Riding in the heat?

[pk]

This heat wave is getting old!

I've been filling my Camelbak with three trays of ice cubes before riding to help cool down, and it got me wondering: what other good tips do people have for riding in extreme heat?


pk

[ofrdbykr]

The best way is to get up real early and beat the heat before it gets going. Head out around 7AM and then hit a swimming hole around 10AM for a refressssshing cool down before heading home. Lots of places to swim on the Northshore - Dogtown (Gloucester quarries), Boxford SF/Bald Hill (Nike silo sites), Georgetown/Rowley/Willowdale SF (Hoods Pond).

Anybody know of others?

Johan

[CouchingTiger]

Riding in the heat sucks. Last week was just plain miserable. I can't help but figure that being out in all that "fresh-air" last week contributed to the chest cold I came down with on Friday.

Rode Lynn yesterday. Ugh! Totally drained after a couple hours baking on the rocks.

This week is supposed to get better though.

mkr

[hogboy]

turn up the AC

eat some chips

eat more chips

no worries about the heat

-hogboy

[JoeO]

You just have to ride fast. ;D

[ruckerz]

The worst part is when there's a) no breeze because you're under the tree line or b) you get that warm sticky breeze. Ride w/ no shirt.... when you get a good layer of sweat pounding up hill, the downhill is a nice cool breeze ;D

But yeah the heat last week was oppressive!

ruckerz

[StuP]

this probably not the place to mention this, but i usually hit the road bike when things are this hot. as long as you have decent tree cover, you basically make your own wind.

Stuart Pidassle

[Thedewser]

First off, This is great!!!! Nice addition Philip! As for the heat, well I think we all agree the heat sucks, Personally I just hate the humidity. I guess the best thing to do, if it is humid, stay away from the heavily forested areas, especially deep valleys. The swimming hole is definately a great idea, for those of you who rode the MBA ride in CT earlier this month, the lake at that park is an awesome cool down!!! Also avoiding the mid afternoon rides is also a good idea! Happy trails!

Dewser 8)

[Zog]

I rode three evenings last night and found it takes a while to get up to speed and start feeling OK. Lots of water in the camelbak. The woods are definitely cooler than out in the open. Suck it up and just ride!

[Ginger]

HI: I am new to this forum. My name is Susan. I might get A lot of negative comments for saying this however it seems to work for me! I have been riding my Specialized Crossroads bike in this extreme heat. I find that I can go faster and get a little bit better breeze. I tend to stay on the bike paths during the heat waves. There are many great ones around my home. I save the trails for the weekends when I can enjoy the scenery and not rush! One of my favorite places to ride on the weekends is Arcadia in Rhode Island. I go out riding as early as possible. As soon as I get back from my ride, I jump into my pool. This helps me get cooled down as well as getting the chance to cross train. Using the sports drink "Accelerade 'seems to help as well! Happy Riding! 8)

[sizlinseagulsoup]

Going off in the morning does not always help. The Mount Snow race went off at 7:30 and it was still hot.

[EVIL BOTA]

I seem to find the woods cooler when I ride in the morning.
I just did a 40 mile rode ride today .It was hot ,but not to bad.
I hate riding the road ,but sometimes thats what you have to do to stay in shape.

[stevecaz]

There is one more thing to consider when its this hot and sticky. Usually under these conditions, the ground level ozone is high, resulting in very unhealthy air to be breathing down hard. You can check the DEP website to get the forecast.

http://www.state.ma.us/dep/bwp/ozone/dailyoz.htm#actual

Its best to ride early in the morning on projected bad days. And just think, there are people who want to stop the construction of elegant and silent windfarms so we can keep building more power plants. Blackstone Valley, power plant capital of Massachusetts.

ok , heres my advice;

if you go to a nemba group ride and the leader says they're going to go slow cause its to hot. Then you show up and he tells you how he has 3 trays of ice in his camelbak, and then the rest of the group arrives and they start prepping their bikes by removing the number plates from the handlebars.

chances are that slow is the last thing your going to be doing

Thank God for ice cream at the Great Brook Farm

bill

[pk]

Haha, very funny! :)

I guess I'm just a bad ride host! But thanks for coming back out the next Saturday to help build that new trail!

pk

[2stroke]

justbill, I've found that's the standard protocol. I recall an early season "no drop" road ride we dropped half the group in the first 5 miles. Easy xc ride, generally is a mid paced 20 miler.

I usually add a 50% effort factor to any ride description. Figure that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

don

[fatire]

my advice is if ya can't take the heat...
WAIT TIL WINTER!

-steve@mtA ;)

[steve_b]

Ride anyway, drink more water, and ride near a river or lake and swim every hour or as necessary. Pretty soon the white stuff will be flying and we will all wish it was to hot. ;)

[sizlinseagulsoup]

Ironic how we were complaining about the heat. It was 51 degrees when I went out this morning!!!! BRRRRR!