How much does hot weather affect performance?

[gogo@]

i presume that you are talking about the Argus, this time of year. if you one of the late starters you have to worry about heat...

No, I'm talking about heat you don't often get at the coast... but you're right about the possibility of getting toasted at the back. Though I think it's more likely the wind will do it's thing.

[gogo@]

 

Nope that i just misplaced.

Tread carefully...

[TNT1]

I love this heat , the hotter the better . i do not cope in cold .

 

Ditto.

 

Like Indurain said, like a lizard, we do better in the heat. He also said something the once about having bad milk in him, so who knows...

[Agteros]

I suppose various parameters affect the answer to this question, like how fit (and how fat) you are, how well hydrated you are, how hot it is... but, I'm still keen to hear what people have experienced? What kind of drop-off in speed/performance would you expect if you're cooking in the high 30s?? And should you stick to HR targets for hot weather training rides, or adjust upwards? And then how do you handle these kinds of conditions when you race??

 

I can quote endlessly on running from Time Noakes etc, but there is a definitive correlation between weight, speed and heat production. Bigger and/or faster = more heat.

More heat means that your heart will beat faster to circulate blood to your skin for cooling, with the effect that less blood & oxygen will be diverted to you muscles, resulting in a drop in performance. The myriad of variables you refer to will determine the specifics. Note thought that smaller bodied athletes should be able to maintain a higher (running) pace than bigger brethren & sisters at a given high temperature.

['Dale]

I melt in the heat.... 30 degrees plus.

 

Training in the heat helps with acclimatisation process.

Keeping the core cool is another way to go. Keeping a spare water bottle and dousing your helmet and upper body every now and then.

[Azonic]

Wife and I did a ride in Jansenville (small plattelandse town) over the weekend. It was blistering hot, but not so much so from the sun baking down, there were extremely hot winds blowing. Your eyes and face would burn from the heat. In the first 5km of the ride my behind-the-saddle bottlecage broke off, the bottle's cap jumped off and we lost a full bottle of water. It got so hot we had to lay down in whatever stream crossings we could find. The little water we had left turned into bath water, your mouth burned it was so hot. We were eventually reduced to drinking "brak" water out of farm dams. Because I was concerned about our water levels, I limited myself to maybe 200ml of warm water over about a 30km stretch (in 40 degree+ weather). I paid for it. 5km from the end I could not ride anymore, could barely walk. I'm not a funrider, a couple of months ago I won the race on the same route. But it just goes to show that heat can really floor you if you don't stay hydrated properly.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Azonic

[Akon]

Same topic, but different tack.

 

I read sometime ago that hot weather actually improves time for sprint-events on the track. Hence, there's an expectation of world records galore at the Olympics.

 

Don't have time to gugl this now - maybe somebody else can and educate the rest of us as to the reasons :-)

[flymango]

I think 35,000 cyclists might have a more informed opinion on this topic come Monday morning.

[walkerr]

For me, hot weather is a big factor - with a solid example from this year:

 

99er - nice and cool, wind quite light - time through 94km in about 3:15, with 2 water bottles drunk

Wellington lions ride - hot, but wind also quite light - 94km time was 3:42, with 3.5 water bottles needed

 

Same bike, setup etc - and if anything, on the 99er I was starting to go down with a cold. Can't necessarily put all of that 30 minute difference down to heat, but I reckon it was biggest single factor.