Training in the heat

pottssteve

OK,
Summer's arrived here in Honkers - it's 6.08pm, 26 degrees and over 80% humidity. I've got my rollers set up on the balcony and after my dinner's gone down I'm planning on putting in an hour or so. Should you pass by the back of my house after 7.30 therefore you'll be able to see an extremely sweaty, semi-naked gweilo pedalling fast and getting nowehere...
My question. Other than drinking a lot of water and taking in a bit of salt (I use Saltines), is there anything else to do when riding under these conditions?
Cheers,
Steve

Kléber

Get a fan to blow a breeze over you. You can adjust to the heat a bit but if you're stuck on the rollers, create a breeze with a big fan if it's a still day. No need for the salt tablets, the local diet with fish, soy sauce etc is quite salty already.

pottssteve

Mgoi Sai, Kleber,
I have the 2001 Tour de France highlights DVD set up on a stool to watch but I think a fan might also be a good idea. Mind you, you feel even hotter when you stop!

2oldnslow

Gets a lot hotter than that here in Riyadh although admittedly with far lower humidity. Having said that I spent 3 years living in Malaysia and cycled extensively and more recently lived in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where humidity is high. 90-100km rides whilst taxing (and I'm old) we'ren't out of the question. Other than the obvious avoid the heat of the middle part of the days there is no simple answer lots of water,(on a three hour ride here I'll carry two large bottles plus a camelbak) sunblock and go for it. I regularly did all day rides in Pahang (Malaysia) but the I guess the open roads of rural east coast Malaysia are a little more conducive to cycling. Good luck.

pottssteve

Thanks, 2old,
I too used to live in Malaysia, but that was before I developed a taste for cycling. I couldn't imagine the combination of heat, humidity and abyssmal driving in KL making cycling a pleasant experience.

2oldnslow

You're right there KL was scary enough in a 4x4 but this was sleepy hollow east coast Malaysia (Kuantan) nothing better than a steamy bike ride with a stop at some wayside estabilshment for a ice cold can of Tiger

pottssteve

2old,
I went to Kuantan once.....














it was shut!

2oldnslow

you should have seen it in the middle 90's LOL Was there when it got its mcD's for the first time they ran out of fries on day one Ahhhhh you just have to love Malaysia

dave_1

pottssteve wrote:

OK,
Summer's arrived here in Honkers - it's 6.08pm, 26 degrees and over 80% humidity. I've got my rollers set up on the balcony and after my dinner's gone down I'm planning on putting in an hour or so. Should you pass by the back of my house after 7.30 therefore you'll be able to see an extremely sweaty, semi-naked gweilo pedalling fast and getting nowehere...
My question. Other than drinking a lot of water and taking in a bit of salt (I use Saltines), is there anything else to do when riding under these conditions?
Cheers,
Steve

frequently went on the turbo in the evenings on rooftop in soho...no need for a fan ...hell, I'd ride Lantau on sunday at 1pm air pollution was far more of a prob...

pottssteve

Dave,
Yeah, I come home from a 2 hour ride and my nose and eyes are full of black....stuff.....
It's a shame because if you use your imagination you can see what it would be like without the pollution, the scary dogs and the dangerous traffic - a rider's paradise.

2old - agreed, Malaysia's quite random. I once watched some guys resurfacing the road in front of my apartment in KL. They did it in the evening to avoid the heat and did a great job - the smoothest bit of tarmac in KL. The next night a team came and put paint down - lines, markings etc. It looked beautiful. Three days later another team arrived and dug it all up to lay a gas main!

Kleber - I had McDonalds for lunch!