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to go out for a ride ?
I guess here in the UK we aren't used to riding in hot conditions, though it's common in sunnier countries.
Had tentatively planned a 25 or so mile local road loop later this afternoon, and it's currently 27.5 degrees here in sunny south Lanarkshire. Feels a bit too warm to my liking methinks !
I could have gone out at 7am, but the lure of the outdoor pool at the gym was strong, and a lovely 2k swim was had instead.
It's certainly more comfortable riding than running, just because you create a bit of your own chill factor.
I’m going out for a ride mid afternoon, about 28 degrees here. Far too hot, but I don’t intend on doing anything other than pootling about. Will be about 20 miles and will involve at least two stops at a shop for cold drinks….one of those will be an iced frappe type of thing.
Don’t think I could cope with a proper ride in this heat.
It’s certainly more comfortable riding than running, just because you create a bit of your own chill factor.
One of my favourite commentator phrases, at the Rio olympics.
‘Cyclists generate their own wind’
When it's about 45+ I'll think about curtailing it.
It's more about sun exposure for me than the numerical heat value.
I find anything up to low 30's (temp) ok for stuff less than 30 miles or so. Obviously drinking plenty and not pushing hard/hills
Helmet comes off though if Im on a hill (quiet roads round here)
I am going out about 4:30 ish and will drink 2 x 750ml bottles in about 20 miles
Another plus of an ebike - can go out and sweat as much or as little as you want in this weather
I'm bike commuting in it - went out for a WFH commute yesterday at lunch - just took it steady and found a relatively shaded ride.
Add humidity into the equation. I find high humidity more debilitating than absolute temperature
Depends, there is a big difference between doing a zone 2 ride and doing vo2 max stuff.
Generally I don't really consider the heat if it's below 30
It peaked out at 33 degrees climbing puig major last month in Majorca. Wasn’t particularly pleasant but still easily doable despite it being like an oven at points. I got through 5 liters of water in 80 miles, which was a personal record
its the humidity that gets me. I struggled with walking to the shop yesterday. Meant to be 26 degrees for ten under the Ben at the weekend, which isn’t ideal for a race.
I embrace it as a rare chance to not wear my winter gear tbh. Only last week I was racing in 11 degrees, which ain’t particularly fun either
i reckon the magic temperature number is 17..
the issue here in the uk is it isnt consistent so we dont get acclimatised
I have lived in Angola and ive done long spells in Perth Australia where ive gone running in the heat and cycled across British columbia during mid summer ( Garmin peaked at 50+ in the bulkley valley where we took refuge in an air conditioned filling station during the mid day sun.) but as we rode into it and through it - it wasnt as bad as if we woke up on a given tuesday and yesterday was 6 degrees and today was 25.
because lets face it - its not even that warm in the uk yet.
its not even that warm in the uk yet.
It's all relative to what we are used to I guess..
It’s ok. Just go steady. I was wearing warm gloves on morning commute last week. Cold hands are a distant memory all ready! Then my commuter broke this week that has panniers. So having to use mtb with rucksack this week, and I must admit it’s a bit hot with gear on my back
it was 37 when I set off last sunday. Fortunately cooled off a bit as the evening wore on, and a nice dry desert heat rather than the wet stuff here. Felt almost as hot yesterday in a british 23..
It’s all relative to what we are used to I guess.
Yeah. My Garmin stats show a Heat Acclimatisation number but it doesn't start kicking in until it's above 22C. They really need to make that more region specific 😁
Too hot is when speed no longer provides a cooling breeze.
10 mile TT tonight. Was 13° last week, at least 10° warmer tonight.
If my time starts with "33" I'll be happy.
Personal innit. I love exercising in the heat. Last year on the hottest day I went out for a ride just to see how hot it would be (I've got loads of experience riding in mid 30s so I knew it would be ok). Answer was 37.
Depends what sort of session you have in mind, but for me, the limitting factor in approx 25C+ has usually been hydration.
During the prolonged non-extreme summer heatwave of 2018, I often headed out with three ice cold 1-1.2 litre bottles attached to the road bike (two standard cages and a Topeak post/bar cage combined with standard squash bottles) and despite having drank plenty beforehand, I'd struggle to more than two hours at z2 and three hours at z1.
There's been a few times in previous summers when I've still gone out and tried to smash my PBs up climbs, but I'd end up necking the best part of one bottle during and just after a ~8min+ z4+ effort.
Definitely helps to get out early and be back by ~1100, almost always cooler than trying to head out in "the midday sun" or in the evening.
On the last evening of the extreme heatwave last year, I had a "eureka" moment, soaking my baselayer in cold water just before heading out for ~45mins of z1.
Air temperature isn't so much of a problem.
I'd keep cycling (up to zone 2) in anything up to 30 Celsius. Just take plenty to drink and manage your time/effort carefully.
BUT I definitely try to avoid direct sun - I burn easily and I hate (with a passion) suncreams! I always feel greasy and slippery and like I'm burning anyway.
So I ride early morning (6:30am start) and finish before work at 8am.
I tend to start feeling it above 25 Celsius. Approaching 28-30 with no cooling breeze I'm struggling.
Basel gets v hot and humid, lived there previously for a long time. Over 40c not uncommon. Tended to meet only other British riders out in the hottest parts of the day. Read into that what you will! Above 35c generally not fun any more.
Best funny/not funny experience was when a pal from Aberdeen came out to visit during the summer. We met early in the morning for a ride with others, and with much hilarity first of all had to swap out all of his Aberdeen 'warm weather' clothing for actual warm weather clothing (🙈😆).
Then we went out and started the 1.5hr 800m fireroad climb. it was funny seeing him moan, sweat and laugh about the heat, until suddenly it was clear he was in really trouble. V pale, no longer sweating, fast thready pulse. ****!
Cue sitting him in the shade cooling him down, pouring water bottles over his head and body until he came back to us. So, yeah - habituation is an important element.
For me - rode home from a hospital visit (prolapsed disc in back, wanted to prove how well I was recovering) at 1pm when it was 43c. No matter how fast I went, that really did not feel good. The air felt horrible going into my lungs and whole system just felt really weird.
It all depends on where you're riding to, I suppose...
About 40C for me. I rode right thru the heatwave last summer every day - I think for 2 months there was not a day under 30C and when you are out in the sun at 35+ its certainly nice and warm. I did get towards heatstroke a couple of very hot days. I am very heat tolerant tho
I'm doing the Frontier 300 this weekend. Gulp.
Toying with sticking a third bottle cage on, though the longest stint between feed stops is just about 43 miles. Am glad to be starting around 4:15am.
Mid 20s here today.. it was glorious out there... sweaty, yes... but LOVELY.
Man up - slap the sun tan cream on and make sure you have plenty of water.
I accidentally over-committed myself back in 2015 or 2016 on an mtb ride in Spain. We were staying near Malaga and I’d heard the riding was ok from Marbella. Tracked down a hire shop and hired a full suss mtb (really dead feeling felt) and a satnav unit with a pre-planned route. Gave me 3 options - 65 / 32 /31 miles. I was thinking kms. Whoops.
Went up the hill / mountain directly behind the store on very rough fireroads. Was 35c that day. Just about had enough water to scrape to the first village I came across at the end of the rough fire roads. Fell into a cafe and ordered several litres of water and an omelette. From there it turned out to be mostly downhill tarmac back thankfully.
Shop had said it was about a 3-3.5 hour ride. Turned out to be 6.5 for me. I set them straight in time expectations when I got back!
It's about 23 here just now but it feels a lot hotter. I'm at the it's too hot stage but we're not used to the sun in NE Scotland 🥵
From memory, it takes about ten days to get approximately 90% of your heat acclimatisation - ie: your body adjusts to work better in heat, more sweating etc. Makes sense to me, I'm biblically crap with temps over about 25˚C to begin with, but adjust okay in time. Right now I'm still adjusting and taking it quite easy. I'll probably be just about acclimatised at the point where temperatures drop to single figures and it starts raining again.
It used to amuse me in southern Spain where you'd be out in the high 20s and the locals would still be wearing longs and arm-warmers.
What does everyone do on their on-trend Enduro bikes with one bottle cage? That's nowhere near enough in hot weather. I'm a Camelbak user and proud of it 🙂
What does everyone do on their on-trend Enduro bikes with one bottle cage
Uses an on-trend waist pack with bladder, similar to the camelbak but with a less sweaty back.
To answer the question, no issue riding in the heat. Running on the other hand is an issue with anything remotely warm.
When it’s about 45+ I’ll think about curtailing it.
It’s more about sun exposure for me than the numerical heat value.
+1
I've been out in the high 30's and it's fine, just very sweaty. I was out on a 200km road ride on Saturday and got through 8l of water (and still lost 2kg).
Slap on the P20 and drink plenty and it's mostly fine on the road when you're moving constantly.
Off-road I tend to only pick rides that are nearly 100% under tree cover and go out very early or late. It's light enough to ride at 4am so you cna be out and do an "all day ride" and be in the cafe before they stop serving a full breakfast. It's just uncomfortable crawling up a hill in the direct sun, then stand still and faff at the top, so that sort of thing is to be avoided.
All personal and all relative to what you are used to.
I am OK in this temperature - Spain last year in 30*c was 'challenging', particularly when we were in the Basque country as we had one day that was also really humid and decided to pedal up an 600m+ hill...
I am commuting - I just dial it back a notch on the way home.
What does everyone do on their on-trend Enduro bikes with one bottle cage?
Shorter rides or more pubs/shops/cafes if needed.
I did perhaps my hardest ride ever - 100 miles over most of the Dales - on the hottest day here last year when the air temp was 30 or so but more importantly I was in full sun all day without a scrap of shade.
I did start to feel a bit ill near the end and have to lie down for a bit after. But it wasn't that bad for at least half of the ride.
Oh and the other big consideration, more so that temp IMO is humidity 25 deg and 98% humidty is far worse for me than 32 deg and low humidity
How do you lot who drink bottles and bottles of water actually manage to get it down your neck? Where do you put it?
I was out for 4.5 hrs on Saturday on the gravel bike, riding normally. Just managed to get through a single 750ml bottle, and that was a lot for me. Sunday the same - 3 hrs on the MTB, took 1.5l in the camelbak, brought back a litre and again was making a conscious effort to drink regularly.
Anything more than a mouthful at a time and I start feeling like I'm sloshing, and I'll quite happily go for a couple of hours before it even occuring to me that I might need to drink. I just don't do "thirsty". Offer me a cold coke or a can of tory fanta and I'll be all over it - but for the taste and the cold, not for the liquid volume.
6 months of the year, WFH, I'll happily go from breakfast (glass of OJ, double espresso) to tea time at 6pm with no liquid passing my lips. Just never something I think about. Better now the OH is also WFH as she wants a post lunch coffee...
Don't get headaches; wee is normal in volume and colour...
<<edit>> to answer the original question - as others have said its more about the ability to resist sunburn. 30+ is getting unpleasant. The 40+ we had for a couple of days last year I had to commute in and breathing the air was horrible - it was so dry it felt like I was cooking my lungs.
Congratulations, but you seem to be unaware that people do vary quite a bit.
Obvs you can operate without much water, but the fact is when its hot your are going to be loosing way more water than putting in (unless you dont sweat)
I only take 1 sip at a time, but it really doesnt take much to just get a bottle from a cage.
If I didnt drink more than 1 bottle in this heat I would possibly get cramp/headaches/feel shit the next day
I struggle to get fluid balance right once it gets above 30C. At that point I'm not able to take enough in to balance that leaving through respiration and perspiration.
I just slather the factor 50 on my face, drink a lot of water, have a few salty snacks and pack a lot more water than usual. That’s what back packs with 2-3L bladders are for. Also you can put extra bottles in your bag. They might not be what the cool kids wear, but a bum bag and bottle don’t hold enough water.
I’ll also ride in the woods and not in the open to avoid direct sun and try to minimise the climbing. And if I drive somewhere to ride the van will have lots of extra cold drinks ready to top up when I get back.
Congratulations, but you seem to be unaware that people do vary quite a bit.
What does that mean? I keep getting told its better for you to drink lots, but I have no idea how/why to drink if I'm not actually thirsty. What's the trigger for "I know what, I'll have a drink"? Most of the time its just an irrelevance that gets in the way of what I'm doing and a slug of tap water at ambient temp has absolutely zero interest.
i'm heading to Surrey Hills/Dorking tonight for a MTB ride..
I imagine I'll get to the top of the first hill...lie down and fall asleep...
DrP
First day of the current warm spell I got the worst sunburn on my life in the Dales
100km+ on my mtb in vest, I was out for a good 8 hours in the heat, creamless
How do you lot who drink bottles and bottles of water actually manage to get it down your neck? Where do you put it?
It pours through my skin at a rate that some find incredible to observe. And thus clearly moves out of my stomach pretty rapidly.
It's clear I'm cold weather adapted/run hot. In the dead of winter I wear a windproof and summer t-shirt, whilst everyone else is wearing another two layers.
In summer, dumping my heat is the key factor for how I feel and how well I can exercise.
12 degrees is t-shirt weather. 16 degrees is shirt off. 20 degrees is riding in flip-flops. 25 degrees is no ride without a lake to jump in at some point.
What does everyone do on their on-trend Enduro bikes with one bottle cage? That’s nowhere near enough in hot weather. I’m a Camelbak user and proud of it
the problem with a camelbak when it is hot is the lack of ventilation. they trap too much heat for my taste.
when i lived in texas i wore the thinnest lycra in the lightest colours that i could find with a coating of facto 50 cream. it was ok on the move, but waiting at red lights was very uncomfortable.
What does everyone do on their on-trend Enduro bikes with one bottle cage?
Carry a bottle with a built in water filter and fill up on the go.
FWIW Garmin calculates sweat loss and it seems pretty accurate if you weigh yourself before and after a ride or run. IIRC, Saturdays 23km run was about 2.5 litres.
Scienceofficer
It pours through my skin at a rate that some find incredible to observe. And thus clearly moves out of my stomach pretty rapidly.
It’s clear I’m cold weather adapted/run hot. In the dead of winter I wear a windproof and summer t-shirt, whilst everyone else is wearing another two layers.
In summer, dumping my heat is the key factor for how I feel and how well I can exercise.
That's been me since I was a child, my mother used to say the handles on my cutlery was twice the temp of anyone else’s when clearing the table. I used to get called the honorary Geordie when visiting our site in Newcastle in the dead of winter with a Tee shirt as my only top layer!
I also suffer terrible sinus headaches from exercise in hot weather as a result of a head injury following a hit & run 🙁
To answer the question, no issue riding in the heat. Running on the other hand is an issue with anything remotely warm.
This
Did a long ride at the weekend 27 degrees, was only too hot when we stopped for a break. Drank 5l of water.
Cant run in anything over 17 degrees though
Those hot days I rode thru I was drinking 6 l every day plus more in the evenings
What does that mean? I keep getting told its better for you to drink lots, but I have no idea how/why to drink if I’m not actually thirsty. What’s the trigger for “I know what, I’ll have a drink”?
When you get thirsty. We used to have a contributor on here for whom this stuff literally was his job. Your body has a very good way of regulating body fluid volume. Its called thirst. In the UK at normal UK summer temps I can ride all day on a litre no issues at all. Been out today for 5 hours. Half a litre plus another half when I got back
You can tell when you run low on electrolytes 'cos you drink and immediately pee it out but are still thirsty. Last summer I needed to have electrolytes but normally I do not
Everyone varies but there is this compulsion to drink more than is needed. the 2L a day recommendation for example is not really based on anything very much
This evening's temperature was spot on for my commute, and the roads were really quiet for some reason. Quieter than during school holidays. It was weird but very welcome.
How do you lot who drink bottles and bottles of water actually manage to get it down your neck? Where do you put it?
I don’t normally drink much (on mild days I used to ride for 3 hours without drinking) but I’ve had at least one day where I’ve drunk a dozen large bottles and still barely needed to pee. I do a good line in sweating.
But I can take the heat if it’s heat alone; multiple times I’ve ridden in over 40 degrees and not been unhappy. Turn up the humidity, though, and I start to fall apart rapidly.
When you get thirsty. We used to have a contributor on here for whom this stuff literally was his job. Your body has a very good way of regulating body fluid volume. Its called thirst.
Rather like with hunger and modern diets, I am not sure everyone has a natural thirst response.
Went out yesterday morning around Ilkley Moor and must admit that it bashed me for the rest of the day even though I didn't go too far. Only took one bottle though.
In my experience there's a difference between managing without enough fluids and performing without enough fluids. I can (and often do) ride for a long time without needing to constantly top up but speed/power drop off markedly. In my case it's probably more noticeable when running than it is when riding, due to the higher intensity of exercise.
OnzadogFree Member
Add humidity into the equation. I find high humidity more debilitating than absolute temperature
Pretty much this for me, i can live with it being in the 30s, but in the UK we tend to have high humidity as well, which is why it always feels warmer than drier climates, was out the other day before the thunder storms and it felt dense and not very comfortable after a while, went out today and it felt fine and easy, temperature you can mitigate in some ways, humidity is just a pain to deal with.
I'm made for cooler climates.
I had planned for a ride on Monday but the youngest has a tummy bug, so I was on daddy duty and to be honest I would of struggled in that heat.
The factory I work in would of been horrendous these last few days, easily high 30s. Hotter up on the mezzanine.
I find the heat fine but add in some high humidity and I really suffer
the 2L a day recommendation for example is not really based on anything very much
IIRC it's based on a study that analysed how much moisture the subjects breathed out, and concluded that they needed to take in that amount, which was about two litres. But they pointed out that much of that water cames from the food we eat, you don't have to drink 2l of water on top of that.
In the UK at normal UK summer temps I can ride all day on a litre no issues at all.
I on the other hand rode 3.5hs on Sunday with 1l of drink and I was thirsty as hell and felt pretty bad.
I'm in the sub-tropics. In the summer it's often mid-20s for a sunrise ride and incredibly humid. It's taken me years to adapt as i'm a walking sauna. I get laughed at because I have to wring my clothes out at the end of the ride.
In the winter it's mid-20s in the middle of the day but not as humid.
Took a Scottish lad for a 2-hour ride in January once and warned him to pack 1 litre per hour... he couldn't believe it but he needed all of that water. I've knocked back 9 litres in 9 hours before. Weekend before last I got through 4.5 litres on a 55km singletrack ride.
My tips are:
- out in the open, wear a loose thin long sleeve shirt and collar - protects the skin and helps cool it too
- avoid a backpack if possible - that heats me up more than anything (5 degrees this morning and my t-shirt is soaked because of my backpack)
- have a bottle with electrolytes in.
Even worse is trail biking on a moto. Slow speeds and all the gear can be dangerous. I've given electrolytes to other riders a couple of times when they've started to spin out or cramp. A while back a local lad died from heatstroke when he broke down in the woods.
6 months of the year, WFH, I’ll happily go from breakfast (glass of OJ, double espresso) to tea time at 6pm with no liquid passing my lips. Just never something I think about. Better now the OH is also WFH as she wants a post lunch coffee…
Don’t get headaches; wee is normal in volume and colour
I work with people that barely drink anything all day, whilst I'm drinking my 2l water. I don't know how they do it, I'd feel like crap, but everyone is different I suppose.
I'd rather carry on with the premise that I'm keeping my organs hydrated and my body flushed through of toxins though
Cherish the current weather. It could be non stop rain all summer.