Quote Originally Posted by Catrin View Post
I am sure that I wasn't the only one out today, so will start.

I wanted to ride at least 28 miles today but have been having saddle issues as my rides have increased in distance and it was HOT today. I did not change my goal, but promised myself that I would listen to my body. While I want to increase my "long ride" by 10-15% a week - it won't speed things along if I wind up with heat exhaustion or a heat stroke. It was bad enough that I started at 3:00 in the afternoon!

It did not feel quite as hot as the numbers said, but it was certainly humid. I experimented with Accelerade since it was so hot, and made sure that I drank from my Camelbak often - and stopped in what shade I could find every 30 minutes or so to have some Accelerade and had a little bite or two of a Cliff bar every other stop. The Accelerade is more strongly flavored than I generally prefer, but not very sweet and my body seemed to like it just fine It was a sample, and I think that I need to use it during the hot weather - especially for my longer rides.

After 21 miles my stomach started to get a little unsettled, and it seemed prudent to take a shortcut to my car - I suspect that I was not drinking as often as I THOUGHT I was... I drank about 75% of the water in my 50-ounce Camelbak - and I did drink all of the Accelerade - so I think I probably did drink enough though perhaps should have drank water more frequently and taken smaller sips. I do not think it was the Accelerade upsetting my stomach but being out in the heat for 2 hours.

Even with the heat I really enjoyed my ride. Saw a few hawks flying, and I pretty much had the country roads to myself Fun to watch the corn zoom up.

Oh yes, much to my surprise, my average speed zoomed to 12.6 - apparently the heat and humidity are good for me!
Catrin, have you experimented with something other than Clif Bars during your rides? The first time I ever ate a Clif Bar was on a day like today. Beyond barely choking it down, it just sat like a lump in my stomach. I'm much better off with bananas, raisins, trail mix, and Clif Blocs. There are other bars I can tolerate a bit better (Lara to be exact), but I still find them to be too heavy. I don't honestly eat anything other than bananas on most rides. My stomach tolerates them the best, plus the extra potassium is nice.

Beyond that, have you weighed yourself before and after your rides to see if you're possibly drinking too much or too little? It might give a better idea of what to aim for.

As for my ride today, DH and I still had gardening to do today, so we kept it to 25 miles. It was a nice ride. I just wish it had been longer and cooler. We finally finished our flower gardens though, so that's okay.