Article on Aging and coping with the heat
 

I wonder if my sweat output will ever go down. Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday I sweated enough to fill up a kid sized swimming pool.

I keep telling myself it's still only June. :twitchy:

What I got from the article is that if you stay in shape, drink lots, and choose good parents you should be ok. And acclimatize. I think that's the most important thing, acclimatization.

Now that I'm retired I wonder how that will affect me this summer. Last year we had a very hot July and I worked outside in 100+ temps. Helps me acclimatize but also had me exhausted most of the time.

I think how well a person tolerates heat (or cold) is a reflection of their overall health.

I think there might be benefits to real dosing yourself with hot weather riding. Heat shock proteins are produced in response to heat exposure, at the cellular level in humans, animals and even plants. And there are some health benefits they confer, such as possible anti-cancer properties. I think they toughen you up a bit as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_shock_protein

Seems like I get a better workout in the heat too (definitely feels like it) and plenty of free vitamin D. :)

Funny thing about that, last summer I had blood work done and the only thing I was low on was vitamin D. They recommended I take D.

As a plumbing contractor I worked a lot of new construction early in my career. 10* to 90* days were the common winter and summer temps. As I got older less new and more remodeling and service work. Nothing can prepare you for a house that is set at 68* and your working up a sweat then walk out the door to a 90* high humidity day. Now at 70 years and retired to NC I find the heat less an issue but the humidity here is like trying to breath through a large pillow. I can loose 4-5 lbs on a 15 mile ride with ease. Ofcourse I am dizzy as heck until I can drink enough and get the electrolytes back to a normal level. I could not agree more that acclimatization is a huge part of my being comfortable with what ever season I am experiencing. I was stationed in Northern Maine where it would get down into the -15* on a regular basis. I was sent to Thailand where it was over 100* and sent back to Maine in the fall. Got off the KC to 40* weather and thought I was going to die. Could not stop shaking from the extrem change of temp. Acclimatization, definitely helps.
Frank.

I relocated..

You retired? Congratulations! I tell you ... I'm feeling what my son calls the "cold hand of death" on my shoulder and wondering when I should retire.

I actually like riding in warmer weather than most ... at least out here where it is dry enough so that a cooling breeze evaporates perspiration. For me, it's a matter of making sure my electrolytes are within range (I use Endurolytes), and adjusting my pace accordingly. I drink when I'm thirsty and leave it at that.

I’ve always tolerated the heat well until just recently. I just started using my Endurolyte capsules while playing golf. I was running through 4-5 cycling bottles of water every 18 holes and realized that I probably needed to supplement with electrolytes. I told my golf buddies they were steroids to help me hit the ball further!!! I do think the electrolytes are helping me maintain more energy after the rounds.

@bigjohn-same here on the Vitamin D. I’m out in the sun for hours every day and extremely well tanned, but the doctor wants me to add more vitamin D???

Don’t my legs look like they are tanned?

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9ec37be8a.jpeg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...511d1ef14b.jpg
Sexy legs, baby. :thumb:

I use some pretty significant 50SPF sunscreen, have the same result. This is what happens when you leave your watch on 24/7.

Yes, I retired in April. I couldn't face another summer there. I wasn't ready financially, Mrs. John is having job issues, like she might not have one anymore, but I just had to get out of there.

Anyway I am trying to regain some of my endurance on the bike. Went to Mount Wilson last Saturday, felt good about that.

If it's hot and I'm climbing I can't drink enough. I've found lately it helps to keep forcing myself to drink water after the ride and on rest days. More now than in years past.

jppe, my legs look about the same. Doc told me something about how a lot of people who get a lot of sun are low on vitamin D.

Some of the other people I ride with are starting to cover up more in the heat with arm and leg covers designed to block the sun. Some tell me the arm covers get too hot when climbing.

Wow, that's like a Tour de France tan. Those guys get pretty dark from all those hours in the sun (or used to back in the days before sunscreen or helmets):

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...81257792f0.jpg

Already said acclimate to the temps... hot and cold. I know the first 52 degree (F) around October seems like I'm going to freeze to death. By March 52 degrees seems downright balmy. Come June or July just the reverse, 80 to 85 degrees seems pretty darn hot but by August, particularly with our Midwest humidity that 85 seems more like a cool breeze.

Way back when I was in my 20s, for a brief period I worked heavy construction. One thing I learned there was to pour a bit of cool / cold water on your wrists and and neck. It gave some much needed instant but temporary relief on a few of those days when the temps were hovering around 100 and there was no shade in sight. To that end I carry two of these for my 20 mile or so fitness rides which I do 3, sometimes 4 days a week: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 One is filled with cold G2 Gatorade (sometimes iced tea with lemon) the other bottle has cold water with the water one used for pouring on my wrists neck and to drink if the Gatorade runs out. They hold 24 oz each... 12 oz (total) more than my Klean Kanteen ones yet still fit in my bottle holders. They keep things cold 3 or 4 hours and at least cool a few hours beyond that. I do put them in the fridge an hour or two before I ride. They do weigh a bit more than the plastic squeeze bottle but weight isn't a big concern of mine for the kind of riding I do.

That's great. It's been a long time ... hope to see you out there this summer. :thumb:

Best way to acclimate to the heat is to ride in it. Low levels of vitamin D are associated with aging, so no surprise to see that in this forum. I take 5000 IU every day, doctor's orders.

Yes, while climbing in the heat it's impossible to keep up with hydration by drinking on the bike. One has to take hydration breaks in the shade. I do some shadeless climbs, but haven't been on a waterless climb here. Sitting in the creek and drinking works, too. I use Endurolytes.

I wear sun sleeves, but not leg sleeves. I find the sun sleeves are OK on hot climbs. I think thin white technical fabric is about as good as bare dark skin for heat dissipation even in low wind conditions. I think the whole idea of "cold black" is silly.

You mean the notion that wearing black is actually cooler than wearing white? I've heard people make that claim ... utter nonsense. There is a kernel of truth to it, but it is a very small and irrelevant kernel.

There's a fabric treatment called "coldblack." https://www.runnersworld.com/gear/a2...-does-it-work/

We were tandeming (144 team age) up a long hot event climb when we caught(!) a slim, fit-looking rider completely covered in black. He wasn't doing well and was sagged off the course. We guessed he was a victim of this hype.

I prefer skin-tight light colored technical fabrics for riding in the heat.

There is even more of a kernel to truth that that one than the case I saw.

We were on a hot ride in the Antelope Valley, and one of the guys was wearing an all black kit. I asked him ... WTF ... its 100F out here ... why the HELL would you be wearing black?

He assured me it was cooler than white, and told me to "Look it up."

I don't have to look it up to know that is nonsense. And if I wasn't smart enough to know why it is nonsense a simple experiment is all it takes to prove it.

Here is the kernel of truth. Black is hotter in sunshine because the radiant energy of the sun is absorbed by the black color instead of being reflected. But take the change of energy from light wavelengths to heat wavelengths out of the equation (e.g. by taking the object out of the sunshine) and black is a color that is best for heat transfer. That is why heat sinks are typically black. It still doesn't make sense when the outside temp is more than body temp, though ... even in darkness.

Schoeller Coldblack acts on infra red which is invisible to the human eye. It appears black because it absorbs all wavelengths of visible light but it reflects invisible infra red.

That's what I've read. I don't know that any of my gear is coldblack so can't vouch for its efficacy in the real world.

There are articles in the interwebz which claim 10°F temperature reduction under controlled condition - exposed to a heat lamp and measured with an IR thermal imaging gun.

Incidentally, and noting @Biker395's avatar jersey, white consistently tests more effective than Coldblack. I can't seem to keep white clean though.


-Tim-

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9ede2686c.jpeg

Here are my tanned legs after about 30 consecutive days of riding across the US in ‘16.

I retired from USPS as a mail carrier after 33 years a few years ago... Yep, outside in all weather. Not only did I learn what works in the cold, but also what works in the heat. Silly me would even commute to work by bike 10.5 miles each way in the peak of summer heat and humidity. I just wore my uniform shorts and a t-shirt that I'd soak with water before I set out for home. Evaporative cooling works!

I love heat and can't stand cold. Doesn't bother me riding or golfing, but I have overheated a few times doing yard work.

Good article. Thanks for posting.

After being in the Pacific Northwest the S Texas heat stings. Sat on the lawn tractor for a few hours getting acclimated.