Cycling UK Forum

Jdsk wrote: ↑11 Jul 2022, 10:37am

Sweep wrote: ↑11 Jul 2022, 10:24am ...
My skin seemed to develop small bumps - something to do with trying to shed more heat?

all returned to normal on getting under the trees and some water and cheap wine.

No itching or inflammation? How does this description of miliaria crystalline match up?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miliaria

Jonathan

Thanks but don't think so.
No lesions.
Condition came on then went pretty much as soon as i was out of the sun.
No after effects at all, visible or invisible.
Prescription cannonnau?

Worst I've ridden in was 42°C on black tarmac basking in the sun south of Montpellier when the Sirocco was blowing from Africa and picking up a load of humidity crossing the Mediterranean. Shade temperature was probably around 35°C and the air was like bathwater. Progress was town to town and café to café, topping up our gourds with water and ice-cubes as often as possible.

Re wee bumps in the skin I've had that, ditto little blisters and I have a couple of spots on my arms that won't tan, which I take to be souvenirs of blisters that burst. I also have a chum who had a funny black spot removed and rode with long sleeves for the next few years, guess why.

In the Uk it's not so much the temperatures as the temperatures combined with humidity. I live in central Portugal, at this time of year it is regularly 35 degrees. We currently have a heatwave and yesterday it hit 40.5 degrees and is forecast to be hotter maybe 45. Our night time temps are about the same as the UK daytime. But here it is a dry heat so like for like it doesn't feel as bad.

What did I do yesterday when I went for a ride? I left early - I was on the road at 7.30am, I did a shorter, slightly slower ride than normal, I drank a litre of water before I left home so I was hydrated to start with, I chose to do a ride that had more shade, I drank little and often, I wore thin, lightweight clothing, especially thin socks, I didn't wipe any sweat away as helps to cool you down. Friends sometimes put a bidon of water in the freezer so that they have cold water and can press the frozen bidon against the back of the neck. Its also a good idea to drench yourself in water from a tap (here we have lots of springs and virtually every village has a water fountain) especially your head and jersey. I was back home by 10am by which time it was 35 degrees.

BTW its a myth that the midday sun is hottest. The hottest times are generally somewhere between 2 and 5. But then again 'mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the sun somewhere between 2pm and 5pm' doesn't scan quite so well.

Audax67 wrote: ↑11 Jul 2022, 12:41pm Worst I've ridden in was 42°C on black tarmac basking in the sun south of Montpellier when the Sirocco was blowing from Africa and picking up a load of humidity crossing the Mediterranean. Shade temperature was probably around 35°C and the air was like bathwater. Progress was town to town and café to café, topping up our gourds with water and ice-cubes as often as possible.

Re wee bumps in the skin I've had that, ditto little blisters and I have a couple of spots on my arms that won't tan, which I take to be souvenirs of blisters that burst. I also have a chum who had a funny black spot removed and rode with long sleeves for the next few years, guess why.

Ah, sounds similar.
My experience black tarmac noonday sun of maybe over 40 "bulb temp" bang up against sea southern sardinia, next stop Africa.

borisface wrote: ↑11 Jul 2022, 12:51pm

BTW its a myth that the midday sun is hottest. The hottest times are generally somewhere between 2 and 5. But then again 'mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the sun somewhere between 2pm and 5pm' doesn't scan quite so well.

Very true. I always roughly reckon that the worst of it is about 3.

Sweep wrote: ↑11 Jul 2022, 12:55pm

borisface wrote: ↑11 Jul 2022, 12:51pm

BTW its a myth that the midday sun is hottest. The hottest times are generally somewhere between 2 and 5. But then again 'mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the sun somewhere between 2pm and 5pm' doesn't scan quite so well.

Very true. I always roughly reckon that the worst of it is about 3.

Yup, agreed - but it IS true that the sun's rays are strongest at midday [GMT!]. It's just that the ambient temperature keeps building for a couple of hours beyond that.

[so for example it's often quite cold sat in the open at 5pm on a still, clear day in December, compared to noon ]

mattheus wrote: ↑11 Jul 2022, 1:32pm

Sweep wrote: ↑11 Jul 2022, 12:55pm

borisface wrote: ↑11 Jul 2022, 12:51pm

BTW its a myth that the midday sun is hottest. The hottest times are generally somewhere between 2 and 5. But then again 'mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the sun somewhere between 2pm and 5pm' doesn't scan quite so well.

Very true. I always roughly reckon that the worst of it is about 3.

Yup, agreed - but it IS true that the sun's rays are strongest at midday [GMT!]. It's just that the ambient temperature keeps building for a couple of hours beyond that.

[so for example it's often quite cold sat in the open at 5pm on a still, clear day in December, compared to noon ]

yep I th ink you are right - at noon the light/heat is travelling to you the most direct way, not through more layers of atmospheric junk.
But as the day progresses beyond noon the dreaded tarmac etc keeps heating up and throwing its heat back at you.

Just glad I live in a coastal area north of the heat warning zone. Max temperature forecast in the week ahead 22C . Mind you have to suffer persistent wind and rain over the winter

One of those strange days yesterday, just too hot to stop, had to keep riding for the air flow

And late this afternoon, one road I was on seemed to be melting, tyres making a strange sticky noise.

Pebble wrote: ↑11 Jul 2022, 9:03pm One of those strange days yesterday, just too hot to stop, had to keep riding for the air flow

And late this afternoon, one road I was on seemed to be melting, tyres making a strange sticky noise.

I rode home from work about 4pm yesterday. 31 degrees in the City centre, but steady riding kept me relatively cool. As soon as I stopped though....

Silver lining?

BBC News - Scotland's dry weather devastates midge numbers
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... s-62121827

I am typically riding and hiking in 100 degrees these days - yesterday was 107 - and the issue one is always going to have with hydration is that only about 60% of the fluid one ingests is absorbed into the body system, the rest just loads up the stomach.

Sweep wrote: ↑12 Jul 2022, 2:38pm Silver lining?

BBC News - Scotland's dry weather devastates midge numbers
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... s-62121827

Maybe it's a (temporary) silver lining for vulnerable humans, but midges are an important part of the ecosystem. Midges and their larvae are eaten by fish, water beetles, water boatment, dragonfly larvae, spiders, swallows, shore birds, bats and more. A pipistrelle may eat 3000 midges in one night.

So, if the heat devastates midges, it will affect the ecosystem.

Vorpal wrote: ↑12 Jul 2022, 3:19pm

Sweep wrote: ↑12 Jul 2022, 2:38pm Silver lining?

BBC News - Scotland's dry weather devastates midge numbers
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... s-62121827

Maybe it's a (temporary) silver lining for vulnerable humans, but midges are an important part of the ecosystem. Midges and their larvae are eaten by fish, water beetles, water boatment, dragonfly larvae, spiders, swallows, shore birds, bats and more. A pipistrelle may eat 3000 midges in one night.

So, if the heat devastates midges, it will affect the ecosystem.

don't think you are taking this a bit far vorpal?
do you bare your untreated flesh to sustain them?
(i understand that the female midges favour blood)

Sweep wrote: ↑12 Jul 2022, 5:54pm don't think you are taking this a bit far vorpal?
do you bare your untreated flesh to sustain them?
(i understand that the female midges favour blood)

Nope, just a bat fan.