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Cycling in Heat and Humidity

07.30.2015 by Scott Jangro // 3 Comments

As we roll into the dog days of summer, we’re subjected to the hottest and most humid days of the year. So let’s be a little extra cautious when exercising.

How does the body cool?

There are four mechanisms that our bodies use to cool off: Radiation, Evaporation, Conduction, and Convection.

  • Radiation is the heat leaving the body into the surrounding atmosphere.
  • Convection is air (or water if you’re swimming) flowing by the body, taking away heat.
  • Evaporation is your sweat evaporating, causing a cooling effect.
  • Conduction is your skin coming into contact with something cooler, transferring heat.

Radiation, Convection, and Evaporation are all our friends and work together perfectly to keep us cool. Conduction, not so much in cycling. Unless you hold that frozen water bottle to your neck for a quick relief.

However, if the temperature outside is hotter than our bodies, radiation cannot work. The heat goes in the other direction into our bodies.

And if the air is very humid, evaporation cannot work.

Luckily, convection is always at play when we’re moving at 20mph, and it still feels good.
But when you stop, boy can you feel it.

The downside of the efficient cooling effect that we get from cycling is that we can feel more comfortable than we should. And dehydration is a big risk.

Hydration

Many cyclists say, “Drink before you’re thirsty”, which is great advice especially in hot weather. This is not the time to pack light with only one water bottle. And make it a point to take a sip every 15 minutes, or 5 miles, to replenish what you’re losing.

Planning

When it’s super hot and humid, plan to take it easy on yourself. Maybe do a recovery pace. Or map out a route that doesn’t have your normal hills. (thought he downhills are always good for cooling off).

Or if you’re on a longer ride, be sure to loop in a place to refill the water bottles.

What to drink?

When it’s hot and humid, the most important thing is water. You can go with your electrolytes and sugary drinks, but I always like to mix it up with both a sports drink and some plain water to wash it down.

What to wear?

Nothing would be best. But if that doesn’t seem appropriate (there are lots of naked bike rides you can join), wear something that the wind can get through, and this is a great time to choose the shirt with the full zipper front.

Most importantly, take it easy, and listen extra carefully to what your body is telling you.

Stay safe.

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Categories // Heat

Getting Hot

07.22.2014 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

We’ve had a real break so far this summer. It wasn’t until last week that we had our first 100 degree (38C) days of the season. We had enough rain in June that the grass in my yard is uniformly green.

These conditions are markedly different from the summers we’ve had around here in recent years. The worst was the summer of 2011, when we hit 100 nearly every day for three months straight.

The problem is, the severe drought conditions that began that year have never abated. We’re still in extreme to exceptional drought conditions. But riding has been great.

We decided to add some miles to our usual B ride, and go south to 5-Mile Dam. That’s a county park on the north edge of San Marcos, about 28 miles south of Austin. We knew the heat would be a challenge, although we weren’t expecting another 100 degree day, but things looked promising as we started off at about 8 a.m. The sky was overcast. A slight breeze cooled things a bit.

I set an easy pace, figuring we’d need to save something for the trip back. But by the time we reached 5-Mile Dam park, things were heating up. I wanted to get a picture of the dam on the Blanco River. We rode up to the spot in the road where we could see the dam, and I was shocked.

While Austin had some decent rains the previous week, the Hill Country got nearly nothing. The Blanco was dry. I’ve never seen the dam in this situation before.

Five-Mile Dam. I'm used to seeing water here, if not pouring over the dam, at least flowing. Dry is an understatement. (Click pix to enlarge.)
Five-Mile Dam. I’m used to seeing water here, if not pouring over the dam, at least flowing. Dry is an understatement. (Click pix to enlarge.)
Looking back upstream. Water is ponding in some spots, and a few people are even trying for fish. Still quite picturesque.
Looking back upstream. Water is ponding in some spots, and a few people are even trying for fish. Still quite picturesque.

But the pavilion at the park was still serving up cold, cold water from its fountains, and we refilled our water bottles, grateful for the break.

I figured to take an easy pace on the return, since the day was warming rapidly. What I hadn’t considered was that the pavement radiated the heat back in our faces — and with a tailwind coming back, we were much warmer than we would normally be.

The heat took all the starch out of me. I trailed by an increasing margin, and only stop lights and passing trains were able to let me catch up. Our rest stops became more frequent — every five miles or so — always under the shade of a spreading tree. It was slow going.

Clearly, our mild summer has been great for biking, but not so great for conditioning. It looks like our mild weather is over for the time being, and our typical summertime heat is settling in for the long haul. I can see I’ve got some hot riding ahead.

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Categories // Heat, Rides Tags // heat

What’s In Your Water Bottle? – Part 2

08.16.2013 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

I’ve been getting a lot of response to my fellow club member’s inquiry about what to drink on rides. While some people go for the drink mixes offered by nutrition companies (Hammer, etc.), it seems that most of us use more mundane mixes.

In fact, the number one hydration fluid — by a long shot — was plain old water. “Water, water, water, and lots of it!” said one. Others seconded the water idea, but did add some electrolyte mixes, such as Nuun.

Of course, there’s plenty of information online about maintaining electrolyte balance during cycling. It’s just that, for most of us, most of the time, we’re not straining ourselves that much. A couple of hours seems to be a routine ride, and in my experience, any kind of electrolyte replenisher will do the job. As I said before, one bottle of plain water and another with some kind of electrolyte drink will work. Gatorade — many folks dilute theirs — and their ilk will do the job, although lots of people don’t like Gatorade.

One of my friends, Don Bynum, does put a lot of thought into what he takes on a ride. Since he rides a recumbent trike, he carries a lot more fluids than diamond frame riders carry, anyway. On his blog earlier this summer, he recounted a 53-mile ride in 90–plus degree heat, and how he was able to stay fresh throughout (he’s 69 years old).

“I have tried numerous electrolyte replacement products over the last eight years of cycling. Nothing I tried comes even close to Hammer Nutrition’s Endurolyte capsule product in preventing cramps and heat exhaustion in our Texas Summers.  A few minutes prior to rolling out I took two Endurolytes, with water, then a Hammer Perpetuem Solids ‘thing.’

“In the course of the ride and lunch I went through five liters of water and/or iced tea, nine endurolytes and six Perpetuems, plus a hamburger.  That kept me going through 53 miles.”

I’ve been known to replenish my electrolytes by grabbing some pretzels or a Payday candy bar during rides. Don is leery of that strategy:

“I have heard people make statements about getting electrolytes by eating salty food.  That is foolish and not supported by what we know about our bodies.  A good electrolyte suppliment will have some sodium salt, but also salts of phosphorous, magnesium, and manganese as well as some other stuff that helps our boduies assimilate the salts.  Too much sodium chloride actually blocks the other electrolytes from getting through the cell walls.  Don’t bother to comment about how great you do with the salt from a bunch of On the Border toastadas.  The simple, inarguable truth is that you would do even better with a balanced load of electrolytes.”

Finally, our guest poster Jeff Hemmel chimed in about his favorite electrolyte supplement: Skratch Labs. That’s the mixture developed by cycling physician Alan Lim for pro cyclists.

“Flavor is actually from fruit and not some chemical,” he said. “Low calorie, no stomach issues, different kind of salt, and actually tastes good.”

A few others had an issue with the price of Skratch Labs, however. A pound of the mix costs $19.50 online. A 16-oz. tube of Nuun tablets is $7.00. For Jeff, the price difference is worth it. And I haven’t checked lately, but if you do order Skratch Labs online, try using the code BIKENOOB at checkout, for a 15 percent discount.

With August winding down, a lot of us are looking forward to cooler fall riding. But we’ll still need to drink.

 

 

 

 

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Categories // Heat Tags // electrolytes, sports drink, water

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