Went out today, started around 0600 when it was beautiful and cool. I should have tried to get the entirety of the ride done before lunchtime but we stopped in a pub for a very very nice lunch. Leaving the pub the heat was brutal. The last 50 kilometers after the pub really dragged. My Garmin cycle computer told me that I should have consumed about seven and a half liters of water during the ride and I think I only consumed about five over the whole 160k.
I don't know how on earth the pros do it on the tour de France. I am sitting here in my back garden a broken man and I consider myself to be fairly fit.
One word of warning, a friend who's also relatively fit boinked hard at 130km. I had to end up waiting for him just to suck down water and food in the shade for about 45 minutes until he managed to compose himself. Both of us were surprised at the how quickly it came on. I've never boinked on a cycle ride before - I think the heat really takes it out of you. Today was a balance between wearing least layers to regulate your temperature but try not to get too badly burned.
I don't know how on earth the pros do it on the tour de France.
Acclimatisation.
I was out in Nice for the finish of the Tour in 2024, took the bike and did a few of the local routes, some of the classic climbs around there. it was 30-odd degrees, I was riding along, pouring sweat, basically looking every inch the pasty Brit and there were local riders wafting past me effortlessly, not a drop of sweat on their immaculate kit, not a hair out of place.
You can always tell the Brits out in Spain in winter; we'll be riding along in shorts and short sleeves and all the locals are wearing leg warmers and long sleeves and buffs because to them, 18 degrees is quite chilly.
We're just used to a range of 5-20 degrees, they're used to a range of 20-35.
Glad you and your mate recovered OK - be worth taking it easy and getting plenty of fluids over the next couple of days.
Don't the pro's do a lot of conditioning in Majorca etc? I just cannot ride in the heat so was out at 6 also. I was well covered up.
You just get used to it. Getting used to it can be done on a home trainer with lots of clothes and a themometer so you stop before heat stroke.
Rode from St Jean de Luz to Pau on a hot day last week, 185km, 3360m +ve, refilled the water bottles, 1.2l every 1.5-2 hours, no sweat. Well obviously lots of sweat but not really apparent because I've noticed adaption includes sweating all over so I'm damp all over rather than some parts dripping. Adaption also includes not losing as much salt as the concentration in sweat drops as you acclimatise.
Edit: I'm not fat - 66kg for 1m74, that helps a lot.
Did a 100 mile TT today, the Anfield 100 down near Shrewsbury. It was brutal, set off at 7:15am and it was already 22 degrees. By the time I finished it was touching 29. The last 25miles was horrendous. My hr went through the roof and my power dropped off a cliff. Went through 2.5 ltrs of water/energy drink and 5 gels in just under 4hrs
I really love the heat. I think the trick is to keep moving, don’t stop in the full sun and pick a route that’s got plenty of intermittent shade. I’ve done an average of 40k per day for the last 10 days - so not long rides. Today I came out of work at 4pm so right in the heat of the day and did a 40k ride home over the South Downs then dropped onto the gravel track under the North side which was a bit shadier and just rocketed home - no walkers getting in the way.
Also I don’t wear a helmet when it’s this hot - just a cap.
I was way more uncomfortable motorbiking in this morning even at 9am as it was boiling in my lined jeans and jacket.
Acclimatisation.
Absolutely
When i was in Romania, it was in the high 30's and the heat was pretty overpowering. We were out in the sticks and there was a local work crew making and doing fencing.
2 of the guys were wearing overcoats. Not the light cotton mac type, these were Russian greatcoat style.
I’ve got the turbo setup in the conservatory, that helps with acclimatision
I think some of it is just physiology. The heat really doesn't bother me at all. I've done two 24hr races in Italy where's it's been 37°C in the shade in the day, one of them only got down to 24 overnight, and another 24hr in Brazil at 35 with incredibly low humidity, and got podiums at all three when everyone else was struggling with heat stroke and dehydration and things and I could just keep going. I drank plenty but it just didn't bother me at all, no acclimatisation, no special prep, no anything. Some of us are just built like that.
The converse is that I have Reynauds and really suffer if it's cold and wet, dry cold is usually tolerable but wet cold is hell. I'd take 40°C over 10° and drizzle any day, but I know others who go really well in those conditions but just melt in what I would call pleasant conditions, mid-thirties say.
I think a lot of it is luck of the draw as to what your body prefers. My mother (also a Reynauds sufferer) is like me, my father and sister both hate the heat.
I live in Scotland. I have a feeling I've picked the wrong country...
Also I don’t wear a helmet when it’s this hot - just a cap.
I'll confess that I don't always wear one, sometimes don't bother if just popping into town or whatever. But on Monday Ilast week I had a fastish crash on a fairly innocuous trail. Landed headfirst with a horrible crushing sound. Helmet smashed, still got a whopping bruise on my forehead. Had dizziness the rest of the day and a headache for three or four days. Without that helmet it would undoubtedly have been at least a fractured skull. Just saying, these things happen when you least expect it. Not getting at you in particular, just a reminder to anyone who's reading (and myself, as I say I do sometimes go without but that shook me up badly)
A big hilly Welsh ride today saw me down 3.0 litres of water, plus another half litre immediately when we got to our destination. I needed it, like Really needed it.
MrsA on the other hand had not much more than a litre or so and was fine... ...until she wasn't.
Stay hydrated everyone. I also hit the peanuts at the bar. Salt may help. Goodness knows I've excreted a load of it today!
It was brutal, set off at 7:15am and it was already 22 degrees. By the time I finished it was touching 29.
These are autumn temperatures for me! In the summer I can't even walk to the shed to get the bike at 6am without sweating.
Acclimatisation does help, but there's definitely differences between people. I've lived in the heat for over 20 years and while I manage a lot better I still manage better in cold. I still get through a litre an hour in the heat.
We're having to start looking seriously at heat risk in sport now. I've known a few examples locally of dirt bike riders dying from heat stroke. My local enduro season has been adjusted this year because it was brutal last year... but then in 2024 we had a mid-winter race where it was 35 degrees and humid as all hell.
Sports Medicine Australia has published some guidelines and a tool - good to have some research-informed guidelines:
Hot Weather | Sports Medicine Australia
I'd forgotten how grim warm energy drink was until doing a 60 mile road ride yesterday. I wish I'd set off an hour earlier to as was quite pleasant for the first couple of hours but crawled back the last 5 miles with a banging headache after finishing.
Acclimatisation.
Yep, it takes around 10-14 days for your body to physiologically adapt to heat stress, the problem with the UK is that we often have quite jagged temperature changes, so one minute it's 12˚C, the next day it's suddenly 30˚C., so you just get pitched into it, a bit like rolling up from the UK to southern Spain. I'm terrible with heat initially, so I've learned to moderate effort, choose shady trails on the mountain bike and give my body a chance to adapt. Indoor training's one way of doing this, switch off any fans, keep effort moderate, stay hydrated etc. Generally I've learned to be cautious, I've bailed on rides early on in hot weather, when I realise how bad I feel before.
I did two hours on the mountain bike yesterday, sub-threshold mostly, shady trails where possible, cruised the climbs, drank lots, was fine. If I'd ridden at 'normal' speeds, I'd have suffered a lot.
Did a short prelunch ride, at 11.30 the Wahoo showed 35° in the sun, and a whopping 44° in the suntrap patio at the cafe.
I'm nowhere near as fit as you lot, but I've just postponed a ride I was going to have until tomorrow (where it's due to be a little more overcast & 4 or so degrees cooler).
Part of it is acclimatisation as it seems to have suddenly become ferociously hot with no build up (currently 24° and heading for 31°.
I have heart damage and can struggle in (what's for me) extreme temperatures, although I can't actually believe that I'm chickening out due to hot weather (I did go out in -8° over the winter).
Just cycled 25k into work including 350m of pretty brutal offroad climbing - absolutely perfect temp for me at low 20's. I'm really not looking forward to motorcyling home though, I'd rather cycle but I'm away for a week and don't want to leave my mbike here.
I think some of it is just physiology.
Yeah I am definitely better wired for the cold. In terms of acclimatisation I randomly remember seeing Monday 18th appearing on the weather app as a couple of degrees colder than average. So we have gone from bit chilly for May to wtf for May.
I've started to run into problems over carrying enough liquids with me. I've recently got myself a Spesh Creo 2 e-gravel bike.
I carry just one bottle (up until now) on the downtube and would add another to the seat tube but I want to put a range extender battery there. I have used bladders in my rucksack and in my waist bag but I'm not really too keen on them. I do have (from the distant past) a Lowe Alpine waist bag which has a holder for a drinks bottle so I can get a litre bottle in there and use it to replenish the down tube bottle as required. Any other suggestions?
I didn't think anyone on here actually rode bikes, and now there's a thread of people doing 100+ mile rides on a record breakingly hot day 🥴
I did 55km mixed road/gravel on Saturday and that was enough!
Just been through 600ml of water cycling into work this morning - just have to ride 'off the boil'. Did a couple of 'pootles' this weekend with MrsF and friends - didn't go far as I'd not got a bottle with me (we were away).
Any other suggestions?
I've seen a few top tube/frame bags that have hydration bladder options. Can't remember any specific recommendations but it might be worth investigating
Obviously totally irrelevant for a 160k road ride, but on days like yesterday (especially as I'm not very fit at the moment) it's definitely ebike territory for me. I was still sweating quite a lot but it was easier to regulate. If I was pedal power only, I wouldn't have gone out
Any other suggestions?
I've seen a few top tube/frame bags that have hydration bladder options. Can't remember any specific recommendations but it might be worth investigating
Thanks @stevious Just started googling that option including carrying a bottle on the top tube...... looks like probably the answer. Cheers
Tailfin do something called a HydroMount which is basically just a bottle cage which can strap onto any frame anywhere - useful for full suspension or weird designs, small frames etc.
But it'd probably be good to add additional water capacity as well.
A good part of my ride yesterday took me around the south side of Manchester on the airport relief road, it was full sun. The weird thing was that there was a stiff-ish headwind, so I didn't fell particularly hot, just noticed as I started to slow up and it felt like I was pedelling through treacle. Got to some shade and a chilled water refill later and I felt OK again.
Take care out there kids,
i find the Garmin heat acclimatisation predictor to be quite good.
Built my self up to running 20-30k in mid day heat (as that was the time i had available) when in middle of France last summer - 37degree C My ability to do so pretty much came in line with Garmin saying i was 100% adapted.
Just do not expect to do your usual rides from the start if your not used to it.
I have when on holiday though just thrown ice packs into my rucksack directly against my back to keep my core down to allow me to get out and go.
Tailfin do something called a HydroMount which is basically just a bottle cage which can strap onto any frame anywhere - useful for full suspension or weird designs, small frames etc.
But it'd probably be good to add additional water capacity as well.
@crazy-legs Thanks, that looks perfect
TAILFIN.CC
I have when on holiday though just thrown ice packs into my rucksack directly against my back to keep my core down to allow me to get out and go.
Cycling up Stelvio a few years ago (actually the Umbrail Pass, the Swiss side which joins the Stelvio), I stopped at a couple of the mountain streams and soaked my base layer in it. Glacial mel****er so it was freezing! 30 minutes later, the top would be dry again and I'd have to re-soak. But it worked well!
@crazy-legs Thanks, that looks perfect
👍
I ran a marathon on Sunday (helping a mate who was running a 145 mile ultra) and it was brutal. Very little shade, very little wind and just plodding along. We drank a lot of water with electrolytes and still had a horrible time.
TBH I’m in Southern Spain,I’ll ride in the mid 30’s but if it’s going to be well over 35+ I’ll probably give it a miss unless it’s a pootle somewhere, if it’s 40 then I’ll just give it a miss.
Most people riding hard will be more likely up early to catch the lower temperature.
The biggest issue is that there is very little natural shade so any puncture/repair is likely going to be right in the sun without the breeze of moving and waiting for a recovery is going to be grim.
The planning of your route and timing make all the difference as you’ll likely be heading out when it’s cool and returning when it’s warm.
I have water racks which can hold a normal size bottle and 1.5l bottles and I tend to stop en route to pick up a large bottle of ice cold Aquarius from the local shops/petrol stations(it’s got all the stuff you sweat out).
I try to plan routes with a few bolt holes but tbh sometimes it’s just brutal and you have to make sure you’re hydrating and plod on.
People do get unstuck here whilst walking/hiking/ riding and it’s not just tourists 🙁
I use a Monkii cage to carry various sized bottles, even full coke on brutal days.
Ive also got a vest with water bladder but tbh you can’t beat picking up cold bottles(and it’s hot enough already without adding layers, I tend to keep a reserve water bottle for backup.
I also use the bar bags that are good for extra water and nibbles.
For clothing I’ll wear a roadie climber top and on a climb probably lose the helmet (legally you need a helmet outside the city but are permitted to remove on hot climbs)
WOHOBIKE.COM We cancelled last nights "Cycle for Health" ride last night. Predicted to still be high 20s, we're in the amber heat warning zone, groups are mainly older, many with an assortment of underlying conditions, just not worth risking it.
As others have said it's all acclimatization. This weather has been dropped on us in May rather than July so it feels worse.
I did the hot 6 months in Europe in the van with the MTB in 2016 and I'm not sure it rained more than once.
I would regularly do 6 hour+ rides (most without any form of uplift) in places like Lake Garda, Slovenia, The Alps, Provence, rural Spain, the Pyrenees and once you got used it and nailed your drinking and fueling it was fine.
I did get heat stroke in the Jura as it was well over 40C and a non-existent trail meant a 3hr spin in the relative cool of the forest turned into 6hr death march on the tarmac acquiring water from campsites along the route. That wasn't fun.
35C on a big pedally Enduro ride in Tignes a few years ago did have me sitting in the shade outside a Sherpa necking Powerade, Coke and water and questioning my life choices, but that was fine in the end.
A week in The Tweed valley in August 2022 (that HOT summer) was another one, over 30 degrees every day. Rode everyday, it was fine as we were used to it by then.
Tonight is ride night and I cant face it as I'm simply not used to it at the moment.
35C on a big pedally Enduro ride in Tignes a few years ago did have me sitting in the shade outside a Sherpa necking Powerade, Coke and water and questioning my life choices, but that was fine in the end.
I did an Etape du Tour years ago which turned into a day like that. The early start was fine, nice and cool and then it got progressively hotter throughout the day. The final climb was littered with bodies as riders sought any scrap of shade, any patch of cool grass to lie down in for a bit. It was baking and the final climb was heading straight north with the sun on our backs.
There was a guy who'd dragged a big chest freezer half way up the mountain and was selling cans of coke and bottles of water at 5euros a pop. People were throwing money at him! No-one cared that it was extortionate, everyone was just desperate for fluid!
VeloToze (the people who sell those aero shoe covers) also sell cooling vests with built in ice-packs:
VELOTOZE.UK I didn't think anyone on here actually rode bikes, and now there's a thread of people doing 100+ mile rides on a record breakingly hot day
I wish. 'Only' 24*C here yesterday and it's just about reaching 21*C. Central Scotland. I would say it's a lovely temp for riding, but see that point about acclimatisation? That's me vs folk in warmer parts of the UK. Even early 20s is a struggle for me cos I'm used to single digits 😀
I quite enjoy it. Will be going for a run in a few minutes as well. I sweat like crazy and can’t go as fast, but don’t feel ill. Need to wash my foam helmet pads though, but at least it seemed to kill any flies that came close.
Before we all get too heroic, I redid a first aid qualification last week and we covered heat exhaustion and heat stroke in more depth than I remember previously. The impact heat stroke has on reasoning and decision making is rapid and severe, and is a potential cause of Dr Michael Mosleys death in Greece a couple of years back.
I've started to run into problems over carrying enough liquids with me. I've recently got myself a Spesh Creo 2 e-gravel bike.
I carry just one bottle (up until now) on the downtube and would add another to the seat tube but I want to put a range extender battery there. I have used bladders in my rucksack and in my waist bag but I'm not really too keen on them. I do have (from the distant past) a Lowe Alpine waist bag which has a holder for a drinks bottle so I can get a litre bottle in there and use it to replenish the down tube bottle as required. Any other suggestions?
Topeak cage mount that can be fitted to seatpost or bars, link simply example of product, look for deals!
A few years back I bought a soft bottle holder from PlanetX that attaches to bike with hook 'n' loop (velcro) fittings, an example, no idea of price deals again!
www.amazon.co.uk/MUNSKT-Drawstring-Waterproof-Handlebar-Wheelchair/dp/B0C61RDGND/
Another tip is many ~1250ml squash bottles are securely gripped by standard bottle cages.
If planning ahead to take 2+ bottles out the next day, put 1+ in the freezer overnight, it should defrost by time you need it on ride and be nice and cool. Camelbak Ice or similar insulated bottles might keep liquid a bit cooler, but they tend to hold a bit less fluid for their size.
www.amazon.co.uk/Camelbak-Podium-Ice-620ml-self-sealing/dp/B09KTFRH75?th=1
And finally, drench a baselayer (mine are the PlanetX ones from ~2020) in cold tap water just before going out, very lightly wring it before putting on under your jersey. Should give heat relief for ~30mins+ before needing another drenching in cold water. Also works well for sitting around a very warm house with a fan that blasts you.
PLANETX.CO.UK
I've not gone out on my ebike much at all over the heatwave long weekend, when I have it's been for sub 90mins just before it goes pitch black, because I'm not fit to head out in the cool sunrise air and be back before ~0900. Since getting the SP1 battery extender, I've lost the seat tube mount, need to sort out one of above options myself if I get around to trying to ride closer to 2hours+ in this heat, but at least on ebike you can put in much less effort and so need less fluid!
I just don't do it. If the fun stops. Stop
Heres a controversial opinion.i also hate dusty trails.
Was out sharp this morning, riding just after 9, for a glorious 25 miles or so round Whitelee Windfarm. Not a breath of wind and about 21 degrees, perfect 👌🌞
I always start hydrating the night before, say 1 pint of water min at bedtime. Even 2 nightie wees is c half so you ve got half left in you.
Advice from physio ages ago, it really works.
I once got caught out with no water in the mountains walking, it's brutal...as a group we divvied up water supplies. Hugely grateful.
I always start hydrating the night before, say 1 pint of water min at bedtime. Even 2 night wees is c half so you ve got half left in you.
Advice from physio ages ago, it really works.
I once got caught out with no water in the mountains walking, it's brutal...as a group we divvied up water supplies. Hugely grateful.
Plenty suncream to help prevent the burning...or at least make it take longer...
Just me on the turbo trainer in the conservatory then?
Seemed an ideal week for a block of heat training ahead of a likely hot event soon!
