Riding in the Heat
#72
06-22-2010, 08:53 PM
#73
06-22-2010, 08:58 PM
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#75
06-22-2010, 08:59 PM
As most of the advice here, drink lots and lots of water. The sunscreen is a must. When I came across this post it brought me right back to last years ride to Sturgis. The temps were without a doubt pushing 105-110 with 30mph crosswinds. The best way to compare it is to open up your oven door, I am not joking it was brutal.
#76
06-22-2010, 09:56 PM
I ride to work at least three days a week in the AZ summer heat. It's around 105 during the hottest part of the day, but will be climbing up later in the week. I wear a 3/4 helmet with a face shield. The face shield actually draws the heat away from your face. You really feel the heat in your face if you have the shield up. I also wear a mesh jacket so the air goes thru and keeps you a lot cooler than you might think.
#77
06-22-2010, 10:11 PM
#78
06-22-2010, 10:20 PM
#79
06-22-2010, 10:47 PM
I live in one of the hottest places in the nation in N.W. AZ along the Colorado River. It gets between 113 and 120 all through July and August. I've learned a few things over the 5 summers I've been here and most have been mentioned in this thread.
1. Pre-Hydrate. Drink lots of water before you go out and keep drinking it all day. If you get thirsty; you're already dehydrated. If you don't pee; you're dehydrated. Dehydration and heat exhaustion can kill. If you ever get heat exhaustion you're more likely to get it again.
2. Wear sunscreen but cover your skin anyway. Any exposed skin will speed up dehydration and soak up the sun's radiating heat. You will feel hotter when you stop.
A full-faced/modular vented white helmet is best but a doo rag, goggles, and some kind of face mask will make a huge difference on how hot you feel when you stop and how fast you dehydrate.
Long-sleeve white shirts are excellent to keep the sun off the arms and slow down dehydration. This year I'm trying something a little different and although it looks funky it works great. They are elasticized white sleeves for use in sports. They just take a few seconds to put on and slip off in a second. They take up hardly any room in a saddlebag. You can wet them for extra cooling. Most of all I like wearing just a short sleeved shirt when I get where I'm going so I don't retain the heat in the air conditioned spot I've stopped to cool off and drink more fluids.
The mesh jackets with cooling vests are favored as well. I tried just the vest but it dried out in minutes and was useless after that. I'm learning the mesh jacket slows the drying but not the cooling so I'm going to revisit that idea.
Drinking fluids a lot cannot be over emphasized. Riding in the heat is not the time to be fashionable. You can do that when you're stopped.
Riding when it's 120 outside is just plain foolish though. Riding early or overnight when cross country riding is best over all. Personally, during the hottest months, I like to be done with out-of-town riding by 1 PM.
Great thread!
1. Pre-Hydrate. Drink lots of water before you go out and keep drinking it all day. If you get thirsty; you're already dehydrated. If you don't pee; you're dehydrated. Dehydration and heat exhaustion can kill. If you ever get heat exhaustion you're more likely to get it again.
2. Wear sunscreen but cover your skin anyway. Any exposed skin will speed up dehydration and soak up the sun's radiating heat. You will feel hotter when you stop.
A full-faced/modular vented white helmet is best but a doo rag, goggles, and some kind of face mask will make a huge difference on how hot you feel when you stop and how fast you dehydrate.
Long-sleeve white shirts are excellent to keep the sun off the arms and slow down dehydration. This year I'm trying something a little different and although it looks funky it works great. They are elasticized white sleeves for use in sports. They just take a few seconds to put on and slip off in a second. They take up hardly any room in a saddlebag. You can wet them for extra cooling. Most of all I like wearing just a short sleeved shirt when I get where I'm going so I don't retain the heat in the air conditioned spot I've stopped to cool off and drink more fluids.
The mesh jackets with cooling vests are favored as well. I tried just the vest but it dried out in minutes and was useless after that. I'm learning the mesh jacket slows the drying but not the cooling so I'm going to revisit that idea.
Drinking fluids a lot cannot be over emphasized. Riding in the heat is not the time to be fashionable. You can do that when you're stopped.
Riding when it's 120 outside is just plain foolish though. Riding early or overnight when cross country riding is best over all. Personally, during the hottest months, I like to be done with out-of-town riding by 1 PM.
Great thread!
#80
07-06-2010, 12:31 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: South Riding, VA
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I just got back from Las Vegas - was there last week on a business trip. I decided to do the HOG Fly & Ride and had a bike rented Wednesday noon to Friday noon. The temps in Las Vegas were 108, 105, and 102 those three days with brutal sunshine. I had never ridden in desert heat before and was apprehensive. I brought along a Silver Eagle Cooling Vest, two cooling neckties, and a mesh jacket. I did fine. It was not all that comfortable but it was doable - better than I expected. I endorse the cooling vest and neckties for making it bearable. Without a mesh jacket the cooling vest does dry fairly quickly but keeps you cool. Sometimes I rode with the jacket on top of the vest and sometimes not. When the vest dried, I watered it up again at stops.
All in all a very fun experience. The least fun was sitting at downtown LV stop lights at 108 degrees! I put on over 300 miles in those two days with just trips out and back to the hotel. Las Vegas H-D dealer took care of me well.
All in all a very fun experience. The least fun was sitting at downtown LV stop lights at 108 degrees! I put on over 300 miles in those two days with just trips out and back to the hotel. Las Vegas H-D dealer took care of me well.