Riding in heat and cooling

[Active Monkey]

Got two questions for you guys,

 

1 at what point is riding in the heat dangerous? How long for how hot?

 

2 how do i keep my water and game cold? I have a bottle bracket with normal plastic adidas bottle and also have a camel back

[Let's Ride]

Camelback have insulated water bottles that keep your drinks cool for a long time.

 

Riding in the heat is not dangerous as long as you stay hydrated. Now if you don't drink enough then you should worry. Stop and re fill that water bottle several times when it gets really hot.

[Big H*]

From own experience the following:-

 

Cold water is not important as long as you have enough water and continue using it.

Wear cycling clothes that wick well as well as a bandana under your helmet.

 

Remember that your head acts like a radiator. It is criscrossed with blood veins to aid cooling. Just your sweat (always remember wimmen perspire, they never ever sweat) alone will keep the bandanna moist enough to aid condensation and cooling, remember the wetbag or towel over the watermelon that cools it down?

[kosmonooit]

Watch out for the UV! I wear arm sleeves now (one melanoma later)

 

 

From U.S. National Library of Medicine:

 

You are more likely to develop melanoma if you:

 

Have fair skin, blue or green eyes, or red or blond hair

 

Live in sunny climates or at high altitudes

 

Spent a lot of time in high levels of strong sunlight, because of a job or other activities

 

Have had one or more blistering sunburns during childhood

 

Use tanning devices

[Big H*]

Watch out for the UV! I wear arm sleeves now (one melanoma later)

 

 

From U.S. National Library of Medicine:

 

You are more likely to develop melanoma if you:

 

Have fair skin, blue or green eyes, or red or blond hair

 

Live in sunny climates or at high altitudes

 

Spent a lot of time in high levels of strong sunlight, because of a job or other activities

 

Have had one or more blistering sunburns during childhood

 

Use tanning devices

 

Good call! There was a long discussion not long ago, search for it.

 

Remember a sunblock must be waterproof and must not block the pores, thus inhibiting sweating freely.

 

I use Techniblok, it was prescribed by my Dermatologist.

[Lotus]

From own experience the following:-

 

Cold water is not important as long as you have enough water and continue using it.

Wear cycling clothes that wick well as well as a bandana under your helmet.

 

Remember that your head acts like a radiator. It is criscrossed with blood veins to aid cooling. Just your sweat (always remember wimmen perspire, they never ever sweat) alone will keep the bandanna moist enough to aid condensation and cooling, remember the wetbag or towel over the watermelon that cools it down?

Another thing to bear in mind is that when your "core" temperature goes out of bounds it's too late to drink and heatstroke is likely. For that reason I would suggest keeping your drinks as cool as possible.

 

A good trick is to freeze your camelback bladder overnight. I've also found that wrapping drinks bottles (and camelback bladder) in heavy duty aluminum foil and plastic packaging tape provides a certain measure of insulation (and freezing again helps them to stay cool longer).

[Active Monkey]

Thanks... Especially for the sunscreen tip. How long do you guys recon my camel back will keep water cold if say im riding in 25 to 30 deg

[(Deon)]

If you are gonna freeze the bladder, a tip is to only half fill the bladder before freezing. Add the rest just before the ride so you have at least something to drink until the bladder shaped ice cube has defrosted.

[Lotus]

If you are gonna freeze the bladder, a tip is to only half fill the bladder before freezing. Add the rest just before the ride so you have at least something to drink until the bladder shaped ice cube has defrosted.

Good point _ I should have remembered that.

 

Also, you can wrap the bladder in newspaper as well. It all helps to keep it cool longer. Generally the camelback stays very cool for at least an hour, so use the caged bottles first.

 

But remember, sunblock only helps against the sun. The only things that protect you against sunstroke are cool fluids and common sense.

Edited November 13, 2011 by Lotus

[TheSaint]

If you are gonna freeze the bladder, a tip is to only half fill the bladder before freezing. Add the rest just before the ride so you have at least something to drink until the bladder shaped ice cube has defrosted.

 

excellent tip. thanx. will actually share this with my mates.

[Mojoman]

I freeze the drinks in my old Energade 1lt bottles and then put them in an old sock before putting them on the bike (sock helps slow down the thawing, learned that from hiking!). I have one with water and one with a sports drink in it. I use the water one to douse and wash my face when I sweat a lot (nothing more painful than sweat in the eyes!) and for squirting water into the air vents of my helmet. I also saw in a magazine a water bottle that has a built in 'spray' , I think it was at Cape Union Mart or the other outdoor guys, they were around R100 for a 750ml bottle, going to get one next week and try it out. I bought one of those Sunscreen sticks from Dischem and keep that in my bag as I sweat a lot and tend to wipe away sunblock from my face area. Just reapply every so often.

 

Plan your rides so you can get more water from somewhere or some cold drinks/water etc from a cafe. Currently its 35 deg here in Hekpoort, was already 30 deg at 9:30am!

I am not much of a morning cycling person but that has changed over the last week, have been on the bike by 5 most mornings, much better!

[Big J-WP]

Even if its not hot a person tends to burn, I was riding in the hills yesterday morning between 6:00 and 10:30 and I burnt my arms and legs. It was not even that warm low 20's at the most. Learnt to apply sun block to the pip before I leave home as I seem to have outgrown my hair @ some stage of my life.

[Struis]

I have been living and riding in Saudi since 2000, so know a few things about riding in the heat.

 

In short to answer your questions:

 

1.

http://nycc.org/rides/heat-index-cyclists

 

 

2. http://www.polarbottle.com/insulated/

 

These bottles work, you also freeze them half full and fill them up before your ride. Incredible. I think I have seen them at Cape Union Mart the last time I was in SA.

 

Anyway - To stay out as long as possible you need to keep your core cool. We have a loop where we can stop every hour for 2 minutes or so at a water cooler, throw ice cold water over your head and fill up the bottles.

 

Hope this help.

['Dale]

Make sure to spend some time training in high temperatures as well.

 

Adaptation is an important strategy too.

[Whatsup!]

A good tip is not to have water in the camel pack pipe as it warms qickly, therefore a short blow to push the water back into the pack after each drink helps keep it cooler for longer. No need to blow hard and create a baloon out of your pack !