Metric century in the 90+ degree heat/Recovery

[skiezo]

So this past sunday 5 of us old guys went to the eastern shore of MD and did a metric. We chose that location as it is relatively flat and a nice salt breeze. It was in the mid 80s when we started and ended in the mid 90s.
All of us are in our early 50s. The first 45/50 km were great. Nice 7 to 10mph salt breeze from our 9:00 off the bay. Averaged 15 mph for the first 50km and dropped to 11.7 the last leg. The last 12 or so km all but one bonked but pushed through.We went through 8 water bottles and 2 bottles of electrolytes.
We still feel like sh)t. What type of recovery do you guys do in a situation like this?
I have been drinking water and coconut water and eating plant based protein and complex carbs. Still a bit weak and disconnected 24 hrs after.

Brian

[mcfarton]

How often do you ride ? How far is your average ride? Did you pee durning the ride?

Sounds like you over did it for your current fitness level. What did you eat and drink before the ride? Did you have any alcohol the night before?

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

[rustychisel]

Hot weather specialist here.

When it's real hot you CANNOT push it like an old pro. Had you limited yourself to about 80~85% effort you'd have probably done fine, but I echo the previous comments about level of fitness, too.

Sounds like low level dehydration etc, oh, and coconut water is pointless. Best immediate after-ride recovery is a big milkshake.

[Llewellyn]

There's no way I'd be out riding in those sorts of temperatures. Especially not for 100km or more.

[Hilltopperny]

Chocolate milk and bananas are usually my go to for post ride.

[moobikes]

Eat your normal diet, just more of it. Whole foods, some simple carbs to refuel, a donut or two just for fun.
More good carbs, good protein.
Good rich soup is a really good food for times like this.
And most important, turn on the aircon and go to sleep.

[jumphigher]

How often do you ride ? How far is your average ride? Did you pee durning the ride?

Sounds like you over did it for your current fitness level. What did you eat and drink before the ride? Did you have any alcohol the night before?

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

I was thinking the same thing. How many miles do you ordinarily ride, OP? A metric cent, isnt a huge distance to me, but I ride daily. As far as recovery when I do push myself farther than my typical ride - let's say a normal century - I'll typically take the next day off from riding, and try eat well and get a decent amount of sleep. Or if I feel strong I'll just do my typical daily distance of 40 miles or so.

I do the plant protein route myself, btw - both my wife and I are primarily vegetarians. But we do have fish a couple times a week. That's a great recovery food, imo.

[Tickdoc]

Pickle juice during ride along with sport legs caps or some other big magnesium and salt replacement every 30 minutes or so after 50 miles. And lots of water.

All my rides here soon will be in the 90s and up.

[skiezo]

I try to get in 3 to 4 rides a week. Mostly 3 solo 20 to 25 miles during the week and a 30 to 40 mile small group ride on the weekend. I got a late start riding this year so have a bit over 1000 miles before this ride.
We did over exert the first 45 km. No alcohol and healthy diet. Salmon,brown rice and greens for 2 days before.
I think it is dehydration and not enough post ride eating.
The older I get the harder it is to do what was fairly easy a few short years ago.
Im sure Ill be fine, I just have not felt like this post ride in a long long time.

Thanks
Brian

[ColonelJLloyd]

Good rich soup is a really good food for times like this.

Pho FTW when I'm not 100%.

As for what got you there, it sounds as simple as you did not put enough gas in the tank. I'm sure some guys have no problem with it, but it wouldn't be wise for me to not eat during a 60 mile ride.

[jumphigher]

I try to get in 3 to 4 rides a week. Mostly 3 solo 20 to 25 miles during the week and a 30 to 40 mile small group ride on the weekend. I got a late start riding this year so have a bit over 1000 miles before this ride.
We did over exert the first 45 km. No alcohol and healthy diet. Salmon,brown rice and greens for 2 days before.
I think it is dehydration and not enough post ride eating.
The older I get the harder it is to do what was fairly easy a few short years ago.
Im sure Ill be fine, I just have not felt like this post ride in a long long time.

Thanks
Brian

Your diet sounds great. Honestly I would just chalk this up to an off-day for whatever reason - maybe dehydration like you mentioned. Probably wont be repeated again.

I'm 54 and I have days when I can knock out 100 miles like it's nothing - with only 4 hours of sleep the night before, others where my 22 mile short ride seems long and tiring despite lot's of rest. Just the human body I guess.

[josephr]

Pickle juice during ride along with sport legs caps or some other big magnesium and salt replacement every 30 minutes or so after 50 miles. And lots of water.

All my rides here soon will be in the 90s and up.

+100

during july,august,september, its regularly 95+ by noon....we start our rides early, 6 or 7a based on planned distance and definitely plan on shorter rides. that sort of heat will suck you dry and will leave you for dead if you're not careful. when I do centuries during that time of year, pickle juice and other acidic types really help (not sure why) and while I used to hate the taste of nuun, I really appreciate it more on very hot rides. I also use hammer endurolyte capsules to supplement the electrolyte replacement.

Just like any longer distance ride, you also have to train for the heat and plan accordingly. After the very long, hot rides, I'm super-dehydrated and absolutely do not have a celebration beer/wine/liquor....also, its advised that you avoid caffeine but since I don't do caffeine, its a non-issue for me. I also plan to not do anything the next day that may significantly challenge the recovery process.

here's a good article about heat acclimatization...

http://hprc-online.org/environment/temperature/how-can-heat-acclimatization-prevent-heat-illness#research-summary


The hardest part about heat related illnesses during human performance as that many of the 'warning signs' like elevated breathing, sweating, etc...you're already doing those from your physical exertion.

Just from your comment though about being completely drained the next day, it sounds like your body got a little hotter than you think and may have been on the path towards heat exhaustion which is just a hair away from heat stoke. There's plenty of articles on the web about stages/signs of heat related stress. It may be an easy read, but experiencing these signs and knowing when you've actually reached a point of 'too much' is something only you can gauge and seriously, don't feel rushed/take longer breaks and, especially, don't be scared to call a ride home.

There's no 'magic beans' for recovery from heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

[regularguy412]

Once you have heat exhaustion or heat stroke, you are always more susceptible thereafter. Ask me how I know.

So my 'secret' go-to recovery after a long, hot, sweaty effort is Pedialyte. Yep. The one they make for the kiddos who get dehydrated from some intestinal bug. The gal at the grocery checkout kinda looks at me funny, but I explain that it's not for any youngster, it's for me. :)

I did a very similar ride to yours on June 3. Our local 'downtown festival' has a bike ride associated each year. There were 25, 65 and 100 mile distances. All the guys I was with were doing 65 so I just went along with them. Glad I didn't do the 100. It got HOT. I didn't sweat quite as much as I usually do, mainly because the humidity was relatively low and I have been riding quite a bit this spring. However, I did go thru 4 large water bottles plus a bottle of gatorade from a rest stop.

The trick is 2 oz of fluid down the hatch every 5 minutes. At least that is what works for me. If it's over 100* F out, I still ride, but I just go really easy.

MIke in AR:beer:

[oldpotatoe]

So this past sunday 5 of us old guys went to the eastern shore of MD and did a metric. We chose that location as it is relatively flat and a nice salt breeze. It was in the mid 80s when we started and ended in the mid 90s.
All of us are in our early 50s. The first 45/50 km were great. Nice 7 to 10mph salt breeze from our 9:00 off the bay. Averaged 15 mph for the first 50km and dropped to 11.7 the last leg. The last 12 or so km all but one bonked but pushed through.We went through 8 water bottles and 2 bottles of electrolytes.
We still feel like sh)t. What type of recovery do you guys do in a situation like this?
I have been drinking water and coconut water and eating plant based protein and complex carbs. Still a bit weak and disconnected 24 hrs after.

Brian

I rode 3 hours the other day at high 80s and low 90s..stopped in the middle and ate an apple..BUT by myself, drank 4 bottles of water..I think 5 of you guys 'should' have drank like 18-20 bottles, not just 2 per rider, IMHO...

[rccardr]

Up in Canada now on a weeklong tour. Yesterday was 93 degrees and the day's ride was right around 100km/64 miles. I went through 10 quarts of fluid, mostly ice and water mixed with Nuun, and feel pretty good today. Key for me is fluid temperature, colder the better. When the fluid gets warm I drink less and that can be a problem.

[Polyglot]

Once you have heat exhaustion or heat stroke, you are always more susceptible thereafter. Ask me how I know.


I hear you all too well! Last year I suffered 6 heat strokes. The first one was very mild and was solely characterized by heart rate all of a sudden going up (to high 160's) without any exertion and then taking its time to come down. I pulled over and waited for 10 minutes till the heart rate was back below 140, downed a full water bottle and then rode in the rest of the way keeping my heart rate below 150.

The second time, about 3 weeks later, I was leading a group of women, pulling for about 30 out of the first 35 miles, at an average of about 17 mph, feeling great, eating and drinking normally, when all of a sudden I bonked. When I say I bonked, I mean I hit a brick wall like I have never experienced in my life, and when I checked my heart rate it read in the high 170's. One of the women on the ride is a nurse practitioner in a cardiac clinic and she insisted that I stop and stayed with me, while one of the other riders went to get a car to pick me up. Went to see my physician and then a cardiologist later the same day. 9 hours later my heart rate was still at 90 (my resting heart rate is normally in the 50's).

This led to 6 months of difficulty, plus a month with a heart monitor... In the end, the doctors have suggested that the first heat stroke was likely tied to a reaction to a strong dose of steroids that I had taken for poison ivy and that subsequently I never gave my body the chance to recover fully. The cardiologist said to avoid any day where temperature was above 85 °F and to keep rides shorter than an hour and half.

Heat strokes are very insidious. Let you body recover. A full year after the first heat stroke, and more than 6 months after the last one, I still don't think that I have fully recovered and I remain very careful.

[cmg]

In that kind of heat always take a bottle of electrolytes and a bottle of water. When you finish the bottle of electrolytes drop a NUUN tablet in the next refill. Also consider taking salt tablets prior and during the ride.

[marsh]

We go to Ocean City/Dewey area every summer. My riding is usually finished before 10AM and ends with a jump in the water. It's too damn hot to be out there in the middle of the day.

[shovelhd]

Electrolytes, plain water, and for longer rides, food are all important. I did 94 miles last Sunday in high 80's, low 90's, and went through about 1.5 large bottles per hour. Where I screwed up was taking on too much electrolyte and not enough plain water and real food. I wound up bonking at the 75 mile point. I never lost my legs or lungs but I was nauseous and light headed. I saw a few things on the road that weren't there. I was fine after some cheddar cheese when I got home. Even very experienced cyclists get fooled by the weather, so be careful out there.

[AngryScientist]

perhaps obvious, but the condition you start the ride in has a pretty big effect as well.

i rode this past Sunday in 90 degree weather recovering from a pretty serious hangover and well into the dehydrated zone. 35 miles in that heat and i was a mess when i got home. killer headache and dead tired.

on any other day when i had slept well the night before, had a good starting electrolyte balance and was hydrated, those miles in the heat would have been an absolute non-issue.

[chunkylover53]

Get some endurolyte or saltstick pills, take a couple every hour or so. I'm a heavy sweater, and I find this makes a huge difference - don't feel as drained after ride, no headaches etc. I find pills work much better than nuun, or electrolyte pills. That, and lots of fluid.

[El Chaba]

On the Eastern Shore of MD (and Delaware) it's humid....AND, you spend the vast majority of your time in the sun....These are important factors beyond the temperature for heat prostration...

[Mikej]

All of the replies sound great, but its really a matter of getting your body used to that temp / humidity / pace. You went out on a ride you haven't ramped up training for and it was in high heat / humidity. Even if you had ridden a couple metrics in say AZ or Cali, you would still be hit with the humidity, but especially the dew point, which really reduces your bodies ability to cool off. So to cool off, blood is sent to the extremities and brain and kind of shuts down blood to the stomach and once you hit that and feel a bit queezy, that's where I find there is no coming back. More rides in the heat / humidity would be my best guess for avoiding this. I hope, cuz its what I'm going through right now for MTB racing. It was 55 degrees for weeks and then BAM its 88 and super humid...didn't work out for me.

[saf-t]

+100

Just like any longer distance ride, you also have to train for the heat and plan accordingly.

here's a good article about heat acclimatization...

http://hprc-online.org/environment/temperature/how-can-heat-acclimatization-prevent-heat-illness#research-summary

The hardest part about heat related illnesses during human performance as that many of the 'warning signs' like elevated breathing, sweating, etc...you're already doing those from your physical exertion.

Just from your comment though about being completely drained the next day, it sounds like your body got a little hotter than you think and may have been on the path towards heat exhaustion which is just a hair away from heat stoke. There's plenty of articles on the web about stages/signs of heat related stress. It may be an easy read, but experiencing these signs and knowing when you've actually reached a point of 'too much' is something only you can gauge and seriously, don't feel rushed/take longer breaks and, especially, don't be scared to call a ride home.

There's no 'magic beans' for recovery from heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

THIS. I see heat-related incidents every year in the spring when it suddenly gets hot and folks aren't used to it. No difference between work or play- you need to make sure your body is acclimatized to the temperature when expending energy.

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/heat_index/pdfs/acclimatizing_workers.pdf

[ptourkin]

We're going to have 90-100 temps for our 400k this weekend. I'm drinking more and taking on a little more sodium and refined carbs today and tomorrow and then I'll just get in extra water early in the brevet and try to take in 2 bottles an hour, which probably won't happen. I put electrolytes in one bottle but also supplement with Salt Stick tablets.

At some point, you just have to manage expectations in the heat. Tone it down until you feel okay and then go when it cools off.

[shovelhd]

I'm doing a brewery tour century on Saturday. Ride, stop, eat, drink dehydrating fluids, repeat...I'm carrying water only and consuming a lot of it.

[CunegoFan]

So this past sunday 5 of us old guys went to the eastern shore of MD and did a metric. We chose that location as it is relatively flat and a nice salt breeze. It was in the mid 80s when we started and ended in the mid 90s.
All of us are in our early 50s. The first 45/50 km were great. Nice 7 to 10mph salt breeze from our 9:00 off the bay. Averaged 15 mph for the first 50km and dropped to 11.7 the last leg. The last 12 or so km all but one bonked but pushed through.We went through 8 water bottles and 2 bottles of electrolytes.
We still feel like sh)t. What type of recovery do you guys do in a situation like this?
I have been drinking water and coconut water and eating plant based protein and complex carbs. Still a bit weak and disconnected 24 hrs after.

Brian

Super Gulp sized Slurpee from 7-11 is hard to beat afterward.

[91Bear]

Once you have heat exhaustion or heat stroke, you are always more susceptible thereafter. Ask me how I know.

This is my experience too. Got heat exhaustion the first time I rode the Hotter'n Hell Hundred in 1990 at age 22. Finished it the next year.
Got heat exhaustion the two other times I tried the century. I could finish the shorter distances but the century was always too long and too hot.

[muz]

Tomorrow I am riding the Terrible Two double century, 18,000ft climbing, and highs are expected to be over 100F on the exposed climbs. Sunday's high is 109F, so we are getting off easy! It will be a struggle.

[RudAwkning]

Tomorrow I am riding the Terrible Two double century, 18,000ft climbing, and highs are expected to be over 100F on the exposed climbs. Sunday's high is 109F, so we are getting off easy! It will be a struggle.

Is it T2 time already?! I've got a wedding to attend tomorrow. Incidentally, the groom is a 12 hour finisher. I'm glad to see they've gone back to the old Trinity course. Good luck!

[classtimesailer]

2 bottles each or 10 bottles each? Did you eat?
I think that, unless you rode around with empty bottles and were pushing so hard you couldn't think of stopping for refills, you drank plenty. 5 guys, 15 mph and then on the way home less than 12mph? That was a long and hard ride for you guys. Do it again this weekend or next. Your diet is sufficient to provide electrolytes for a 5 hour ride. However, I put a pinch of salt in my DIY calorie rich bottles (which annoys my more experienced vegan runner wife). Btw, I'm 59.

[regularguy412]

Tomorrow I am riding the Terrible Two double century, 18,000ft climbing, and highs are expected to be over 100F on the exposed climbs. Sunday's high is 109F, so we are getting off easy! It will be a struggle.

WOW. Man, you gotta be careful with that,, I don't care how fit or young you are. When in doubt, go slow,, or even stop and get some cool water on your head.

Mike in AR:beer:

[muz]

WOW. Man, you gotta be careful with that,, I don't care how fit or young you are. When in doubt, go slow,, or even stop and get some cool water on your head.

Mike in AR:beer:

Well, I survived. Took a small Camelbak, used an ice sock on the hot climbs, lots of Endurolytes and liquids, no solid food. It took an hour longer than my typical time, but I don't think I have ever finished a double century so well hydrated. On the negative side, I got saddle sores from all that melting ice soaking my shorts.

[CMiller]

Lots of good advice here, but also, WEAR SUNSCREEN!! Being burned can make the dehydration feel much much worse.

[soulspinner]

Tomorrow I am riding the Terrible Two double century, 18,000ft climbing, and highs are expected to be over 100F on the exposed climbs. Sunday's high is 109F, so we are getting off easy! It will be a struggle.

:eek:

[Ralph]

Every day I ride (this time of year) is like those conditions. 92 today with high humidity. I usually ride in the 30-40 mile range. And I'm 76 and the guys I ride with are in their 70's also. I usually ride with one large bottle of weak Gatorade and one large bottle of water. Usually eat fig bars at half way point. Refill bottles at half way point.

For 50 miles....only change I would make is probably two bottles of stronger Gatorade.....so can refill with water and still have some Gatorade in bottle, and might eat some salty chips with my fig bars.

For 80-100 miles or so in this weather.....would do above mostly....probably buy some Gatorade along the way....would have a Coke about 80 miles, a Snickers bar maybe, and lots of salty chips and nuts. Basically I just eat and drink my way thru hot weather rides. Ride on sugar and whatever is in fig bars, and replenish salt. Usually no issues after...and I'm 76. (well....butt hurts) The reason I replenish salt from food in this kind of weather is because I know no sports drink contains enough salt to replenish what I sweat out.....if it did...would make you sick.....like drinking sea water.

BTW....It's hard to do 50 mile rides in heat...if you don't do 50 mile rides occasionally. Sounds to me like you just need to keep doing what you are doing....maybe more often.

[Ti Designs]

HTFU.

This is my coach, John Allis. It's 94 degree out, and he's still wearing tights.