Cycling UK Forum

Just returned from 10 days in eastern Spain. Thermometer regularly topped 40C, which I can tolerate but do not really enjoy. Fortunately we slept in air conditioned rooms most evenings, but here are some of the effects of extreme heat on my constitutional!

Exacerbated Sinusitis

Dry mouth/dry cough/lots of peeing

Very disrupted sleep pattern

Constipation followed by the opposite

Intolerance to alcohol, which was latterly making me nauseous

I'm not diabetic, and have recently had a full NHS MOT! What about other people?

I find living in temperatures in the 30's leaves me feeling very fatigued even when I've done very little.
Sleeping at night is the biggest problem, I don't! In truth I do sleep a little but awake still feeling tired.

I suffer from Diverticulitis so have bowel problems all the time. I don't think it's better or worse in the heat.
I have a sore/dry mouth but put this down to pollen and dust from the very dry fields.
Luckily no problem with alcohol, certainly no nausea just a touch of anxiety when my stock of English ale is running low.

Our house is stone and we close the shutters to help keep it cool. Yesterday the outside temperature was in the high 30's and inside it was 22 deg.
As the planet warms I think we'll see these temperatures as the norm.

I have a funny relationship with temperature.

On the one hand I can feel too hot one minute and too cold the next, but on the other hand I also habituate very quickly, so if I'm uncomfortable I'll stop noticing it within minutes if I don't react promptly. I can feel frozen at 27C or pour with sweat at 20C. I'm comfortable now in shorts & T shirt at 25C, but a few days ago I was cold in long trousers and jumper at the same temperature. I can change bedclothes several times a night. Temperature also has a strong cumulative effect: I can feel cold one day as a result of getting too cold the day before for example. To compound the issue I also have a back problem that's triggered by the slightest sniff of cold: I ended up crippled for months when I got fed up of cycling wrapped up like an Eskimo and dispensed with some of the unwanted clothes.

I think it's all just a symptom of autonomic dysfunction that goes with a history of overtraining.

I bought one of those small cube evaporative coolers (caveat emptor as if bought at the wrong time ie when its v. hot and from the wrong supplier, they are stupid expensive... all they are is a pc fan and a small tank that keeps a paper filter wet.)
Even on its lowest setting and without water, it keeps the top parts of the old sculptured and adonis-like form chilled enough to make a difference at night.
V. pleased.

The first sign of hot weather really does me in. Upset stomach, headaches and aching joints in the morning following a poor nights sleep. I do hydrate properly but recently heard a suggestion that body salts should be replaced too even without strenuous exercise. I eat very little processed food and don’t use salt in cooking so there may be a link there - for me, anyway.

18-25 degrees: improved cycling efficiency. I genuinely do seem to operate best in this temperature range, maybe because all effort goes into moving myself along, and none into keeping me warm.

25-30 degrees: lassitude starts to set in, although cycling still OK if I drink gallons of water and put oodles of anti-burn cream on, and keep moving to create a cooling breeze.

30+ degrees: progressively increasing lassitude, absolutely hate being in direct sun, poor sleep, increasing grumpiness.

A mirror of all this operates below 18 degrees, but I have to say that unless it is pouring with rain, snowy, or crazily windy, I’m good to go down to 0 degrees, even a bit below, although I find cycling gets increasingly tiring below about 5 degrees, as energy is used keeping warm.

The cooler/colder it is, the more clobber you wear.
For me, 18degC was and still is, the threshold for short sleeves and no base layer.
Bike sandals instead of shoes and socks is much lower temps. Maybe 12degC or thereabouts.
Shorts instead of longs, maybe at 10degC.
The less you wear, the faster you ride.

Took the doggie out this afternoon in 26degC, with an open shirt, walking sandals, and light short shorts. Me, not the doggie!

Today, it was 25degC and hot sunshine in a cloudless sky when I set off cycling for my 20mile circuit. 28degC now this afternoon, but I'm sitting in the cool? livingroom with the doors and windows open wearing not a stitch of clothing ....................... but perhaps you don't want to know that!

Extreme heat makes me very uncomfortable. I remember Charlie and Dianas wedding day when we were in a campsite in the Dordogne. It was 44 degrees. I literally couldnt do anything but gawp at the TV.
Today I am sitting in our annexe which is the coolest place at about 26 degrees With big sliding sashes all the rooms in the house are too warm, so are all our various lounging spots in the garden.
On Wednesday I had the final Angioplasty placing 4 stents in 3 coronary arteries and have been told to rest for 7 days. It was quite a painful experience compared with the first 4 stents 5 weeks ago. The baloons were pressurised to 10 atmospheres leaving me in quite a bit of pain. So, the heat hasnt helped.

Looking forward to some nice long summer bike rides in a bit of heat but not in the 30s or 40s

Al

Mick F wrote: 17 Jun 2022, 3:42pm .... but I'm sitting in the cool? livingroom with the doors and windows open wearing not a stitch of clothing ......

Which means that you'll probably get a visit from the TV detector van who will walk round the back silently as "the can't find the doorbell".

Ian

I love the heat. I don't ever remember being too hot from natural heat (i.e. without artificial heat sources). And I love being in deserts and in rainforests (with humidity as well as heat), working in jungle, etc.

Ian

al_yrpal wrote: 17 Jun 2022, 5:00pmOn Wednesday I had the final Angioplasty placing 4 stents in 3 coronary arteries and have been told to rest for 7 days. It was quite a painful experience compared with the first 4 stents 5 weeks ago. The baloons were pressurised to 10 atmospheres leaving me in quite a bit of pain. So, the heat hasnt helped.

I hope that you recover well and quickly.

Jonathan

Mick F wrote: 17 Jun 2022, 3:42pm The cooler/colder it is, the more clobber you wear.
For me, 18degC was and still is, the threshold for short sleeves and no base layer.
Bike sandals instead of shoes and socks is much lower temps. Maybe 12degC or thereabouts.
Shorts instead of longs, maybe at 10degC.
The less you wear, the faster you ride.

Took the doggie out this afternoon in 26degC, with an open shirt, walking sandals, and light short shorts. Me, not the doggie!

Today, it was 25degC and hot sunshine in a cloudless sky when I set off cycling for my 20mile circuit. 28degC now this afternoon, but I'm sitting in the cool? livingroom with the doors and windows open wearing not a stitch of clothing ....................... but perhaps you don't want to know that!

Photo - send the photo. In fact, send several taken from different perspectives.

Cugel, just an amateur anatomist, honest.

So - a simple question. As the place (locally) gets hotter and hotter and animals remind us of that fact by shifting in a way that Priti Vacant tries her best to prevent folks from doing, what are we going to do about it??

It's time for spontaneous human combustion.

Years and years ago the army realised some people liked cold some heat. Overseas posting where possible were appropriate.