A close encounter with hypothermia

Runner2Cycling

I have recently returned to cycling after many years of running and am really enjoying getting out on my new Tifosi CK7 - it's a joy to ride.
Anyway, I went out for a long ride yesterday with what I thought was sufficient gear for a cool day (about 7 degrees) - and all was well for the first 90 minutes - hands a bit cold but felt otherwise quite comfortable. Then it started raining - a light drizzle at first but gradually heavier. At about 2 and half hours I started to feel quite chilled and then it really started to chuck it down - I still had 13 miles to go but every time I tried to put an effort in, I felt a bit nauseous and quite wobbly - I was ploughing through deep puddles and was totally soaked (lucky I had a decent waterproof top on). I had to slow down and talk to myself to keep going - and now my hands were numb and changing gear was almost impossible - I was losing the plot. I somehow managed to get to Henley and took refuge in Waitrose and stood under one of the hot-air vents ! No-one even seemed to notice me - perhaps that's a common occurrence in Henley ! After 30 minutes I felt a bit better so got back on the bike but regretted it quickly - I had the shivers but didn't feel safe when trying to go faster - somehow I just focused on the job in hand and made it back home. I reckon I had been quite close to collapsing several times before the stop at Henley with hypothermia.
You live and learn and I'll definitely be better equipped next time (and will take refuge earlier if I start to feel chilled).

Will.C

Did you eat atall? When you're that wet and cold your body is working major overtime to try and warm you up, thus burning more calories and sapping your energy. I went out yesterday in the rain for a couple of hours and I was cream crackered by the time I got back.

If you do go out in weather like that again, apart from a rain coat, a skull cap, good warm/water proof overshoes and gloves really make a difference.

Jeff Jones

Glad you made it home!

This sounds exactly like what happened to me one summer 12yrs ago when I went out riding in Yorkshire. I went out and bought a pair of long gloves after that.

Runner2Cycling

Yes I did eat before - porridge and toast in fact, just 1 hour before - but I guess I should have had taken some snacks to top-up.
I'm not sure it was just an energy problem - I'm used to running up to 3 hours at a time and know what it feels like when low on energy - I guess you get colder a lot quicker on the bike as you aren't moving your arms and the windchill factor at 20mph plus is considerably more than when running.
And a good pair of winter gloves is my next purchase - the ones I use for running aren't windproof and next to useless when it's wet.

Surfr

I got caught in a torrential downpour on the finnal 10 miles of a 50 mile ride. I was VERY thankful for full SKS chromoplastic mudguards and my Endura Stealth jacket with just a long sleaved base layer under it. lycra 3/4 DHB Merstons didn't rteally get that wet as there was no road spray and your body provides a lot of shelter to your legs. Add to that lot a merino skull cap under the helmet and the inners from a pair of Specialized sub zero gloves and I was happy as larry. Just the rain in my eyes to worry about. Kit really does make a difference when the weather turns sour.

DaveyL

It's a good story - reminds us of how fine the line is between a normal ride and things going badly wrong..

I was up in Stirling at the end of August and went out for a loop down to Fintry, over the Crow Road into Lennoxtown and back over the Tak-ma-Doon. I left in warm sunshine, kitted out in short sleeved jersey and shorts. By the time I go to the foot of the Tak it was raining. By the time I got to the summit of the Tak (a pretty remote place), the rain was almost horizontal, and turned into hail. The road was a river and I was starting to get quite cold with the prospect of a sketchy fast descent not making things much better. I remember thinking "Hmm, this could really start to go pear shaped". Luckily the bad weather passed by the time I got to Carronbridge, and I managed to squelch the last 10 miles home with no more problems, but it did remind me things can often be just a couple of tweaks away from going to plums.

graeme_s-2

Get yourself a merino baselayer or vest. You'd be astonished at the difference it'll make, especially when it's wet. I run in a fairly thin long sleeved merino baselayer in the winter, and cycle with it on under a windproof. I've even worn it (and a vest more often) under my wetsuit when open water swimming in the early spring.

crimsondynamo

I was out across the Moorfoot hills yesterday, the driving rain had me soaked through within about 1hr, was verging on sleet. Going uphill wasn't too bad as energy was keeping me warm, but the 25 minute descent to Innerleithen through slushy roads put me in trouble. By the time I got to Inners my fingers honestly felt like they'd been smashed by a hammer, absolute agony.

I got one of my chums to phone my missus (I couldn't work the buttons on my mob) to come and collect me from the hub cafe at Glentress. In amongst the happy mtb'ers I was the perfect caricature of the grimacing roadie.

I think it's as much to do with physiology as kit. I think I must have very poor circulation. I really need to work my arms to get warmth into my fingers, and you can't really do that on a road bike.

graeme_s-2

crimsondynamo wrote:

I think it's as much to do with physiology as kit. I think I must have very poor circulation. I really need to work my arms to get warmth into my fingers, and you can't really do that on a road bike.

That's undoubtedly part of it. My wife calls me "radiator hands" as I always have warm hands, whereas hers are always freezing cold.

danlikesbikes

Runner2Cycling wrote:

I have recently returned to cycling after many years of running and am really enjoying getting out on my new Tifosi CK7 - it's a joy to ride.
Anyway, I went out for a long ride yesterday with what I thought was sufficient gear for a cool day (about 7 degrees) - and all was well for the first 90 minutes - hands a bit cold but felt otherwise quite comfortable. Then it started raining - a light drizzle at first but gradually heavier. At about 2 and half hours I started to feel quite chilled and then it really started to chuck it down - I still had 13 miles to go but every time I tried to put an effort in, I felt a bit nauseous and quite wobbly - I was ploughing through deep puddles and was totally soaked (lucky I had a decent waterproof top on). I had to slow down and talk to myself to keep going - and now my hands were numb and changing gear was almost impossible - I was losing the plot. I somehow managed to get to Henley and took refuge in Waitrose and stood under one of the hot-air vents ! No-one even seemed to notice me - perhaps that's a common occurrence in Henley ! After 30 minutes I felt a bit better so got back on the bike but regretted it quickly - I had the shivers but didn't feel safe when trying to go faster - somehow I just focused on the job in hand and made it back home. I reckon I had been quite close to collapsing several times before the stop at Henley with hypothermia.
You live and learn and I'll definitely be better equipped next time (and will take refuge earlier if I start to feel chilled).

Glad you made it home safely!

+1 for most others have said, need to make sure you have enough fluid/food/energy to keep you going. As for the clothing well you certainly sound like you made a good start but got caught out with the rain so buy yourself a rain jacket they are cheap easy to pack up and keep most of the rain off you.

robert-sb

crimsondynamo wrote:

I really need to work my arms to get warmth into my fingers, and you can't really do that on a road bike.

I have tried a tip seen on Bear Grylls that works for me. Whilst using the other hand to hold the bars pivot your cold arm at the elbow and flap it backwards and forwards several times. This soon gets the blood flowing again and makes my hands feel OK.

poacherjake

had similar on a big run last winter over the surrey hills: was in a state of near-collapse and delirium by the time I got over Pewley Down and started down into Guildford.

Can barely remember staggering the last mile through the town to the train station but do remember standing in the WHS there wolfing down snacks like the cookie monster, on the basis that 'I'll pay for them in a minute...'

I'd eaten beforehand and taken on the amount I usually did on that run - two mule bars in three hours - but the cold meant I'd burned it all up in no time.

kieranb

yep, reminds me of one ride I did in Autumn about 2 years ago, the usual club run, a bit of a drizzle heading out but I thought a gillet would be enough. Naturally the rain just got worse, almost 4 hours later I couldn't stop shaking/teeth chattering etc, about 2 miles from home I got a puncture! Pulled up to shelter under a bus stop and phoned home to be collected as I couldn't bear the thought of trying to fix a puncture in the rain with frozen shaking hands. Turned out the family were away!!! Somehow I managed to fix it, but took for ages, eventually got home and spent ages warming up.

For the next autumn/winter/spring season I would only go out on long rides if it was dry! This year I got a good waterproof racing jacket and always overdress now at this time of year and had my first long wet ride just last week,felt fine but I wouldn't have liked a puncture.

poacherjake

think hypothermia and 'low energy levels due to insufficient food consumption' are probably very much interconnected too

(or is that stating the bleeding obvious?)

ugo.santalucia

Let me say, I've never seen people so unprepared for the weather as you Brits... you/we have a very changeable pattern, but always hope for the best and ignore the probable worst... maybe it's down to positive thinking.

Dressing properly for the season is no rocket science, but inevitably every sunday morning there's someone who thinks he's more clever and heads out in shirt and arm warmers, hoping the temperature will go up.

My friend kept checking the forecast every 3 hours ahead of the Paris Roubaix sportive and when he was convinced it was gonna rain, decided to leave the waterproof in the hotel... what's the bloody point?????

Rant over

Buckled_Rims

If you factor in an average cycling speed of 18mph at 7 celsius that's a wind chill factor just above freezing. No wonder you were cold!

I must admit I tend to wimp out of longish rides in cold weather. My feet get the worse for wear despite the overshoes and thick socks. The only thing I really have that keeps me warm is a fleece gilet I bought cheaply years ago.

rnath

I always try to factor in bailout points on a long ride and take enough cash to buy a train ticket if things get too hairy.

pottssteve

I think cold makes you hungry!

I'm just getting used to the cold. Having moved from Hong Kong riding to the Netherlands I notice I'm getting a lot more hungry during and after a ride, even though I'm riding slightly less distance and less often.

+1 for building in a shorter route if possible and having emergency money/mobile phone.

Steve

Buckled_Rims

pottssteve wrote:

I think cold makes you hungry!

Yeah, exactly, you need more food just to maintain your body core temperature never mind the extra energy. I'm not sure how many extra calories are required per drop in temperature to maintain a reasonable body core temp.

Spender45

As a waise man once said "There is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes."

Only been caught out a few times, Living up here in the North you get used to preparing for bad weather and keeping fueled up.