Overheating/Dizziness

manxshred

Since I seem to be a rare breed among the cyclists I know, I thought I would find out if anyone else battles with this.
I only battle with the overheating in the winter when I am wrapped up. I have cycled in heat (Spring in South Africa) with no problems.
As soon as I start to wrap up I just seem to start to boil. Now for most people this is not a problem. Being a bit too hot is not an issue. But for me I start to get dizzy, get tunnel vision and get confused if I leave it too long (like 3-5 mins). As soon as I open up my jacket and let the steam out, I will feel better almost immediately.
The problem is I still get cold, so I am caught in this endless struggle to balance the two extremes.
Does anyone else have this or have an explanation?

ColinJ

I suffer a degree of that when I wear my heavy-duty rain jacket. I normally try and get away with a gilet and arm-warmers but wear the rain jacket if conditions are colder and wetter. A couple of times though, I have been caught out when conditions were milder than expected. I start to feel a bit 'cut off' from my surroundings - stifled. It's a strange feeling and I don't like it.

BeaconRuth

It sounds to me as though you're wrapping up too much - if you feel better when you undo your jacket and 'let the steam out'. When you decide what clothes to wear it's important to remember that once you've been riding for 10-15mins you will be generating a fair amount of body heat - it's quite a different matter dressing to go out on a bike ride compared to dressing to go out to stand about, say, at a football match, or even to go for a walk.

My rule of thumb is that I should feel a tad on the cold side when I first walk out of the door and I might feel really quite chilled by the first little bit of road where there's a fast little descent through the woods - I always remind myself that I have to do 10-15mins before deciding whether I'm a comfortable temperature or not.

Ruth

John.T

+1 to what Ruth says. It sounds as if you are like me and sweat a lot. This means you need to make extra sure not to get too hot. Any sweat will chill you quite quickly even in thick clothing. Go for layers and make sure you remove one (or more) before you start to boil up. I find I can often be sweating and still feel chilled on parts of my body. It is a problem but not insurmountable.

Diogenes

John.T wrote:

+1 to what Ruth says. It sounds as if you are like me and sweat a lot. This means you need to make extra sure not to get too hot. Any sweat will chill you quite quickly even in thick clothing. Go for layers and make sure you remove one (or more) before you start to boil up. I find I can often be sweating and still feel chilled on parts of my body. It is a problem but not insurmountable.

+2

On winter days I generally use my tourer and carry a small bag on the rack with an extra top and waterproof. Once on the road I can add or remove and still have somewhere to carry the kit not being worn.

D

ut_och_cykla

Tips about dressing cool to start with and maybe taking spares in a bag are ones I use - but feeling dizzy&confused after just a few minutes does sound a bit extreme! If you normally tolerate heat by sweating loads wrapping up too much will hamper you 'normal' heat repsonse - and may well confuse your body, which usually prefers drier heat to high humidity environs. But if you carry on feeling so unwell becasue of it you might want to see a doctor. There might be an underlying issue (tho' I can't think of one just now!

manxshred

The problem is that I do still get cold, especially in my feet and hands (and then start to cramp in my feet). I suppose I could stop and get changed every time the road changes elevation, but that would drive me mad.

The effects don't stick around, and I used to live in Durban SA so am used to humidity and exercising in heat.
I often just go out in a thin base layer with a windproof over the top, even when everyone else is wrapped in huge layers. I cannot wear anything on my head. I will only wear ear warmers on the coldest days and that will usually only last about 20min max before I have to take them off.

It just can get frustrating.

ut_och_cykla

Getting changed shouldn't be necessary - the windvest (gillet) is a good solution for many, and things that are easy to open/close - zips/velcro - mean you can cool without chilling. Good base layers are worth investing in. Craft do stuff with windproof fronts that aren't too hot.

Personally I prefer to be a bit cool (eczema- getting overheated is very uncomfy) but keep hands, head & feet extra warm instead. But its a fine line and if I'm going far I usually take an extra top incase I of a mechanical.

rolf_f

Maybe just a bit of poor circulation. I have this and also have very low bodyfat. This means I tend to feel the cold and probably default to wearing too much.

What I do find though is that it is almost impossible for me to overheat my hands and especially my feet (I can suffer cold toes in summer!) so I do need to wrap them well but body and legs tend to need less - so maybe you just need to make sure arms, hands and feet are well insulated.

keef66

It's properly tricky to get it just right at this time of year especially. Last night I thought it felt cold so I went out in a LS merino baselayer, LS jersey, and pertex shell. Fine for the first 5 minutes, boil in the bag for the next hour.
If I'd stopped and taken something off, I'm sure I'd then have been too cold.

Previous night I'd been OK with the same combo, just a thinner (bamboo!) baselayer. I think the secret is to be too cold for the first couple of miles.