Hot weather riding

[Mo]

today we in melbourne saw 39 degrees of very hot weather. and it's been like that a few times lately.

so i wanna know how do people ride in this sort of weather?
main problem is water bottles getting really hot and drinking warm water is gross.
and no amount of sunscreen is enough.

[Tofsy]

I just don't ride haha, as much as i was itching to go out on my new bike today - i physically couldn't! Above 30 is too hot for me!

[DJninja]

Welcome to Townsville........... Freeze your water bottle before hand so the defrost as the day goes on wear thin materialed long sleeve shirts(not that I do but I always want to but never got round to buying any). Just ride, what is the temp usually in Melbourne?

[alchemist]

There's some stuff on the MTBA site (http://www.mtba.asn.au/policies/?IntCatId=25&IntContId=133) which contains some usefull stuff.

My favourite is to fill my hydration pack 2/3 of water, then freeze it (keep it nice and flat). Just before your ride take it out from the freezer and fill it the rest of the way up - icy cold water for an hour or two

[DHdog]

^^^^^problem solved ^^^^

[Home-J]

go early in the morning

[Gekigengar]

My favourite is to fill my hydration pack 2/3 of water, then freeze it (keep it nice and flat). Just before your ride take it out from the freezer and fill it the rest of the way up - icy cold water for an hour or two

um 2/3rds? thats bit much isnt it.. i find it if i put icecubes in my hydrapack the insulation is too good... and i run out of water before i run out of ice..

so i get stuck with an ice block that wont melt.

[Mo]

hummm freezing water...never thought of that.
this summer is just farked...its either mega hot 35+ or smoky.
and the amount of smoke is equivalent to smoking while riding.

and it looks like 36 degrees is the absolute max anyone should be out and exercising.

[bodgie]

What i do is firstly i put the bladder from my hydration pack (full by the way) in the fridge over night so its cold but not frozen and then i put one of those ice pack (one of those gel ones) in the pocket where the bladder goes. This seems to keep the water pretty cool. Lol and maybe you could get one of those fully sick hats with the little fan on the front as well.

[wkkie]

I do a simmilar thing to the people above. I fill my hydropack with ice cubes, pack in as many as I can, then fill the rest up with cold water from the fridge. Seems to do a good job.

[fattyandthepiemakers]

and it looks like 36 degrees is the absolute max anyone should be out and exercising.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Heat builds character, just drink shitloads of water and enjoy it. It may be hot down there but at least it not HUMID.

Anyway, it's melbourne, just wait half an hour and you will be freezing your ass off.

Every day of the year Townsville is in the 30s.

[PINT of Stella, mate!]

Head out early (i.e. morning - as hard as it sounds) ride till just after noon then spend the rest of the day in a covered beer garden knocking back iced margeritas and watching the girls go by! ;)

[Carlin]

What are the problems with hot weater riding?

1: Overheating, if your core body temperature goes up too high you cook.

2: Dehydration, to keep cool you sweat, this needs to be replaced.

Solution to 1: Don't push yourself too hard and know your limits.

Solution to 2: Drink lots.

Fitness helps, so does being a camel.

[Mr Pants]

Night riding is the GO in summer. Less heat, low humidity and no hubbards on the trail.

[Humfreyoncrak]

then i put one of those ice pack (one of those gel ones) in the pocket where the bladder goes. This seems to keep the water pretty cool.

What a damn good idea! Learn something new every few days on Farkin. Cheers Bodgie:) :)

[Pebble]

I think I'd rather ride in 40deg temps than 0 deg temps.

Firstly get a Camelbak Mule or something similar, I did the put it in the fridge thing - the water stays nice and cool for the ride but can't really be bothered with that most of the time - I just top it up whenever it gets low these days. It really is much better than bottles particularly in the heat - the water won't get too hot to comfortably drink. And 3L of water is great as during hot days while exercising you should be drinking about 1L per hour.

Earlyish morning riding is best.

I've lived in Darwin then Townsville and now Cobar in the last few years all of which get pretty hot (Cobar gets to 40's regularly but it's a dry heat so more tolerable). Alot of the time I find that I get away for rides around midday on the weekends as that's when the kids are asleep so it's easier for Hubby. Water, comfy clothing & that's about all there is to it. Nice cool shower when I get back home.

I think the main problem for southerners is not being conditioned to the heat. It's hard to acclimatise if you don't get that sort of weather regularly, but usually people would take it easy for a week or two, and I've read that the skin will adjust to the heat, start perspiring more & stuff like that - keeping your body cooler and operating more efficiently for the conditions. Don't push yourself if you're not used to the conditions and monitor how you're coping because heat stroke can be literally deadly.

I grew up in Canberra but these days give me a slightly cool breeze & I'm getting goose bumps and rugging up at any significant temperature drop.

It's quite amazing when you live in a place like Darwin where it's 33deg every day, you end up noticing if the temp happens to drop down to 31 degrees one day & it's kind of like, oh how nice it's cooler today. Humidity can be over bearing though.

[JDB]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Heat builds character, just drink shitloads of water and enjoy it. It may be hot down there but at least it not HUMID.

.....

Every day of the year Townsville is in the 30s.


Yeah thats the truth, thought I'd go for a nice early morning ride up Mt Stuart on Sunday and by 9:30 it was already 33C and humid as a fat mans underpants.

You just have to suck it up (water that is) and not push yourself to hard. During some safety inductions on very hot mine sites I've been told that your body actually absorbs warm water quicker than ice cold water, so nasty as it may feel it may be better for you to not worry about icing your water too much. If you aer really feeling the heat find a shady place to stop for a while and have a rest and let your body cool down.

[Elbo]

Yeh, putting iceblocks in your camelbak is the way to go. Keeps it nice and cool for a few hours. I also blow back into the camelbak a bit so that the water in the tube doesn't get hot. Take regular breaks in the shade, take your helmet off when you do have those breaks and don't go too hard. If you invest in a helmet with good airflow that will help a lot. Keep up the fluids, because if you're thirsty that's a sign that you are already somewhat dehydrated.
Another tip is don't wear black, wear light coloured, sweat wicking clothes.
I usually put sunscreen on before I go for a ride, but I find I never get burnt while riding. But the other week I went for a 50 km road bike ride and got burnt as red as a beetroot. I realised that when you're doing singletrack, you are pretty much in the shade the whole time, which is awesome. So if you put on sunscreen and you've got plenty of trees where you ride, you should be right.

[paulie]

I work on riding at the crack of dawn. Late afternoon or night riding. The rest of the day should be spent hiding from the heat......beer in hand.

[thrower78]

39 is a walk in the park in Melbourne compared with 39 in townsville or cairns.
I just ride realy early in the morning or go out at like 5pm and ride till dark. If I'm doing dh runs just have big breaks and lots of water, went riding yesterday and took 4L of water in the car and 3L in the pack between me and one other worked well.

[Mo]

people from the north are just nuts, well the weather in melbourne isn't like the old times. no fluctuations.

today is a great day to ride.
the warm water thing applies mostly to tea and coffee, my dad used to tell me when it's hot just go for a nice hot tea or coffee, and as weird as it may sound it is very refreshing.

and POSM that is what i did last week, ride for a few hours and spend a few more hours at the pub...gotta say riding with a few beers in your gut is a unique experience.

[zha50]

I would think its a 'walk in the park' sort of weather compared to the northern areas. But like said, probably most of us Melbourneins are not adjusted to this heat. Seeing we get like 18deg max during most of winter.

However, this summer has been sort of different, its either been hot(to me hot is anyhting over 36) to so smokey its like having a smoking piece of charcoal dangled in front of your nose.

Tried to go DHing a few weeks back, just couldnt cope with the 38+ heat trying to push the bikes up the fire road.

well the weather in melbourne isn't like the old times. no fluctuations.



True, is previous summers, we got 4 or 5 days of hotness, then there would be a cool change + rain sometimes so it was cool for riding. But hell, we're getting no rain with constant heat for the last few weeks. . . .

[dain2772]

while warm/hot drinks may absorb into the body better - which is good for dehydration, the advantage to cooler drinks is that it will actually help the body's core temperature come down, which is quite important in the heat.

I do the freeze the 1/2-2/3 full bladder thing which works a treat for me!