We’ve been experience abnormally hot weather for this time of year in La Grande. The last couple of years, I’ve struggled with hot weather because I’m acclimatized to cool (actually cold) weather riding for most of the year. Plus, it is usually cooler at my house so when I come down the mountain I feel like I step into an oven. This makes it very difficult to ride hard in the hot weather.
Here is an example: A couple weeks ago I rode my cyclocross bike up to Ruckel Junction. I hadn’t looked at the weather forecast before leaving, and I brought two big water bottles with me like I usually do. By the time I topped out at the snowmobiler’s shelter my water was very low. This wasn’t too big of an issue a few weeks before, when I was also running low on water during a hot day. On the descent down Phillips Creek Rd, I had stopped at the creek for some refreshing water. (I know a lot of people avoid drinking mountain stream water for fear of giardia, but due to the lack of water stops around here I’ve been using streams in different parts of the county for water refills, with no problems). However, during this trip the stream was bone dry and I knew there wouldn’t be any other water sources until I got home. By the time I got to the steep, but short, hill up to my house I was feeling the effects. My gearing wasn’t small enough to get me up the hill, and this was the first time I’ve ever dismounted and walked the hill. What a demoralizing way to finish a bike ride. In his book Serious Cycling, Edmund Burke provides a graph (by Sleamaker) showing at only 3% dehydration muscular endurance time is reduced. As the percentage goes up, the effects are more drastic and serious. I can definitely say I felt the drop in performance first hand.
Later that evening I was looking at the high temperature and was shocked to find it was 98 degrees. In retrospect, I should have worn my hydration pack. Did I just say that? Roadies don’t wear these. Ah, I mean that I should have had another water bottle in my jersey pocket. On a related note, I just got some Polar thermal water bottles and I’m impressed. They hold about 750 ml and they do keep your drink cool if you load it with ice before a ride. The design makes them very compliant too, so they have a good water bottle squeeze to them. The real reason I got these was for the winter to keep my drinks from freezing. Unfortunately, I won’t have to wait long to test this.
