Bolo Grubb

Forcast is for 113 in Mesa Az today. I rode my bike to work so I have no choice but to ride home.

jhershbine

I'm in Iraq, try 122 degrees...

Comatose51

I find riding in the heat is VERY grueling but then last Sunday, I went riding at 6:30 AM when it was nice and cool. I took off like a rocket! I know riding in the heat drives my heart rate up and after doing it for a while, I just got used to it. I think it's helped me get used to riding with a higher heart rate now.

msparks

I'm sorry but that's just plain stupid, just like the dead guy without a helmet, you'll be the dead guy without a water bottle.

It's a fine line between any of the heat related injuries. Just look how much the military trains in the heat. Drink plenty of water, make sure you alternate between water and some type of electrolyte drink and you can ride in just about any heat.

Go out for 2 hrs with no water.----Well, please will me your bike.

blandin

Howdy neighbor, I live right next door in Sacramento and tonight after work it was 101° and I rode 20 miles on the American River bike trail (10 miles west from the fish hatchery and back) at an avg. speed of 19.92 mph. It was hot, but I felt good and enjoyed the ride. I'll be out again on Thursday night and the forecast is for more of the same.

terrymorse 

Today, it was too hot to ride -- at least part of it.

I'm staying at Snowbird, Utah, at the tall end of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Today, I decided to check out Big Cottonwood Canyon, the climb one canyon to the north.

I flew down Little Cottonwood Canyon to the Salt Lake Valley below, turned north and headed up Big Cottonwood. This was a long climb, but very pretty and not steep. It wasn't terribly hot, maybe in the low 90s. I stopped at Brighton, the town at the end of the road, for a Pepsi and a Gatorade, then headed back to the start.

When I got down to the valley, it was the middle of the day, and the heat wave was in full swing. I rode easily to the start of Little Cottonwood and started the 7-mile climb back to Snowbird. I was sweating heavily, my body was drenched and my eyes were being stung with concentrated salty sweat. What little wind there was blew from behind, so there was no relative wind, and there was no shade at all. I watched as my Polar computer showed 98, 99, 100 degrees, topping out at 110, just as the grade got the steepest. I was in serious suffering mode, and my water was almost gone. I pulled over and sat in a tiny patch of shade, weak, nauseated and shaking. I had to get back on the bike at some point, since Snowbird was another 1500 feet above me. After about 15 minutes, I started to feel better, so I got back on the bike and rode as slowly as I could. I made it back, but I was quite dehydrated when I got to my room. I drank about 80 ounces of Coke, with some Endurolytes thrown in to replenish my electrolytes. I started to feel normal again after about a half hour.

So climbing in the sun when it's 110 degrees with no wind: too hot.

But it's a nice route. 52 miles and 6800 feet of climbing.

operator

When it gets to low 40's with humidex. I'm done. I'm usually done when it's around 31-33.

Just not, how should I put it... fun to ride when it's so hot.

shnapper

Hot in Phoenix, early morning is our choice to avoid the heat. We usually tandem together during the week from 5:30am to 7:30am.

Evenings are not as cool as early mornings here in Arizona and humidity does not exist

nomo4me

Visiting Boise for a few days. I did 30 miles tonight 6:30 - 9:10 on the Greenbelt trail and on up to the dam. Temp was about 100, lots of shade from the cottonwoods helped. I downed 2 water/gatorade bottles on the ride + 6 glasses of ice water afterwards during dinner. I love riding in the heat, just not Phoenix heat

dno

I have just got back from 2 weeks vacation in the South of France (around the Pyrenees) and got the chance to do some riding over there with the some locals. On the day we road into the Pyrenees and rode the Col d'Aubisque (see Stage 16 of this years TDF) it was 45 C when we left Laruns at the foot of the climb (this is about 113 F). Luckily the temperature dropped over the 19 KMs to the top as it was too hot at the bottom, espeically when the average grade is just a touch over 7% with several signficant sections of 10 - 13 % ( you have got to love the signs that the Frence post each kilometer telling what the average gradient is for the next 1 km coming). Needless the say I was happy to get to the top not to mention very happy to have climbed in 1 hr and 15 minutes!

So for me 113 is probably too hot, although with the right motivation and enough water or water stops, you can suffer through it!

medicinhed

Nice.

I'm a legal courier in Sac before law school this fall. I ride throughout the heat.
Do like other people have suggested. I drink tons of water and alternate with gatorade. I mix up diluted Oj with salt and no-salt(potassium) once in a while for training rides.

I like riding in the heat too. Sometimes it feels like floating.

cycleprincess

Typically soda pop isn't the best thing to rehydrate with. When you are truely dehydrated soda (because of the chemicals and sugar) will cause your kidneys to have to work harder to filter out the crud and get to what your body really needs in it (the water). Water to rehydrate, then soda. The sugary sodas are attractive because they taste good and they have carbohydrates, but there are better ways to rehydrate. Just a suggestion...

TheKillerPenguin

Hot and humid heat is the worst. When you inhale, it feels like you're taking in water. When you exhale, the air comes right back and slams into your face, making it really really difficult to breathe. I ride in that crap, but I don't enjoy it much at all. On days like that If I had a trainer, I might put it to use.

J Rad

I am just south of you in Stockton and I am not a big fan of the heat. I think the question is where are your priorities! Ride early and worry about yard work later! I would rather get up a little earlier and pull some time on the gears and do the yard work later when a I can have a cold beverage at hand! Livestrong!

noisebeam

How hot depends on your level of adaption to heat. If you suddenly start vigourous exersise in heat when previous it was only in cool, then you will have more problems. If you have over course of months/years adapted (both physical as well as learning what your body needs) to heat you can tollerate higher temps and for longer.

Heat is a factor here, it was 115.6 on my shaded bike thermometer for yesterdays 9mi commute home. Sure its dry (7% humidity) but this dry is an issue as well due to all sweat being immediately removed from skin (you are basicaly dry when riding, as soon as you stop the sweat builds) Because of this there is a 'feels like' index which is different than the 'heat index' that levels to actual temp above temps over 107 or so. One poster commented on humidity being hard to breath, similarly breathing 115 dry air is not very different that breathing the air that comes out of the oven when you open the door to check the cookies. Another interesting thing about actual temps over 108 is that they activate pain sensors on skin.

Al

TheKillerPenguin

I agree. I don't have an AC in my room, because I want to be adapted to the heat for biking. I've done this for a few years, and it's worked really well.

TexasGuy

Except I did it for 2 1/2 years and was absolutely fine. Which is why its subjective. There are some people that faint in just a little amount of sun and there are some people who literally thrive off of heat. Obviously the heat does not seem to phase me very much.

caloso

Passed a clock/thermometer sign on the way home last night: 106F at 6:01 pm. Really wasn't a problem until I had to stop for a light. I pulled into a Taco Bell and asked the counter kid if I could fill my water bottle. No problem. Nice kid.

terrymorse 

Thanks. The coke seemed to help with the nausea that accompanied my dehydration. It was half coke, half ice. Seemed to work well for me.

jrennie

its 102 in reno right now and i'm looking forward to going riding, beats the heck out of the months of low 20's we get the rest of winter.

RC2

I'd rather ride home in 113 degree weather than get into a 1130 degree car!

webist

Heat is unavoidable if you want to ride in AZ. I'm accustomed to it though. I carry two water bottles, stop to refill as necessary. It takes about 1/2 gallon of water for a two hour ride mid-day (100+degrees) and pleanty before and efter in order for me to keep the pee clear.

alanbikehouston

We get a lot of days in Houston in July and August where the heat index is at 100 degrees by 10 a.m. and around 120 degrees by 3 p.m. The most enjoyable time to ride is around 5 a.m. Pleasant temperatures and very little motor traffic. And, around 10 p.m. is also nice, motorists with families are watching the news, and the single guys are off in a bar...the roads are empty.

But, the way my work schedule has worked lately, my longest rides are is often between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. I drink about 30 ounces of cool water between noon and three to "pre-hydrate". Take two bottles of water with me. Ride more slowly than usually, and try to find as much shade as possible. Stop and drink frequently. Keep my white, long-sleeved shirt and helmet pads wet.

What I CAN'T do is try to ride fast for the full hour without water. By the end of the hour, I would feel like my head had been hit by a hammer...gotta ease up.

03FinestAL

I got out and rode 36 miles today starting at about 12:00. Didn't dare check the temp when I left, but did when I got home. It was 110 degrees! I checked Weather Underground because it shows temps in several areas that I roll through and one of the stations showed 115.........

Yes it was definitely too hot. I killed four large bottles of GU2O and 2 bottles of water that I stopped for when I was only 6 miles from home.

Kev

I enjoy the heat, I normaly go for ride early mornings on weekdays.. and around 8--10am on the weekend.. I have a family so like to spend the afternoon with them etc. But the hotter it gets in the day the more I want to go for a ride, when it is cold out I don't want to. But when I'm at work I don't really care for the heat at all.