Today was a pretty hot day to be riding but I did okay. Ever since we got heat exhaustion last week, Stef has been searching the interwebs for ways to keep cool while riding. Here are some of the things she found as well as some other ideas:
~Soak a bandana and wear it under your helmet. Re-wet it periodically.
~Put ice in a bandana and wear it around your neck. Keep re-wetting after the ice melts.
~Put your water in the freezer.
~Wet your clothes when you can.
~Use lots of sunscreen. Getting burned dehydrates you.
~Drink until you can feel the water sloshing around in your tummy. Drink more when the feeling goes away.
~Drink enough so that you have to pee at least once an hour.
~Choose a shady route.
~If you stop, be sure to be in the shade.
These are just a few ideas. Please post any other ideas you know of in the comments. We're always looking for new ones.
In other news, I saw the podiatrist today. She set me up with an over the counter orthodic and recommended I get road shoes for my bike. She gave me a whole lot of stretching to do, said I should replace the shoes I wear in the shop every six months and said when I'm ready to start running, it should be no problem.
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Wait . . . running?!
ReplyDelete-Phoebe
Yeah, you heard right. If I can get my weight down enough that I won't destroy my knees and feet, I'd like to start running with the idea of doing tri-athlons someday. Yes, I'm crazy but we knew that already.
ReplyDeleteNo comment on the running/craziness. :-)
ReplyDeleteRegarding ways to beat the heat, when my Mom and I used to volunteer at a prairie wildflower exhibit at the Ohio State Fair every August (picture my Mom and me standing all day among shoulder-high sunflowers, with the hot Ohio sun beating down on us), she used to put ice cubes down her bra! As long as you don't mind having wet spots on your shirt, it cools you off VERY quickly. :-)
Lori, that's awesome! Stef was reading that one of the big bike teams (she can't remember which one) buys a whole bunch of panty hose, cuts the legs off, fills them with ice and the guys wear them down the backs of their jerseys. I just love the idea of some bike team manager buying panty hose by the dozen.
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in Colorado dehydration was a constant struggle, we learned a few tricks, but the best one you already have is to drink till you have to pee a lot!! Drinking something like gatorade can help a lot with hydration, which makes you feel cooler (and it helps if you're sweating a lot to replace some of the salt). You should also drink enough water that your pee is more-or-less clear (we learned this in CO, but my doctor here is always asking if my pee is clear exercise or not). Since gatorade tastes awful and has unfriendly calories, you can buy the powder and mix it at much less potency than suggested. It's much grosser to even contemplate, but gatorade is also more-or-less OJ with added salt. I'm super impressed you're riding at all in all this heat, I've decided to start getting some of my exercise from swimming instead.
ReplyDeleteAlison