Chilled while riding?

[Catrin]

I rode for close to an hour tonight in a local park. I stopped about every 10 minutes to drink - and I had both water and water with stuff in it (dissolved Hammer gel and an Endurolyte capsule). One of this nice things about this park are some nice totally tree covered roads

After about 45 minutes or so, I was riding in the sun and became chilled? This makes no sense to me, at the time the temps were in the mid-80's and the humidity was noticeable to this Southern woman. I decided that was a sign that it was time to end my ride so I did. Perplexing... that couldn't be a sign of dehydration, could it?

[Zen]

Hyperthermia.
The chills are your body's attempt to thermoregulate.

[Catrin]

Hyperthermia.
The chills are your body's attempt to thermoregulate.

It is good I followed my instinct to take that as a sign that I was done riding for the day... I was drinking every 10 minutes or so and the chills were not bad. I didn't think anything about getting chilled on the roads in full shade, trees give their own form of air conditioning, but it got my attention when I got out of the shade and had been in the sun for a bit and was still chilled.

Obviously I've still got to get this hydration thing worked out. I had also had a very good session with my personal trainer right before the ride (and he makes sure I don't forget to drink).

I didn't have my bike computer and that helps me to at least pay attention to distance and drinking (when I've gone x distance then it's time for a drink). I have always had a problem drinking enough when being active.

[OakLeaf]

Hydration is a big part of your body's ability to cool itself, but by no means all. It could be it was just too hot - for your level of acclimation, for your level of exertion, for your personal heat tolerance.

It's got warm all of a sudden in our part of the world. It takes a couple of weeks of consistent exercise in the heat to get acclimated.

Did you weigh yourself before and after? Do try that.

If it turns out you really weren't drinking enough, a trick I used to use is to take a sip whenever I thought about water. Outside on a bicycle, you don't go far without passing a fire hydrant, a pond, a lawn sprinkler ... crossing a river ... being passed by a truck for a pool service or water softener company ...

(Eventually that trick led to my drinking too much and I abandoned it, but to me it was a good way to learn.) Alternately, if your watch or bike computer has timed alarms, you could set it to go off every 15 or 20 minutes to remind you to drink.

[Catrin]

Hydration is a big part of your body's ability to cool itself, but by no means all. It could be it was just too hot - for your level of acclimation, for your level of exertion, for your personal heat tolerance.

It's got warm all of a sudden in our part of the world. It takes a couple of weeks of consistent exercise in the heat to get acclimated.

Did you weigh yourself before and after? Do try that.

This makes sense, last week it was in the low 50s and raining - I was wearing my warm cycling clothes! I just wasn't sure if the chills meant anything, I thought it likely did. I also tried two intervals last night to see what it felt like on the bike-bike rather than the spinning bike. I should probably wait to get acclimated to the heat first.

I am, however, surprised at how good it feels to ride in the heat - especially when I am going fast enough for a breeze. I have never been a lover of the heat, so this is a good development. Either that, or I like riding well enough that I am going to enjoy whatever weather I can ride in