Heat Tolerance

[crazycanuck]

Bluetree, I too wonder. Being from Canada, I can handle the cold but it takes a bit of work with getting used to the heat.

If it's above 35C-try to stay in the shade, wear a ton of sunscreen & grin n bear it. I'm not a big fan of hot weather but it's hard to escape when ya live in Western Australia.

I saw folks riding home in the 42C weather yesterday & thought
I'm biking home tonight but it's only 36C today.

C

[GLC1968]

I totally buy Mimi's explanation based on my experience. I was born when it was -27F (not including wind chill) and my husband was born in May in the deep south. When we ride in the summer heat (temps consistently near 100 F), he always fares better than I do.

BUT, that said...it is possible to acclimate. Our first century was last August and I anticipated awful heat. I forced myself to ride increasing distances at the hottest hours of the day in preparation. While that century turned out to be the coldest day of the summer, I was able to benefit from my 'heat training' for other hot rides that year. The previous summer (and for most of my life) the heat made me miserable. That year...not so much. I plan to do the same thing this year because that heat tolerance let me ride much more that year (on days that I might otherwise have skipped).

Unfortunately, I did have a reoccuring heat rash problem on my legs. Nothing seemed to prevent that, but it did not affect my cycling at all (it was just ugly ).

I think that you can help your body learn to adjust (to a point).

[caligurl]

hmmmmmm i don't know... but i know i prefer the heat the cold! i'll ride in temps over 100 degrees... but give me 50's (or 60's) and i'm miserable!)

i grew up in upstate NY.... so cold.... BRRRRRRR! and, of course, i know live in the desert!

[missymaya]

Growing up in the heat for me, when it hits 80 degrees, I think it feels great, while my coworker, who's from Michigan, thinks its hot and on the other hand, when it gets to the 60's, I'm freezing and he thinks the temp is perfect. But, I agree with GLC1968, one can acclimate to the weather, it's just gonna take some time.

[mimitabby]

and some of us have more capacity to acclimate than others.

[Tuckervill]

And I think you can choose to adjust to the heat. Sometimes it's just attitude. In my experience, I am very intolerant of the heat when I have to be dressed up with clothes, make-up, hair done. But put me out on the bank of the Buffalo River in hottest August, shorts and a t-shirt, hair in a pony, I don't even notice it, and don't mind the sweat running down my face.

Physical symptoms, like flushed face and chilled feeling, should not be ignore as just "attitude", though!

Karen

[missymaya]

Also, there are different kinds of heat and cold. I know with the heat, there's a dry heat and then there's heat with humidity. I know down here, it gets to the point where you need to grow gills just to breath the air! But, I would take the humidity + heat over cold any day

[Dianyla]

In my experience, I am very intolerant of the heat when I have to be dressed up with clothes, make-up, hair done. But put me out on the bank of the Buffalo River in hottest August, shorts and a t-shirt, hair in a pony, I don't even notice it, and don't mind the sweat running down my face.

Well, isn't it a scientific fact that nylons and make-up add at least 15 degrees to the heat index?

It's true that certain inalterable things happen during childhood development. I hadn't heard that about the sweat glands forming only in the first month of life - in which case you would really have to consider what month a baby is born. January in Boston is quite different from July...

However, acclimatization is another important process. It can take a few weeks for minor acclimatization, and a few years for long term changes. And adapting to certain extremes may always be impossible for certain people, whether due to genetics or the your childhood development environment. After spending two weeks with altitude sickness in the Andes while watching the natives casually jog up a slope at 18K feet elevation, I know I'll never have the aerobic capacity to deal with that.