Originally Posted by
Iride01
What's your point?
I went riding yesterday for 90 minutes in the middle of the afternoon with 95°F actual temps and high humidity. As long as I was over 15-16 mph I was cool and comfortable. The slower I was for climbs or stopped at a crossing the hotter I was.
I'm not sure there is any overall benefit to training in the heat other than if you are use to it, you get additional days to ride or train. For certain if you are going to do anything in the heat, you need to work up to it. High temps do tax the body more and are less forgiving of things we get by with during cooler temps.
Google "HS1" or "heat stress protein." And no, don't hose yourself off before you ride unless it's in competition. Heat stress is the whole point. Climbing in over 100° is a challenge, especially with a tailwind and the sweat dripping off your nose onto your top tube. Works though. Takes about two weeks of riding in it to acclimate to the heat. Unfortunately around here 2 weeks of hot is really rare, so we too frequently get a hot event ride we couldn't really train for. I've seen over 10% of riders sagged off a hard course. My wife and I were OK that year, on our tandem yet.
An issue is that it's impossible to get enough water across the stomach wall to replace what you sweat in hot conditions. 2% dehydration is actually faster, but 4% is not good. Sometimes one has to stop and drink and do electrolytes in the shade to catch up. I can always tell by my HR. 20 beats over what it should be is my limit.