Please read this about Heat Exhaustion

[Red Ryder]

Good bump!

The first heat of the season is always the toughest.

[Burner]

I can't wait to get a really nice SWEAT on this weekend... I know Pain Freak is with me!

[dirtmistress]

I just bailed on Mulholland Challenge tomorrow. It was 112 miles with 12,000 feet of elevation gain.
I picked up a virus and out in Malibu today for work, it was so hot. I can't imagine being in or climbing the canyons. Let alone being sick and doing it!
Great thread. I copied much of it and sent to my friends that are doing it.
The good news is I wasn't terribly sick for the Idyllwild weekend. I felt it coming on but that was beyond fun last weekend and I would take that any day over some endurance event!! Good timing virus!!

[AAARGH!]

Originally Posted by allison

Just wanted to bump this.

We've all been riding in cooler weather all winter and it seems it's gonna be pretty warm out this weekend.

It was due to be mid-80s here this weekend and now it's forecast to be in the 90s!

Make sure you have plenty of water this weekend and if you start to feel overly hot, can't sweat, get goosebumps, get off the trail and into the shade/air conditioning.

Happy Friday!

That happened to me last summer on one of those 100+ days. Left Corona to do an out and back 25 miler roadie at noon instead of 9am like originally planned. Got 2 miles from the house coming back and had to call my wife. I stopped sweating, got goosebumps, and the smallest hill was killing me. It was kinda scary, but I knew what was happening. Don't ignore the signals.

[cbHarping]

I've recently been using Nuun Tablets, and I really like them! They're electrolyte tablets, along the same lines as the Camelback Elixir tabs. The flavor is not overwhelming at all.

It's just something to help hydrate better, but it's not a sports drink that gives you added calories and carbs.

[allison]

Tablets, drops, etc. are all good, but are not a substitute for good judgement/hydration, and sometimes just plain staying home.

This will now end the PSA

[Trizz]

Here is another fact for you guys, if you have suffered from a heat injury, such as heat exaustion, you are more susceptible to getting another heat injury easier then before.

[faded1004]

i put a load of RO/DI icecubes in my camel pack (i have a good water filter for my fish tank, the cubes don't taste like freezer, hahahaha...) and i get about 2-3 hours of super ice cold water in the sun. i also take a water bottle full of ice cubes with cyto each for my GF and i...

my camel loads up 3 liters... plenty for nice medium rides...

[OMR]

Originally Posted by allison

Tablets, drops, etc. are all good, but are not a substitute for good judgement/hydration, and sometimes just plain staying home.

Remember, if you don't ride... go to the beach!

You and Justin have a great weekend!

[allison]

Originally Posted by OMR

Remember, if you don't ride... go to the beach!

You and Justin have a great weekend!

You as well, thanks!

FWIW, I'd rather take it easy than wind up in the hospital

[dft]

Originally Posted by allison

Tablets, drops, etc. are all good, but are not a substitute for good judgement/hydration, and sometimes just plain staying home.

This will now end the PSA

do you know if a couple scoops of powder gatorade mix give you the neccessary electrolites? that is what i use on rides like coldwater

[allison]

Originally Posted by dft

do you know if a couple scoops of powder gatorade mix give you the neccessary electrolites? that is what i use on rides like coldwater

Probably better than nothing.

My point is though that even if you have electrolytes you can still get dehydrated/heat stroke!

FWIW, I think taking your sweatshirt/t-shirt off at the top of every climb is just as effecient

Don't do Coldwater tomorrow, k?

[OMR]

Originally Posted by allison

Don't do Coldwater tomorrow, k?

Allison's right... Ned will kill you in the expected heat... Remember, grasshopper...you'll be climbing up & going down the "hot" side of the mountain.

BTW, got your will made out?

[genusmtbkr5]

Originally Posted by OMR

Allison's right... Ned will kill you in the expected heat... Remember, grasshopper...you'll be climbing up & going down the "hot" side of the mountain.

BTW, got your will made out?

We did Coldwater 2 weeks ago and the weather was favorable, not this week. He's got another ride planned on this side of the mountain.

[Padre]

This is my write up of the day I almost died of heat exhaustion, July 24, 2006:

Leadville is only a month away.
Ive never ridden 100 miles off-road before.
Training time is essential at this juncture, just as it has been for the last 6 months.

Another Saturday training ride.
Havent felt strong on one of these on the mountain bike since early June.

It was hot, supposed to be the hottest day of the year.
Whateverwell get an early start and beat the worst of the heat and get back to burritos and a/c quickly. This plan has worked for the last few Saturdays anway.

We met at the bird sanctuary and planned for the 7 mile, 3700' ascent, a speedy 7 mile fire road descent, followed by a return trip up that same fire road.

Took me 1:40 to reach the top of the first big climb. Funny, thats my fastest ever my 5 minutes at least. I had put it in 5th gear for the last 1.5miles trying to keep up with a few guys on the trail. For the last 12 minutes or so of that ascent, my hearrate was between 170 and 175. For the first hour and a half, Id kept it at a comfortable for me 145 beats per minute.

The heat was as expected. VERY VERY humid though. I was sweating a ton!
No worries, I was carrying 80oz of H20 on my back, while on the bike I had a 24oz bottle of electrolyte replacement drink and another 16oz of endurance fuel. Oh, add to that a few bottles of energy gel. I was sucking all this stuff down at regular intervals.

Reaching the top was hot, but semi windy it seemed. I reached the lead group and kept pedaling around so as to prevent my legs from getting any sore. After some milling around we all headed for the long descent. Even though we were all sweaty, the 20mph descent wasnt the least bit, least bit cold. In fact, there were many pockets of air on the way down that hit like an opening oven.

We reached the bottom, swung the bikes around and somberly headed back up for another few thousand feet and 7 more miles of climbing.

About two miles of easy pedaling later, I began to pedal much more slowly. Crap, I thought. All this training and ANOTHER crappy day on the bike. Oh well. Instead of a training ride it would turn in to another just get it done ride. I pedaled on.

Wowcant use that middle ring anymorecant spin those legs around. Down in the granny ring I was tugging along at about 3 mph. S-L-O-W. Man, its hot.

Wayne came back down. He was tapping out. He just wasnt feelin it today and thought it better to pedal the 15 or so flat miles around the bottom than pedal over the huge mountain. I chided him gently and encouraged him onward but he resisted and began his descent.

Shortly after leaving Wayne, I began to slow down even more. Stupid! This was getting frustrating. I felt like total rookie. I had ridden rides like this in my sleep, but this time was hard. Again. Again I slurped down some energy drink and gel. Took in even more water and proceeded on. 1/3rd way up the climb I met the waiting lead group. Half depressed from taking so long and have practical needing to get on with it, I proceeded by without a greeting just to move the show along. I was shortly dropped from sight as they all blasted off in a haze of hot dust.

Only 4.5 miles to go, I thought. No problem. Ive done this portion a gillion times and in conditions worse than this. Suck it up and pedal, Erik! So I did. My comfy HR of 145 from the mornings climb was easy to achieve now, too easy. I found myself in the easiest gear on my bike, plodding along at 1.7mph with my HR spiking over 150. What the heck! I was devastated at the fact it seemed I was suddenly, in spite of months of training, in horrible shape.

Soon, I was walking. Normally, it takes about 8+ hours of hard riding to bring me to my feet. It had only been 3 hours. I was angry. So I walked. Moving slowly up the 7% grade at a snails pace. A slow snails pace. Man. I have never ever moved so slow up this.

I was depleted. I was done. I was done done. I encountered Brian was zipping back down to then drive back to his car. I tried to tag along, but he wisely reminded me that I had the keys to the car, and that Leslie, miles ahead, would be waiting for hours if I didnt show. Good point. I had to keep going. Suck.

So I walked. Tried to ride. Walked. Tried to ride. When Id ride, Id begin to cramp. So Id walk. Then, I stopped caring about riding or walking, and I just wanted to find somewhere to sit downin the shade. But if there is one thing Ive learned, is that sitting down is giving up. So I began to quest for shade at all costs. When Id find it, Id stand in it.but not sit. Maybe hang. Some random XC guy descended and stopped next to me. I wasnt sitting. I was however, standing up in the Im stretching my hamstrings position. Except, I wasnt doing that, I was in the process of not sitting in the shade, while resting from the excessive effort it seemed to take to stay standing. Man, my head felt SO heavy! I think he asked me something, but my iPod was on and didnt want to be another fred on the trail pullin a I cant do it routine so I sprouted wings and jumped to my bike and pedaled off. I made it about 100 yards, looked down at my heart rate pushing easily past 150. Huh? Im in my easiest gear? Why am I cramping? I hope that guy isnt watching So I got off and walked again. Till I found shade. Than stood, not sat.

This sick cycle continued for what seemed like forever. I couldnt believe how long it was taking me to make progress. Would anyone come back down to get me? I certainly wouldnt. That would mean having to climb back up. After a few days or minutes, I saw an oasis, named Calvin sitting Asian-smoker style in the shade of a tree like hed been there all day relaxing with lemonade. He asked how things were, and as usual on a ride w/ Calvin, things hurt. He talked to me, but my ears were feeling and working weird. All echoes. I explained to him my HR situation that in spite of walking and standing, not sitting, in the shade, that it would not come down. After about 3 minutes of standing and talking I showed him my HRM, which showed a resting HR of 132bpm. I gave him the car keys to take to Madre and gloriously headed down.

Wow Im shaky. Descending a fire road has never been so much work. But dang, this wind feels good. Drank some water, and descended the 5 miles down to the parking lot. Got there and pushed on seeking to make the next 5 miles out to the main road where I could flag down Madre. Put it in the big ring and grinded it out. Not too bad going down hill. But weird, why isnt my HR dropping? I usually descend at about 95bpm but Im at 130bpm still. Made it about 4 miles out to the fire station where I spotted a chair in the shade.PERFECT. A spot to wait for Madre. Nice.

Now, it was ok to sit, and I sat with attitude.

Began to feel kinda gross. My head was spinning, my legs were very stiff, and my head hurt a good bit. I finished off all the liquid I had and waited for Leslie after texting her my location. Then I texted a friend about some random thing, and texted another friend about some other thing. I was fine, really.

A few firefighters were washing their rig in the shade. They werent sweating. Weird, I was. Lots. Lots like I was sitting in a steam room in a towel. Lots like a hose was running over me lots. Oh well. Its a hot day.

I saw a bench 15' away that looked perfect to lay out on. Nice. I stood up to head over and felt stiff. Really stiff. Crap. Tried to sit down on the bench, laid back, and both my hamstrings, my quads, and my calves locked up simultaneously. To attempt to describe this pain is hopefully somewhat similar to childbirth, if not, I'm less than girl.

I did some Lamaze breathing and waiting till the cramps stopped. About 5 minutes later I stood and old-man walked over to my chair. I sat down and brought on some fully body cramps. My legs, by back, by neck. I almost burst out crying it hurt so bad. Weird. That hasnt happened since I was like 13 years old.

When the cramps subsided a bit, I noticed I was sweating still. Like the sweating you see on Saturday Night Live when they run a tiny house under their wig and turn it on. The sweet wooden adironack chair that supported me had pools of sweat on the arms and my superman lycra supersuit was sopping wet, not moist. Reckon Id been there an hour or so.in the shade.

Wow, I feel crappy, I thought.
I looked over at the hose the firemen had used to wash the truck and considered how good it would feel to run it over my head. When I went to use it, they walked over and began project near it. I balked and cramped back to my seat not wanting to intrude on their job.

Madre pulled up. Nice. Lets get home and get some lunch!

I tried to get up to load my bike and really couldnt move. Her words were echoey and she was looking at me oddly. I couldnt move to load my bike or my helmet or my pack. Then I tried to get in the car and seized again. I rolled in to the back of the element and entered another full body cramp that was like a seizure engulfing me.

The ride home was interesting. I wanted to die. My head hurt, I had to puke, I was SO HOT, but now I was actually cold as I was sweating. At this point I began to appreciated that I was really really messed up. This wasnt training problems, this was bad news.

I sucked on some ice cubes and poured a cold water bottle on my head. (in the car) and sent me in to more cramps with the cold shock. I lolled about in the backseat trying to find a comfortable spot. Impossible. Cramps were constant. I couldnt support my head, but the headrest had been removed to fit bikes. Madre was speeding home, but didnt know what for. Should I take you to the hospital, she asked? Nah. I was eating ice-cubes from the cooler and talking about who knows what and not being able to hearand now, I couldnt see out of both eyes. If I closed one like I was looking through a telescope, maybe. Madre tells me my eyes were rolling back in my head also. Hmmm pretty sure thats bad.

We got home and I tried to stand up and couldnt. The heat of the garage was crippling and my legs were cramping. Leslie nursed me in to the house where I was assaulted by 75 degree air. I collapsed on the floor in full cramp position while the bouncing dog began furiously licking the ubiquitous salt crusted all over my body. Sick. I begged for a blanket. heh? I begged for a bowl to puke in. I just begged for the cramps to stop.

A 20 minute nap, 6 emergen-c packets, and I began to stop cramping. And for the first time since the fire station, I was semi confident that I wouldnt die. 6 hours later I was able to make it to the shower. I had lost over 12lbs on that ride. Hmmm Yeah, thats bad.

Turns out heat exhaustion is pretty serious.

Lets be positive though. I did make it to the top of Harding faster than I ever have before... on gears even.

Id like to thank my wife who kept me alive. Who forced all manner of salt back in to my body over the next 24 hours.

Id like to thank Calvin for coming back down.

Id like to thank God that we own an Element so I could stretch my legs out on the crampy ride home.
_______________
After all that....I still am a bonehead and rode today with one 28oz bottle. Stupid me.

[guero]

today at aliso i was drinking my gatorade every 5 minutes or so, just a sip here and there. i felt what seemed like maybe an onset of minor heat exhaustion in the form of very gentle chills once in a while...i was okay, and certainly didnt push it and felt fine.

typically when riding for a 1/2 hour or so i can push on the forehead area of my helmet and let the sweat drip out, not so today. the sweat seemed to be evaporating before it even began to bead.

good thread OMR!

[CPATCRASH]

Damn Erik, that sounds bad! You looked hot after I think I can today too. Well, I don't mean you looked hot personally, but hot heat hot. Oh never mind....