- This topic has 9 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 06/27/2017 | 16:34 by .
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The weather is going to be really hot next month for our ride to the MOA rally in Utah. Expect temps to easily exceed 100f. I would have thought wearing as little gear as possible would be the best way of staying cool. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Here are 2 very good articles from the Iron Butt Association about riding in hot weather.
“Long distance Riding in hot weather.” IRON BUTT MagazINe, Summer 2010
http://www.ironbutt.com/ibmagazine/ironbutt_1002_62-66_Hot.pdf“Gear choice for crossing the desert in June.” Iron butt association discussion.
https://forum.ironbutt.org/index.php?threads/gear-choice-for-crossing-the-desert-in-june.586/Thanks to David Omlor for researching this!
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Great articles Mark and thanks David. I can’t say enough good stuff about my LD Comfort full top. I wet it at a stop yesterday, put on my very basic cooling vest as a source of water for continued evaporation and my jacket. I have a skull cap that is capable of holding moisture so wet it and my hair. It was 103 degrees coming across 166 yesterday and I was fine! I did have the airflow jacket so it evaporated faster than it would have with my full jacket on, but it was very bearable.
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Thanks for the articles. One thing I didn’t see in either was the idea of “tanking up” your body at the start. I learned this from hiking. You wouldn’t start on a long ride with an empty tank of gas and you need to do the same thing with your body. Before I do a long hike I drink a liter of fluid just before I start. It makes the whole day go better.
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Just received a Colorado Coolvest and plan to do a ride tomorrow to check out the effectiveness. They also have a neck wrap with the same type bead system as the vest (they have a bead system sewn into the gear that absorb water and release coolness via your gear venting as you ride).
Good point on hydrating Jacob. I attempt to drink additional water the day before riding and always ride with a camelback bladder with drink tube, in the bottom portion of my tank bag for on the fly hydrating.
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It was easy to miss but there was a good discussion about hyponatremia in the above gear choice article. That’s where you drink so much water and sweat so much that your salt levels drop to dangerously low levels.
I sweat like crazy and get dehydrated pretty easily. I drink Gatorade and other sport drinks but am usually exhausted after a day of strenuous activities in the heat.
I was going to bring salt tablets to the MOA rally but found something much better. It’s a powdered electrolyte mix. It’s basically all the good stuff from Gatorade with vitamins without all the sugar. There are many different brands on the market but I can highly recommend these:
Jigsaw Electrolyte Supreme™These taste ok and really do work. I was replacing a pool filter this past weekend and was in 90 degree heat all weekend long. I had one of the electrolyte drinks in the morning and one at the end of the day (with lots of water in between) and felt great. I wasn’t exhausted at the end of the day! This stuff’s great.
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