to see that my friends also stopped for a breather under the cool shade of the occasional coastal oak tree. As time went on, it got harder and harder. I finally resolved at the next shade spot, to give someone my key so that if it came down to that, they could get the car and come back to get me. I didn't think that would be necessary, but just in case. I usually LEAD the group, but I was definitely the lantern rouge today.



After my friend went off, I continued to struggle. And each time I needed to rest came sooner than the time before that. My heart rate was a solid 165 ... not unusually high for me, but took a long time to recover ... even when resting. My skin started to tingle. I felt like crap. Believe it or not, it felt just as bad when I was stopped ... just a different kind of bad.

I was about 1/4 mile from the false summit when I stopped again. This time I thought I would get a REAL rest and lay down. So under the shade of an oak tree, I laid flat on my back on the shoulder of the road, checking out the sun filtering through the leaves.
I think I was there about 5-10 minutes or so, when I heard a car approaching. I gave a thumbs up ... indicating I hadn't fallen or anything, but the driver stopped anyway.

He asked if I wanted a lift, and I declined.

"Are you sure? You don't look OK. I'm happy to give you a ride."

So if you ride much ... especially the endurance riding I have done ... you have a lot of experience with being utterly exhausted, yet screwing up the courage and strength to continue.

But at that I felt something I don't feel very often on the bike ... a rush of common sense. Screw it. I'll take a ride.

My goal was to get to the Malibu Cafe ... all downhill from the summit I was trying so hard to reach. I knew that there, I could get lots of cool drinks ... hell ... even a beer. I envisioned something heavenly.
So my Good Samaritan loaded my bike in his Honda Element (great car, BTW) in a way that made it clear that this was not his first rodeo. And as he drove me to the Malibu Cafe, we chatted about cycling. He was a cyclist as well, and we had some mutual friends.

The Malibu Cafe was my goal because I thought it would be a good place to wait for my friends to come back with the car to retrieve me. Imagine my surprise when we pulled up, and all of them were there! And all clearly suffering ALMOST as bad as I was (I have about 10 years on all of them). I think they might possibly have been able to make it all the way to the car, but not me.

My bud Nora (who I had given my key) got in the Good Samaritan's Element. She was back in about an hour with my van. In the mean time, I guzzled some Kombuchas. Turns out the Malibu Cafe has changed and is now some kind of private club. No beers, but there is a General Store with cool drinks.




Getting back to our starting location, we adjourned to a hamburger stand. And as a true sign of how bad I felt, I had very little appetite. Let me tell you, when I turn down a hamburger, something is wrong. I was weak as a kitten. I used to handle heat pretty well. Lots of people around me would be suffering, but although I would be sweating profusely, I typically felt hot, but otherwise fine.

Not so much now. It took me days to recover.

Just for yuks I looked up the symptoms for heat exhaustion.





Lesson learned: Do not underestimate the heat. Do not overestimate your ability to handle it.

Or as my SO is known to tell me when I am off for a ride: "Don't do anything stupid."

Glad you’re doing good now. Grew up in Florida, now in Georgia, and yes heat is not be taken lightly. On this morning’s ride, a couple of us observed that it seems to be getting hotter faster in the day, even if the high isn’t really out of historical line for that date. Have to start paying attention to the hourly forecasts too.

Sorry you had a tough day, Vic. I enjoy those mountains much more when the weather is cooler, even cold, as cold as it gets there. I remember doing a lot of climbing then stopping at the Canyon Market (which burned down in the Woolsey fire) for a bowl of their great tri-tip chili before heading back to CSUN.

I've always done better than many others in the heat but it takes acclimation. When I was working outside I would acclimate just by working. Now I have to be more deliberate. The first heat wave can surprise us.

In 2020 when everything was closed, even parks had the water turned off, I did some solo rides (our club even closed) when it was hot. I'd start with a 70 oz Camelbak and 2 large bottles. I'd drain the Camelbak as soon as I could, then I had the bottles to get me to the next water.

forgot to add: The SM mountains are hot when the valley is hot. People think it will be cooler because it's close to the ocean. One time I drove to the beach on a hot day to climb Latigo with my ex wife. Nice at the beach, a few miles up Latigo it was 100 degrees. My wife turned bright red and we turned around.

Your area sounds like a beautiful place to ride, just not on this particular day. I’m glad it ended well. As someone who grew up in the desert and now lives in Northern New England, I’ve found my tolerance for temperature extremes has diminished with age.

Congrats on your smart choice - accepting the ride. Glad you're OK. Be careful out there!

Been there (though not geographically) done that. My two rules: if high HR when resting, sit in the shade and drink until it comes down. I haven't peed in 3 hours, same, sit and drink until I do. Now, the tricky part is that this depends on the availability of water and shade. Yeah one loses time, but one survives to ride another day. Nothing quite like mountain passes at 105°, noticing that one's forearms are no longer damp and no sag option.

Discretion is the better part of valor. Glad your inner wisdom brought you out of a potentially life altering circumstance.

It seems we forget every year how hard the first hot ride can be.

At least I do. Heat acclimation is a real thing. Glad you’re ok, with only a good story to tell.

The SMs are brutal HOT! From May on I never ride there unless I can get a start with first light, and off the road by 11. And except for the Rock store and the store just a piece down the road from the Rock Store, there are NO places to buy water. I know the locals know places where they can get water - not info I have... so I always carry 3 24 oz bottles, 2 water , 1 with diluted electrolyte.
Amazed that you carried as far as you did !!! I woulda been vulture snack long before that !
And when it's HOT in the SMs, there often is no breeze to help evaporative cooling...
You did well to take the ride - to ride another day !
Ride On
Yuri

I lived in west Texas for a time, and found myself riding a club TT at 115F. I was acclimated and managed. Fast forward after a few years of living in the PNW and we had that heat wave a few years back, I thought I'd be fine riding the 5 miles home at 115F, due to Texas experience. Nope nope nope. I made it halfway and fortunately there was a Target to stumble into and cool down.

Acclimation is real, and heat tolerance does fall off with age.

Have a look at your cogset. I thought I swapped my normal 12-23 for a 12-28 in preparation to riding the Mulholland Challenge course. I felt awful and stopped several times wondering where my fitness went. Got back to the car and was relieved to see the 12-23 still on my bike.

12-23??

Yikes! I didn't even know they make that cassette size any more. The last time I used an x-23 cassette was in the '70s. And I'm never going back.

Getting older is a thing and probably you could have handled things better when you were younger. But 100+ F is dangerous for anyone exerting themselves. I don't mean to say no one should do it. Just that thermal management is much harder.

This sounds more like too many things stacked against you that day. The weather mostly, perhaps lack of adaptation to the heat and maybe some less than ideal preparation and route planning. And sure age isn't helping, but I'd bet that was not a primary issue.

I'm glad you listened to your body and took the ride offered. Else, you might have finished your ride in the back of an ambulance. As an endurance sport, we're all used to pushing though the discomfort, but there does come a point when that is a mistake.

I'd bet you can handle this same route another day. Better prepared, and maybe next fall when the weather has cooled.

Sometimes it's better to retreat and live to fight another day.

So glad to learn you put ego away and took the ride. It could have very well saved your life. Your cautionary tale is a good reminder as we age, we are not indestructible young bucks and are very susceptible to high temps.

Always appreciate the recaps of your rides, and especially that this one had a good ending, your ability to write this.

Good story. One to take to heart (so to speak).
I avoid the heat. No long rides above 90° for me. Only a few days per year does that happen up here. Guess I've been a 'left coastal liver' too long! Or a wimp. . So be it. .

The Mulholland Challenge is enough to make anyone feel unfit. The now defunct Mulholland Double was even worse ... all the fun of the challenge ... now with bacon! lol

The Mulholland Double cane in handy when I was explaining to a guy at a bike shop why I wanted low climbing gears. He kept telling me that I really didn't need them ... just get in better shape.

"Listen here. You can talk smack when you find yourself at my age, 170 miles into a 200 mile ride, and they send you up a 10-16% grade for several miles (that would be Decker)."

That kinda ended the conversation. I can honestly say that I have never found myself complaining that I should have saved a few ounces and left my climbing gears behind ... but I have OFTEN wished for lower gears.

Thanks! (And a thanks to all the others who thought I made the right decision).

Doing the smart thing has never been my forte.

Good choice. I used to ride in NJ a lot and we would get some 100F days at really high humidity that could be extremely dangerous. One day I went for a short ride near home north or Princeton on an extremely hot/humid day when I realized things weren't right. Fortunately my wife was home (rarely was) and she picked me up. One year our club century, in September, was on a day with 100F temps and on the heels of a hurricane to the south, so close to 100% humidity. The guys I rode with were all in great shape and we were smart about hydrating but man, I was on empty when I got home. My wife kept pouring virgin margaritas with lots of salt into me and that helped.

I know it's hot out there right now and our nephew is hiking the PCT. He's clueless, already suffered heat stroke, etc. Just hope he doesn't die. He's approaching Big Bear Lake at the moment.

We live in NM and recently drove out to Paso Robles/Monterrey for a winery trip with friends. On the way out we stayed in Tehachapi at a nice little campground because campgrounds to the east in the Mojave area were just too hot. Weather in Paso was fine at the time. In April we were in Joshua Tree and the weather was great then too.

I enjoyed reading your post. Glad you guys played it safe and are OK. Please post more trip reports (with photos!) from time to time.

My turn. Four years ago, I got the bright idea to do a 40 mile mtb ride with temps in the mid nineties. Being confident that half of the ride - of the out and back - was shaded, I would be fine. Was not thinking too clearly about the other half of the ride in direct sunlight. Fortunately at the half way point there were restaurants and an outdoor shower. I had drank both my tall water bottles by the time the half way point arrived. So had a very large fruit juice and refilled the bottles with water. Fully clothed in biking kit, I stood under the shower on cold as I could stand it for the return trip, which just happened to be uphill. Think I dried out in less than 10 minutes.

I made it 3/4s of the way, with both water bottles empty (yup two bottles in 15 miles) but I live where the temps in the 60s are preferred. I know I could have made it home, but only on fumes and after almost passing out a week earlier on a road ride, decided to abandon. There was a town off the rail trail I was using with a Starbucks, so headed there, made the call of shame/stupidity and enjoyed a vente overly sweet mango something. Mrs RSbob showed up in 20 minutes with a bike rack, a wry smiles and the AC on full blast.

Ah, I feel your pain.

Last weekend, I had a mini-Waterloo myself. It was a good 10F cooler, and this time, we started at sea level, so that the worst of the climbing was in the cool morning air.

All the same, the more I climbed, the tireder my legs got, and by the time we got to Triunfo Pass (roughly 4000 feet of climbing), I was pretty beat. No ... not "Lay down on the roadside staring at the trees and contemplating the meaning of life" tired. Not "Flag down a passerby to come and get me" tired. But I was substantially more tired than I ordinarily would be after a climb like that. My legs also felt tired and dead ... something that is not typical for me, even on much longer rides with much more climbing.

The next day it was clear that the head cold or sinus infection I had earlier in the week had NOT cleared, as all the coughing and snot blowing returned (no, not the 'Rona ... at least I tested negative).

So maybe that was it? I rode, if at all, mostly short flat rides all this week, and as of today feel much better.

Or was it that I am just going too hard? I noticed that I got a lot of Strava PRs on Saturday. This is not a climb I do all THAT often, but at least 10 times or so in my history, so there is that. Maybe my friend is just that much faster than she used to be.

Or is it OFD (Old Fart Disease)?

I have a wellness physical coming up in a couple of weeks. I'm going to press for a more complete physical this time and really get on the cardiologist for a full work up. Every time I see one, I get the feeling that whatever my problems may be, the pale compared to the other cases they are dealing with. But I plan to be a squeaky wheel this time.

Think you have quite a way to go until OFD, especially since you were not completely free of your illness. Another week and you will be killing it again.

A little story. There is a guy here on Strava that held just about every segment lead in the 65-69 category. My mission was to try to beat his times and have been about 70% successful but the remaining times he posted are way out of reach. Two years ago, I ran into him while cycling and we chatted for quite a while. Told him how much I admired his segment records and KOMs. He related that used to road race, but didn’t go into the specifics. Even though he was 70, he was riding a new S-WORKs in full kit. (Now we get to the crux of this writing) I asked how he was doing these days and he said that after he turned 70, even though he still cycles, lifts weights and hikes up mountain sides, his cycling has fallen apart. And checking out the segment leaders in th 70+ group, he only has a handful of bests versus his utter dominance earlier.

Now that I am six months into my 70th year, I am finding recovery is absolutely necessary after a hard ride. And after a really hard day, two days are necessary. I also go to the gym, gets lots of sleep, don’t drink but maybe a glass of wine every other week, and eat pretty healthy. However, his words about turning 70 still echo. I know we are all different and age at different rates, but I am seeing a decline, no matter how hard I fight. Yes, I got a few real KOMs last year on some out of the way segments, and am bagging bracket KOMs (70 to 74) currently, but it really takes it out of me rather than just soft pedaling around. If I was less competitive and love climbing it would not be an issue. But old habits die hard and not without struggle, and a day or two off. All I can say is FO OFD.

I've always lived in hot climates and have had heat stroke on two occasions (once on the bike). It sucks. I'm glad you're okay.
Unfortunately, I think we do get more prone to it as we get older.

Thank you very much for the story. I know the area very well, having done extensive bicycling as a UCLA student (1968-78). I loved Mulholland Drive, from the Griffith Park area all the way west. With Velo Club LaGrange I did a number of NIchols Cyn -> Mulholland Dr -> Benedict Cyn loops. On my own or with a couple of my buds, I explored the canyons of Brentwood, where I had lived before high school, Bel-Air, and Pacific Palisades, as well as the Malibu climbs: Topanga Cyn, Stunt Rd, Tuna Cyn, Latigo Cyn, etc, I always did my solo rides early in the morning, leaving the west Los Angeles / greater Westwood area at first light, to avoid issues with heat, which is something I have never handled well, as a lifelong coastal Southern California "weather wimp."

My ONLY time cycling in SoCal was back in the 80s when I had visited a cousin that lived in the Valley (Reseda maybe) and had my bike in the back of my car. I'd never been to Malibu and there I went on Topanga Canyon Road. Looking at the map now I don't know how far I went towards Malibu proper but it was my first time seeing the ocean in SoCal. Every other time I'd been there, and it wasn't a lot, I just never made it there because it just wasn't on everybody else's agenda. I was in my 20s then. My more recent visits have taken me along PCH up to Ventura just because, then through Topanga to another cousin in Chatsworth, and in a car. I was only once in LA between the 80s and 2022 so never got a chance to do more.

I'm 70 now and feeling the same way as everyone else. You hit that age and suddenly you just can't do it the way you used to. And the heat! It will be near 100 today in NYC and the next few days too so I'm staying home in the A/C.

And one place on my list to ride, just for the kick, Venice Beach. It's the only place that's tackier than Coney Island.

Similar waterloo story although, on a hike, not a bike ride.


This past summer (just prior to turning 71), I had it in my mind to do the Franconia Ridge Trail in New Hampshire's White Mountains. I had done it with my youngest son a couple years earlier, although, it was very foggy along the ridge line part of the hike (the section above the tree line). So, still a lot of fun and very cool experience but didn't get the great views. I wanted to come back to do the hike after hitting 70, well, just because :-). Anyway, got started on the trail (Falling Waters Trail for anyone familiar with the area) probably before 9:00 AM. Wasn't particularly hot, but it was very humid. As is always the case with me even when cycling, I didn't pay close enough attention to my hydration so I was sweating - a lot! The Falling Waters Trail is about 3,000 feet of vertical over about 3 miles so about a really steady 20% grade. About 3/4 of the way up to the ridge line, I was feeling really tired - I expected my legs to feel it, but I was also getting nauseous. I had taken a couple of Advil (impact of hiking sometimes gets my back sore), too, so that didn't help my stomach. I made it to the ridge line but was finding I was really having to stop very frequently to rest.


The way this hike goes is, you have a fairly steep (although, not technical) ascent, then a few miles along the ridge line, which has two summits (Mount Lincoln and Mount Lafayette), each somewhere in the 200-300 feet of additional ascent/descent, then a few miles back down to the trail head. Well, I was about 2/3 up the Mount Lincoln summit and was getting worried about making it (my youngest son was with me). This was probably half way through the hike so I had a decision to make. Try to continue, knowing I had to finish the Mount Lincoln summit, descent to the ridge line, then up the Mount Lafayette summit. Or, just go back and make my way down the Falling Waters Trail. It killed my ego to not finish the loop, but I was really, really struggling with doing any ascending. This is a hike where you can go clockwise or counter-clockwise. Because the Falling Waters Trail is more steep and can get wet and slippery (it had rained pretty heavily the previous couple days), it's considered more treacherous to descend in that direction. But, I was really losing confidence in making it up the remaining climbs. So, we back-tracked and I made a real effort to catch up on my hydration. It ended up being the right decision as I did get a second wind after a while.


Actually, it turned out to be rather fortuitous that we back-tracked. On the way down, we came across a young man from Quebec who had slipped off a 10-foot drop and was pretty badly hurt - lying on his back and couldn't get up. There were several others from Quebec trying to help but their cell service didn't work in the U.S. I had a Garmin Inreach (and my son's iphone did have a spotty connection) so we were able to reach 911 and remained until the NH Fish and Game rescue crew made it up (probably over a mile of steep climbing from the trailhead). I have to say, these rescue teams (volunteers) are AMAZING. In a couple of hours there were around 2 dozen volunteers along with medical supplies and a stretcher (forgot the word for it they use) to literally carry the guy down this mountain.


It all worked out at a couple levels, but humbling to make the (right) decision to turn back.