How to deal with extreme heat???

[spazjensen]

I am just wondering about those of you who have to put up with the heat. Namely riders in the Southeast. What’s some of your solutions to the heat and being able to push on. I know about conditioning along with hydration and all, but I want to know about ‘while on the trail -or while riding’.

[Mitchstar]

I live in Australia and at Christmas time it’s gets to about 40 degress ( thats my temp dunno what it would be for u american’s) in the shade . NOT a good idea to go riding in that . Even during winter i always have my bladder of 2 litres full up ….. 😃

[Mitchstar]

Man do u ever hit up some of the trails in QLD ….. I live in QLD

[Jason_B.]

Many I ride with carry a camel back to drink out of and a water bottle in a cage to squirt on their heads to cool down.

[bonkedagain]

My favorite method is to not ride in the heat. 😎 Living in Colorado I have that option. Otherwise, I definitely wear a poly shirt with lots of mesh for venting. I cool down as much as I can by stopping in shady areas that are exposed to a breeze whenever I find them. I also will load up my camelback with ice and then top it off with water or sports drink. It helps keep the back cool and you can get a few sips of cool drink before it melts.

I did do a MTB trip in Katoomba, NSW, once. I’m sure it seems normal to you down under, but I thought it was really novel to have a bunch of wallabies cross the trail in front of me. 😉

[spazjensen]

Thanks guys. I have used a camelback since I started riding. The pouring water over the head I’ve tried. I just can’t stand the sopping wet feeling when the water runs down to your shorts, causes some complications if you know what I mean. I alway wear the lightest clothing possible (under armour type of shirts and bike shorts not spandex). I guess that the bottom line is you do what you can. Fotunately, its starting to cool off here in SE Alabama. I like it when it gets to about 75 degrees outside. That’s when I can really lay it down. During the summer months I have to take it easy. Guys that I ride with say that they’re impressed with what I can already do so far as endurance in the heat is concerned. Go about 6 or 8 miles of various rough terrain and elevation without taking a break. I consider that to be good for myself. Some of you may do better.

[bonkedagain]

Oh, another thing I forgot about. When I’m doing trail work one thing I do to cool down is soak my shirt in a stream, squeeze it out enough so that it isn’t dripping, and put it back on. That feels [i:1h73yq1c]really[/i:1h73yq1c] good.

[spazjensen]

That would work really well for me. Just one problem. There aren’t any streams or creeks at any of the places I ride.

[spazjensen]

That’s not a good enough reason not to ride.

[Jason_B.]

The best start for this is don’t wear cotton.

[spazjensen]

Sorry mongoose. I wasen’t talking down at anybody. Sometimes I just know that I can do better, and I get frustrated when I fall short of my best. Let me apoligize for any offenses that I may have made with that comment earlier. 😢 😀
See below

"That’s not a good enough reason not to ride"

[brianW]

I grew up and lived most of my life in New England. If it was in the 80’s I didn’t ride. A few years ago my wife and I decided to move to GA. At first I was avoiding the hot and steammy weather but over the last 2 years have learned to deal with it, if not actually adepted to it.

When I ride in the heat,
Camelbak filled w/water and ice
water bottle filled w/ same

At the end of a climb I take a good sip of water. I also try to get a sip or two every 15 minutes. Keeps you hydrated and cool. I personally do not like to "pour" water over myself. I find the salt/sweat in the eyes is worse than the benifits.

Other things I do, take it a bit easier, avoid riding during the hottest parts of the day. Watch the sweat, if you stop sweating that is a BAD sign. Monitor the color of your pee, should be clear to a slight yellow. Dark yellow is a sign of dehydration. If you feel dizzy STOP and take a break. Have a cold drink (besides beer) back at the trail head.

Clothing, I do not ming cotton on hour rides but prefer a poly-pro for the longer rides.

Just a few ideas from me. -brianW

ps 40 C is just over 100 F

[Jason_B.]

"brianW" wrote

I I personally do not like to "pour" water over myself. I find the salt/sweat in the eyes is worse than the benifits.

Funny how different we all are.
I myself wear contacts and when I get riding, the wind in my eyes seems to dry out my contacts and they like to try and pop out. I look forward to the point in my ride where my helmet padding has soaked up so much sweat that it has saturated and the sweat starts to run into my eyes and keep my contacts moist. 😆

I hate the cold but the heat doesn’t really bother me to much.

[brianW]

"Poly-pro" is a term used in the northeast hiking community that means any synthetic material that will wick moisture away from the skin.

Armour Wear would be an example of it.

Up north were hypothermia is a real threat year roung we wear poly-pro a lot. Why? when you sweat in a cotton clothing it looses all its insulating properties. Staying dry is the key.

[Jason_B.]

To keep in line with the "fabric" discussion….

When I was in the Navy, our uniforms were made of cotton (working uniform). The first day of boot camp they taught us to use our uniform as a flotation device. Once in the water we would button the top button on our shirt, tuck our chin to our chest and blow into our shirt. The shirt would inflate and as long as we kept it wet, it would hold air and we could relax and float in the water. Worked with our pants and hats as well (all cotton).

The cotton fibers would swell when they got wet and seal in the air.

I would imagine a sweat soaked cotton shirt would react the same, sealing in all the body heat you are generating.

Wear a fabric that breathes.

This has been a public service announcement

😃

[Beaker]

"brianW" wrote

"Poly-pro" is a term used in the northeast hiking community that means any synthetic material that will wick moisture away from the skin.

"Poly-pro" is short for polypropylene which are generally your tighter fitting compression type shirts. (Think UnderArmour)

"Poly" generally refers to polyester which fits looser and has bigger ‘vents’. (Think NorthFace, etc)

Both wick the moisture away from your body allowing it to evaporate from the shirt as opposed to on your skin.

[spazjensen]

I wear poly stuff everytime I go riding. It does work really well in breathing and wicking away. One other thing that I have found to work well is ice paks. The back pak that I wear has a pocket on the backside of it with gel type padding on the outside. I take a couple blue ice packs and put them in there. I make sure that they are just barely frozen though for comfort sake. Works good.

One thing that I saw that some firemen and most race car drivers use is a special kind of shirt. Some of you may have heard of this. It is special shirt that is like radiator. It has flexible PVC tubing woven into the shirt. It circulates cool water continously. The firemen use it only after they have come out of a hot building. The race car drivers wear it throughout the entire race. The only draw back is that it utilizes a pump for the circulation part of the process. I have seen this in use. The local highschool football team uses it during practices. It has cut down on numerous heat related accidents. Maybe somday this will find its way in to biking. It just to bulky and not practical right now.

Any innovators out there…

[spazjensen]

It differs from use to use. For firemen after they had to be in a hot spot literally (ex. burning house) they get really heated as you may understand Mongoose. If they happen to get to overheated, some fire depts. use this special vest that is laced with small tubing that comes in contact with the skin. Chilled fluid, water or other types of liquid, is circulated through these tubes. Its not the exact one that I saw on Discovery Channel, but its close. The problem is the cooler and pump unit for MTB. Check it out.

http://polarsoftice.com/softiceactivevest.html

[FinsFan]

I beat the heat by going out really early in the morning

[spazjensen]

I thought it kinda neat. I have used equipment like this before, but it was racing cars. I never knew that it was being used by others as well. I used to do some SCCA Solo II events a couple of years ago. Was really heavy into cars, but it got to be to dangerous and way to pricey. So I picked up MTB’ing, and here I am today. Only, it was last week Thursday that I nearly had a real big problem. I started to get dizzy and seeing spots because I was so overheated. I guess I had pushed myself a little to hard. When I got back to the truck I really did pass out for about five minutes. My buddies said that they were freaking out and that they were debating taking me to the hospital till I woke up and said that I am not going. I just laid and sat there for about twenty minutes until I felt well enough to drive home. 😮 😮 😮

[steve32300]

I beat the heat by going out really early in the morning

Or night riding,do you have a night light???

I thought it kinda neat. I have used equipment like this before, but it was racing cars. I never knew that it was being used by others as well. I used to do some SCCA Solo II events a couple of years ago. Was really heavy into cars, but it got to be to dangerous and way to pricey. So I picked up MTB’ing, and here I am today. Only, it was last week Thursday that I nearly had a real big problem. I started to get dizzy and seeing spots because I was so overheated. I guess I had pushed myself a little to hard. When I got back to the truck I really did pass out for about five minutes. My buddies said that they were freaking out and that they were debating taking me to the hospital till I woke up and said that I am not going. I just laid and sat there for about twenty minutes until I felt well enough to drive home.

Riding in the heat is tough that’s for sure.I feel pretty lucky here in colorado even though it’s hotter than hell here and on the western slope in the summer.We got the ski resort’s with lot’s of tree cover to ride in in the heat of summer.
I do find that if I ride alone in the heat,it is ALOT easier to control your energy output so that you dont over do it and get heat exhaustion by trying to keep up with somone else’s pace.Once you get going and get a good sweat going,just stay at your own pace so your body can releive that excessive heat through the skin by sweating.Hope this is helpful information.

[FinsFan]

nah I dont have a light…but I would love to try night riding…it seems like fun

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