Dealing with the heat

[Rollinlucky]

OMG, how I would love to have your weather. I live in south Texas where the wind is always blowing , the heat index is above 100, and the humidity is usually around 90% or higher.( I think I just described what it's like in h*ll). I just started riding serioulsy in October and the weather was great, getting into summer now and I think I'll be spending a lot of time on the indoor trainer.

[marni]

OMG, how I would love to have your weather. I live in south Texas where the wind is always blowing , the heat index is above 100, and the humidity is usually around 90% or higher.( I think I just described what it's like in h*ll). I just started riding serioulsy in October and the weather was great, getting into summer now and I think I'll be spending a lot of time on the indoor trainer.

I rode south and west of Houston so I also ride in heat, humidity and headwinds. Today's heat index was 105.

I have discovered Craft brand sleeveless wicking shirts as an under layer for my jerseys. The craft under layer soaks up the sweat, keeps the jersey from being clammy against my skin, encourages cooling evaporation and covers me decently enough so that I can strip down my jersey during a break and cool off. I also ride with arm coolers, which are white, sun resistant, Uv shielding , wicking and prevent me getting sunburned.

I ride early and get off of the road before noon.

I ride somewhat shorter and harder distances, take a good break at the halfway point and step down and stretch during the ride.

I carry two bottles, one of water that is just for dumping and the other with FRS. I carry extra tubes of FRS powder and stop in gas stations and convenience stores to refill the water as needed.

I keep an eye on the weather and on the sky and will call a ride if the weather looks chancy. I have spent far too many times crouching in a ditch with my bike in a ditch across the road in the middle of a thunderstorm. I would rather do that than try to ride in the wet and danger of lightning.

I also ride all summer long , even in the dog days of August, but cut my daily rides from 40-50 to 25-40 or start at the butt crack of dawn to get the miles in.

I am also very careful to hydrate and stretch after the ride, plus take a cool shower.

After a while feeling like you just rode through a shower of warm spit get to feel almost normal.

marni

[dlolide]

I rode south and west of Houston so I also ride in heat, humidity and headwinds. Today's heat index was 105.

I have discovered Craft brand sleeveless wicking shirts as an under layer for my jerseys. The craft under layer soaks up the sweat, keeps the jersey from being clammy against my skin, encourages cooling evaporation and covers me decently enough so that I can strip down my jersey during a break and cool off. I also ride with arm coolers, which are white, sun resistant, Uv shielding , wicking and prevent me getting sunburned.

I ride early and get off of the road before noon.

I ride somewhat shorter and harder distances, take a good break at the halfway point and step down and stretch during the ride.

I carry two bottles, one of water that is just for dumping and the other with FRS. I carry extra tubes of FRS powder and stop in gas stations and convenience stores to refill the water as needed.

I keep an eye on the weather and on the sky and will call a ride if the weather looks chancy. I have spent far too many times crouching in a ditch with my bike in a ditch across the road in the middle of a thunderstorm. I would rather do that than try to ride in the wet and danger of lightning.

I also ride all summer long , even in the dog days of August, but cut my daily rides from 40-50 to 25-40 or start at the butt crack of dawn to get the miles in.

I am also very careful to hydrate and stretch after the ride, plus take a cool shower.

After a while feeling like you just rode through a shower of warm spit get to feel almost normal.

marni

Hello there,

I live in Dallas. I was looking into getting the arm coolers/sun sleeves. Could you tell me if you like them? Do they keep you cool or are they more to prevent sunburn?

Thanks.

[marni]

Hello there,

I live in Dallas. I was looking into getting the arm coolers/sun sleeves. Could you tell me if you like them? Do they keep you cool or are they more to prevent sunburn?

Thanks.

I absolutely love them and don't often ride without them. While they are marginally warmer when you first start out, as soon as my arms start sweating they begin wicking and then they are cooler. They also keep the sun off so my arms rarely feel hot- you know that stingy hot burn that you get on your skin under black shorts or on bare arms so I would have to say yes to both questions. I wear them consistently enough that I rarely put sun screen on my arms, which in turn helps with the perception of coolness.

Since I mostly ride sleeveless in the summer, and the arm coolers don't meet the edge of my jersey sleeves, I do end up with an interesting little wedge of farmers tan, sort of like a cap sleeve shadow on my upper arm as it rounds into the shoulder.

I got my arm coolers at trisports.com as they were suggested to me by a tri athelete friend but I'm sure there are other types around as well.

hth
marni