Tickledivory

I live in California's Mojave Desert. My job is fifteen miles from home; so it's an easy one hour ride to and from work on my road bike. The problem is it's summer in the desert. And my shift ends at 2;00 PM, when it's really hot--usually over 100 degrees F.

I have cool cycling clothes, a well vented helmet, and two bottles filled with ice and water. After about five or six miles of riding over freshly oiled asphalt, hydrating regularly, pedaling easily, I start feeling weak and my respiration speeds up. At about nine miles, nearly exhausted, I flop down under the only trees in the area. After about thirty or forty minutes I'm ready to finish the ride home.

I'm forty nine years old, ride abut 300 miles a month, but not more than thirty niles at a time. Im 5' 10" and weigh 170 lbs. I don't think I'm in bad shape. Can I train for this, or is this an impossible commute?
Any ideas?

kurremkarm

Man that's tough. Perhaps you could try stuffing a rag in your helmet, or, dare i say, not wearing a helmet and replace it with like a boonie hat? Soak the hat with water and keep soaking it. Wear a towel around your neck, soak that. Dunno, might help. Also u want to hydrate before u ride a couple of hours.

Chris L

Living in that sort of climate, you really should be drinking around 10 litres of water/day -- regardless of your activity level. If you aren't doing this, I suggest you start.

Tickledivory

I've been checking out related threads on this topic; and many of them pont out the same thing Chris did. If you're going to ride in extreme heat, you need to be drinking water all day long--not just during the ride. I haven't been drinking nearly enough water.

AndrewP

I think you should have three water bottles (or a camelback) and carry a spritzer bottle in your jersey pocket. I know the riders were pouring bottles of water over themselves in the TdeF yesterday, but the evaporative cooling of the fine spray gives much more cooling per oz of water. Since you are riding through desert, you should take as much advantage as possible of evaporative cooling - soak your jersey before you start and put your water bottles in wet socks.

supcom

If you only have this problem in extreme heat, then we can probably (hopefully?) rule out a medical condition like heart disease causing shortness of breath.

Assuming so, then most likely the problem is not enough water. Certainly 15 miles in 100 deg plus temps calls for more than two bottles of water. As suggested I would get a camelback and drink from it often. Dry desert conditions are misleading. Your sweat evaporates so quickly that you may not realize how much water you are losing.

You might also skip commuting for now and drive home. Go riding when you get home so you can control the length of your rides. Start out with short rides and try to work up to the 15 mile commute distance. Perhaps you just need a little acclimating to the heat of the afternoon.

Ohio Trekker

Andrew P hit it on the head. Use evaporative cooling. It will make a huge difference in the desert heat. Wear a bandana under your helmet, and douse bandana and jersey with water. Doesn't work well here where it's usually very humid when it gets hot, but if it's not humid it works great. I wouldn't suggest pouring ice water over your head and jersey, maybe keep a separate water bottle just for dousing. Sweating is your body's own response to heat, and even your body knows that evaporative cooling through sweating is the best way for it to cool off, listen to your body, IT KNOWS!

Maybe your not old enough to remember, but people driving through desert areas used to hang a muslim bag filled with water in front of their radiator that would leak water slowly, causing the same evaporative cooling to help keep their radiator and engine cool.

And with all that said, by reading this site, I have learned that a lot of the fatigue/soreness I used to experience was directly related to not drinking enough water, more than it was related to the heat of the day. I used to hate wearing a back pack, but bought a camelback and drink like crazy on the bike and off. I am quite impressed with the way the vented back on the camelback does vent, although not like wearing no pack, it is effective in venting to an extent. If I freeze the bladder before a hot ride, I can feel the coolness seeping through the bag due to condensation and evaporation. It also does a remarkable job of insulating and keeping the water cold for a long time.

RonH

Make sure you are well hydrated - at work before the ride, on the ride home, and keep drinking after you get home.

I'm a few years older than you and also get feeling really tired when the sun is beating down on me.
It doesn't get quite as hot here but anytime the temp is above the mid-80s I use my Camelbak. I ride from about 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. (usually in the low 90s) and I usually empty the 70 oz. Camelbak in my 35+ mile ride. Yesterday seemed hotter than usual and it was empty after 28 miles. I was able to refill it at a water fountain that's along my ride route.

Bottom line: Two water bottles is not enough to keep your body hydrated because of the low humidity and extreme heat where you are.
I'd suggest getting a 70 oz. or 100 oz. Camelbak and also carry a bottle of Gatorage, Powerade, etc. to replace electrolytes you're losing.

MichaelW

You can get extra bottle cages to fit behind your saddle or in front of the bars. Use the larger size bottle on the frame and you can carry 5l. This should be enough for pouring over yourself as well as drinking. You chug down a large quantity of water in the hours before riding. You may want to take some of this liquid in isotonic form.
You can start the ride with wet clothing for extra cooling.

In this extreme heat, does a short-sleeved jersey provide enough protection from the midday sun?

Tickledivory

MichaelW,

I use sunscreen on my exposed skin; so sunburn isn't a problem.

Thanks,

Tickledivory.

LittleBigMan

Dude, I felt like that a couple of times here in muggy Atlanta afternoons. It's probably a heat/hydration issue. Ice-water in a Camelback will help, plus wetting your shirt, etc.

If nothing works for you, you might want to forget about the afternoon trip home on the bike.

zonatandem

I live in the Sonoran Desert (Tucson, AZ) and commuted to work for 16 years. "Warmest" I've ridden in: 117. Plenty days of 100+ with low humidity.
Chug-a-lug lotsa water before you leave work. Carry MORE water on the bike and drink.
Wet your do-rag or cycling cap under helmet; soak a bandana in water and roll some ice cubes in it, if available, and wrap it around your neck. Slosh some water on your t-shirt or jersey and . . . go for it. Also wear light colored clothes. Should help.

Laggard

You really need to tow a water cooler behind you.

For those who've lived in both climates: 90 degrees with a dewpoint of 72? Or 110 and dry? If you had to make the choice that is.

Paul L.

I presently commute 20 miles each way in the Phoenix area (everyday) and have found the following works for me. I soak my jersey before I leave when under heat advisories. I have two full 24 oz. waterbottles filled with a dilluted mixture of Gatorade. I soak my doorag (coolmax head covering, makes a big difference for me, it wicks all the moisture off of my increasingly large forhead up to the top where it can cool my head, as opposed to dribbling in my eyes). I will soak my jersey at 3 different drinking fountains on my way home. You could carry an extra water bottle for the express purpose of soaking your jersey (I have tried this and it worked it is just easier to take advantage of the drinking fountains along the route). I also make a point of taking it a little easier than normal on particularly hot days. My hottest day so far has been 113 but it was 107 the other day with 30% humidity and that felt worse.

noisebeam

Paul, I do half that distance every day in Tempe. Your suggestions are great & I agree the recent humidity is not as nice as 115 & dry. I do carry half the water (half the distance) and don't do the soaking part - I find sweat keeps me plenty wet and cool between stop lights. Its at stoplights with no breeze that I feel too hot - especially with the pavement and car exhaust. Sometimes parts of the black bike get too hot to touch.

I have Shimano sandals which help a bit - its great to feel a breeze under ones foot when on the upstroke.

It is important to keep hydrated during the day (don't just hydrate on ride) and acclimate to the heat gradually. Starting in spring then getting into full summer heat works well, whereas jumping in mid-summer could be problematic.

Al

Paul L.

I cross Mesa and Tempe (I work on the border of Phoenix and Tempe), making use of the Salt River Parkway in the afternoon and Alameda in the morning. I have probably seen you before. Sweat usually is sufficient for me too but some days it just feels so good to have that wind hit a soaking wet jersery.

Stoplights are brutal. Especially when there is no breeze. My worst' fear is crashing and being unable to get off the pavement.

You're right about just jumping in. When I first moved here I could not comprehed doing anything in the heat.

Incidentally, on a 110+ degree day it takes less than 15 minutes of riding to completely dry a soaking wet jersey. I feel like I'm riding in a giant clothes dryer sometimes.

LittleBigMan

I was amazed at how much taking it slowly has helped in the heat. You might feel silly crawling along like Grandpa, but it works well against the heat. Plus filling a Camelback with icewater, too.

Tickledivory

Thanks, everybody, for all the response. Before today's ride at the Tour De Hell, my fifteen mile ride home in extreme heat, I made sure I drank lots of water all day long before the ride. Of course, I drank constantly during and after the ride. And it made a huge difference. I still stopped to rest at the nine mile point, the only shade around, But for the first time I was not exhausted. I've also been riding every day, when not commuting, to acclimate myself.

Desertrat

You are not doing too bad....I live in the Phoenix area, ride 20 miles each day to and from....and here it averages about 110-115 degrees, high humidity now due to monsoon season, thundershowers almost everyday....does not cool down even with the rain. I am 52, 5ft 10 inches and weigh 220.....so you are in better shape than I am. I do really have to slug the water down...also two iced water bottles that I freeze at work each day. Mine are luke warm about the time I get a mile from home.....but most of the time I have it already drunk up!!!! Hooray for the desert!!!! hehehehe

froze

I didn't have time to read all the replys so this may have been covered. I use to live in Quartz Hill (Palmdale) and in Bakersfield for a total of 15 years so I know what your talking about. 15 miles is not that far even in 100+ degree weather. So the question is how to stay on the bike for that long and longer without having to stop for 30 minutes.

First thing you need to do is prehydrate before you go, drink about 20 to 24 ounces of Gatorade full strength about an hour before you leave, then pee just before leaving so you don't have to on the road. If your averaging 15mph (which is feasible since it's mostly flat on the desert floor), then you need to consume about 5 ounces of Gatorade diluted 50/50 every 10 minutes which is 30 ounces an hour; thus 2 24 ounce water bottles are fine. Also you need to get your core body temperture down, so you will need to buy a couple of Polar bottles and fill one 3/4ths with ice then pour 75% strength Gatorade into the bottle. The other bottle you fill full of ice and pour in 100% strength Gatorade. On longer rides you will need a CamelBack (or something similar) and you fill this with about 1/2 ice the rest with Gatorade, then take along one or two of your bottles that you froze 50% strength Gatorade overnight solid in the bottle(s). When you finish riding drink another 20-24 ounces of Gatorade 100% strength over a period of an hour as soon as you get home.

Next you need to keep your outside body as cool as possible. Wear white 100% polyester jersey's which Walmart sells cheap ($9 to $12) called DriStar and they work just as good as the expensive jersey's (I own both kinds and can't tell the difference); the white does reflect some of the heat away. Also buy a loose jersey not one of those form fitting kind, the loose jersey allows the air to bellow into the jersey causing a cooling effect. My experence found the form fitting jerseys to be hotter then the loose ones. Also try to find a loose fitting 100% polyester short (Walmart does not carry), I found MTB shorts to work very well in this manner, but I also use standard MTB looking shorts that don't have the crotch padding (Walmart does have these) that work better in the cooling department as long as the ride doesn't go over 40 miles then your going to wish you had the padding!

Your helmet needs to be very well ventilated, and use a sweat band that will go around your head between the helmet to prevent sweat from dropping into your eyes.

Now here is a interesting problem, if you use sunblock to prevent the intense sun from damaging your skin your doing yourself a favor in preventing the possiblity of skin cancer later; but sunblock actually makes you hotter! so the choice is yours...in that case I would rather be hotter then worrying about skin cancer.

Also wear full wrap sunglasses to prevent your eyes from drying out and or getting sand in them.

2pm is a bad time to riding home out there, not so much because of the heat but more because of the wind that kicks up between 2 to 4 pm almost everyday. That wind I hated due to the blowing sand and tumbleweeds so I avoided riding during those hours, but I know that may not be possible for you. You may want to bring along a cloth hankerchef so you tie it around your mouth and nose in case it gets real bad. I was there in 1991 when the wind blew so hard it looked like we were living on Mars! and even after the wind stopped around 5pm it took till 7 for the sky to clear up!!

Also (if you haven't already done this), that area is littered with thistles and goatheads all of which torment tires like crazy, I used Specialize Armadillos and never got a flat. This is important because it's a pain to fix a flat when the sun is beating down on you and it's over 100 degrees.

But your tiredness is probably due to the lack of sodium or Potassium and Gatorade provides that for you. You can also supplement that with Potassium supplements from Stim-O-Stam if you find yourself having muscle cramps. The heat will strip your body of your electrolytes and you need to replace that, water will not cut it.

noisebeam

Froze just mentioned wind and dust...

Yesterday on my commute home a dust storm approached (not the full blown kind we get in monsoon) Debris were flying everywhere. I'm sure Paul and other AZ folks can related. I normally ride 22mph on the flat straights. The wind picked up and I was tucked in struggling to go 12mph, dropped into lowest gear on cog and pushed hard, then a gust came and I dropped down to 8mph. It was very hard work, but a lot of fun - especially when I rounded a bend and then the wind was almost behind me and without any effort I was cruzing at 31mph. The best part was that the clouds were blocking the sun. I had my worst average time going home by 3mph low, but my fastest top speed -and I was more exhausted than normal. Even with the gusting wind I felt safe and in control at all times.

Al

Seanholio

I have not ridden in the desert, however I've heard advice before that cotton is actually a good idea when the humidity is way down. Apparently, since it retains the water, cotton will provide greater cooling. It could be complete hogwash, but I'd like to hear what others have to say.

Also, to avoid using excess sunscreen, what about a long sleeve white jersey?

Paul L.

The funnest is when you are rding along with all the debris the wind is sweeping with you and everything swirls around and almost gets wizard of oz'ish and (assuming you have enough shoulder to be safe) the wind plays tricks with you to see if you can still hold your line. I find I have to be extra careful above 23 MPH or so as drivers tend to turn in front of me because they can't comprehend a bike moving at the speed of traffic. Of course the fun stops when the big hail starts but I can put up with that for a little fun in the rain and dust.

I forgot to mention my Isotherm water bottle earlier. That is so cool (no pun intended) to pull that bottle out of the cage after an hour out in the heat and have cold gatorade to drink, it gives me a big mental boost for that last stretch home.

Paul L.

I got passed yesterday (I passed him again but that is another story) by a guy that wears ride T-Shirts (Usually Tour De Tucson shirts when I see him). These of course are cotton. I haven't tried cotton in the heat myself but it seems there are people out there doing it! Incidentally he keeps a pretty good pace and has a pretty nice bike so it isn't someone who doesn't have a choice in the matter either.

(Now that I think about it he was going about 22. That was before the dust Storm but he did turn north (toward the storm). That wasn't you (Noisebeam) on 8th street around 5:15 was it? (if it was I need to say that I only passed you because of a favorable traffic light and a shortcut but I was very pleased to find I could keep your pace (a ways back of course) for awhile (I am working on speed right now)).

noisebeam

Nope - I don't have a 'nice' bike and I commute N-S between Chandler and Tempe. The only time you will catch me on 8th st. on a bike is riding to/from Four Peaks Brewery.

Al