Sweat
 

I live in Florida and so it’s hot in the summer when doing group rides. I’m prone to sweating mightily in the heat and humidity when the pace is over 22 mph…and of course there are riders right behind me. I’ve been looking at arm coolers, but the reviews indicate they don’t really cool and are more for sun protection. I already use a sweatband and gloves. Anyone found an effective way to cool down a bit or at least mitigate the leakage?

I don't have any personal experience with them, but you might want to try a cooling vest.

Is there such a thing as sweating too much in Florida heat and humidity? If it were me, I'd just bring plenty of water and electrolytes, maybe add a hydration backpack, and let it flow. I sweat more profusely when I drink electrolytes -- my sweat feels kinda soapy, sorta like washing your hands or hair in very soft water. Not a bad thing, just unusual compared with drinking plain water. But I feel fine on long rides and runs in summer heat.

BTW, a hydration backpack can help with cooling. I always chill my water bladder in the fridge, and sometimes add ice cubes. While there's a slightly padded insulation layer between my back and the hydration pack, it's still cooling and feels good. I use it mostly on long summertime walks, jogging and even a couple of runs in the 5-10 mile range in midday. Heavy but worth it. The weight is less noticeable on the bike.

I know some folks who always wear full leggings and sleeves -- usually in white, sometimes black -- even in summer in Texas. They're mostly concerned about skin cancer, but say it's comfortable. I joke around that they're like Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia, the man in black portrayed by Omar Sharif.

When I first resumed cycling in 2015 I worried about sunburn -- for years I'd sunburned easily after only 15 minutes in the sun. So I wore white long sleeved wicking fabric shirts from Champion, Under Armour, etc. They weren't bad at all in our heat, although we don't usually get the kind of humidity you get in Florida.

I do notice big differences in wicking fabrics. Some work very well and feel cooler, or at least no worse, than going bare-skinned. The best wicking fabric jersey I've worn is the Louis Garneau Lemmon 2 -- feels like fine soft cotton, but it's poly wicking fabric. It's so comfy I've considered their long sleeve version.

But after my thyroid failed and I developed early onset osteopenia and had dangerously low Vitamin D and calcium levels, I switched to short sleeve shirts to get more sun, and carried sunscreen and sometimes sun sleeves. Over time I experimented with skipping sunscreen, spending more time in the sun, even switching to sleeveless shirts when I walk and jog. For some weird reason I don't sunburn anymore. Heck, I barely tan. I get some tan marks, but the tan fades quickly. I'm guessing it's due to the massive amounts of Vitamin D I take now, at least 5,000 IU daily in supplement pills, plus whatever I get from milk and diet.

As I get older I seem to sweat more profusely and also have breathing problems so I simply don't ride. Riding in the 80's F is out of the question and even the 70's is pushing it. No matter how much water I drink it's never enough. After the last dizzy spell I had after a fifty mile ride (going for a metric century) I finally learned my lesson.

I lived in Florida a long time ago. At the time my problem was sweat rolling off my back and into my shorts.. I always wondered if clamping a sponge in my shorts waistline in the back might have helped.

Yes, sweat is good. The problem in FL is a lack of speedy evaporation. So the question is really how to increase evaporation rates. Sun sleeves protect from sun, but like any insulating layer, don't increase evaporation rate. The only thing I've found to work is a thin skin-tight technical jersey which is designed to move sweat into the atmosphere. Note that jerseys with a mesh back don't help because they need an under-layer to protect the skin. My favorite is a Pactimo. I never unzip it more than 6" because it doesn't work if it doesn't touch the skin. Some shorts also move sweat away better than others.

A bad thing about sun sleeves is that one can't see the sweat on one's arms, which can mean that you won't notice the lack of sweat which precedes heat stroke. I wear them anyway because we have dry summer heat here and I'm careful about my hydration.

For short rides, ice-filled socks draped over the neck work well. An event ride here once gave them out to riders who were having trouble with the extreme (for here) heat, not realizing that the riders would discard them. Afterwards, we had a crew climbing a pass, picking up socks.

I take a pair of my wife's old pantyhose and stuff the legs with ice. I hang the crotch over the rear of neck and the arms down my front to my waist under my jersey. I know most won't do this but just sharing. One downside is the melted ice will go everywhere.

High heat and humidity is double trouble. Sometimes, just lowering the pace is the best strategy

I've thought about treating my hyperhydrosis for decades, but never took the plunge. I've just concentrated on mitigating the symptoms & side effects socially

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...t/drc-20367173

I use sun sleeves regularly. Some are better than others to allow you to feel cooler. I had a pair of Peal Izumi's that I liked really well. But they were cut off of me. That's a different story. The Pearl Izumi's I replaced them with aren't quite the same but they are about as good as the Specialized sun sleeves I use frequently. And none are really significantly better than others.

For the most part it's a combination of speed and the current temp/dewpoint. I'm almost always comfortable when over 16 mph. For times I'm below 12 mph for extended periods, I get hot and if that portion of my ride has me going slow for a long time, I'll pull them down.

Though they like to advertise them as cooling you, I only think of them as sun protection to keep me from having to slather sunscreen all over me. For hot days I'd expect those that don't ride fast to not like them at all. Those that do ride fast, it's a toss up.

Thanks for the replies! I couldn’t find the Garneau jersey that was recommended, so I thought I would try Aero Tech Designs cool max, which should be here next week.

I have a 75 mile ride in the morning and I’ve dug out some wrist bands and I’ll use the lightest jersey I have and we’ll see if that helps. And then on to the other suggestions!

I've observed that most of the flying sweat comes from the helmet, which does a good job of capturing it for release at 22 mph. So, I always rides with a 'Headsweats' cap under my helmet to help with this. Extra bonus - it also keep the sun off my scalp; as per doctor's orders.

2nd on the head sweats skull cap. I wear one all the time. it keeps my bald head from burning through the vents in my helmet. I wear sleeves on my docs suggestion. I went online and googled. Bought them off Amazon. I like them as I feel they work. They are made of spandex like material as my jerseys. I can feel them cooling my arms as I ride after a short stop. They are as wet as my jersey when I get home from my rides.

Yeah, I wouldn't seek surgical or medical treatment for "excessive" sweating. Recently a young social media-famous "model" died after getting surgery to reduce her sweating. The story didn't specify whether it was a bad reaction to the anesthesia, medical malpractice, or simply a consequence of losing her ability to perspire in a hot climate while exercising to keep her ridiculously perfect figure.

Sweat is good. All of my favorite women cycling friends get the sweat funk, same as the guys. Nobody cares because we all got the sweat funk.

Unfortunately that long sleeve Garneau Lemmon 2 jersey was discontinued a couple of years ago and hard to find now.

Next best thing might be one of Under Armour's Heatgear t-shirts. Very thin fabric, a complex combination of mesh fabric in the highest sweat zones, closer weave elsewhere, really comfy even in hot weather. I snagged one for about $5 at a Ross or Marshalls discount store this spring. I wish they'd make a cycling jersey version with zipper and pockets. It's really good fabric.

I live on the NC/SC border with high humidity and I wear a Castelli summer mesh baselayer. They totally work (or I wouldn't wear it). I'll keep my jersey zipped about halfway down for more airflow and the air is cooled as it flows through the wet mesh, like an evaporate AC system. Also keeps my jersey drier and my skin from getting wet and clammy. To someone who hasn't tried it it does look like an extra layer would make you hotter but it doesn't. It's so light and thin you can ball it up in your fist.

product link? I have a 2nd job at a big box home improvement store, working w/ lumber & building materials. it is a hot sweaty job, year 'round. I try to wear shirts that don't change color when soaking wet. & I try to wear wicking base layers. both items as thin as possible. the top layer has to have a collar & no logos. but a small sports logo seems to go w/o getting in trouble. been toying with the idea of a wide mesh base layer but I can't find one. is yours a wide mesh? I'm imagining the kind of mesh that some football workout jerseys use. I need a short sleeve style, not a vest style. I need men's adult XL. it needs to be long enough that I can tuck it in my trousers. thank you

Sweat is just fat crying.

I probably sweat more than anyone I know, so for me riding in the heat of summer, it's a nylon workout shirt or bike jersey, nylon pants & underwear for short rides and bike shorts for long rides, and a nylon do-rag under my helmet. All the moisture wicking really helps. I remember wearing cotton T-shirts when I first started riding and it was absolutely no fun at all wearing a very wet shirt which felt like a wet blanket. Cotton tends to hold onto the moisture while nylon lets it evaporate and keeps you cooler. So even thought I sweat a lot, with it being wicked away from my body and evaporating I'm not a wet, soggy mess at the end of my rides, though I may be crusty with salt. But I don't think anyone riding behind me has ever complained about my sweat blowing off and landing on them.

This is the new version of mine. They are kind of short, though. Don't know how well they would stay tucked into jeans.

https://www.backcountry.com/castelli...RoCmnYQAvD_BwE

I wonder if the new version is longer. I see the "fit" says form fitting, so I ordered 1 off Amazon in XXL. it's worth a try, thank you!

It'll probably be alright. You can stretch them down really far.

I'll throw a curveball, go against all the hi-tech alternatives mentioned above, and suggest you try a long sleeve cotton t-shirt as the first attempt at a solution. Sure, you'll sweat into it, but that sweat gets retained in the cotton fibers a little longer than in a poly shirt, and at 15-20mph (my usual speed) your self-created breeze will cool it down and create a little bit of a cooling effect on your body. Buy one with long sleeves and it'll keep the sun off your arms, too. And don't forget its cheaper than any other alternative, and even if it doesn't work you'll have a casual t-shirt for everyday wear. YMMV, but it works for me. Cheers :thumb:

See my post above. From my personal experience, wearing a cotton T-shirt was absolutely miserable. I get a lot more cooling effect from moisture wicking material than I do with moisture retaining material like cotton. Wearing a cotton shirt while riding on a hot day just resulted in me being sopping wet and feeling disgusting. The totally wet T-shirt did not cool me off at all, not like material which allows quick evaporation.

I don’t know how southern riders deal with high humidity the whole summer. I’m in N Michigan where our summer temps are often 90 or above. I can deal with the heat but it’s that 95% humidity that puts me out of the ride. Recently I was on an evening 16mi brisk ride with some hils but not bad, and speeds in the 16-22 range with no coasting. Temps were 75f and that last 3 miles put me in slowdown mode (12-13mph) and even with the 24oz water bottle empty at the finish line. Pulse was up, no cramping but the overheating was doing a number on me. I can ride hot temps but if that humidity rises about 85 I am either riding more slowly, pacing even the short rides (less than 30 miles) and carrying water/electolites beyond the norm. Humidity can put you down.

Yeah, humidity doesn't get near as high here in coastal Southern California as it does in Florida. 50%-60% is normal here (we've had an extended period of 70-90% lately). I don't sweat all that much, and the amount I do seems to make for a nice cooling effect when used with a cotton T-shirt without making it a soppy mess. Cheers

This explains a lot