Will I eventually acclimate to this heat???

[BarbaraAlys]

You wrote:

I didn't want to pull out a camelback on a group ride for fear of looking like a dork (I know that heatstoke isn't cool though!).


I won't ride without my camelback. If anyone has any problem with it, they have never said so, and I would't care if they did. I find that being able to sip on the camelback at any time means i drink WAY more water than I would otherwise. This is true in hiking, and I assume is true in bikeing, though I wouldn't really know as I've not figure out how you get your bottle in and out while on the bike...think of what a dork I would look like falling over because I could not get my bottle!...lol

Don't worry about the dork factor.

Barbara

[GLC1968]

I have suffered from dangerous levels of both heat exposure and altitude sickness in my lifetime (though not always on a bike). They are both very, very real and can be very, very dangerous.

I'm a northern girl and I don't handle heat well, never have. I moved to Florida in 1997 and was miserable for the 7 years I lived there. I spent the summers indoors in A/C. When we moved to NC and I started biking, everything changed, but it was gradual. NC summers were hotter than FL summers (in FL, we were close enough to the coast to have our temps reduced - it rarely got above 90). The difference was that in NC, I wanted to bike in the summer which meant being outside. We would do all the 'stay cool' tricks but I would still suffer (when DH was fine). I would break out in awful (and ugly) hives when my core temp would get too high. Until I learned how to read the signs, I couldn't control it. Once I did figure it out, I still found that some temps were just too extreme. I did acclimate though. Knowing that I'd signed up for a century in mid-August, I purposely tried to ride at mid-day for my training rides so that I could get used to the heat. I was careful, but I made it happen. When the ride came, I was ready. By the end of that summer, I was comfortable riding long rides in 95+ heat and that still amazes me (and anyone who knows me!).

We moved here to OR and it's been cold and rainy (even by OR standards!). We had a weekend last month where it was over 90 and sunny DH and I jumped at the chance to ride. We saw NO other cyclists on routes that are normally quite busy. NONE. No one here wanted to ride in that heat and here we were excited about it! Now it's taking me months to get used to riding in 50 degree temps. I never thought I'd say it, but this northern girl is used to southern temperatures!

Plus, there is something to relativity, too. Think about mid-winter when you get a freak 60 degree day. It feels like a heat wave and you want to put on short sleeves and shorts, right? What if you got that same day in mid-August? It would feel down right chilly and you'd be pulling out long pants, right? That's because your body has acclimated to the season's temps and anything out of the ordinary feels extreme. Of course, with weather conditions the way they have been lately, it's really hard to judge this. 90+ temps in May? 40's in June? Seriously...no wonder we are all having trouble adjusting!

[sundial]

I won't ride without my camelback. I find that being able to sip on the camelback at any time means i drink WAY more water than I would otherwise.
Barbara

And another perk: whilst you enjoy a refreshing drink from your Camelbak, fellow cyclists are scrambling to find a water faucet or a convenience store to replenish their diminishing water supply.

[ny biker]

Personally I can't wear a camelback while I'm riding because it exacerbates neck and shoulder pain and having that thing on my back makes me way too hot. Instead I use 2 water bottles when I'm riding. I plan my rides so that there will be someplace to refill them long before they are both empty. I don't like to ride more than 25 miles without a rest stop anyway.

I generally don't have much trouble with hot weather in the morning or late afternoon/evening. My problem is between noon and 3:00 when the sun is hottest. It's harder to find shady spots when the sun is at it's high point and the roads turn into blast furnaces with the heat reflecting off them. So I do my best to avoid riding during that part of the day when it's super hot out. If I do get caught out in early afternoon I look for shady areas where I can stop and rest, and if needed I take off my helmet and pour water over my head to help cool down.

Also for me clothing color is extremely important. I have to wear light colors to reflect the sun. I cannot understand how people can wear dark colors when they're riding on a hot sunny day. Same for helmets - I avoid dark ones.